Laserfiche WebLink
offl_ill� Town of Reading <br />Meeting Minutes q r`il IVrn <br />tia, �'u1JS. <br />Board - Committee - Commission - Council: Cam/�'r <br />H� �H U m R N c1�-� o rJ S "V, Sari 2016 r,/ I O P 4� 46 <br />Date: 2016- 07-O�f Time: 7 pm <br />Building: Reading Police Station Location: Community Room <br />Address: 15 Union Street <br />Purpose: Meeting Session: <br />Attendees: Members - Present: <br />Lori Hodin, Lynn Dornink, Lt. David Clark, Linda Snow- Dockser, Kyung Yu, <br />Seema Lynch, Heather McLean <br />Members - Not Present: <br />Others Present: <br />Ruthie Wilson, Lily Mittnight, Kevin Sexton <br />Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Lynn Dornink <br />Topics of Discussion: <br />Linda opened the meeting by sharing a news item about Newton Mayor holding <br />meetings to address Issues of hate speech that have occured within the town. Ruthie <br />reported that AWOD Youth Conference at BU went well. Lily reported on GSA and <br />attendance at Glisten Conference. The GSA would like to see LGBTQ history represented in <br />Reading High's history and other school curricula. Lily also reported on her attendance with <br />Linda at METCO Lobby Day in Boston City Hall. <br />Linda reported that Eastern Bank is eager to fund future MLK events. HRAC will still <br />need to formally apply for the funds, but it is very likely they will get them. Linda also went <br />to the Woburn Kohls to thank them for their help with MLK event. The manager said that <br />they would like to continue offering their associates as volunteers and that volunteers come <br />with a $500.00 contribution for the event. Knowing that we have access to additional money <br />could allow us to bring in different kinds of speakers/programs for next year's MLK <br />celebration. <br />Heather reported on the survey that she and Seema had put together and that <br />Heather distributed through Survey Monkey. In all, approximately 17 responses were <br />received. We read through the comments noting that while there was overall a very positive <br />feeling about Reading, there was concern about the lack of diversity, the sometimes <br />exclusionary quality of the town, and the perceived lack of transparency in the reporting of <br />negative events (e.g., racist graffiti at Parker Middle School). Seema noted that the survey <br />seems to confirm the need for a committee like HRAC to address these concerns. <br />Lt. Clark reported on the cases that had been classified as incidents of hate occurring <br />over the last few years. He identified two Incidents of graffiti —one on Summer and Main and <br />one on Hartshorn Ave. Linda questioned why the incidents of racist graffiti at Parker Middle <br />School and spray painted swastikas at a local body shop were not included in the reports. Lt <br />Clark stated that the way incidents are classified can be complicated and that this might <br />account for why these incidents did not show up in the search. <br />Seema handed out a "Strategic Plan Framework" grid she had created to help the <br />committee connect its goals to objectives, resources, and assessment. We brainstormed <br />ideas to fill in the grid. We then moved to discussing what we had learned from looking at <br />web sites in Arlington and Melrose and what that might mean for HRAC. Some suggestions <br />Page I 1 <br />