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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-12-06-LHRC-min Town of Lexington, Human Rights Committee Meeting Friday,December 6, 2019 Lexington Community Center 8:18-9:40 Present: Committee Members: Monami D. Roy (Chair), Tanya Gisolfi (Vice Chair), Georgia Swann (Clerk), Fuang Ying Huang, Jeffrey Toronto, Melissa Interess (Town Manager's Office Member/Human Services Department) Liaisons and Guests: Scott Bokun (School Committee Liaison), Mark Corr (Chief of Police), Aidan Evelyn(Police Department Liaison), Tahir Chaudhry (LICA Liaison), Mabel Amar (Guest), Amber Iqbal(Guest) Meeting called to order at 8:18 AM, Quorum was present at 8:18 AM. Chair Report 1. Expectations of the LHRC community members a. Be connected to the community at large and bring back any relevant concerns from the community to the LHRC and educate the public on reporting options b. Attend/Promote/Support LHRC community events c. Engage community groups to connect with the LHRC 2. Updates since last meeting a. Met with BOS Chair b. Met with Town Manager c. Attended Reading White Fragility with the Lexington Community Coalition, November 3, 2019 (https://www,lexhcre4 oaaoorgfwh�te llag�laly) d. Attended LICA Interfaith Thanksgiving e. Attended November 9th DATF Embracing Diversity: Gaining Insight-- Dr. Karen Suyemoto f. Attended Transgender Day of Remembrance g. Met with Town Celebrations MLK Day Sub-Committee h. Attended Town Chair Training i. Met with COD and LPS re: Discipline Disparity and next steps 3. Work that others are doing around town/Events of Interest a. DATF December 7th, 2:30-4:30 Embracing Diversity: Taking Action-- Dr. Karen Suyemoto b. Social Justice Bookgroup 1st Wednesday of the month (7 PM - 8:30 PM) Cary Library 4. Committee Member Liaison Reports • CC: Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club o Chamber of Commerce has an open invitation to Chair Person Jim Shaw and Member Veronica Caira is open to attending/speaking at one of LHRC events. o Rotary Club will be meetings will begin in January of 2020 • GS: Commission on Disability Update: o Attended the November meeting of the COD and met many of the members including Chair, Victoria Buckley. At the meeting, we shared information about the No Hate November discussion on experiences of disability that the Lexington Human Rights Committee sponsored at Cary Memorial Library. o Learned about the state-wide issue of the Architectural Access Board and the administration of Charlie Baker. The AAB is tasked with making sure that new and renovated buildings meet accessibility standards. The concern of the COD is that the Baker administration is hindering the work of the AAB. As the issue is still developing and we are keeping in touch with the COD so that the LRHC can be available to them as needed. • MI: Council on Aging o Looking at the results of the Age Friendly Survey, issues include housing, transportation, social isolation, mental health. There is a work group looking at the results working on the issues. 5. No Hate November (JT, FYH) • JT: This month we had great success with our inaugural initiative No Hate November. First, we had a family friendly event organized by my co-chair Fuang Ying at the beginning of the month which included the screening of the movie Wonder and a kindness activity after the movie, where families made art and painted kindness rocks to give to others who may need a pick me up. The event was very well attended, we actually ran out of seats—a good problem to have on a sunny Saturday afternoon. • Later in the month, we presented a panel discussion on the Impact of Hate on the 18th of November. The panelists (including myself) comprised a diverse group of Lexingtonians sharing their personal stories of encountering hate. They provided personal stories and very powerful insights. I thought it was a great victory for all of us in the battle against hate in the Town of Lexington. Our event was covered by both The Minuteman and LexMedia. The links are below here in this report. Overall, No Hate November was a great success for the LHRC. Discussion continuing this as a yearly program if possible. There is more work to be done in the battle on stopping hate in Lexington. Please let me know your thoughts on this. • FYH: Commented that providing this content for families and children is important because these values need to be taught regularly from a young age. • TG: Commented that this is the first significant family event and that there is a need to continue with this kind of programming when it is so successful. • JT: The presentation is available on LexMedia under the title "The Impact of Hate" • MDR: Is thankful for the Chair and Co-Chair making this event a success and the feedback from the audience was that he presentation was "authentic" 6. MLK Day Conversation on Race The Importance of Talking about Race and Racism at Home (GS, MDR) • Speakers confirmed: Dr. Elena Wolkoff; Dr. Sefani Harvey; MDR. Jamele Adams, GS committee member chair, Lexington resident Jodi Finnegan will be community member co-chair • Service hours for teen volunteers will be available. • Would like to encourage community members to join the work group, attend facilitator training, promote the event and attend with friends. • Outreach to community groups and town organizations is the next step. • Human services is one of several sources providing funding for an honorarium for speakers, this will be helpful in securing professional high caliber speakers. 7. Civil Rights Concerns (MDR, JB, JC) • There are continued concerns expressed by the public about the reporting of civil rights and oversight and sharing of information. LHRC with input from LPS and LPD will develop a decision tree that will publicly so that the public understands what happens with potential civil rights incidents • MDR: Would encourage anyone who has concerns about incidents in the community to feel free to contact the LHRC directly so that a response or action can be taken. • TG: Looks forward to LHRC outreach and hopes to have the website to be more of a resource for community members. • Public Comments o Mabel Amar: Experienced an incident in the Community Center where an individual bothered her. Also experienced an incident a local convenience store with regard to queuing, spoke with the manager and was not satisfied by the result of the conversation. Believes that there is possible bias because of age and national origin. o School Committee Liaison: Regarding flow chart and LPS Discipline Disparity, the chart should show who is able to see the action and when so anyone making a complaint can be sure to avoid any individuals for whatever reason. o LICA Liaison: Glad to see that the LHRC exists. Most people would be hesitant to go to police with these issues and would like to see more community members aware of LHRC and reach out for assistance. o LPD liaison: Encourages all community members to feet free to report incidents to police. 8. School Discipline Disparity Workgroup (JC and MDR) • Had joint meeting with COD to discuss next steps and will meet again in Jan. • Questions will be saved for next meeting attended by JC 9. Not In Our Town/Not In Our Schools Update (TG, GS, CC) • Recommending the NIOT program to the Select Board, currently working with Diamond Middle School to test a small portion of the NIOS program. • Subgroup creation for NIOT and NIOS TG will lead, CC will work on NIOT and GS will work on NIOS 10. Understanding Our Town Work Group Update (MI, CC, FYH) • MI: New data was reviewed under Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee, demographics on school population, and aging population. Statistical and demographic information is also available through the town based on information from town census. • MDR: Questions remain about how/if LGBTQ people and people with a disability are being counted. • TG: Wonders about inclusion of community members who work in Lexington but do not reside in Lexington • CC: Recent Lexington Police Department hiring efforts have included diverse committees covering different phases of the hiring process. There are many different factors specific to the LPD regarding hiring and retention, it's very complex. • TG: Last year, LHRC made a recommendation to the Select Board to hire someone to work on diversity hiring because the scope of the issue is very broad and detailed. • MDR: Human Services stands out as a diverse department within town of Lexington staff. Continuing with the concerns about hiring in Lexington and employment disparity and the disparities around the Asian population in Lexington, there are implicit bias questions and also the recommendations that were made by previous committees have not been followed. • MI noted that Human Services made an effort to seek diverse candidates • FYH: Mentioned the importance of seeing yourself reflected in the school and town employees. Also mentioned that Town of Lexington Human Resources was contacted and spoke with the LHRC in the past and nothing has changed. LHRC was also visited by a representative from CAAL who spoke about the lack of response to applications that minority residents have experienced when applying to jobs with the Town of Lexington. • Workgroup will clarify how demographic data is collected. The scope of the work group will also be clarified to narrow what is being considered. Resident concerns remain about access to employment in the town is open to all and that diversity of applicants is encouraged. There is also the desire for residents to see themselves reflected in local employees. Discussion will be continued at next meeting with JC in attendance. 11. Addressing the Needs of the Growing Asian Population • MI: There is a lot of outreach by Human Services to the Asian community, an example is the partnership with CAAL to provide translation to elderly Asian residents at the Villages Complex. • MDR: Important next steps will be reaching out to community groups to make sure they are heard on the issue and will continue this discussion next month 12. Approval of November Minutes • Motion made by MI, Seconded by TG, all in favor (FYH was not present). Public Comments Amber Iqbal: It was wonderful to be a part of the No Hate November panel discussion and would like to volunteer to help on programming at Diamond Middle School and Fiske Elementary School specifically. Motion to Adjourn: TG Seconded: MI Meeting Adjourned 9:39 Next Meeting Date and Time January 311, at 8:15 am. LIST OF DOCUMENTS LHRC Chair Report LHRC Member Sign-In Sheet LHRC Guest and Liaison Sign-In Sheet LHRC Public Comment Log LHRC Comment Guidelines JT No Hate November Comments 2020 Social Justice Reading List Respectfully submitted, Georgia Swann Clerk, LHRC