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Home My WebLink About2026-04-08-LHRC-min.pdf Town of Lexington Human Rights Committee Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, April 08, 2026 LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT Christina Lin, Chair (CL); Stephanie Hsu, Vice-Chair (SH); Rachel Levy (RL); Hafsah Syed (HS) Liaisons in attendance - Mark Sandeen, Select Board (MS); Colleen Dunbar, Lexington Police (CD); Dana Bickelman, Director of Human Services (DB); Juanica Buchanan, Clinical Engagement and Community Equity Officer (JB); Andrea So, Lexington Public Schools, Director of Elementary Curriculum (AS); Eileen Jay, School Committee liaison (EJ); Shaun Grady, Liaison to Commission on Disability (SG) Guest: Immigration working group presenters - Bruce Neumann (BN) and Reebee Girash (RG); Indian Americans of Lexington (IAL) - Archana Singhal (AS/IAL) and Preeta Banerjee (PB/IAL) The minutes recorded by Christina Lin Action steps ● CL - Send the Immigration Working Group's presentation to Mark Sandeen, Kim, and Samantha for consideration by the Select Board. ● HS - Send out the goal-setting presentation and discussion timecode to absent committee members before the next meeting. ● All committee members: Review the proposed goals and come prepared to discuss and fill out goal ideas, especially regarding governance and accountability, at the next meeting. ● All committee members: Self-evaluate availability for ongoing committee participation and complete self-evaluation survey (to be sent out by HS/CL). ● Add goal-setting and governance/accountability discussion as a major agenda item for the next meeting, including expectations of member attendance at LHRC events/programs Minutes 1. Meeting called to order at 9:07am 2. Working Group Updates ○ Anti-Hate/-Bias Working group CD secured a date for DA Ryan to talk about Hate crimes vs Hate incidents. The program will be held at the Police Station on May 11th (Monday) at 7PM in the Community Room. District Attorney Marian Ryan and representatives from the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force will deliver the presentation. ○ Discovery Day - Saturday, May 23, 2026 Committee members reported availability to cover a 4-hour window from 9:30am - 1:30pm at Discovery Day. CL submitted a request for a table. It was suggested that the committee reach 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 out to Commission on Disability and Community Wellness Collaborative to share a table or help display materials their committees want to share. Additionally, the Immigration Working Group may also want to have KnowYourRights information and other immigration related resources on hand. Members who are representing LHRC at Discovery Day are: ○ JZ/SH 9:30-11:30am ○ RL/HS 11:30-1:30pm ○ MLK Jr. Day 2027 Planning The group is awaiting feedback after reaching out to ABCL and MLK Day of Service to share the proposed topic for the Community Conversation on Race. Some initial responses suggest the idea was received positively. ○ Housing working group update MS provided updates on housing initiatives, including the Housing Partnership Board's pending recommendations and the Select Board's approval of a rental assistance program. The Select Board and Affordable Housing Trust are exploring MBTA buy-downs that could result in 10-13 new affordable housing units. ○ Community Conversation/Civil Dialogue The group discussed plans for future community conversations applying skills taught in trainings internally by JZ on difficult conversation as well as a recent cross-town collaborative training with Essential Partners. A potential Fall program for a community-wide conversation on community safety that would involve Police, Fire, and Human Services departments to raise awareness about available resources and build trust. ○ Immigration Working Group (IWG) Presentation BN and RG presented an update on the Immigration Working Group's activities to the Human Rights Committee. They highlighted the group's efforts to support immigrants in Lexington, particularly in response to current federal immigration enforcement policies. The presentation included information about Lexington's diverse immigrant population and noted the community's welcoming stance toward immigrants, citing various local organizations and churches that have provided support. The presenters sought endorsement to bring the presentation to the Select Board to discuss recommendations on immigration preparedness. SH motioned to support the IWG recommendations to the Select Board, HS seconded the motion and committee members voted unanimously to approve the motion. The IWG covered completed actions, including facilitating statements from town officials and organizing community safety and immigration rights programs. Current initiatives include the Red Card Project, which provides wallet-sized cards in multiple languages outlining rights during immigration enforcement encounters, and the development of Fourth Amendment workplace rights materials for local businesses. Updating the resource website and creating translated handouts with essential information were also part of the summary of completed and ongoing activities. Three recommendations were suggested for the Select Board to take into consideration: translating the Select Board's recent Proclamation into multiple languages, increasing publicity about the resolution through various Town channels, and promoting the immigration resource page and red card distribution more prominently. A key discussion point was the challenge of distributing red cards in municipal buildings, as this is not currently permitted despite the 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420 Select Board's resolution supporting educating the community about their rights. Members expressed concern that excluding municipal buildings from distribution contradicted the spirit of the resolution. A member proposed reaching out to local organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and Retailers Association for support. The committee voted to send the presentation to the Select Board, with MS suggesting it should also be shared with K. Katzenback and S.Lino. Mark inquired about outreach efforts to community groups, to which CL responded that while some progress had been made on developing a list of vetted immigration attorneys, more work was needed. 3. Program on Spiritual Healing as an Essential Component of Community Well-Being.” - Presentation by Indian Americans of Lexington (IAL); AS/IAL and PB/AIL IAL presented their program for de-escalating stress in the community. This program was created out of discussions around heightened fears from recent immigration enforcement actions that have been extreme. The main goal of the program is for participants to walk away with appreciation of others, different lived religions, and engage in deeper community connections. DB praised the program and it’s collaboration with V. Khin- Coordinator and explained that this project exemplified their idea of how the new Coordinator position would support the community in their role. Committee members voted to support co-sponsoring the event and will provide volunteer help where possible. 4. Goal setting for LHRC 2026/27 HS presented a comprehensive framework for goal-setting, identifying four key areas: making HRC more visible, producing one output per working group quarterly, clarifying internal rules and expectations, and improving governance and accountability. The committee resonated with the assessment of the goals and gaps in deliverables in the presentation and agreed to continue the discussion at their next meeting in May with particular emphasis on establishing clear expectations and responsibilities for members. SH reiterated that she will be stepping down from Vice Chair of LHRC in the Fall. 5. Meeting Adjourned at 11:02am 1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420