Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

Midsummer Night’s Dream – Or Is It Real? – Agenda Items for the July 27, 2020 Cambridge City Council meeting

The summer meeting is often the time when battle lines are drawn and City Council business becomes Publick Theatre. Perhaps that’s what Monday will bring, but that’s pretty much what we’ve been seeing for months, and the theatrics are getting really old. This week’s skirmishes are likely to be the culmination of kerfuffles past, e.g. what constitutes "military" equipment in the Police Department inventory, and the next chapter in the Overlay Express to move as much of the housing stock into "social ownership" as our revolutionary misrepresentatives can manage. This is also the Penultimate Meeting on the City Manager’s contract extension – a matter of considerable importance and something of a litmus test of just how much some councillors misunderstand the Plan E Charter and the whole idea of a city manager form of government. There are also some practical suggestions, e.g. using the recent sale of the Grace properties at Alewife as a possible opportunity to make something better of the Jerry’s Pond area. In any case, here are a few things that for one reason or another seem to stand out among the others:

Resolution #3. Resolution on the death of Barbara Ackermann.   Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Simmons

Suffice to say that former Mayor Barbara Ackermann was a class act in every way.

Manager’s Agenda #6. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $10,489,930 received through the Coronavirus Relief Fund as part of the Federal Cares Act, to the Grant Fund Finance Department Other Ordinary Maintenance Account which will support expenditures related to core municipal services; public health; and services and supports to residents.

Manager’s Agenda #30. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to a proposed restatement of and amendment to the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Account, entitled “The City of Cambridge Restated and Amended Mayor’s Disaster Relief Account” (“Account”).
Charter Right – Simmons

Order #2. The Mayor be and hereby is requested to schedule a Roundtable/Working Meeting for members of the City Council and School Committee for Tues, Aug 11 at 5:30pm at City Hall, in the Sullivan Chambers, 795 Massachusetts Ave, to discuss CPSD reopening school plans.   Mayor Siddiqui

Communications & Reports #1. A communication was received from Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, transmitting information from the School Committee’s summer meetings.

No comment here other than to say that years from now we’ll look back at 2020 (and perhaps beyond) as the year defined by the virus and how it reshaped so many things – some temporarily and some permanently. It is worth noting that while the councillors debate revolution and trivia, the School Committee and the Mayor are in the unenviable position of making extremely consequential decisions on how our public schools will operate come this fall.

Manager’s Agenda #7. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 20-16, regarding feasibility of eliminating Library late fines.

In some colleges/universities where I have worked, the policy was that there was no time limit on how long a faculty member could keep a library book. Some of the books I took out just stayed on my bookshelf forever.

Manager’s Agenda #27-28. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 20-33, regarding implementing a Tenants’ Rights and Resources Notification Act that would require owners and management companies to include tenants’ rights and resources information when issuing eviction notifications including at the initial Notice to Quit stage.
Passed to a 2nd Reading 9-0

In principle, having complete information is a good thing. I have been a landlord for 35 years and never had to give anyone the boot, but if I ever did I guess it’s not so much to ask that I give an informational pamphlet along with the eviction notice. Anything beyond that is someone else’s job.

Manager’s Agenda #29. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an updated response to Calendar Item #9, regarding Gas Infrastructure Ban.
Referred to Health & Environment Committee

It should surprise no one but the zealots that the MA Attorney General is of the opinion that a comparable ban in the Town of Brookline violates state law and the Constitution of the Commonwealth. "The Attorney General agrees with the policy goals behind the Town’s attempt to reduce the use of fossil fuels within the Town. However, the Legislature (and the courts) have made plain that the Town cannot utilize the method it selected to achieve those goals." My guess is that unless an adult intervenes, the Cambridge City Council will pursue it anyway – because that’s what zealots do.

Manager’s Agenda #31. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 20-34, regarding a report on an itemized statement of all materials, tools, and property owned by the Cambridge Police Department.
Referred to Public Safety Committee (there was also a late communication from Police Commissioner Bard)

Late Communications & Reports #2. A communication was received from Police Commissioner, Dr. Branville G. Bard, Jr., transmitting a memorandum regarding some semblance of understanding as to how and why municipal police departments, like here in Cambridge, came to require the type of weaponry listed in the inventory contained in response to Council Order O-9.

This will likely be the main attraction at the meeting – debating ad nauseum whether this or that type of weapon or apparatus is or is not "military." I imagine it will also be prime time for the Zondervan/Sobrinho-Wheeler vs. Commissioner Bard sideshow in which the "abolish the police" gang explains in great detail all that they will never understand about law enforcement and public safety.

Order #1. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the Personnel Department and provide an update on the Cambridge Police Patrol Officers’ Association union contract negotiation at the City Council’s regular meeting on Sept 14th, 2020.   Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor McGovern, Mayor Siddiqui
Order Adopted 9-0

Order #5. The City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the Personnel Department and City Solicitor to generate a report detailing the Sole Assessment Process, the Civil Service HRD process, the reason for choosing the Sole Assessment Process over the Civil Service HRD process, and the projected costs associated with both processes. The City Manager be and hereby is requested to present this report at the Sept 14th regular City Council meeting.   Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler
Order Adopted 9-0

Order #14. The City Manager look into transferring primary traffic enforcement responsibilities from the Cambridge Police Department to unarmed, trained enforcement personnel in the Traffic & Parking Department, Department of Public Works, Health & Human Services, or another suitable department.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler
Charter Right – Mallon

The first two Orders seem to indicate the desire of the current City Council to blur those inconvenient boundaries established by the Plan E Charter regarding the role of the City Manager in managing the City and, in particular, in handling matters involving appointments and personnel. I suppose it’s possible that they’ll confine their remarks to matters of policy, but micromanagement is so much fun. Then again, some of them seem so ripe for charter change and the desire for greater control that I’m sure they won’t be able to contain themselves.

The third Order (Order #14) seems like just the next chapter in the "Defund the Police" playbook. This is not to say that asking Traffic & Parking or DPW or Human Services to take on additional enforcement roles is unthinkable. I just think that when a parking control officer or rubbish collector or social worker pulls over a car for running a red light it will be quickly followed by hysterical laughter emanating from the offending vehicle. Then again, if the offender is a serious bad guy it won’t be so funny.

Applications & Petitions #1. A Re-Submission of a Rezoning Petition has been received from Salvatori Zimno, Vice President, Development, BMR-THIRD LLC., regarding rezoning petition for a proposed amendment to the Zoning Ordinance and the Zoning Map of the City of Cambridge which upon adoption, would result in a new Planned Unit Development ("PUD") District CDK. [Petition w/o images] [images from petition]
Referred to Ordinance Committee & Planning Board

Applications & Petitions #5. A Zoning Petition has been received from Arvind Srinivasau regarding zoning language for the Alewife Quadrangle Northwest Overlay district. [text of petition]
Referred to Ordinance Committee & Planning Board

Applications & Petitions #6. A Zoning Petition has been received from Francis E. Donovan regarding new zoning amendments to increase Affordable Housing. [text of petition]
Referred to Ordinance Committee & Planning Board

Zoning, zoning, and more zoning returns. The first of these (Canal District PUD) offers a vision of what might finally happen in and around the Constellation Center site in Kendall Square that never materialized. The second is the next iteration of a recurring petition for the northwestern end of the Alewife Quadrangle area between Fresh Pond and the RR tracks. [As with the previous versions, this proposed zoning comes with a proposed pedestrian bridge over the RR tracks.]

The third petition has some interesting ideas and alternatives to the current "Affordable Housing Overlay" petition that is currently going through the process. Of course that also means that the AHO Express advocates will likely be dismissive of it. The interesting contrast between this new petition and the AHO is that the new petition (a) emphasizes the relaxation of single-family zoning rules in favor of multi-family housing, and (b) has an emphasis on having more ownership units. Simplistically, it’s a contrast between the "social ownership" emphasis in the AHO that would put an ever-higher percentage of housing into the hands of government and their non-profit partners, versus making somewhat more intensive use of existing properties and promoting home-ownership. Unfortunately, the two viewpoints are intertwined with political organizations and their affiliated elected officials.

People can talk all day and night about charter change, but the more fundamental problem is that we have only the most imperfect ways of assessing what the voters of this city actually might favor (hint – municipal elections do a lousy job of measuring public opinion). When it comes to "abolishing the police" or making consequential decisions about housing policy and weighing tenant needs vs. property rights, a coin flip or a Ouija Board would probably do as good a job or better than the people who supposedly represent us.

Order #8. The Mayor be and hereby is requested to call a Special Meeting of the City Council and invite a representative from the Collins Center to present on the process and benefits of Charter Review and Reform.   Councillor Nolan
Order Adopted 9-0

And so it begins. The rhetoric surrounding the possible extension of City Manager Louis DePasquale’s contract has been accompanied by hints of charter change because, after all, why did Louis wait so long to allow us to use our reusable shopping bags? Personally, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to think about our form of government every decade or so, but when I listen to the current rhetoric from the current councillors I really just want to take a rain check until the ideologues and the zealots and the power-hungry have gone to pasture.

Order #10. That the Cambridge City Council pass the attached Real Estate Transfer Fee Home Rule Petition.   Councillor Carlone, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler
Referred to Ordinance Committee 9-0

I suppose I shouldn’t really care about proposals like this because my building is unlikely to be transfered to anyone else in my lifetime, but I remain eternally suspicious of this City Council’s endless quest to curtail the rights of property owners and to extract as much money out of every source possible to fund their eternal campaign to move residential property into "social ownership." At least this proposal puts the hit on those buying and/or selling property. Councillor Carlone, on the other hand, has now loudly proclaimed his wish that residential property taxes be jacked up to near the maximum possible even if that means shocking homeowners with a 50% increase in their residential property tax bills. The City Manager, in contrast, seems to be dedicated to maintaining a much slower rise in residential property taxes (thanks, Louis).

Order #11. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to Contact IQHQ and engage the relevant city departments regarding next steps for restoration, health and environmental protection, improvement, beautification, and making the surrounding areas of Jerry’s Pond publicly accessible and incorporating Jerry’s Pond into the adjacent public parklands, with pedestrian and bicycle connections to the MBTA Station, the Alewife Reservation, Minuteman Bikeway, and the Linear Park.   Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Zondervan
Order Adopted as Amended 9-0

Order #12. The City Manager be and hereby is requested to take steps to improve the surrounding landscape for residents who live in the neighboring community and the many individuals who commute through the area via the Alewife Red Line, the Minuteman Bikeway, Rindge Avenue and Alewife Brook Parkway.   Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Zondervan
Order Adopted 9-0

These are both very forward-looking Orders that (I believe) have the intention of getting ahead of the curve regarding future plans by the new owners of the former WR Grace properties in the Alewife area. Those properties recently sold for $125 million and it’s unlikely that they’ll sit idle forever. Like it or not, with significant investment comes significant opportunities for improvement, and boy does that area need some improvement.

Order #15. The City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the appropriate departments to conduct street cleaning without towing for the remainder of the 2020 season, and to employ other methods including (but not limited to) an escalating ticketing schedule that would continue to incentive compliance.   Councillor Zondervan
Failed of Adoption 4-4-1 (Nolan, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Siddiqui, Zondervan – YES; Mallon, McGovern, Simmons, Toomey – NO; Carlone – ABSENT)

Councillor Kelley once suggested this and it’s not such a crazy idea. On the other hand, I was pretty happy to recently have my neighborhood streets finally swept clear of debris, and I doubt that would have happened as effectively if vehicles were just tagged and not towed.

Order #16. The City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the City of Cambridge Law Department to review the above changes to the language of the Domestic Partnerships Ordinance and report back to the Council.   Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Zondervan
Passed to 2nd Reading 9-0

I have no idea why this proposal has come up now, but I do remember that some aspects of the Domestic Partnership Ordinance lost their impact with the legalization of same-sex marriages. Basically, once marriage was an available option to all it invalidated some of the benefits for unmarried partners. I am curious about the possible unintended consequences of the proposal in that "’Domestic partnership’ means the entity formed by two or more persons who meet the following criteria……" Hmm…., does that means I could form a tribe of unrelated persons who "are in a relationship of mutual support, caring and commitment" and declare my tribe to be a domestic partnership so that we could obtain a range of legal benefits? This could get really interesting.

Committee Report #1. A report of the Government Operations, Rules & Claims Committee Meeting on Feb 19, 2020 to discuss amendments of the City Council’s Rules.
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0

Committee Report #2. A report Government Operations, Rules & Claims Committee Meeting on Mar 12, 2020 to discuss the City Manager’s request to extend his contract.
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0

I don’t know when they’ll vote on a contract extension or what the term of that extension will be. The proposal initially floated was for a two year extension (which seems reasonable), but the revolutionaries seem to want to make it shorter so that they can get started right away on their interplanetary search for somebody as unaffiliated with Cambridge as possible and who will allow them to check all the necessary boxes. – Robert Winters