Don’t Worry About The Government – Selections from the February 7, 2022 Cambridge City Council Agenda
Here are a few choice items from this week’s agenda:
Manager’s Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to a COVID-19 update.
Placed on File 9-0
The Covid numbers have been improving daily. Harvard dining halls have now opened at full capacity and required testing has been reduced. The questions now should be about when the City’s various requirements will be reduced or eliminated as we transition from pandemic to endemic.
Charter Right #1. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 21-93, regarding proposed amendments to the Municipal Code relative to recent charter changes (Ordinance #2022-2). [Charter Right – Nolan, Jan 31, 2022]
Tabled 9-0 – Nolan
The big question for me will be how the next round of charter revision plays out. The pattern over the last few years has been one of city councillors seeking more privilege and authority (personal aides, designated parking spaces, private offices, veto power over appointments to City boards & commissions). They have even now asserted themselves as the primary source of all future charter revision by assuming power to appoint all members to any future charter review commission. Will the next call be for a popularly elected mayor and the elimination of the current city manager form of government (even as they are in the process of hiring a city manager)? Depending on how the first round goes, there may be the need for citizens to petition for their own elected charter review commission. In the 1930s, the combination of political patronage, poor fiscal management, and elevated taxes led to a citizens movement to adopt Plan E. History may well repeat itself, but perhaps only after considerable fiscal turmoil.
I will also point out that there are still no protocols in place for how the City Council will review appointments to City boards & commissions or if this authority applies to all boards, commissions, task forces, or ad-hoc committees.
Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to consult with the appropriate City staff to determine the feasibility of establishing additional compensation for the City’s essential employees in accordance with the considered State legislation framework. Councillor Simmons, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Azeem, Councillor Toner
Order Adopted 9-0
This may be a good idea, but there is something odd about crediting additional years toward an employee’s pension as if this was some new form of currency. One might think that providing “hazard pay” to employees who came to work through the worst part of the pandemic would be the more appropriate action.
Order #2. That Article 10.000 of the Zoning Ordinances of the City of Cambridge be amended to insert a new section 10.600, titled “On-Site Fossil Fuel Infrastructure”. Councillor Nolan, Councillor Carlone
Charter Right – Zondervan
Order #8. Amendment to Article 22 of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Cambridge entitled “Sustainable Design And Development” to insert a new section. Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Carlone, Councillor Nolan
Referred to Ordinance Committee and Planning Board 7-0-0-2 (Simmons, Toner – PRESENT)
Order #2 calls for a zoning amendment that would mandate no new gas hookups in new or substantially rehabilitated buildings – except subsidized housing development. Order #8 would mandate emissions reporting for all major new projects and substantially rehabilitated buildings – except any residential buildings that include affordable units.
Order #3. That the City Manager is requested to instruct the City Solicitor to provide a legal opinion on whether the City Council can delegate the authority of curb cut approvals to the Inspectional Services Department through the City Manager. Councillor Azeem, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Simmons, Vice Mayor Mallon
Order Adopted as Amended 8-1 (Carlone – NO)
When Marjorie Decker was on the City Council she would regularly question why the City Council should be involved in the approval of curb cuts. In contrast, other councillors over the years have jealously guarded their ability to either block projects or extract benefits using (or abusing) this authority. Delegate it.
Order #4. That section 6.36 entitled, Schedule of Parking and Loading Requirements, of Article 6.000, entitled “Off Street Parking And Loading Requirements And Nighttime Curfew On Large Commercial Through Trucks”, of the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Cambridge be amended. Councillor Azeem, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern
Amended 9-0; Charter Right – Simmons
Order #9. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct staff from the Community Development and Law Departments to examine the Zoning Ordinance and provide amendment language for consideration by the City Council to remove all other references to parking minimums, including in Articles 13.000, 14.000, 15.000, 16.000, 17.000, and 20.000. Councillor Azeem, Councillor Zondervan, Councill McGovern
Amended 9-0; Charter Right – Simmons
I have mixed feelings about this. The creed over the last decade or two has been that new housing near public transit should have relaxed or no parking minimums. Now that density has become the new religion with the added belief that automobiles are the work of the devil, the new wave is for eliminating parking minimums everywhere. Insofar as many tenants and owners may still want a place to park their Electric BMW, it’s likely that some developers will continue to build parking into their projects in order to maximize value. It’s not so clear how less affluent people who have to drive to jobs elsewhere will make out – other than to fight over the diminishing supply of on-street spaces when they return home. Pretty soon every day may feel like street cleaning day.
Order #5. That the City Manager is requested to report to the City Council on options for spending ARPA money on direct support for households and individuals facing eviction, housing instability, and/or homelessness. Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Carlone
Order Adopted 9-0
I’m sure some of this makes good sense, but I would like to see some documentation of the “acute crisis of homelessness, housing instability, and eviction in Cambridge” that this proposal seeks to address as well as the means via which eligibility for this new form of public assistance would be determined. I recall there being claims a year ago about the coming “tsunami of evictions” but I’m not so sure that metaphorical storm ever struck. Nobody questions that housing costs are high in Cambridge, but it’s hard to make a direct connection between that reality and the pandemic.
Order #6. That the City Council appoints City Councillors Denise Simmons and Paul Toner as members of the City Clerk preliminary screening committee to begin the application and interviewing process for the new City Clerk, and to report back to the full City Council, as required by law, for the public interviewing of recommended finalists for the City Clerk position. Mayor Siddiqui
Order Adopted 9-0
Committee Report #1. The Government Operations, Rules and Claims Committee met on Jan 26, 2022 for the purpose of reviewing next steps in the City Manager search process.
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Communications & Reports #6. A communication was received from Vice Mayor Mallon, transmitting a memorandum regarding updates on the City Manager search.
Placed on File 9-0
One of my favorite all-time films starring John Wayne, Jeffrey Hunter, Natalie Wood and others is John Ford’s “The Searchers”. I hope the City Council’s triple search process ends as well.
Order #7. Amend Section 2.66 of the Municipal Code to add a new section titled “Article III Green Jobs.” Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Carlone, Councillor Simmons, Mayor Siddiqui
Referred to Health & Environment Committee 9-0
Communications & Reports #3. A communication was received from Mayor Siddiqui, transmitting information regarding the Fare Free Bus Pilot Working Group.
Placed on File 9-0
Let me guess what the recommendation will be… You need look no further than the name of the working group. – Robert Winters