001[Music] hello and welcome to Around the Clock I'm your host galanda Greaves today we are speaking with two wonderful volunteers here in Ashland they are rajish go rajish welcome back to Around the Clock thank you and Stacy Grant Lewis Stacy welcome to your first time on around the clock thank you for having me so we are here and we have brought you to around the clock because you are currently the co-chairs for the comprehensive plan Comm M but before we get into those details let's find out a little bit about both of you Stacy I'm going to start with you cuz you're brand new to Around the Clock how long have you been living in Ashland it's been six years so I'm probably the newest person on our committee uh to have moved here yes
002and what brought you to Ashland uh marriage and children uh I we were living in Framingham and we needed a space that was close to our kids school we share them with their mom and they go to school Holliston so Ashland was the next opportunity nice nice good and rajer Sh how long have you been in Ashland I think we've been here since 2006 okay and what brought you to Ashland um I think we it's because we lived in nitic and this was the next town over that we liked um and could afford um and also uh we found the greenery really appealing so we would drive around and found the place really something so cohesive um and it attracted us to settle down here nice now as I said at the beginning you are
003the current co-chairs of the comprehensive plan committee that's right but you came to be those coachers in a slightly different way Roger sh how did you get on the comprehensive plan so um I've worked with the community in Ashland for a little bit I was on the Ashland cultural Council I served two terms and it gave me a way to engage with the community I think it was a very good way to understand how the town Administration Works how funds are dispersed how do you recognize Talent um and so from there I started working with different organizations in town such as Arts Ashland then I joined Friends of the upper Charles Trails committee uh so um but wonderful work was being done by Volunteers in town and then uh right during the pandemic um is
004when I joined ashlanders United and that kind of changed my whole perspective about um inclusivity and creativity um and Building Bridges really and that is core to my own ethos and it kind of gelled well with me so with ashers United I did a lot of work uh in the community introducing juneth meaningful meal and all those events um and the George Floyd murder had happened around that time and so uh we worked a lot in the community at that time um so when um the talent Bank form was available regarding the comprehensive plan um I thought of applying and I thought that this is an opportunity to serve and what what an honor it is to uh work with the team as well as the community to build a vision of what Ashland is
005going to be in the next so many years and you are one of our Precinct Representatives you Precinct Five Precinct Five right and there are six Precinct Representatives correct and Stacy how did you get to be on the comprehensive plan committee well I think 2020 was pivotal for a lot of us for the same reasons GE George Floyd and I started my own organization called culture X community and my particular neighborhood is so welcoming and friendly and encouraged me to get involved and so I joined the cultural Council that you left I'm on my second term there and I became the chair last year I was elected the chair last year so I was asked to be on the comprehensive plan and of course course I jumped at it because one of the things I
006really enjoy or admire about Ashland is the approachability of local government they're not a lot of layers that you have to Wade through and it's very responsive um and so I thought how can I really contribute more to my to my local community I really wanted to act instead of just talking and thinking about things so here I am great so second that because uh because I find the town Administration being like activist um and they're on the ground and you want to walk with them yeahh yeah as a as a I'm in the 12th year of my still in as a select board member and I had spent Five Years on school committee before that and I would say our town has certainly evolved and changed in regards to town management and staff and
007faculty and faculty at our schools and it's become much more of a group project rather than us versus them and that has been very nice to see and certainly as our community has changed in regards to our demographics it is important that we keep including and and making the representation in all these conversations much broader so that brings us to the comprehensive plan a comprehensive plan for those who are watching who you if you're not sure is a plan that basically determines how we're going to do things or what we're going to focus on as a community within the next 10 to 20 years so for the both of you what do you see as the most important thing that you've heard so far that people want as part of the comprehensive plan would you
008like to go first okay so there are several things because the comprehensive plan deals with so many aspects of this town so when you talk to a group which is more oriented towards cultural activities they're talking about uh indoor spaces of gathering where they can showcase their art uh we have very limited uh resources in that sense um so they're talking about uh places where which could be rented out you know they talk about what's going to happen with the Valentine's property do you think we're going to perform there I don't know but you know their input is important so that it you know their voices are counted and uh it goes into the plan at least the thinking of the plan right um there are uh kids who just talked about um the DQ
009that that's on 135 that property and they said as as older kids we have no place to hang out M um you know it's in walking distance from the school um maybe there can be an arcade style shopping place where we could gather indoors during the cold months um there's d right but they they prefer something closer right right um and more accessible um so there there are these kinds of um suggestions that we are finding but there are others like today I talked about um talked to uh representatives from the connect Church um and one of the women she has a child who has special needs and she's looking for resources of all kinds and she wants information about what can be found uh in town and outside so there are some people who
010are giving us very specific um inputs and others are much more broad ranging MH Stacy what are you hear I think first of all I think it's really heartening that people are so opinionated about what you know what is important to them in town and those opinions are able to be then be surfaced and up leveled into this comprehensive plan um I think I'm hearing a lot about open space and preserving that which is one of the reasons we moved here as well the availability of that I'm hearing a lot about Recreation um you know where do I spend my time and also sustainability how do I preserve some of that open space so it can just be natural land right so there's that tension there but ultimately I'm also hearing a lot about worthiness
011people want to be recognized we have some residents who have been here their entire lifetimes and they want to be recognized as being integral to the part of Ashlen the history of Ashen and then the newer people who are coming in also want to be recognized for contributing so there's that tension there but underlying it all is that everybody really wants a ashin to work I have not heard anyone say well you know this town is just horrible I'm just going to move you know I came from New York you hear that a lot um but I just hear that people just want to make this a place where everybody can coexist so that's really what's exciting that's what I'm he now you're both talking about conversations that you've had so if there are people
012who have not had those conversations yet how can they get involved in the process what are ways that the residents who haven't done it yet can get their voices and their input into the plan well one of the things I think people I really encourage you to know audience is that you're welcome to contribute um there are a number of ways we have these focus groups that we've been hosting individually with our networks and larger at the Town level uh there's a survey that's available via QR code that you can do at your own Leisure um we are having more Town Halls about this um we're having this conversation about it but the barrier is maybe perception that you know your voice won't be heard and I'd like everyone to know that that's not true
013um you're welcome and encouraged to participate we also have our monthly meetings right that happen mostly on the third Thursday of the month at currently at the library we might have to move it next month we're not sure but it's also available via Zoom right as well you can get the zoom link online at the town website yep and um I think that um our web presence is um is available anybody can access the town website uh which has a ban are right up top on the comprehensive Planet it's like blaring blue um and you can also visit the comprehensive site that has been developed for particularly by the um by the Consultants um and and there are various ways that they can engage with they can submit photographs um they can um engage with
014any of us all our names appear um on on the website they can reach any of the members all the 29 members are there representing the community Community um so we're very accessible um and we can help you through through the process if that's necessary or you can take it up yourself right we we also have the ability if someone attends what we call these focus groups they could then go further and do a focus group on your their Network well which we haven't heard too much about yet but I think we certainly want to encourage people our current public engagement process is open until April 26th correct now what we have a goal of of the number of touch points that we want to meet where are we at and what are we reaching
015for well we're about 40% of goal as of yesterday um the entire goal is about 2700 we call them participation points and uh right now we're about 1,600 okay so the next four weeks are critical they're crucial to us to participate so really engaging with those surveys at your own Leisure the there's the surveys and then there's the crowd mapping crowding talk a little bit about that because I've seen some comments about that what exactly if someone goes to that crowd mapping what can they do with that it's very self-explanatory once you go up on the website you can you can use the key um The Legend is available it's very user friendly they should absolutely try it okay and it's a way for people to pin locations so for example you want to see
016a sidewalk somewhere you go onto the crowd map you take the pin and you put it on that location and say I'd like to see a sidewalk there great you want something removed you can do that too well they can do that whether it'll happen that's that's a different story yes yeah so we have this public engagement uh p uh time going on until April 26th correct what's going to happen with all this information so I've because that's one of the things you hear from people right well I'm not going to bother putting my thoughts or comments in because it's not going to be used so how can people feel confident that if they give their input they'll be heard well I think it's important to note that there's going this is the Gathering data
017portion of the process right so raw data is being GA gathered and then they're going to S the consultant will synthesize a plan they'll present it to the boards and the councils and there will be meetings where the public can come and witness all of that um you should know we're not going to be able to accomplish everything in the plan there are going to be priorities and I don't want anyone to feel thwarted that they idea didn't come to the top right the idea is that we have to self-edit and say okay these top three things we want to accomplish by 2035 right yes right right um go ahead Raja you had something else um so with um uh with all the planning that has been happening um and we know that there are
018certain phases that have been determined by the consultant um so we are in phase two um and this ends in July of this year and then from July until December would be the third phase so by July a certain number of things have to be accomplished and we are all working towards that um and so once uh the engagement period ends there'll be other um Community visioning goals that will be developed and the public will be absolutely informed and they're allowed to participate in those because those goals are important because how do we measure our plans if you didn't have those goals so they're very crucial to the planning process and there'll be every opportunity for um the town people to be involved and it's encouraged that they give their feedback and attend meetings and
019ask questions yes uh so what is the timeline for this to be completed when when is the hope to get this plan out to the public and actually start implementing I think the plan is for an 18month the process is for 18 month and we began in September of last year so you know calculating that summer 2025 something like that um so once the plan is established and and presented to the boards um it's ready for implementation and I think the consultant will guide us with that too um and it's ready um to be implemented and um it becomes a reality for so many many of us who want to see this becoming live so the both of you have been sitting on this committee since it's almost a year now right May was when
020we had the first meeting yes is there anything that has surprised you as you're either sitting in the meetings or talking to people about how people feel about Ashland anything that has come up that you go oh I didn't realize that or I look at it a different way yes and the positive uh you know let's face it these large Med meetings can be tedious right meetings can be tedium we are 29 member uh committee so that in itself but I have to tell you the passion for people to show up to these meetings after work on a Thursday they have families and lives new babies and they're there and they're there we're all there for the same reason and and to me that is so heartening to hear so I would I I think
021I knew that at at some level but to actually see it in small conversation you're just like wow you really want the best for Ashlin and it's not even Ashlin now it's ashin in 10 years and 15 and 20 years so the passion for this town um also the history holy moly there's so much uh it's a rich history that you know that we need to show and and and show more of so that people when they come here they understand what Ashlin is and where it came from so that's exciting that we're going to be able to uplevel that as well good good reg so um I'm amazed at the talent that each of these members bring to the committee amazing qualifications you know and it's it's it's amazing that they they're part of
022this and they've agreed to be part of this team um so I I really bow to them for that um one of the things that came across to me during my engagement I just came off of an miab so which is a focus group discussion um that there are Pockets um of populations Ashland who don't know what the town is all about um and uh even though they've lived for 15 years in town they don't know what the resources are available what they can access um and um often times I've connected them with people and that that they've appreciated but I wonder if there are more people like this um who need to be connected who need something and they they just don't know how to do it um so so it's one one effort
023at a time um and the comprehensive plan has given me that that opportunity to connect with them yeah it is interesting I mean we've been talking about the comprehensive plan for for some of us even longer than just the and there are still people who are not aware that the process is going on right and we've seen that with other things right we'll have had a six or eight month conversation at various times on the select board or with planning board or with some some other committee and there are people who who aren't aware so it's and I know as a as a community reaching as many people in the community as possible is always difficult and I know we're really trying to do that with this comprehensive plan to get as many voices as
024possible Right included and part of the conversation yes you know one of the conversation that I had um there are some people who are very active on social media and are able to um be present in what what's going on um there are others who have kids in school and so the information is sifted through the schools to them there are others still who are looking at neighboring towns and they're saying okay those towns are like dumps in comparison to to Ashland but we'd rather have a banner welcoming us into Ashland like a physical Banner um which which represents the Community Values or announcing events if there's a performance just announce it so when we driving in we can see this happen Pride interes interesting yeah there are certain communities that have those Banner programs
025right and the one thing I see as potentially not difficult but there's so many entrances into Ashland even even into our downtown there are people who drive go through Ashland but never hit downtown right because either they go by on 135 or 126 MH so but that's an interesting thing yeah you know one of the beauties of having so much open space is that yes you get to be really private and isolated if that's what you choose to do um one of the drawbacks is what V is talking about is that you can be very private and secluded and isolated and not participate in larger conversations yeah so that's the that's the duality of Ashlin because it can it can be so cohesive and so warm and welcoming and then the other part is so
026insular you know I've heard that too yeah I I also see in ashin we have that as you were talking about the people who have been here for forever right there's thirds you know some of them second third some of them fourth fifth generation but then you someone like yourself who came to Ashlen because you saw a community that was very welcoming and a lot of volunteer and a lot of things going on and recognizing both of those and how do we bring them together BR them together absolutely yeah have it's okay to coexist of course we're not going to try to force people to be part of a larger thing if they don't want to but we can be together in other ways yeah good good any final thoughts on the comprehensive plan get
027involved you know there are a lot of opinions and I've been hearing them since we moved here in 2018 um but it's okay to tell them to us but get involved so that they actually get up leveled so that when the time comes you can say well I contributed to that or I shared my my opinion yeah I think that there's a sense of Pride and honor and privilege to be part of a process like this and many people in fact the group that I was mentioning referring to who did not know anything about the town what the town offers there's a certain sense of Pride MH um and you know they're saying maybe we can do this in our community so I I encourage everybody to try it once you will be hooked MH
028yeah that's what will happen well and even though we have a lot of volunteers we also have many volunteers who are doing multiple things yeah and there's always opportunity for new volunteers to come in and participate and either be appointed to a board or run to be an elected official for some other board because there's a lot of things going on in this town and all we all know that many hands may make light work and we can certainly use more hands for many things yes good uh Before I Let You Go rajer Shri has answered this question because she has been on around the clock a veteran here a veteran but for you Stacy there's a question I ask all firsttime attendees or firsttime visitors to around the clock and that is is there
029something about you Stacy Grant Lewis that not many people may know but that you'd be willing to share with our viewers um well I think most people know that I moved here from New York nine years AG meaning to Massachusetts I've had many lives I'm like a cat so I start started off uh in fashion and creative arts I went to an art school and which is why I landed at the cultural Council so that was my life before what was your art what I was a visual artist and a fashion designer I went to Parsons wow yes and then I got my masters from NYU in dietetics was a nutritionist for 12 years oh my goodness and now here I am working in technology in real estate so I've had many lives and I
030think it's one of the one of the benefits of being an immigrant who's moved another country to multiple States and now is in Ashland and being welcomed so much so and what country are you from originally I'm Jamaican by birth okay yes nice yes and what brought your family because I take it you came with your family yes yes we came when I was 10 and uh Economic Opportunity um you know Jamaica is a wonderfully beautiful place but the economics are challenging so we came and have been here ever since wow yes nice nice well Stacy rry thank you so much both for coming to around the clock and talking about the comprehensive plan and for viewers make sure you attend the meetings either in person or via zoom and get involved and we hear
031it around the clock as things move forward we'll continue to talk about it uh and hope that you all will get involved well thank you for having us thank you for so much for being here thanks and that wraps up this segment of around the clock that's great