Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

May 19, 2026

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 667-668: May 19, 2026

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Charter,City Council,history,water — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 10:44 pm

Episode 667 – Cambridge InsideOut: May 19, 2026 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on May 19, 2026 at 6:00pm. Topics: CCA – Ruth Romer remarks (Oct 1980) and citizenship; Memorial Drive Incident; May 18 Council meeting – watershed protection, social housing and public/subsidized housing, reappointment of Interim City Clerk Paula Crane; discontinuation of ShotSpotter and rampant misinformation, “performative allyism” and “saviorism of marginalized people”. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 668 – Cambridge InsideOut: May 19, 2026 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on May 19, 2026 at 6:30pm. Topics: Flawed Charter Review, studying mayoral election method, privileged councillors, history of CCA defending PR and the city manager form of government; senior exemption for parking permit, check box to get a free sticker; wrangling over Council Rules and councillor entitlement, some relevant history; closing of the S&S Restaurant; Cuba and foreign policy issues in the City Council, Azeem flip-flop; food vendors in City parks; commissioning a housing needs study vs. invoking a crisis; FY27 Operating Budget exceeds One Billion Dollars; abandoning plan to reconfigure Garden Street to two-way traffic. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

April 22, 2026

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 665-666: April 21, 2026

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Cambridge Redevelopment Authority,Central Square,Charter,City Council,cycling,East Cambridge,Harvard Square,history — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 1:11 pm

Episode 665 – Cambridge InsideOut: Apr 21, 2026 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Apr 21, 2026 at 6:00pm. Topics: Middlesex Canal, Billerica and some history of local canals; Riverview down, Broadway sidewalks and street reconfiguration, Eversource failures; Central Square Rezoning and CRA Open House; Retirement of Police Commissioner Christine Elow and a story; Board and Commission Vacancies, Traffic Board history. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 666 – Cambridge InsideOut: Apr 21, 2026 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Apr 21, 2026 at 6:30pm. Updates – water & sewer rates, modernizing funding for community media, Harvard Square pedestrianization, dissatisfaction with Culture House and Harvard Square Kiosk, large data centers, resident parking permit fee tripled without review of actual costs, appointment of Sara Rivera as Election Commissioner, Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee appointments, Harvard time caps for non-tenure track teaching faculty, Harvard graduate student strike, restoration of Garden St. to two-way motor-vehicle traffic; History and Revival of the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA). Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

March 17, 2026

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 663-664: March 17, 2026

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Cambridge Redevelopment Authority,Central Square,City Council,history — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:38 pm

Episode 663 – Cambridge InsideOut: Mar 17, 2026 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Mar 17, 2026 at 6:00pm. Topics: Joseph Sater – Central Square hero; walk along the Middlesex Canal; Riverview down; Central Square rezoning coming soon, housing comments; Cambridge St. zoning, possible revisions, problematic process; comments on war with Iran – hope and fear; Citizens Bank protests and some inconvenient truth; comments on recent City Council meetings – triple AAA bond rating and its advantages, Surveillance Ordinance reports. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 664 – Cambridge InsideOut: Mar 17, 2026 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Mar 17, 2026 at 6:30pm. Topics: Consolidated Housing Department, City housing policies and priorities, social housing, decommodification; proposed fee increases for Resident Parking Permit program, revocation of senior exemption, political nonsensification, bad math, and historical facts; Transportation Department mission to make owning and using a motor vehicle as difficult as possible; Real Estate Transfer Tax Home Rule Petition; City Council policy to ban use of Twitter/X; Cambridge Redevelopment Authority involvement in Central Square. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

February 17, 2026

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 661-662: February 17, 2026

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,City Council,Deaths,Harvard Square,history — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 10:24 pm

Episode 661 – Cambridge InsideOut: Feb 17, 2026 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Feb 17, 2026 at 6:00pm. Topics: Reflections on Valentine’s Day 1978 arrival, 48 years in Cambridge; how things have changed – affordability and simplicity replaced by high cost and complication, high-stakes existence; the vanished street musicians of Harvard Square; replacing City responsiveness with bureaucracy; significant passings; triple-deckers and human-scale housing, some realities of being the landlord; Inclusionary Zoning history and updates; demanding too much risks losing it all. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 662 – Cambridge InsideOut: Feb 17, 2026 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Feb 17, 2026 at 6:30pm. Topics: New City Council settling in; Feb 9 City Council meeting – responses to ICE and federal actions, job discrimination in police hiring vs. civil service, cooperation with federal agencies or not; City Manager getting out ahead of the politics; Budget and taxation previews; Community Safety Department function; unifying City housing functions, decommodification as policy vs. homeownership, appropriate level of subsidized housing; jacking up the fee for Residential Parking Permit, eliminating the elderly exemption; report on Rise Up Cambridge; expanded universal pre-K – at what cost?; choosing a City Clerk; home rule petition for real estate transfer fee on top of existing fees; security at City Hall. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

January 20, 2026

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 659-660: January 20, 2026

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,City Council,elections,history — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:55 pm

Episode 659 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 20, 2026 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Jan 20, 2026 at 6:00pm. Topics: Reflections on one year of the Trump Presidency – Cabinet appointments, immigration enforcement, funding revocations, tariffs, Greenland, harm to USA reputation; Cambridge League of Women Voters – History and Revival; Local Press – Venture Cafe event, past, present, and future of local journalism – especially the need for a true “paper of record”. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 660 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 20, 2026 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Jan 20, 2026 at 6:30pm. Topics: City Council 2026-2027 Committee Assignments – especially Public Safety Committee, Finance, Government Operations; expectation of international resolutions – what will Burhan do?; rumblings of 2026 State Representative and State Senate elections – courting the DSA; Jan 12 City Council meeting – federal updates, MCNCDC appointments, new councillors seeking attention, safety and security at City Hall, status/future of City-owned properties, no stickers for transit-oriented development, Cambridge St. rezoning, committee report on DEI shredding of Women’s Commission, passing of Bob Hurlbut; what’s coming next. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

January 6, 2026

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 657-658: January 6, 2026

Filed under: 2025 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,campaign finance,Central Square,Charter,City Council,cycling,elections,School Committee,schools — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:38 pm

Episode 657 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 6, 2026 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Jan 6, 2026 at 6:00pm. Topics: 2026 City Council and School Committee Inaugurations; Election of Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Azeem, School Committee Chair David Weinstein and Vice Chair Caitlin Dube; Intrigue with the School Committee votes, adoption of the Rules, and the role of the Cambridge Education Association (CEA); personal note on the passing of friends – Robert Devaney and Andy Engelward; a few words on the local press, Cambridge Day, and Marc Levy. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 658 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 6, 2026 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Jan 6, 2026 at 6:30pm. Topics: Inclusionary Zoning – 1998 vs. today, legal challenge, nexus study, the politics, ramifications of the multi-family zoning changes to the Zoning Ordinance; public – Inclusionary – subsidized -government – affordable housing and now “social housing” – it’s really all the same except for eligibility; what is the “sweet spot” for percentage of subsidized housing that is fiscally sustainable? (currently at 15.3%); changes in voter turnout by age from 2023 to 2025; campaign finance facts and figures for the 2025 municipal election; upzoning along N. Mass. Ave., Cambridge Street, and what may be coming next for Central Square and elsewhere. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

November 19, 2025

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 655-656: November 18, 2025

Filed under: 2025 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Charter,City Council,elections,School Committee — Tags: , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 1:04 am

Episode 655 – Cambridge InsideOut: Nov 18, 2025 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Nov 18, 2025 at 6:00pm. Topics: 2025 Municipal Election – error, test ballots, controversy, preliminary, unofficial, official results; alphabetical bias in Ranked Choice Voting; Round-by-Round City Council results; School Committee, Teachers Union (CEA) slate and disinterested voters; Factions and Slates; Mamdani Effect. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 656 – Cambridge InsideOut: Nov 18, 2025 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Nov 18, 2025 at 6:30pm. Topics: 2025 Municipal Election – Round-by-Round School Committee results; ballot data, configuration files, ChoicePlusPro tabulation; new City Charter approved – Election Commission flexibility, School Committee to choose their own Chair; Replacements in the event of a vacancy; Instant Runoff Mayoral and School Committee Chair simulations; #1 votes distributions by ward/precinct; #2 votes distributions behind each candidates #1 votes; What might we expect in the new year? Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

September 17, 2025

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 653-654: September 16, 2025

Filed under: 2025 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,campaign finance,Charter,City Council,elections,Harvard Square,School Committee,schools — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 1:48 pm

Episode 653 – Cambridge InsideOut: Sept 16, 2025 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Sept 16, 2025 at 6:00pm. Topics: Candidates, Candidate Pages, campaign finance facts and figures, PACs and slates; importance of non-hostility; voting histories; pros and cons of candidacy; School Committee candidate forums, Cambridge Education Association (CEA) hostility; general impressions of School Committee candidates; respectful Cambridge Advanced Learners Association (CALA) candidate forum. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 654 – Cambridge InsideOut: Sept 16, 2025 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Sept 16, 2025 at 6:30pm. Topics: Hunter ballot challenge, illegitimacy of The Black Response; adopted Cantabrigian; Public Safety meeting on Aug 2 incident, extraordinary offerts of CPD to protect everyone, activist idiocy and HEART, police as social workers; CPA funds, voters have no say in their own taxation; City Charter updates; dissing Broadway residents; Bow St. pedestrianization; Harvard tunnel concept and fiscal constraints; proposed Mass. Ave. upzoning to 12 stories from Cambridge Common to the Arlington line, potential ABC political fallout, Inclusionary connection; Office of Tourism and the business associations; Radical Centrist. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

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