HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-06-10-LHRC-min.pdf
Town of Lexington Human Rights Committee
Meeting Minutes for Wednesday, June 10, 2026
LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT
Christina Lin, Chair (CL); Stephanie Hsu, Vice-Chair (SH); Rachel Levy (RL); Judy Zola (JZ); 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); Vannak Khin, Community Engagement Coordinator (VK) Andrea So,
Lexington Public Schools, Director of Elementary Curriculum (AS); Eileen Jay, School Committee liaison
(EJ); Larry Freeman, School Committee liaison (SC), Shaun Grady, Liaison to Commission on Disability
(SG)
The minutes written by Christina Lin
1. Meeting called to order at 9:02 am
2. Minutes for March 25, 2026, April 08, 2026 and May 13, 2026 approved. Moved by JZ and
Seconded by SH
3. LHRC Goal Setting
The discussion focused primarily on establishing member and liaison expectations, discussing
accountability measures, and planning for increased visibility. The committee reviewed a
one-page document outlining member expectations including active participation, meeting
attendance, working group involvement, and commitment to LHRC events, with several
members expressing concerns about accountability for members who do not meet these
expectations. The discussion revealed challenges with inconsistent attendance and
participation, leading to debates about enforcement mechanisms and the need for clearer
processes during the recruitment and onboarding of new members. MS provided clarification
on the Select Board's appointment process, explaining that chairs can provide feedback on
candidates but final decisions are made through a Select Board vote ranking system. The
committee also discussed plans for increasing visibility through email distribution lists,
website updates, and three planned newsletters throughout the year. Committee members also
suggested a 3-year strategic vision on goals of working groups. Ultimately, the conversation
about goal setting was left unfinished and will be finalized at the next meeting.
Housing Working Group update & goals - The housing working group discussed their mission
to help the community connect with housing resources and document institutional knowledge
about housing-related incidents, which make up about half of reported cases. They plan to
develop guidelines for the Housing Working Group to help direct people to appropriate
resources.
Anti-Hate/Anti-Bias Working Group update & goal setting - The working group acknowledged
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420
the likely need for a professional moderator to help manage larger community discussions, as
the group recognized it would need to be messier and more inclusive of diverse voices.
Immigration Working Group update & goals - this effort is currently in a quieter phase. Ogoing
work includes outreach to community members who expressed interest on this issue.
4. Equity Team update from external equity group (VK, JB)
The meeting focused on language access challenges and strategies in Lexington, with
participants discussing how to better serve non-English speaking residents across municipal
departments. The team discussed expanding translation and interpretation services, including
creating a language access guide and potentially hiring more bilingual staff, particularly for
Mandarin speakers given the town's demographics. One challenge observed was normalization
of utilizing translation services. It was observed that - even with services offered, some chose
not to take advantage of the service. In response, an example where Boston Public Schools
(BPS) offered translation services and were able to normalize this practice by ensuring
personalized translation services at school events helped increase engagement. It was also
acknowledged that this approach was not insignificant in its costs to the budget. AS shared that
schools currently use phone translation services and have interpreters available for parent
conferences, while the town's human services department identified specific needs among A
community needs assessments is also underway with plans to gather demographic data to
better understand which voices are heard by the Town and which ones are missing. Ultimately
- the plan will be to create and train a steering committee of community members to help with
engagement to stakeholder groups who may not be as plugged into Town services yet.
The discussion concluded with plans to expand visibility through events like Pride and
self-defense classes, with an emphasis on building community connections through a steering
committee of key stakeholders.
5. Meeting adjourned at 11:03am
1625 MASSACHUSETTS AVENUE • LEXINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02420