Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

Elected, Injected, Inspected, Detected, Infected, Neglected and Selected Highlights on the April 27, 2020 City Council Agenda

Another week of Covid-19 updates and policy proposals. Here are a few things that struck me as more interesting than drinking Clorox or having miniaturized Fantasic Voyage actors in the USS Proteus injected into my arteries equipped with tiny little ultraviolet ray guns.

Manager’s Agenda #7. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $500,000 donated to the City by Harvard University ($250,000) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($250,000), to the Grant Fund Public Works Extraordinary Expenditures Account for the construction and operation of the War Memorial Temporary Emergency Shelter at 1640 Cambridge Street.

While I can’t speak to what else Harvard has done in the midst of this pandemic, it’s worth highlighting that in addition to these donated funds, MIT has also transformed its Johnson Skating Rink into the fully licensed 75-bed "Sean Collier Care Center" that will serve members of the MIT community and residents who are referred from the Cambridge Health Alliance and Mt. Auburn Hospital who need medical care for Covid-19. The center is staffed, operated, and funded by MIT.

MIT also suspended rent for all of its retail tenants in Central Square, Kendall Square, and on campus – including 27 small businesses. There have been plenty of additional initiatives taken by MIT to address this crisis. Perhaps most significantly, many of the research scientists here and around the world now working on therapies and vaccines have roots at MIT.

Manager’s Agenda #8. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on COVID-19.

This has become the primary agenda item for City Council meetings. I look forward to the day when this need no longer be the case.

Charter Right #1. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to repurpose the War Memorial facility into only a COVID-19 testing and temporary quarantine site for unhoused individuals awaiting their test results.

Last week’s Special Meeting was very informative and highlighted the extraordinary efforts of a wide range of City staff and partners who are diligently providing solutions even as the circumstances change from day to day. While thoughtful questions and suggestions from elected representatives are appreciated, the wise choice remains to let the professionals do their job and make the best use of their experience and judgment. Reaching quota in a Cambridge PR election does not miraculous confer expertise in either medicine, public saftety, or epidemiology. Also, this is not the time for coronagendas to transform society according to your own personal politics.

Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to work with relevant departments to restrict third party delivery services fees to restaurants and disclose to customers of how delivery charges are allocated.   Councillor Nolan, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor McGovern, Mayor Siddiqui

Delivery services right now are in great demand, but the costs should be commensurate with the service, and the primary beneficiaries of any additional cost should be our struggling retailers. I hope this Order can help to shape the fee structures for the better while still providing incentives for these services. In the meantime, if anyone wants to drop off some lettuce, canned tuna, and a quart of light cream for my morning coffee I’ll be your best friend and maybe even throw a few bucks your way. We’re also running low on cheese and crackers.

Order #2. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to issue an emergency order to make wearing a cloth face covering in public mandatory for all persons in the City of Cambridge, and that such a covering must be worn outdoors, inside essential businesses, and when entering and exiting residential buildings.   Councillor McGovern, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Toomey

People can argue about just how much freedom can or should be compromised in an actual emergency, but to me the most important fact is that the greatest potential for reduction in the transmission of the coronavirus is a mask worn by a carrier – even if that person is not symptomatic or even aware that he/she is a carrier. So I’ll go with making the masks mandatory for at least the short term. Walking along Memorial Drive the other day was like seeing Idiots on Parade – almost nobody wearing a mask as they were biking and running past leaving their vapors in their wake.

Order #3. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to establish what specific steps will be made to ensure the safety of the workforce upon the re-opening of City offices, and what specific options will be made available to those City workers who are more susceptible to severe covid-19 infections and may require the ability to work remotely until such time as this crisis passes.   Councillor Simmons

I have no suggestions at all about next steps, but I do find something promising in the fact that people are at least thinking about how we can get back to "normal" even if it proves to be a very different kind of "new normal." Even Boo Radley had to emerge eventually. – Robert Winters