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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1998-06-23-FHHR-min.pdf FAIR HOUSING AND HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES 6/23/98 Present: Florence Baturin; Ralph Clifford, Chair; Mary Haskell; Beverly Goodridge; Dan Fenn, Selectman Liaison; Steve Baran, Fair Housing and Human Relations Director (Recorder); Guests: Bensen Chiou, Margaret Cole, Martin Yost, Darlene Adams, Karen Hughes Absent: Stella Liu; Tom Montanan; Katherine Davis; Michelle Ekanem Minutes of 5/26/98 The minutes of 5/26/98 were approved. LexHab A Lexington citizen had requested Fair Housing Committee review following a LexHab request that she move out at the end of five years on the basis that she was over income. The complainant felt that HUD income guidelines did not fairly apply to ( Lexington where cost of living was higher In an earlier meeting, those present thought it would be appropriate to look into the matter Beverly Goodridge who had made the original referral said that this was a situation involving a single parent who had worked more overtime hours at one point in time. Ralph Clifford said that he intended to follow up Steve Baran will inform the individual that the Committee remains interested in her situation. Questions from candidates In response to questions from candidates about Committee goals, Ralph Clifford explained that affirmative action was a focus of the Committee. The town's record on affirmative action was poor Letters had been sent to Lexington bank managers seeking members for the Fair Housing and Human Relations Committee. See attached example. It was agreed that similar letters would be sent to real estate brokers. Mary Haskell suggested contacting Judy Alexander Other names mentioned were Lester Savage and David Williams. Tom Montanan agreed to research names of brokers as Florence Baturin had done for the bank managers. 2 Affirmative Action A review of EEOC data made available by the Town Manager's office had revealed that there were five minority employees (on the town side as opposed to the school side), all in the Police Department. Ralph had agreed to invite the Town Manager to the next meeting of the committee. This would assist the committee in advising the Selectmen about affirmative action issues. Mary Haskell reported on the meeting she and Michelle Ekanem had with David Wilson. The meeting was for the purpose of obtaining EEOC data from the School Department. David Wilson, Director of Personnel and Administration, chairs the Diversity Task Force. Following their visit, there was an article in the Minuteman noting that the School Department had fallen short of its affirmative action goals (Les Masterson, "Slow progress reporting on school diversity efforts, 5/21/98. Mary noted the following affirmative action accomplishments of the School Department: in the past three years: Recruiting efforts at 25 colleges and universities — resulting in one hire, an Asian American Four minority job fairs Meeting of Lexington African-American families requesting help with networking — resulting in two hires, one from Lincoln public schools Participation in a 22-town action consortium Percentage of minorities had risen from 2% to 8% for a student body consisting of 23% minority students; there are 800 School Department employees — 100 are needed for a critical mass —there are 35 —40 minority employees at present Clear criteria for functioning of school interviewing committees; when committee is not in compliance with those criteria, e.g., minorities represented on the committees, nominations are not accepted System-wide training on issues of racism. 3 It was agreed that follow-up questions would include the following: Request EEOC data without METCO-hired personnel appearing; show how many non-whites are hired with METCO funds. Request last 10 years of EEOC data (to show, for example, impact of David Wilson's innovations on the hiring process) Composition of interviewing panels and how they are trained to do interviewing. Display of Diversity Brochures It was agreed to make copies of diversity brochures for LexFest! to be displayed by the Coalition for Racial Equality at LexFest! Meeting Times It was agreed to have subcommittees meeting as working groups of the whole during the summer in view of the committee's problem in getting a quorum. Such committees can present proposals looking forward to producing a "white paper" to be presented to the Board of Selectmen by mid fall. In the event of an emergency, the entire committee can be called. A subcommittee on diversity was constituted including Ralph, Clifford, Stella Liu and Mary Haskell. Meeting with Norm Cohen For getting acquainted purposes. Meeting Schedule It was agreed that the schedule for further meetings would be as follows: 6/23, 9/23, 10/28, 11/18 and 12/23. Clipping Service John Putnam told the committee about the clipping service that he was making available on human rights subjects.