HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-12-18-2020-min Town of Lexington
20/20 Vision Committee Meeting
December 18, 2020
Remote Meeting
7:45 a.m.—9:00 a.m.
Members Present: Fernando Quezada, Dan Krupka, Margaret Coppe, Mark Manasas,Joe Pato, and Alan
Wrigley
Members Absent: Bhumip Khasnabish, Kathleen Lenihan, Peter Lee, Peter Enrich, Andrew Dixon Robert
Peters
Guests: Candy McLaughlin and Jyostna Kakullavarapu
Professional Staff Present: Katharine Labrecque, Management Analyst
The meeting started but was not called to order: 7:49am
The Remote Meeting Opening Script was read by the chair, Fernando Quezada, although not called
order.
Minutes:
• Minutes from the November 20, 2020 meeting were not approved due to not having a quorum.
Handouts/Documents Shared:
• 2020 Town Wide Survey Mission
Action Items Summary:
• Jyotsna will attend the next Town-wide survey working group meeting to provide the comments
and feedback she received from the Council on Aging and IAL.
• Committee members will send their comments and feedback on the 2017 survey to Mark and
the working group as soon as possible.
• Fernando will add "Recruiting for scoping groups and for 20/20 Committee Members Vacancies"
as the first item of the agenda for the next meeting.
• Dan will send out his document with membership questions and possible criteria out to
members.
• Committee Members should come up with some recommendations for the committee's name
changes for our next meeting.
Meeting Highlights:
Town-wide Survey Planning Update
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Mark provided an update. Mark noted that the group has a schedule laid out, and we are good shape.
Mark mentioned that the group will look at the mission of the survey. Mark asked about the timeline for
our vision; are we thinking five or ten years from now. Fernando asked about the last survey, and
whether this is an update from the last survey.Joe mentioned he viewed it as an assessment of the
community's satisfaction with how the Town is operating today, along with an expression of
expectations of near term changes (next five years). Mark agreed, and said we are looking to use this to
guide decision making in the next five years that's going to guide us towards this future vision. Mark
asked if we should broaden the groups included in this statement(below).Joe commented that it is also
for the general residents to get some sort of communal perspective on issues. Mark reviewed the
timeline, and noted that we are applying for a grant through the Community Endowment for Lexington
to potentially give us extra funding to support additional advertisement. We continue to seek feedback
from groups to help inform the survey questions. In addition, at the next meeting the group will be
looking at the National Citizen Survey. We will begin advertising it sometime in the summer,where it
will be then administered in early 2022.Jyotsna presented the survey to the Council on Aging, Indians
Getting Involved and Indian Americans for Lexington. She is in the process of getting their feedback and
put it in a document. Mark mentioned that we are still looking for feedback from the Senior
Management Team, Select Board, School Committee and a few others. Dan asked Mark if it is possible
to shorten the time between the completion of the survey and the report to the Town, so that if people
remember how they answered,they won't have to wait as long for the results to be out. Mark
commented that we may be able to since Marian isn't teaching. Mark added that he and Marian have
been talking with Sean,who is looking to create a separate communication survey administered every
two years.
Displayed on screen:
Survey Mission: "Conduct a survey of residents to develop a vision of Lexington's future to guide
decision making by Town Officials, Committees, and Town Meeting members."
Observations on Arlington Experience:
Joe distributed Envision Arlington's updated charge to members.Joe mentioned that Arlington's town
meeting reaffirmed the goals of the committee.Joe also noted that they made this a standing bylaw
committee,which is the reason why it had to go to town meeting for the change.
Topics for future Committee consideration (post communications civic culture, emerging community
values,town density, community public health, poverty pockets, e-government, others)
Fernando asked if there is anything from the ECiL report that told us about communication patterns in
the Town that would push civic culture in one direction or the other. Fernando wanted the group to
consider some of these topics in the future.Joe commented that there is something to explore as it
relates to structure and civil dialogue as the world changes. Mark added that maybe we should consider
what other towns, boards or groups identify as a need to do something, so that when we do come up
with something,they will have it to enact something. Mark asked further for us to consider the types of
things we can do to change the community in a positive way. Dan mentioned that there are groups, like
CAAL and IAL who are interested in these outcomes, like increased civic engagement. Mark commented
that as we embark on projects,where can we get the most output from these projects or which groups
do we need to target. Dan asked about the status of the Communication Plan. Mark responded that
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Sean wants to move this forward but has to wait for direction from his supervisor.There was a robust
discussion about communication and some specific examples of where there has been little or poor
communication, such as the DEI work. Candy commented that 20/20 keeps a pulse on what is happening
in Town.The committee has really existed to identify issues and brings awareness to these issues.
Recruitment for Scoping Groups and for 20/20 Committee Members Vacancies:
There wasn't time for a discussion on this agenda item. Dan asked that we put it on the next meeting
agenda. Dan quickly displayed a slide with questions related to membership from the previous meeting.
Dan would like us to revisit this question and add to the ongoing list.
Next Meeting Date
• 7:45am,January 29, 2021
• 7:45am, February 26, 2021
• 7:45am, March 26, 2021
Meeting ended at 8:58 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Management Analyst, Katharine Labrecque
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