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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2009-03-13-2020-min2020 Vision Committee Meeting Friday, March 13, 2009 7:45 - 9:00 a.m. in Selectmen's Meeting Room In attendance: Fernando Quezada, Ann Redmon, Marian Cohen, George Burnell, Carl Valente, Candy McLaughlin, Gavin Bates The meeting was called to order at 7:52 a.m. The minutes from the February 13 meeting were approved. Precinct Meetings: There was consensus that moving forward with precinct meetings is a TMMA project, not a 2020 Vision responsibility. Ann said her precinct discussed the topic before the TMMA information meeting, and many members were receptive to the idea. It could be hard for Town Meeting members to reach out to all their constituents, and some felt that very few people would show up but that it was worth pursuing anyway. These meetings should take place in a comfortable public location. Fernando discussed the importance of reinforcing the issue with TMMA. Ann said she will talk to new TMMA Chair Marsha Baker after Town Meeting is over. Noting that turnout at the recent Town election was low, Fernando asked whether 2020 Vision has a role in instilling civic participation as a community value. He commented that it is easy to identify discontented residents, but those who are both uninvolved and uninterested are harder to engage. Marian stated that many Lexington residents take the view that their town government is entrenched and not available to its citizens, and suggested introducing civics courses in the school. Marian said she originally got involved in local government through an override campaign, and Ann said organizations like Stand for Children bring people together to talk about issues. Carl suggested the potential value of a "Citizen Academy" to both address the civic education issue and create a new group of people the Town could call upon for committees and boards. George suggested that maybe setting up this program would be a good task for the Committee, and others agreed that this would be something positive to pursue as part of 2020 Vision's overall mission. The Committee thought that they might not get a lot of people who wanted to take part initially, but it was agreed that too many (over 20 -25) would detract from the process anyway. Sessions could be held in the different locations where the departments actually work (i.e. the Police in the Police Department building, etc.) Carl suggested that asking another community, which had done a similar program, for some tips might be helpful. Carl also said that he has gathered some material on this subject, and would be quite happy to give it to someone with more time who could move forward with it. Fernando said he would call Stacey Hamilton to ask if this was something she wanted to participate in during off hours, since she cannot attend morning meetings. Carl also suggested reaching out to the schools and trying to enlist the students. Marian agreed and said that she could assist with the project, as did Ann. Futures Panel: Discussion continued from the last meeting about the idea of doing another Futures Panel, and there was consensus that this was a good idea but we need to define "future." Ann asked if a short -term panel discussion was really something that 2020 should do, as the Committee is primarily concerned with long -range issues. Others responded that how we address the immediate future affects our success in achieving long -term goals. There was consensus that the short -term future, due to the recession, was worrying people and that there was value in an immediate discussion of these changes. The Committee also saw value in a panel discussion of projections for the more distant future. It might be valuable to wait for the Demographic Change Task Force report, to be completed within the next year, before moving forward with a longer -range panel. George suggested a seminar for key stakeholders to brainstorm immediate issues, possibly in early June. He commented that nobody really knows what is going to happen; this is a strange recession and hard to predict. George suggested that getting information from professionals, like Rob Addelson and other people who can give financial projections, would be a good first step and that policy was a separate issue that would come later. Fernando replied that the Town might be better served by a real public discourse with outside opinions from the citizenry. George said an informational session without information can create even more problems, but agreed that discussions and transparency are certainly a good idea. The Committee agreed that it would come back to the next meeting with some new ideas on this subject. Community Survey: The Committee talked about how a survey, or communication with Town Meeting members, could help the Town determine what the people are thinking and worried about. The Committee discussed how to generate a survey instrument and the potential for using students from a graduate school or interested citizens to work on such a project. George asked Carl whether he would be most interested in informing the public, or getting guidance. Carl replied that he wanted to start a conversation about how the community would move through the changes and problems of the next five years. He said he has been struggling with how to initiate a discussion with the policymakers about long -term issues and how Lexington may experience some dramatic changes in the next few years. Other: • George described the book "The Way We Will Be 50 Years from Today," by Mike Wallace, which discusses what the world will look like in 2058. The book contains essays about core issues, including climate change, medical advancements, and changes to services, although the essays don't always agree and can contradict each other. George commented that the world might change in ways that people aren't expecting. • Fernando said he would sound out Committee members who cannot attend regular Committee meetings and try to work out agreeable times for everyone. Future Meetings. Thursday, April 9, 2009 Friday, May 15 Friday, June 12 The meeting was adjourned at 9:17 a.m.