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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-08-28-2020-min Town of Lexington 20/20 Vision Committee Meeting August 28,2020 Remote Meeting 7:45 a.m.—9:00 a.m. Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Bhumip Khasnabish, Margaret Coppe, Peter Enrich, Robert Peters, Kathleen Lenihan Members Absent: Carroll Ann Bottino,Alan Wrigley, Peter Lee, Mark Manasas,Joe Pato,Andrew Dixon Guests: Marian Cohen Professional Staff Present: The meeting was called to order: 8:00 am The Remote meeting opening script was read by the chair, Fernando. Minutes: • The minutes from the July 31, 2020 meeting were approved by a roll call vote. Handouts/Documents: • 2020 Annual Report Draft Submission Action Items Summary: • Fernando with the help of Mark will request to have the Colonial Times article about the Futures Panel be posted to the committee's page on the website. • Kathleen will send the ECiL report to the School Committee for review. • Mark and the ECiL subcommittee will continue to prepare a presentation for the Select Board for the September 14th Meeting. • Bob will work with Mark and Marian to see if they can schedule a separate presentation for the Planning Board since they will be unable to attend the Select Board Meeting. • The Town-wide Survey Working Group will hold their first meeting after Labor Day. • Fernando will try to locate the document which listed the 26 goals that resulted from the committee's initial exercise. • Dan will invite Marian and Candy to the September meeting. • Fernando will note on the agenda that we will be devoting time at our next two meetings to reflect on the past 20 years. • Mark and Dan will work to get the Colonial Times article posted to the website. 1 Meeting Highlights: Futures Panel Event Summary Fernando asked if Dan had an update on the plan to post the summary of the event to the Town website. Dan responded that he did not at this time. Fernando asked that we try to get this posted on the website. Fernando asked Dan about the article put together by the Colonial Times and how we can get that posted on the website. Dan said Mark should be able to take care of this. Enhancing Communications in Lexington subcommittee Report Fernando provided a brief update where he believes we landed in regards to the ECI report and the upcoming Select Board meeting. Fernando noted that Bob Peters forwarded a copy of the report to the Planning Board. He asked Kathleen if she had a chance to send the report to the School Committee members. Kathleen responded that she has not sent it to members yet but will do so. She noted that the school committee has on their schedule to attend the joint meeting/ presentation that the subcommittee will prepare for the Select Board Meeting on September 14th. Fernando noted that Mark and Marian will be at the meeting and will be prepared to present. Marian commented that she will be talking about the survey that was sent out to 23 municipalities, and that she and Mark have been working on a PowerPoint presentation. Fernando stressed the importance of the communications effort, and will ask Mark how we can move forward or determine action items to support the Town and its current efforts involving communication. Fernando asked if the Select Board Meeting will still be meeting remotely. Bob responded yes, and requested to provide an update on his efforts to circulate the report with the Planning Board. He noted that the chair reviewed the report closely and was very approving of it. Unfortunately,the Planning Board has a conflict on Sept. 14th. They have a hearing scheduled for zoning articles for the upcoming Special Town Meeting and will not be able to participate in the presentation. Fernando responded that perhaps Mark and Marian would be able to make a special presentation to the Planning Board. Town-wide Survey Planning Peter provided an update on the technical working group's progress. Peter said he sent out an email with a doodle survey to schedule an initial meeting after Labor Day, and most people have responded. Peter noted that he hasn't put together an agenda for that meeting but imagines that we will talk about building a timeline for the entire project,to what extent we need funding for the project, and how we will reach out to groups to determine the scope of questions that we want to include. Katharine will provide support to the working group. Membership Renewal Fernando noted that some members terms are about to expire in September, and have agreed to renew their membership on the committee. 2 Stewardship of 20/20 Goals Fernando noted that the word stewardship was chosen carefully in the early days of 20/20, and involved a lot of conversations with the community.The committee developed a document called "26 goals"that called out 26 identified goals. Many of the things that were put down are no longer relevant or have been accomplished, such as sustainability, issues related to economic development and conservation, and the schools. Fernando further added that the concept of stewardship means that we are doing a little bit of reminding people. Dan talked about his experience influencing the formation of a committee, and how he worked with the Town Manager at the time to change the makeup of the committee that failed to match the committee's recommendation. Dan asked Kathleen to confirm that he is correct in stating that this was the issue. Kathleen said that the current Town Manager,Jim Malloy and the Superintendent,Julie Hackett, inherited this committee.The committee was transformed and the intention of the committee had drifted as Dan mentioned. Months ago,Julie sent a letter agreeing that committee be re-constituted and more or less follow the charter that was recommended. Kathleen continued that COVID-19 has really consumed all of their focus at this time because of school reopening. Dan followed up that if the committee was properly constituted and doing its job like the Diversity Think Thank out West, it might have been a position to advise the superintendent. Fernando responded that he will research and identify what these 26 were and asked Peter Enrich to weigh in as well. Dan also suggested a renewed dialogue with Candy,who has moved to Vermont but is still interested in helping the committee. Fernando asked Peter to weigh in. Peter added that in his view 20/20 is meant to serve as a gathering of community perspectives, and not in itself an advocate for outcomes.Therefore, the primary responsibility we have after issuing a report, is keeping track of what happens with it, not necessary advocating. Peter noted that Dan's example is a complicated one because if the recommendation is a process recommendation -- meaning to move things from a process perspective rather than a substantive prospective--then the committee should weigh in on it. Peter further added that the 26 goals are from 20 years ago; how vital those goals are to the community now, and how much we should have a stake in pursuing and assessing them is one of the things the cycle of 5-year survey can help inform. Fernando agreed, saying that it is a matter of monitoring, and those 26 goals captured the mood and attitude of Lexington over a period of time. Fernando noted that if it is the will of the elected boards that we continue in these efforts, then we should actually take inventory and assess where we are after 20 years. Fernando mentioned that Dan emailed him requesting that we set aside some time at a future meeting to discuss where the committee has been.This can help us decide where we want to go moving forward. Dan explained that what prompted this question is that he looked back on the committee's history, and, despite joining in 2010, he noticed that we took on about 5-10 projects: economic development,the budget, Citizens'Academy, and the demographic work. We had a very productive and busy first 10 years, but we had a large turnover in the membership. Dan noted that the membership since 2010 has not been turning over as much as it was prior to that. Similarly,the committee has not been as productive during the last 10 years, despite having 3 subcommittees,the demographic work in 2008, a couple of surveys, and lastly the Enhancing Communication in Lexington. After conversations with Candy, Dan felt it was worthwhile to think about where we get our ideas for our projects, the influence of the 3 elected boards, and how we keep our membership more vibrant. Dan added that he thinks we need more "competent participation"to quote Dan Fenn. Dan suggested structuring a discussion on this and involve Candy,who has been looking carefully at our history and has been putting together a document as well. Marian would also be a helpful participant. Fernando asked for additional 3 feedback from other committee members on this topic. Margaret added that we are at a point where a work is done or a lot of work is being done outside the primary committee,where we could devote some time to this. She agrees, and especially underscores that we need to look at the membership of the committee. Bhumip commented that it is better late than never. Peter Enrich added that he thinks it is a good idea, and 20 years was a long time ago, and we don't look back as much as we like to think what our function is and to see how our operations fit that function. Fernando suggested that we devote at least 30 minutes to this at the next meeting. Bob commented that this is an important issue but maybe it should be spread out over a series of meetings, such as September and October.The committee agreed. Annual Report Fernando discussed the committee's draft annual report submission. He noted that Dan provided some comments and feedback. Fernando read the changes to the committee.The "Highlight" section was edited. Dan suggested we include what the committee sent the SB for goal setting, the completion of the EUL report, detailed account of the Futures Panel, and the appointment of a Town-wide Technical Working Group. Fernando asked if anyone had any additional bullet points to add. Peter commented that he didn't like the word "exercise," and Dan's edits thankfully removed it. Fernando will forward the updated submission to Katharine and to committee working on the Annual Report. Next Meeting Date • 7:45am, September 25, 2020 • 7:45am, October 30, 2020 Meeting ended at 9:09 a.m. Minutes submitted by Management Fellow, Katharine Labrecque 4