Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

May 20, 2025

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 645-646: May 20, 2025

Filed under: 2025 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Charter,City Council,cycling,elections,Harvard Square,MBTA,MIT,recycling — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:22 pm

Episode 645 – Cambridge InsideOut: May 20, 2025 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on May 20, 2025 at 6:00pm. Topics: Reflections on 70 years on Earth – 47 years in Cambridge, Mayoral Proclamation; Ranked Choice Voting and limited PR elections for Boston – how it came to be; Review of recent City Council actions and discussions; Cambridge Charter Home Rule pending – relatively few changes from current Plan E Charter; dilemma of when to report a controversy; 2025 municipal candidates emerging – Candidate Pages; opportunities to serve of Boards and Commissions; sunsetting/redefining discretionary Boards, e.g. Peace Commission (Cambridge Commission on Nuclear Disarmament and Peace Education); civic unity; the problem of single-issue advocacy; controversy of firearm replacement, activist payback, DSA organizing; ARPA funding expiration, RiseUp successor. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 646 – Cambridge InsideOut: May 20, 2025 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on May 20, 2025 at 6:30pm. Topics: Cambridge Charter Home Rule Petition – big assist by Law Department, restoring citizen petitions, leaving out poison pills – just like Somerville; AAA bond ratings; Nexus studies for Incentive Zoning and for Inclusionary Zoning; reconsidering Linkage, Inclusionary requirements; Barrett letter; deaths Pebble Gifford, Robert Campbell, Doane Perry; thankless job of being head of a neighborhood association; bicycle lane controversies, reckless plans and policies, bullying by Cambridge Bike Safety group, Broadway as route for emergency vehicles; Harvard Square – Gerald Chan properties, MBTA tunnel innovative ideas; retirement of Diane LeBlanc, Owen O’Riordan; Kathy Watkins to be Deputy City Manager; Budget Hearings, new reality of limitations, shifting of tax burden from commercial to residential, extra heavy burden on single-, two-. and three-family homeowners – Claire Spinner memo; TWC, vouchers, RiseUp, municipal broadband not so fundable; federal updates and clarity of City Manager Yi-An Huang, City Solicitor Megan Bayer, Police Commissioner Christine Elow; federal targeting of Harvard, MIT and downstream repercussions. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

March 7, 2025

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 643-644: March 4, 2025

Filed under: 2025 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Charter,City Council,history — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 4:09 pm

Episode 643 – Cambridge InsideOut: March 4, 2025 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on March 4, 2025 at 6:00pm. Topics: Grace – Black Churches in Cambridge, Cambridge Museum of History and Culture; Multi-Family Upzoning, unintended consequences, housing for upwardly mobile young professionals, real estate vultures descending, AHO 3.0 anticipated; Rezoning for Squares and “Corridors”, the noblesse oblige of ABC; Bike Lanes and loss of access to homes; City Manager contract extension; public safety and CPD use of drones, ACLU elitism. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 644 – Cambridge InsideOut: March 4, 2025 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on March 4, 2025 at 6:30pm. Topics: Politics of zoning petitions and ballot questions in municipal elections; Sanctuary Cities, virtue-signalling, choosing what is a “marginalized community”; potential loss of federal funding and ripple effects, tax implications; broker fees, junk fees, fueling hostility between landlords and tenants, illegality of limiting housing unit size; DSA nutcases and control freaks; City Hall and Frederick Hastings Rindge inscription; Cambridge Charter – process and particulars. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

February 5, 2025

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 641-642: February 4, 2025

Filed under: 2025 election,Cambridge,Cambridge government,Cambridge InsideOut,Charter,City Council,cycling,history — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 12:53 pm

Episode 641 – Cambridge InsideOut: Feb 4, 2025 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Feb 4, 2025 at 6:00pm. Topics: Broadway fire, importance of setbacks for fire safety and access; Multi-family Housing Zoning (a.k.a. Bigger Cambridge Zoning), concerns about heights, density, setbacks, stairwells, elevators; bad planning in crisis mentality; Broadway bike lane controversy, restrictions on emergency vehicles, misinformation about bike safety, importance of visibility; bulldozing Cambridge history; misguided leftist opposition to surveillance for police work, unsolved murders; Alewife MBTA excavation; $65K appropriation for Bisesquicentennial; appointments to “Broadway Safety Improvement Project” Working Group. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 642 – Cambridge InsideOut: Feb 4, 2025 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Feb 4, 2025 at 6:30pm. Topics: Hostility of some city councillors; advocate says only people with driveways should own cars; rumors of DSA strong mayor ballot question; history on nonpartisan municipal elections, drifting back to the dark ages; Sanctuary City or Welcoming City concerns, inability of federal government to address immigration; PILOT agreements, political hunger to fund pet programs; delegating curb cut authority to staff; Neville Center refinancing; notable passings; City Charter proposals re: budget control, appointing City Solicitor, direct election of mayor, 4-year City Council terms, Council approval of department heads, diminishing citizen redress and prohibitions against interference, need for better mechanism for accountability within City departments. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

December 17, 2024

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 637-638: December 17, 2024

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge government,Cambridge InsideOut,Central Square,Charter,City Council,cycling,East Cambridge,Harvard Square,history,MBTA,planning — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 10:24 pm

Episode 637 – Cambridge InsideOut: Dec 17, 2024 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Dec 17, 2024 at 6:00pm. Topics: Remembering Vici Casana and the early days of Cambridge Recycling; Flexible Parking Zoning petition; Rethinking One-Way Garden Street; coming controversy of Broadway Bike Lanes; City Manager contract extension pending; streetcorner dedication moratorium; John Tagiuri resolution; Whitney’s Bar closure controversy and Gerald Chan properties; City Clerk cleaning up City Council neglect; Iram Farooq exiting CDD for Harvard; Charter Review Meeting and votes. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 638 – Cambridge InsideOut: Dec 17, 2024 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Dec 17, 2024 at 6:30pm. Topics: Sanctuary City resolutions; Porchfest pilot pending; Two-way Garden Street and the Untouchable Cycling Safety Ordinance; MBTA should adhere to Cambridge’s Asbestos Protection Ordinance; Last word on DSA and defamation; Draw One Bridge Replacement; A Brief History of Big Ideas and Plans – Some Whose Time Never Came; Charles River Dam Walkway; Proposed Colossal Upzoning sold as Multifamily Housing Citywide. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

November 19, 2024

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 635-636: November 19, 2024

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Central Square,Charter,City Council,cycling,elections,Harvard Square,transportation — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:26 pm

Episode 635 – Cambridge InsideOut: Nov 19, 2024 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Nov 19, 2024 at 6:00pm. Topics: Post-election recap, insane campaign spending, strange Cabinet choices; possible ramifications for sanctuary cities”, possible effects on federal funds, housing eligibility, transportation projects, effect on property tax levy to compensate; misunderstanding democracy, people staying in their respective silos; the Moulton reaction and refusal to moderate; Resident Satisfaction Survey – what it says and doesn’t say; traffic obstruction as City policy; things the City can fix vs. things they cannot; non-solutions to housing affordability; massive upzoning proposed; misrepresentation of the electorate; Advisory Committee appointments; non-negotiable mandates; growing problem of City departments choosing citizen advisory committees based on the outcomes that they want, irony of nonrepresentative appointments in a city with proportional representation elections, need for better outreach and recruitment; drought and fire hazards continue. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 636 – Cambridge InsideOut: Nov 19, 2024 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Nov 19, 2024 at 6:30pm. Topics: Many opportunities for City boards and commissions; City Council diminution of authority of the Planning Board, growing City Council opposition to public input; process underway to ruin Broadway for the Cycling Safety Ordinance, removal of 75% of parking – all a done deal to rubber-stamp plans of City staff, possible political backlash, Traffic and Parking Department and other City departments don’t care; Linkage fee increases, Nexus studies, and proposal for Job Training Trust – how much is too much?; Dramatic upzoning proposal disguised as “ending exclusionary zoning” – potential for major political backlash, dumping all the negative effects onto the “corridors” for political expedience; status of possible City Charter changes – things that could use revision and things that should remain. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

November 5, 2024

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 633-634: November 5, 2024

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Central Square,City Council,elections,history,planning — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:23 pm

Episode 633 – Cambridge InsideOut: Nov 5, 2024 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Nov 5, 2024 at 6:00pm. Topics: Election Day 2024; City Hall Inscription restored; State Ballot Questions; poor Presidential choices, political dysfunction, no choices in most elections; democracy not just about winner-take-all; putting the “united” back in United States; speed humps and bumps; solar systems; kerfuffle over Sqa Sachem; proposed Jobs Training Trust and Linkage. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 634 – Cambridge InsideOut: Nov 5, 2024 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Nov 5, 2024 at 6:30pm. Topics: Tax rates, assessments, tax levy; pet programs (Rise Up) may not be fundable; Supersized Zoning Petition – obliterating current residential zoning districts; unacceptable alternatives; disingenuous CDD presentation, misinterpretation of Envision Cambridge process; lazy and arrogant planning; blocking public input; Central Square Rezoning and local pushback. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

October 17, 2024

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 631-632: October 15, 2024

Filed under: 2023 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Central Square,City Council,cycling,transportation — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 2:59 pm

Episode 631 – Cambridge InsideOut: Oct 15, 2024 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Oct 15, 2024 at 6:00pm. Topics: Cambridge Mosaic; Joan Pickett memorial; Cathie Zusy elected; Bow Tie Ride and Brattle Street crash; Memorial Drive fatality, short-term and long-term redesigns, Beacon Yards and Mass Pike realignment; Ballot Questions 1 and 2. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 632 – Cambridge InsideOut: Oct 15, 2024 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Oct 15, 2024 at 6:30pm. Topics: Ballot Questions 3-5; Tax Rate Hearing and Vote, tax bills coming; A Bigger Cambridge upzoning proposals being sold as “ending exclusionary zoning”; disconnect between ideologues and residents; Central Square rezoning. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

September 17, 2024

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 629-630: September 17, 2024

Filed under: 2023 election,Cambridge,Cambridge InsideOut,Charter,City Council,Deaths,elections,history,planning — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 10:36 pm

Episode 629 – Cambridge InsideOut: Sept 17, 2024 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Sept 17, 2024 at 6:00pm. Topics: Constitution Day; Open Archives Roadshow; Boomer Kennedy; Women in Trades; Bob LaTrémouille; Red McGrail; Joan Pickett memorial service; Cambridge Mosaic; Vacancy Recount; Decker/MacKay Recount; charter reconsideration and consensus. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

Episode 630 – Cambridge InsideOut: Sept 17, 2024 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Sept 17, 2024 at 6:30pm. Topics: Boards & Commissions; “emergency” extension of Cannabis Permitting Ordinance; Vail Court, lost opportunities, letting the planners plan; Housing Committee super-size proposal and ABC hostility and arrogance; MBTA Communities Act w/Cambridge as poster child; soft targets will bear the burden; political fallout; perfect tax storm coming soon. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

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