HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-05-29-VISION2025-min
Town of Lexington
Vision for Lexington Committee Meeting
May 29, 2026
Remote Meeting
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Minutes
Members Present: Sara del Nido Budish, Marian Cohen, Margaret Coppe, John Giudice,
Bhumip Khasnabish, Tom Lin, Carol Marine, Mona Roy (School Committee), Bob Creech
(Planning Board), PK Shiu, Catherine Yan, Min Zhou, Vineeta Kumar (Select Board).
Absent: Shannon Murtagh, Andrew Dixon.
Guests: John Zhao (Council on Aging).
Meeting was called to order: 8:03 am.
The remote meeting script was read by Margaret Coppe.
Roll Call Vote: Budish, Aye; Cohen, Aye; Guidice, Aye; Khasnabish, Aye; Lin, Aye; Marine,
Aye; Roy, Aye; Creech, Aye; Shiu, Aye; Yan, Aye; Zhou, Aye; Kumar, Aye.
Minutes:
Correction to draft minutes: “Min Shou`” to “Min Zhou.”
The approval of minutes from April 24, 2026, with edits, was moved by John Giudice
and seconded by Bhumip Khasnabish.
Roll Call Vote: Budish, Aye; Kumar, Abstain; Cohen, Aye; Lin, Aye; Marine, Aye; Roy,
Aye; Creech, Abstain; Yan, Aye; Zhou, Abstain; Shiu, Aye.
The vote was unanimous with two abstentions.
Meeting Highlights:
New Planning Board Representative
Bob Creech was introduced as the new Planning Board representative for Vision for Lexington,
replacing Michael Schanbacher.
VFL Website and Report on Emails
Nothing reported.
Introduction of New Management Fellow Darah Meister
Darah Meister was introduced.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity
The committee discussed the Town’s new DEI-focused hires: Vannak Khin, Community
Engagement Coordinator; Juanica Buchanan, Clinical Engagement and Community Equity
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Officer; and Luke Burke-Fournier, Assistant Human Resources Director/Internal Equity Officer.
Vineeta noted that they presented high-level plans for the Town’s DEI operations and processes
to the Select Board in the winter. She recommended inviting them to an upcoming VFL meeting
to present their findings and identify opportunities to engage them in VFL’s survey process.
Town Wide Survey
Update
Town Meeting members approved $60,000 for the VFL survey at Annual Town Meeting (ATM)
in April.
Vineeta suggested that the committee revisit Town Meeting members’ feedback/commentary on
the VFL survey and incorporate it into the current process to improve engagement and
participation. Sara recommended outreach to Town Meeting members who voted against the
survey (47) to collect feedback via Zoom, in-person, and/or phone conversations. Margaret
compiled an email list.
Vineeta also noted VFP is charged with periodically tracking, measuring, and reporting on topics
it studies and suggested that the committee should report on its results, successes, and actions
once per year, perhaps in the form of a synthesized report at ATM. This might address questions
from Town Meeting members regarding the actual impact of VFP’s work and surveys.
RFP
The Committee discussed whether an RFP is required for this process. Vineeta will confirm
requirements and next steps with Town Manager, Steve Bartha, with support from Management
Fellow, Darah Meister.
Sara will circulate a copy of the prior RFP from Purchasing Director, Elizabeth Mancini. Marian
flagged that an RFP was not required for the 2022 survey due to her employment at Framingham
State University at the time.
John noted that if an RFP is necessary, the Committee must clearly define its evaluation criteria.
The Committee discussed the survey development and set up process, contemplated the need for
both paper and electronic methods, and considered methods for reaching residents (e.g., QR
codes on Town bills, mailers/inserts, postcards, etc.).
Marian noted that the Committee’s role is to conduct background work on the content and
substance of the questions, while a contractor will manage the ordering and structuring of
questions and the overall survey. Marian also noted that for the 2022 survey, the Committee
identified key groups/committees in Lexington and reached out to representatives from those
groups to collect feedback on survey questions and content. The overall 2022 survey response
rate was 10-11 percent.
The Committee identified the need to review the 2022 survey questions to determine which
existing questions it will keep, edit, and/or remove, in addition to creating new questions. The
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2022 survey is available in Appendix A (pg. 150) of the Final Report on Town-Wide Survey
2022. Marian noted the importance of continuing some questions from survey to survey as a tool
for analyzing trends and making comparisons over time. The Committee discussed the
possibility of shortening the 2026 survey. Sara created and circulated a Google form for
Committee members to submit feedback about the 2022 survey: VFL Committee feedback: TWS
2022.
Mona flagged that the Committee should consult with the Human Rights Committee on DEI
questions/components to improve and better integrate these aspects in the 2026 survey. Mona
questioned whether there are opportunities to improve the outreach processes for
collecting/incorporating feedback from key groups/committees for the 2026 survey. Marian
recommended beta testing which was completed for the 2022 survey.
John recommended that the Committee keep records on the key groups/committees that are
contacted and engaged for the 2026 survey to include as an appendix in the final report. Prior
VFL Chair, Mark, may have similar records from the 2022 survey.
Next steps and action items:
Vineeta to consult Steve regarding RFP requirements, process, and next steps.
Committee to identify all key groups/committees to contact for feedback on survey
questions and content.
Sara and Tom to develop a comprehensive project plan to steer the survey process.
Student participation in survey
Children under the age of 18 must have parental permission to engage in survey/research.
Lexington population under 18 years old is 25%.
Next steps: consult School Committee; and/or Julie Hackett (Superintendent of Schools) and
Sara Jorge, Office Manager.
Meeting in person
Not discussed.
Public comment
No public comment.
Motion to adjourn: Giudice moved to adjourn; seconded by Kumar.
Budish, Aye; Cohen, Aye; Giudice, Aye; Khasnabish, Aye; Kumar, Aye; Lin, Aye; Yan, Aye;
Zhou, Aye; Coppe, Aye. Roy, Creech, and Shiu were absent. The vote was unanimous.
Meeting ended: 9:12 AM
Next meeting: June 26, 2026, at 8:00 AM. Location to be determined.
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Minutes submitted by Darah Meister, Town Management Fellow
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