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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-02-24-FHHR-min.pdf FAIR HOUSING AND HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE { MINUTES 2/24/99 Present: Ralph Clifford, Chair; Margaret Cole; Michelle Ekanem; Beverly Goodridge; Tom Montanari; Dan Fenn, Selectmen liaison; Paula Rayman, guest; Steve Baran, staff and recorder; Absent: Florence Baturin; Bensen Chiou; Kathryn Davis; Mary Haskell Minutes The Minutes of 12/16/98 were approved. There was no meeting on January 13 due to a snowstorm. Invitation to Brokers Ralph has issued an invitation to brokers to attend a meeting of the committee. One broker showed an interest but was unable to come this evening. Federal Housing Law Ralph reported on a lecture he attended by Kenneth Jackson tracing the history of housing discrimination from the 1930s. The federal government applied a form of risk analysis which was adopted by major lending institutions such as banks, the Federal Housing Administration and Veterans' Administration. People with small lot sizes, with houses close to the street, with old houses, African-Americans, Jews were given unfavorable ratings. A black person moving into a white neighborhood would cause all of the houses in that neighborhood to have unfavorable ratings leading to red lining. The pattern was fully in use until 1996. Eminent domain and urban renewal compounded the problem. Town Meeting Articles There was a discussion of mansionization, the move toward tearing down small houses and building large ones on the plots formerly occupied by small houses. In Lexington, land is costly and property taxes are high. This can result in reducing the amount of affordable housing. Issues discussed were: 2 1 o Common good vs. rights of property owners o Class vs. race o Vision of the town with respect to racial, ethnic and economic diversity ❑ Complacency— the majority will not feel sufficiently affected to take action even though they may be sympathetic The Committee agreed to support Family Affected by Discrimination Article 14, the Home Rule Petition, which will allow the town to regulate the construction of large houses built Beverly Goodridge said that she knew of a family that had decided to move away from on Lexington after experiencing discrimination. Dan Fenn felt it was important for the small family to feel support from the Fair Housing Committee and offered to assist. Michelle lots commented that even if the family were moving, the data about the incident could be helpful to other families. Beverly said that she might discuss this further with the family Michelle and Tom saw the need for the committee to use publicity, be smart politically and become more visible in order to force cultural changes. Through the media, people experiencing discrimination might be encouraged to get in touch with a hotline in the interest of an ongoing dialogue. Through holding an open house, guests could donate money A pooling of funds could result in building a house. The committee reviewed how in the past some people who have come forward did not want incidents reported, but it was recognized that there were ways of taking action without violating confidentiality For example, in arguing against mansionization committee members could alert the public to the existence of the committee. Dan Fenn Resignation Dan Fenn announced that he was ending as Selectmen liaison but interested in serving as an Associate Member He encouraged the Committee to let the Selectmen Chair know as soon as possible what was their preference for the next liaison. Affirmative Action Working Group Ralph announced that Gerri Weathers would be attending the next meeting of the Committee to talk about the Affirmative Action Working Group.