Election Day is Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
2011 Cambridge Municipal Election – City Council Candidates
Tom Stohlman (19 Channing St., 02138) is a 2nd time candidate.
Tim Toomey (88 Sixth St., 02141) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 1989.
Leland Cheung (157 Garden St., 02138) was elected to the Cambridge City Council in 2009.
Ken Reeves (340 Harvard St., 02139) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 1989.
Larry Ward (372A Broadway, 02139) is a 3rd time candidate and served as a city councillor in 2009.
Denise Simmons (188 Harvard St., 02139) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 2001.
Charlie Marquardt (10 Rogers St., 02142) is a 2nd time candidate.
David Maher (120 Appleton St., 02138) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 1999 and is currently Mayor.
Gary Mello (324 Franklin St., 02139) is a 1st time candidate.
Henrietta Davis (120 Chestnut St., 02139) was elected to the Cambridge City Council in 1995.
Matt Nelson (108 Pine St., 02139) is a 1st time candidate.
Jamake Pascual (10 Laurel St., 02139) is a 1st time candidate.
Gregg Moree (25 Fairfield St., 02140) is a 3rd time candidate.
Sam Seidel (48 Maple Ave., 02139) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 2007.
Minka vanBeuzekom (20 Essex St., 02139) is a 2nd time candidate.
Marjorie Decker (61 Walden St., 02140) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 1999.
Craig Kelley (6 St. Gerard Terr., 02140) was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 2005.
James Williamson (1000 Jackson Place, 02140) is a 4th time candidate.
Photos and profiles of all the Cambridge candidates may be found at the Cambridge Candidate Pages
http://vote.rwinters.com or http://vote.cambridgecivic.com
While thinking about who to vote for it is interesting to look at the big picture.
The City Council and the Mayor’s budget this year total almost $2.1 million dollars of taxpayer funds. That covers 9 Councillors, 7 full-time staff and 6-8 “assistants” who for some reason (not fulltime?) don’t appear in the headcount. That’s a lot of resource and money. (Thus far this year they have also collected $385K for their campaigns!).
What results do we get for this? What did this Council accomplish in these past two years? What did they cause to change? Individual councillors have started several big initiatives – Red Ribbon: on Central Square; Blue Ribbon: on Early Childhood Education; and Silver Ribbon on Elders staying at home. Will these efforts turn into something real that implies changes to the what some city departments do and to have influence on many outside organizations and agencies?
Of course the Council has issued many orders to the City Manager to address many small issues and a few bigger ones. And this is important of course because that is the only means for the public who elect, talk to, and speak in public meetings to get city policies to change so as to get improvements on many fronts.
Next year the Council will either negotiate a new contract for the current City Manager or hire a new one. If it is to be a new manager that will be a big challenge for the Council. They will also get to hire a new City Clerk.
So there are some important things for the next Council to do. Which individuals will be best at doing this and working with each other in public and behind the scenes?
Comment by John W Gintell — November 4, 2011 @ 5:26 pm