Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

May 11, 2020

Budgets and Bandanas – Coming up on the May 11, 2020 Cambridge City Council Agenda

Filed under: Cambridge,City Council — Tags: , , , , , — Robert Winters @ 1:47 am

Budgets and Bandanas – Coming up on the May 11, 2020 Cambridge City Council Agenda

Here’s my take on this week’s agenda:

Manager’s Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on COVID-19.

Manager’s Agenda #2. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the FY2021 submitted budget appropriation orders.Budget Season!

I like to track how the budgets of the various City departments change from year to year and in the long term. Here’s a chart showing the one-year and two-year changes as well as the 16-year changes.

The big jumps upward this year are for Public Celebrations (up 31.8% in one year and 45.7% for two years), Public Investment (up 38% in one year and 114% for two years), and the Library (up 26.3% and 38.9%). Curiously, Employee Benefits dropped 16.4% from the FY20 Budget, but the change from the Adopted Budget or actual expenditures could possibly be different.

I am trying to read between the lines about how the Covid-19 pandemic will express itself in the FY21 Budget, but perhaps those effects may primarily be felt in terms of a long string of supplemental expenditures and dipping into "free cash".

The City Council apparently continues to treat itself with its political appointees (a.k.a. aides) with an 11% one-year jump. The City Manager’s Office (Executive) also increased its budget by nearly 13% in one year and 24.4% over two years. The overall FY21 Proposed Budget is 5.5% more than last year’s Proposed Budget.

Charter Right #1. That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to review the order and align it with guidelines promulgated by the CDC, WHO, Dr. Fauci, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to make clear face coverings are required in public settings only when physical distancing is not possible. [CHARTER RIGHT EXERCISED IN COUNCIL MAY 4, 2020]

Everyone has opinions. Everyone has agendas. Some people say they have God on their side. Others claim they have Science on their side or that Climate Change is their Righteous Cause and that everyone should comply with their agenda or else. Everyone has opinions, and bullshit is currency in Cambridge. The streets and sidewalks are not crowded – not even Memorial Drive, so they vote to close down streets to curry favor with their preferred constituents. Walking, coughing, maskless disease vectors congregate on benches and in doorways in Central Square, but the City Council will debate for hours whether it’s OK for someone to doff their mask in the park without penalty. I am often reminded of the secret of performing magic – distraction.

Order #1. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to order the Department of Public Works and any other relevant departments to consider implementing Simple Recycling’s curbside textile recycling program and report back to the Council on this matter in a timely manner.   Councillor Toomey

Order #3. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Department of Public Works and any other relevant City departments to reopen the Recycling Center for a limited time and to place recycling bins strategically across the City for residents who are unable to access the Recycling Center to allow for residents to recycle plastic items such as bags.   Councillor Toomey

One thing I have known for 30 years is that Councillor Toomey has been one of the most stalwart supporters of recycling in Cambridge, so it’s no surprise that these Orders are coming from Councillor Toomey. Regarding the Recycling Center, many of us are clearing out and organizing our living spaces while staying at home, and it sure would be great if we could recycle some of our scrap metal and more. I have a defunct old TV taking up space that won’t be picked up with the rubbish and the City has suspended all other alternatives. We have brought tons of stuff to various Red Cross donation bins and elsewhere, but there’s a lot more where that came from. Remember the old "Bring Your Own Bag Ordinance?" Well, they won’t even let you in the store with that now and you will likely exit with a bunch more plastic bags, and it might be good if there was a place to lose them.

Order #2. That the City Manager report to the Council with an update on recommendations being discussed by the Small Business Advisory Group so the Council may be prepared for quick action on items that may properly come before the body.   Councillor Nolan, Councillor Carlone, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

I have no doubt that this will soon become one of the hottest topics at City Council meetings.

Order #4. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Police Department to provide information to the City Council about social media protocols and what disciplinary action has been taken as result of the Department’s social media use incident.   Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Carlone

The "Shoe On The Other Foot Test" should be applied here. Imagine that someone in the Police Department inadvertently used the wrong account to tweet something like “More insane crap from that f— (expletive redacted) Orange Menace in the White House. Sad for us.” Do you think there would even be a story let alone demands for disciplinary action? By the way, the person who erred here has been one of the most solid, courteous, and well-respected members of the Police Department for a very long time, and most of the present and former city councillors know it. I will be interested to see which councillors want to throw him under the bus for not complying with Cambridge political orthodoxy.

Order #5. That the City Council go on record in solidarity with all Lesley University workers and in support of the demands of the community petition.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Carlone, Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

I am in general agreement with all of the intentions of this Order, but I would like to inform those who don’t understand the concept of infinity that not even our local elite universities have infinite financial resources. Even Harvard and MIT are having to make some difficult choices. – Robert Winters

March 3, 2020

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 457-458: March 3, 2020

Episode 457 – Cambridge InsideOut: Mar 3, 2020 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Mar 3, 2020 at 5:30pm. Topics: Presidential Primary; Grand Junction Overlay Ordained 9-0, Eversource substation to be relocated. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 458 – Cambridge InsideOut: Mar 3, 2020 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Mar 3, 2020 at 6:00pm. Topics: Grand Junction Pedestrian/Bike Linear Path; Harvard Square Overlay amendments ordained 9-0; matching vacancies to retail tenants; zoning vs. culture of making good things happen. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

February 18, 2020

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 453-454: February 18, 2020

Episode 453 – Cambridge InsideOut: Feb 18, 2020 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Feb 18, 2020 at 5:30pm. Topics: Nevada caucuses, brokered convention, Presidential prognostication; Local State Rep. & State Senate contests; Charlie Cards; cannabis litigation; Harvard Square Zoning Petition. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters. [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 454 – Cambridge InsideOut: Feb 18, 2020 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Feb 18, 2020 at 6:00pm. Topics: Zoning updates; broader look at zoning; Neon!; Waste reduction milestone, history and future goals; River St. reconstruction; Carl Barron Plaza, perpetual substance abuse, and lowered expectations; nonnegotiables, inflexibility, and bad outcomes in public ways. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

January 8, 2020

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 443-444: Jan 7, 2020

Episode 443 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 7, 2020 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Jan 7, 2020 at 5:30pm. Topics: City Council and School Committee Inaugurations; Election of Mayor, Vice-Chair of City Council; School Committee & Cancel Culture; City Manager Contract on the horizon; Liberalism vs. Radicalism; Freakonomics in affordable housing, small business, and the Achievement Gap; money doesn’t solve everything. Hosts: Patrick Barrett, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 444 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 7, 2020 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Jan 7, 2020 at 6:00pm. Topics: City Council priorities; return of Subsidized Housing Overlay proposal or alternatives; tenant protections and condo regulation; protection vs. control; zoning & development in Central Square, near Union Sq./Green Line Extension; Alewife possibilities, including multiple bridges. Hosts: Patrick Barrett, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

December 17, 2019

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 441-442: December 17, 2019

Episode 441 – Cambridge InsideOut: Dec 17, 2019 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Dec 17, 2019 at 5:30pm. Topics: On Elections & Vacancies; The Departure of Councillors Craig Kelley & Jan Devereux; Karp Petition and East Cambridge development, Contract Zoning a.k.a. “Let’s Make A Deal”; Mall Tales and Mini-Retail. Hosts: Patrick Barrett, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 442 – Cambridge InsideOut: Dec 17, 2019 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Dec 17, 2019 at 6:00pm. Topics: Harvard Square Zoning Petition – how zoning might help retail.; Form-Based Zoning – Citywide Somerville Rezoning; Finding the “Sweet Spot” in zoning density. Hosts: Patrick Barrett, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

November 24, 2019

Turkey Trot – Nov 25, 2019 Cambridge City Council meeting

Turkey Trot – Nov 25, 2019 Cambridge City Council meeting

Turkey TrotPerhaps we should call this the Lame Turkey Session and give the ducks a break. Here are a few agenda items that caught my eye:

Manager’s Agenda #8. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $1,924,594.18, associated with Education First’s EF 3 Building, SP#328) from the Mitigation Revenue Stabilization Fund to the Public Investment Public Works Extraordinary Expenditure account which will be used to support utility work associated with the Port Project and were paid by Education First to fulfill their Inflow and Infiltration requirement.

This is what "mitigation money" is supposed to be all about – actual mitigation and infrastructure improvement. Contrast this with the current practice of granting upzoning not for the sake of good planning but for cash and prizes – and, of course, subsidized housing units. At least the proposal to glue subsidized housing units onto a self-storage facility didn’t fly. Mark my words – this is only going to get weirder in the next City Council term.

Manager’s Agenda #10. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-140, regarding Harvard Square plaza area safety improvements.

During my four decades in Cambridge I have seen the Harvard Square pedestrian environment reconfigured several times – each time under the belief that nirvana had been achieved. The last iteration was the "Super Crosswalk" that apparently was never all that super. The next iteration is coming. No matter the outcome, we will be assured that congestion and delay is not a negative consequence but is instead good for us and we should shut up and be grateful – and all parties involved will continue to bend the traffic laws as they see fit.

Manager’s Agenda #11. Transmitting communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $107,000 from Free Cash to the General Fund Finance Other Ordinary Maintenance account as initial support of the recommendations of the Mayor’s Arts Task Force regarding the Central Square Cultural District.

Yippee! Money for Central Square! Now if we could only categorize sidewalk repair and improvements to the T station as "art" we’ll be all set.

Manager’s Agenda #12. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-122, which requested a legal opinion on the License Commissions authority.

This is by far the most important item on this agenda. Though this legal opinion merely states what many of us have known and understood all along, it should put to rest some of the outrageous misunderstandings that have been circulating. That said, I read an opinion today that it was somehow problematic that a quasi-judicial body like the Cambridge License Commission can act without micromanagement by the City Manager – even though any decision of the License Commission can be appealed. Imagine how outraged people would feel if it was suggested that the Planning Board should not issue or deny a Special Permit without the approval of the City Manager. Ultimately the City Manager is "the appointing authority" and could appoint only yes-men (and yes-women) to all the City’s Boards and Commissions as well as the Police Commissioner and Fire Chief, but that practice would likely head south pretty quickly. City Solicitor Glowa’s legal opinion is both impressive and timely, and I hope it puts to rest some of the falsehoods from the Lower Port to the Upper West.

Committee Report #1 & Committee Report #2. A report from Councillor Dennis J. Carlone and Councillor Craig A. Kelley, Co-Chairs of the Ordinance Committee, for a public hearing held on Sept 26, 2019 and Nov 14, 2019 to discuss the petition by Stephen R. Karp, Trustee of Cambridgeside Galleria Associates Trust, to amend the Zoning Ordinance of the City of Cambridge by adding a Section 13.100 that creates a new PUD-8 District and to amend the Zoning Map of the City of Cambridge by adding the new PUD-8 District, which District would include the property located at 100 Cambridgeside Place (currently zoned in the Business A and PUD-4 Districts).

I do hope that the City Council passes some version of this zoning amendment solely because I think we could a lot do better in that corner of the city than what exists now, and some reconfiguration of the Cambridgeside Galleria should be part of that. However, I find aspects of the committee report to be problematic, e.g. "the Petitioner will pay the City $50 million dollars in mitigation funding" and "what would happen to the proposed community benefits if the Petitioner decided to proceed under their current zoning" and "she felt that the height and massing could be appropriate depending on the community benefits." In short, approving changes in zoning should be primarily about good planning and not about any "quid pro quo". Unfortunately, this brand of zoning negotiation as commodity trading is not exceptional in Cambridge these days – and it may only grow worse. – Robert Winters

October 27, 2019

Nervously Waiting and Wading through the Campaign Mailers – October 28, 2019 City Council Agenda

Filed under: Cambridge,City Council — Tags: , , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:15 pm

Nervously Waiting and Wading through the Campaign Mailers – October 28, 2019 City Council Agenda

Ballot BoxHere are some items of interest up for discussion/approval/referral this week:

Manager’s Agenda #7. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $350,000 from Free Cash to the Public Investment Fund Library Extraordinary Expenditures account. This appropriation will fund a feasibility study and interior improvements to the Central Square Branch Library.

It’s all feasible. The greater questions are (a) whether the City is willing to substantially redesign the Central Sq. library entrance to make it less of a nuisance, and (b) whether there’s any interest in adding another level or two of parking to the Green Street Garage to meet existing demand and to compensate for losses elsewhere in the Central Square area. My guess is that they’ll do neither.

Manager’s Agenda #9. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the request for two appropriations of $23,000,000 from Free Cash and $7,000,000 from Cambridge Redevelopment Authority for the Foundry project.

The gift that keeps on giving.</sarcasm>

Order #9. That the City Manager is requested to confer with relevant City staff on determining the most appropriate signage and messaging that would best educate cyclists on the importance of following traffic laws, particularly stopping at red lights, for their own safety and the safety of other cyclists and pedestrians.   Councillor Kelley, Councillor Siddiqui, Councillor Carlone

Ensuring cyclists own safety seems like a continuing uphill battle. This past Thursday on my way to teach a lecture I watched two cyclists with no lights ride at around 8:00pm directly across the path of a large truck on Oxford Street below the field of vision of the driver. Near miss.

Order #10. That the City Manager is requested to work with the Community Development Department, the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department and the Department of Public Works to determine what facilities, parking changes, and other improvements to the pavement conditions would be necessary and feasible to make Porter Square and Massachusetts Avenue between Roseland Street and Beech Street a quick-build Complete Street with bus priority.   Mayor McGovern, Councillor Zondervan

I have minimal knowledge of the best remedy for this area. I can, however, show at least one location where paradoxically the removal of an exclusive bus priority lane would actually make bus traffic move more quickly. Beware of one-size-fits-all solutions.

Committee Report #1. A communication was received from Paula Crane, Deputy City Clerk, transmitting a report from Councillor Quinton Zondervan, Co-Chair and Councillor Dennis J. Carlone, Co-Chair of the Neighborhood and Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebration Committee, for a public hearing held on Sept 24, 2019 to discuss the City policy on sidewalk surface treatments as discussed in Policy Order #16 of July 30, 2019.

I like all-brick sidewalks except when I have to shovel them after a snowstorm. Then again, in my neighborhood when an asphalt patch of a concrete sidewalk is made it can take over 5 years to restore the sidewalk. Or never. Especially if the cut was made by Eversource/Neverfinish.

Communications & Reports #2. A communication was received from Mayor McGovern, transmitting a report, "The Kind of City which is Desirable and Obtainable:" A brief history of zoning in Cambridge.

I love anecdotal and oral histories. They add to the story. As for the political point attempting to be made here, never forget the age-old advice that "correlation does not imply causation." Cambridge zoning was initially done to simply acknowledge and codify what was already built. One definitely gets the impression that the current mayor wants to obliterate existing zoning primarily to facilitate a specific proposal. If you start with a conclusion you can nearly always cobble together a narrative to support it. I am far more interested in the here and now and whether specific modifications to existing zoning might be appropriate to achieve best outcomes, e.g. transit-oriented development, moderate increases in density, and adjusting the table of uses to reflect present-day uses in commercial zones. – Robert Winters

October 1, 2019

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 421-422: Oct 1, 2019

Episode 421 – Cambridge InsideOut: Oct 1, 2019 (Part 1)

This episode was broadcast on Oct 1, 2019 at 5:30pm. Topics: Candidate slates; political action committees; DigBoston Dirty Politics; ABC, CResA, ORC, CCC; reemergence of single-issue politics; independent candidates; future Council – Practical Solutions or Pointless Revolution. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 422 – Cambridge InsideOut: Oct 1, 2019 (Part 2)

This episode was broadcast on Oct 1, 2019 at 6:00pm. Topics: School Committee election; Candidate Forums; slate politics; SNL; pending zoning matters – Karp, Article 19, Northwest Alewife Quadrangle, and Barrett Times Three. Hosts: Judy Nathans, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

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