HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-03-11-LHRC-min.pdf
Town of Lexington Human Rights Committee
Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, March 11, 2026
LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT
Christina Lin, Chair (CL); Judy Zola (JZ); Hafsah Syed (HS)
Liaisons in attendance - Mark Sandeen, Select Board (MS); Colleen Dunbar, Lexington Police (CD);
Juanica Buchanan, Human Services Outreach Coordinator (JB); Eileen Jay, School Committee liaison
(EJ); Shaun Grady, Liaison to Commission on Disability (SG)
The minutes recorded by Christina Lin
Follow up Tasks:
● ALL - MLK Day 2027 planning - updates from each job at the March 25 meeting.
● Create calendar of religious observances & holidays for the 26/27 season by 3/25/26 (JZ)
● Training for understanding Hate crime vs bias
○ Create marketing materials and communications 3/25/26 (HS)
○ Coordinate refreshments 4/08/2026 (HS)
○ Communicate the event to community organizations: Commission on Disability,
PPC, TMM, affinity groups, and others. 4/01/2026 (CL)
● Community Building through dialogue
○ Create a team to determine internal LHRC skill building for community building
dialogue 3/25/26 (CL)
○ Create a series of 20-30min training sessions at future meetings. - 04/08/26 by
team created in the bullet above
● Post LHRC meeting and calendar - 3/25/26 (CL)
● Explore Gmail calendar for LHRC meetings 3/25/26 (HS)
1. Meeting called to order at 9:06am
2. MLK Day planning
a. The group reviewed roles/jobs assigned to each member and deadlines updates on progress
b. Post-event Survey update (JZ)
i. 5 people responded
ii. Community Conversation on Race program was rated effective. Lessons learned
centered on the history of racism in the Boston area. The feedback was a
suggestion for preview of event agenda prior to the event, to have actionable
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420
takeaways for participants, opportunity for Q&A and/or one-on-one with the
speakers. The program started early, but felt worthwhile.
iii. Activator Fair was rated effective.
c. Suggestion for future surveys to include information and updates from the LHRC and invite
input from the public for what they would like to see more of from this committee.
3. Delegating LHRC operational task - The Chair asked for committee volunteers to help with creating
next year’s calendar of religious observances and holidays and also discussed the need for a Clerk to
take meeting minutes. JZ offered to update the calendar. HS offered to take minutes for March 25th
meeting. The group wanted guidance on taking meeting minutes, turn around time and preferred
sharing the responsibility. The chair said they would no longer take meeting minutes.
4. Working Group Updates
a. On Community Dialogue front, a summary of training for Building Community
Connections on March 1 & 8 was provided. The training was hosted by the neighborhood
Human Rights Commissions (and equivalents) and focused on listening skills. To continue
building on the skills learned and apply it to LHRC work in the community, the group
decided to start initially with getting every member/liaison up to speed through
20-30minutes practices at each LHRC meeting. Once the committee felt trained, then the
work could be applied at the community level. It was suggested that these listening skills
could be applied to Town Meeting Members for the Fall Special Town Meeting where
heated discussions are not uncommon.
b. Anti-Bias/Anti-Hate - CD will check with DA Ryan about scheduling a training May 6 or
May 7 in the evening, 7-9pm. The event will be open to the public and the following are
stakeholder groups that should be invited to the program: PPC Chairs, Commission on
Disability, Cultural & Affinity Groups in Town, LICA and Town Meeting members. HS will
assist with designing marketing materials and coordinating refreshments for the event.
c. Housing - MS gave an extensive update on the many efforts on housing by the Affordable
Housing Trust, LexHAB, and Lexington Housing Authority. The issue of rising housing
insecurity in the Town became evident as reported by the high level of housing burden
experienced by renters and homeowners in the Housing Assessment Report by the Housing
Partnership Board, increasing demand on Lexington Food Pantry, increased demand on
Human Services for support with housing insecurity. Furthermore, the Boston area
measured the highest in energy needs this past Winter and the high cost of energy in the
region also adds to the cost of housing burden. Pine Street Inn has seen a massive increase
in need of their services and facilities. There are a number of ongoing efforts to increase
affordable housing options as well as stabilizing mechanisms for those experiencing short
term housing crisis. Housing insecurity has always existed in Lexington, but there is rising
need due to a number of factors including - loss of SNAP benefits, downturn on jobs
market, cuts to Section 8 Vouchers, medical and housing cost increases.
Committee members appreciated having a deeper understanding of the urgency and
magnitude of housing insecurity in Lexington as well as in the region. It was also pointed
out that a study on Fair Housing recently showed discriminatory practices persist in
keeping people with low income, disability and Black residents from equal access to housing
opportunities.
While there is no data on exact level of evictions in Lexington, outreach for support on
evictions has increased.
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d. Immigration Working Group - They will present at the March 25th LHRC meeting.
5. Committee and Liaison Updates
a. Monday - the students did a walkout - protesting ICE activities. It was a peaceful protest
coordinated with the school administration and with Police safety support. Students were
very enthusiastic, ~300 students participated during their lunch or free-block period.
b. An issue of design for bathrooms for the new LHS was discussed at the School Committee
meeting the day before. The School Committee voted in favor of a greater ratio of
all-gendered bathrooms which is different from the School Building Design
recommendation. A committee member shared that it is problematic and stigmatizing when
safety concerns are raised as an issue when inclusion for LGBTQ+ considerations are
factored into bathroom design. Also, a question about whether the private stalls were fully
sealed was raised because there had been an incident where privacy was comprised where
the stall walls did not fully meet and seal against the backwall. The new stall design ensures
all gaps of the private bathroom stalls are fully sealed except for 4inches at the bottom of
the stall door.
6. Meeting adjourned at 11:03am
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420