WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The town's diversity committee last week decided it needs a little more time to respond to an evolving purpose statement its members have been discussing with members of the Select Board.

But the joint working group of the two panels was unable to sign off on the latest draft before the DIRE Committee's Oct. 3 meeting.

 

"Jeff [Johnson] and I wanted to not have it be a public document until there was a consensus among the four of us: Noah [Smalls], Andi [Bryant], Jeff and me," said Randy Fippinger, who fills the Select Board's seat on the DIRE Committee. "Because of schedules, we did not get that sign off in time. So, at the moment, I can't share it tonight."

 

The four members of the DIRE Committee at last Monday's meeting discussed whether there was time for the working group to finalize a draft and squeeze in another meeting of the full committee before Oct. 12 but ultimately decided it was not worth rushing the process. Fippinger offered to tell his Select Board colleagues on Monday that the DIRE Committee needed until its next scheduled meeting on Oct. 17 to give its final thoughts.

 

Although Fippinger said he could not discuss details of the latest draft of a document that faced strong scrutiny in its earlier stages, Andrew Art asked for specifics on a couple of items in earlier drafts that raised questions.

 

"Is the concept that the DIRE Committee suspends all its other work [to focus on creating a strategic plan] still the operative concept?" Art asked Fippinger.

 

""The concern about that was raised very strenuously," Fippinger said of the talks at the working group level. "That was put very high on the discussion list. People agreed that would be a big concern."

 

Art also asked whether the non-public discussions of the working group addressed the fact that the latest draft pitched by the Select Board did not identify the DIRE Committee by name, raising concerns that the intent was to replace the 2-year-old committee.

 

"That concern was also equally raised," Fippinger said.

 

Fippinger said he felt strongly that the working group should "sign off on it not in public," before a new draft was discussed by the committee in a public meeting. He also said he wanted the DIRE Committee to have the first shot at a public discussion of the next iteration of the purpose document.

 

In order to expedite that process, the DIRE Committee agreed that Shana Dixon would take over for Smalls, who did not attend Monday's meeting, in the working group, ensuring that four of the five current members of the DIRE Committee would play a role in the non-public discussions to develop a new draft document.

 

Art said that he appreciated the importance of developing a strategic plan and offered some resources to the working group and whatever committee is charged with developing a strategic plan in town around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.

 

He spoke favorably of the plans already developed by the communities of Andover and Lincoln in Eastern Massachusetts. And Art suggested his colleagues look at DEI Guide prepared by the Massachusetts Municipal DEI Coalition, which was forwarded to the DIRE Committee by the Select Board chair and interim town manager earlier this summer.

 

"I think the guide is quite useful in establishing a framework for what DEI practices and strategies might look like," Art said. "It really focuses on creating shared language and shared goals. While it does talk about specific responsibilities and shared responsibilities, a lot of the focus is on trying to create a broader community of people with a common set of goals and common language around DEI work."

 

In other business, Art reported that he had reviewed the draft revised human resources policies for the town that resulted from a 2020-21 HR audit recommended by the DIRE Committee and commissioned by the Select Board.

 

Art characterized them as "much more thorough" than prior town policies and noted, in particular, language around investigations of misconduct that follow the model of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

 

The Select Board sought public comment on the proposed policy through the end of September before officially giving the new policy its blessing.

 

The DIRE Committee also decided to form a Facebook group to help disseminate information about meetings and events related to panel's work. Members agreed that the group should not allow comments on posts but instead allow members of the public to contact a page administrator with questions. The committee authorized Bryant and Dixon to be the initial administrators of the group.