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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-02-13-2020-min2020 Vision Committee Meeting Friday, February 13, 2009 7:45 - 9:00 a.m. in Selectmen's Meeting Room In attendance: Fernando Quezada, Peter Enrich, Ann Redmon, Barry Orenstein, George Burnell, Carl Valente, Candy McLaughlin, Gavin Bates The minutes from the January 16 meeting were approved. Collaboration with TMMA: Fernando Quezada reported on the outcome of two presentations to the TMMA Executive Committee intended to start discussion on ways to improve transparency in local government. 2020 Vision specifically raised two ideas: precinct meetings, and vote tracking. The Town Meeting voting records issue was recently brought to a 2020 meeting, and a Brookline report was circulated to TMMA, but it has not been discussed within the 2020 Vision process. As a result, Peter Enrich pointed out that the Committee can say only that the idea is worthy of investigation. At the TMMA Executive Committee meeting there was very limited support for the voting records idea, with most members commenting on problems such as cost, practical implementation, and maintenance. Carl Valente suggested that it is important for Lexington constituents to know the reasoning and context of a vote, not just the nature of the vote itself. Fernando agreed to communicate with the new Moderator that 2020 Vision will not pursue the voting records idea further, but would support it if she wants to bring it forward since it aligns with 2020 Vision's goals of public engagement and increased communication in the governmental process. Fernando will also inform Edie of how the Committee plans to proceed. Fernando mentioned that Edie saw the precinct meetings as being a more flexible and workable idea. This proposal, that Town Meeting members hold regular public meetings in their precincts, was recommended by a 2020 Vision Task Force in April of 2008. Barry Orenstein stated that a strong precinct meeting system would allow representatives to explain how and why they voted as well as creating an open discussion. George Burnell pointed out that moving forward with it was really a TMMA issue and not for the Committee to push forward. Peter replied that while he agreed, it is still very important to 2020 Vision and that even bringing a few more people into the public process would be positive. George suggested trying to fold in the precinct meetings and neighborhood associations instead of creating potential rival organizations. He also pointed out that it would be helpful to reach out to cultural associations. Peter then suggested convening a meeting with representatives from TMMA and some members of the Lexington neighborhood associations to promote dialogue on this issue. The Committee agreed to aim for an organizational meeting by late May 2009. Demographic Change Task Force and the Scoping Group: Candy McLaughlin distributed a list of questions prepared by the earlier Demographic Change Scoping Group, and asked the Committee whether these would be useful for the Demographic Change Task Force to consider. Candy reported that the Task Force has been gathering its own information and is planning to look at other quantitative data, but that there hasn't much of a connection with the Scoping Group's work. Peter suggested there may be value in feeding demographic information back to the Lexington community, particularly in relation to the existence of myths about Lexington and the problem posed by the lack of information. Carl noted that Superintendent Paul Ash recently provided information to the Task Force, and mentioned that using existing data resulted in significant underestimates of kindergarten enrollment this year. One reason is that some preschool children were not reported on the Town Census, but this still did not account for the large size of the discrepancy. Fernando asked how the Committee could help out the Task Force. Carl stated that he thought it would be valuable to have the Task Force Chair, Bebe Fallick, come to a Committee meeting. The Committee agreed to invite Bebe after the Task Force has completed its preliminary information gathering. Review of Goals and the Future: Peter pointed out that the Town is halfway to 2020 and that it might be time to step back and review the community's goals. George asked how far down the list of goals we have progressed. There was discussion that while much has been "completed ", there is a difference between one -shot actions and long -range trends. Also, while the values and goals in Lexington have remained the same, the environment is rapidly changing and there is a need for thoughtful planning. Carl described some of the economic challenges facing Lexington due to the recession and pointed out that the next 5 -10 years could mark a dramatic change for the community. Carl said we need to figure out what is essential about Lexington and position the local government differently to provide core services in the future. George agreed that identifying priorities is important, because while service needs are increasing, Town revenue will be constrained by the economic downturn (and local government typically feels the impact after the private sector.) Fernando noted that the roles of State and Federal government are changing as well, and we need to reexamine the way the Town interacts with them. Peter summarized the challenges as addressing serious problems in the medium term while planning long -term for a very different future economic, social, and physical environment. Peter suggested the possible value of having another Futures Panel. Fernando recommended that the Committee talk more on the subject of planning for the future and the new challenges facing the Town at the next meeting. Other Issues: • Fernando said he will reconnect with Committee members who cannot attend regular Committee meetings. Peter suggested having an evening meeting so that others could come. • Fernando also suggested putting the Arlington 2020 Survey, which Candy passed around, on the agenda for the next meeting. Future Meetings. Fridays, March 13, 2009 April 10 May 15 June 12 The meeting was adjourned at 9:00.