Lincoln IDEA Committee plans March $100,000 consulting article after Needham briefing

LINCOLN — January 4, 2022 — Lincoln's IDEA Committee plans a $100,000 March town meeting article after a strategy session with Needham counterparts. Town Administrator Tim Higgins told the committee Lincoln is "at a crossroads" seven months into its inclusion, diversity, equity and anti-racism work, and said the consulting funds would be modeled on Nantucket's RFP-based hire. Two Needham officials, Marianne and Kate, described their town's race-equity committee — referenced as Nuwari — which was deliberately built as majority-minority and is designed to sunset once its April 2021 vision statement is adopted by other Needham entities. Superintendent Becky McFall said Lincoln's group has "blind spots because it's not our experience"; member Margaret McLaughlin pressed for a real recruitment plan, and member Russell Cramp called a town-level discrimination intake mechanism "low-hanging fruit." No votes were taken.