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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-06-12-2020-min Town of Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee Meeting June 12,2020 Remote Meeting 7:45 a.m.—9:00 a.m. Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Bhumip Khasnabish, Mark Manasas, Margaret Coppe, Peter Enrich,Joe Pato,Andrew Dixon, Robert Peters, Peter Lee,Alan Wrigley, Kathleen Lenihan Members Absent: Carroll Ann Bottino Guests:Jyotsna Kakullavarapu, Marian Cohen Professional Staff Present: Katharine Labrecque The meeting was called to order: 7:48 am Minutes: The minutes from the February 28, 2020 meeting were approved. Handouts/Documents: • Enhancing Communication in Lexington Working Group draft report Action Items Summary: • Fernando will add approving the summary of the Futures Panel event as an agenda item for the next meeting. • Andrew will update that summary of the event to make it more of a document of record. • Fernando will send out another thank you email with the summary of the event attached to ensure their comments were accurately captured. • Committee members and guests should review the Futures Panel video recording and prepare to share 2-3 points at the next meeting. • Committee members should review and send any feedback to Mark and the ECiL subcommittee within the next two weeks. • Joe will reach out to Jim,the Town about the formation of a technical working group for the Town-wide survey. • Committee members should think about a new committee name and/or charge for discussion at the next meeting. Meeting Highlights: Futures Panel Event Debrief 1 Fernando asked the committee if anyone had any feedback from the event or any suggestions from members about they should continue to use the content discussed by the panel. Mark asked if anyone created a summary based off our observations from the event. Dan responded that Andrew created a summary of the event. Mark suggested that we memorialize the document to confirm what the committee heard and learned from the speakers and the attendees. Mark suggested that we add to agenda for the next meeting to review and approve the minutes from the Futures Panel on record. Peter Enrich expressed his gratitude towards everyone organizing the event together remotely. Peter also noted that the engagement between the panelist and the audience wasn't of the same quality that it could have been if this event was held in person based on prior experiences. Further he noted,there is a lot of added value when these events are held in-person.Jyotsna noted that YouTube video is up and can be disseminated for future viewing. Fernando noted that Colonial Times published a 4-5 page article on the event and may be publishing another extensive article about the panel in the future. Margaret noted that the content that resonated with her from the event was Julie Hackett's comment that in the future staff may not have to go into the office/school every day.This might tie into green communities and sustainability because less people will be commuting in and out of Lexington. Dan added that the group should take on the responsibility of reviewing the video and sharing 2-3 points at the next meeting. Fernando agreed,that the event merits a comprehensive discussion. Mark stated that he wonders how the event and discussion might have gone if the pandemic never happened since Covid took over the topics of the forum. Andrew noted that what the panelist said are still relevant today. Andrew asked if the panelist received some formal thank you for their participation. Fernando confirmed that the he sent individual emails thanking the panelists the night of the meeting. Mark added that perhaps the group should send another thank you note and run the summary of the event by the speakers to confirm that we captured their points and comments. Bhumip suggested that we put the panelist's names on the website. Bhumip also said that more time for questions would have been better. Enhancing Communications in Lexington subcommittee Mark briefly talked about the draft report that was sent out to the committee members in advance of the meeting. Mark asked that people read it and send comments back using the track changes function. It would be ideal for the committee to take a vote to approve the report in order to send it to the Select Board for review. Mark asked that the committee send all comments by the 26th so that he and Marian have enough time to make the edits. Dan has already sent some edits and offered to help edit if the committee and the subcommittee is comfortable with him doing so. Margaret asked Mark if Sean Dugan,the Public Information has been able to give his input. Mark responded,yes, he has been communicating with Sean regularly. Sean has been involved in the process and has been learning more about best communication practices from this process. Marian added that during the time that Sean has been working for the Town, a lot of the decisions the committee made has changed based on his presence and good work.Therefore, a lot of things that were stated in the report were a function of what Sean has done and his contribution to Town communication. Fernando asked the committee if they are comfortable with setting a release date for the report no later than the last Friday of July. Mark asked if the information in the report would be most impactful as a report or as a presentation.Joe responded that a report without a presentation is going to get no traction.Joe also noted that the committee played a pivotal role in the Town's decision to hire a Public Information Officer. Fernando asked how they can get on the Select Board's agenda.Joe noted that there is a lot of uncertainty right now, but August would be best because they plan to hold Town Meetings in the fall.Joe suggested as soon as the report is ready, he would let Doug know to put it on the agenda for an upcoming meeting. 2 Mark asked if this warrants a presentation to the senior management team or others.Joe responded that technically this committee reports to the Select Board, Planning Board, and the School Committee, so all three should be invited to a meeting. He also added that it depends on the content in the report if Senior Management should be involved. Mark confirmed that comments should be in by the end of June and then mid-July for an updated draft,which ideally would be ready for a vote at the July meeting. Following this discussion, Mark showed a few slides that included top recommendations from the report: 1) IIIIIIIMIIIIII Iii � ss� iii M � � � '' ISI W �I I I W .. W m IIII �' UR UIII. ,. ••.W M .IIIM w11 II - W. � '' : 'W� WW lu :u'IIT II',.M u M II M' IM II WIw Im II wW u'WI III,I Ili....'.II, IMIoMM,.. luau lw a mMnolM -M M iw... VIII I„ IIU '.M' II'' " III W • iTW" V P IIP W M �. •.'" W"` 'II" W I W ':11114 II M. u: IVW W UV" V". w WW: :, I m "'ll" W "W 4W •. MOW II W -' '" IIw W II . "M II wl uu'. Iw Wu u w uuw:' Mark asked Joe if there has ever been a communication plan around a particular project.Joe responded yes, but typically it's a public engagement plan that involves multiple forms of communication; it's not uniform. Mark noted that many residents don't have time for non-school communication. Marian added that this an important point, because we want to make sure we capture the attention of the parents of school-aged children as well as the older population in Town who have no idea what is going on with the schools. Marian also noted that it is very difficult to get information about the schools if you don't have a child enrolled.This should be a priority because the schools consume a huge portion of the budget. Mark continued on noting that even with Covid,we are still only have an 11% penetrating rate on the electronic platforms. For those who don't want to use electronic forms of communication, we need to continue to find reliable ways to communicate with residents. 2) 3 1000i]NON 0000i] it ON r IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII / Ft% IF Rcsi'.)oinse h da s iooim II ekinlugUDin Coirnnlrnnl'rtiares via Web Ih Su.nfUnrnniissio n fici n Comirnittee Web Pages 1 XY° �f of Responses /n of Responses 60 pugl 75% ,© III VIII 50% 22 C7 20 25/, '_______ ______ ______ ------_...................------——------- O% y #of Did Not Same Day Response Response Response a Committees. Respond Response w/in 1 Day wfin I Week Win 1 Month Contacted Contact&Response Types Mark noted that many people go to the Town website and can't find the information they are looking for. It is very difficult to find anything using the search function on the Town's website.Joe noted that embedding a Google search is free. In regards to point#6, many people interact with the Town by reporting a pothole and never hear back. Mark also ran a test with the 52 different boards and committees and copied and pasted a response in the committee's contact form; the results were not good. He found that 87%of the committees/boards didn't respond. Margaret asked if something was being done to redesign the Town's website.Joe said he believes so, but doesn't know any of the details. Margaret reiterated the difficulty she had searching on the Town's website. Margaret also asked about the CodeRED calls that and if it was the same system police and fire use.Joe responded yes, but it works a little differently. Bhumip added that you have to sign up to receive those alerts. Mark added that Sean gave him the numbers on CodeRED once and it's about 6K, which is about 26%of the population. Margaret asked if the system calls cellphones or landlines,for this is an important detail we need to address.Joe recalls that he receives it on his cellphone. 4 7911 1 ........... ........ Mark noted that the Cary Library has crossed over two thousands subscribers on their Facebook page. The largest electronic platform in Lexington is the Mavens Facebook page (Over 3000 followers). Fernando stated that committee should review and send Mark all comments and be prepared to vote at our next meeting. Town-wide Survey Planning Peter Enrich stated the he believes the committee has completed three iterations of this survey at five- yearinterva|s.ThenextsurveyisdueinZUZZ. Henotedthatquestionshaveevo|vedovertimebutthere has been a steady enough core of questions that has given us a longitudinal view of where attitudes in the town are. Participation has also been high, so there is a very strong argument to start the planning process now. Marian added that if we do want to stay on track,we would be administering this in February 2022.The first step would be to look at previous survey questions to see which ones are still relevant,which need to be modified, and what are missing. Marian said this is particularly important given the pandernic and Black Lives Matter movement.Thus issues about relationships and communication become really paramount, and we may want to add some questions related to that. Marian commented that the sooner a committee can be formed the better, so people can get started. Peter added that during the last survey the committee failed to address the amount of funding actually required for the survey.This needs to be determined soon because budget deliberations begin in a few 5 months. Mark asked that because we now we have a Public Information Officer, should this survey be collaborative with him and other Town departments or independently run? Marian responded that last time we had representatives from the three elected boards on the committee,which was very important and helpful. Marian also agreed that Sean should probably be on the committee. Fernando asked Peter Enrich what this group should be: a working group,focus group or subcommittee. Peter responded that the name of group is less important than the question of whether this group is subject to the Open Meeting Law. Last time, he believed they were subject to the Open Meeting Law. Joe responded that yes, but it would be best to speak with Jim,the Town Manager to suggest he appoint a technical working group and have them report back to him and this group.That way it is not subject to open meeting. Peter agreed that if we can do that, that would be the best way and post a few opportunities for public comment. Mark asked how the issue came up in previous years about trying to identify subpopulations within the Asian population. Peter responded that the good news is that the committee knows that is an issue that they have to be attentive too early on. However, he didn't think it was a failure of openness of forethought on the committee's part last time.There is also a possibility for other issues to come up that are different this time as the world continues to evolve.Joe added that the attitude of the population changed because we engaged various members of cultural communities. We should have targeted outreach to a variety of ethnic and cultural groups to make sure we aren't missing anything this time. Members agreed that this will be critical. Fernando asked for clarification about the formation of a technical working group.Joe offered to contact Jim after the meeting and report back to Fernando on what he is willing to do. Mark asked how much the survey is going to cost. Peter Enrich responded that he believed the survey cost about$30K last time. Fernando confirmed the cost, but noted money was added because of the change made to the nomenclature on the survey, so it ended up costing$36K. Fernando asked for volunteers to serve on the working group. Peter, Mark,Andrew,Alan, Kathleen,Joe, Bob, and Marian volunteered.Joe will see if he can get Mark Sandeen to participate. Committee Name/Charge Fernando asked that the committee give some thought to the new committee name and charge.This will be taken up at the next meeting. Alan noted that Mark did send some ideas out to the committee a while back. Mark commented that this group is really deciding on the direction of the committee; how much does the name decide the direction, or the direction decide the name? Dan agreed that we really need to think about the kind of work we are going to be doing in the future. Dan continued that the article that appeared in the Colonial Times gave us a brand-the 2020 process. Dan's expressed his concern that if we change the name we lose the brand. Fernando requested again that the committee give that some thought for the next meeting. Next Meeting Date ■ To be determined by the approval of the Town Manager Meeting ended at 9:04 a.m. Minutes submitted by Management Fellow, Katharine Labrecque 6