Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

January 6, 2023

Challenges of a New Year – January 9, 2023 Cambridge City Council meeting

Challenges of a New Year – January 9, 2023 Cambridge City Council meeting

The first meeting of the new year promises to be a difficult one. Here are some featured agenda items:

Updates

Manager’s Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to an update on the fatal officer-involved shooting in Cambridgeport.
Excellent, balanced statements by City Manager and Police Commissioner Elow; community meeting and Special City Council meeting scheduled; comments by SS, AM, BA, MM (body cameras, procedures, independent investigation), QZ moves to bring forward Committee Report #4 on “HEART”: 8-0-1 (DS Absent); Zondervan calls for funding of HEART program suggesting that they would have prevented this incident, calls for demilitarizing police, investment in more mental health services, objects to defense of our “supposedly progressive police force”, calls for Cambridge Police Department “to disarm or disband”, will schedule a Public Safety Committee meeting; remarks by PN, PT, DC, DS (resist the urge to think we have all the facts); Placed on File 9-0

Tragedy, controversy, and crisis can bring out the best and the worst in people, and can provide opportunity for leadership or opportunism. It’s best that everyone withhold judgment until all the details and circumstances of this incident are better understood.

An organized protest is scheduled to take place starting at 3:00pm in front of City Hall prior to the City Council meeting. The City will conduct a Community Meeting on Thurs, Jan 12 at the MLK School (102 Putnam Ave.) from 6:00pm to 8:00pm with District Attorney Marian Ryan, Police Commissioner Christine Elow, and City Manager Yi-An Huang to answer questions; and a Special City Council Meeting is scheduled for Wed, Jan 18 at 3:00pm to discuss protocols, processes, and training in the Cambridge Police Department.

Manager’s Agenda #2. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a public health update.
Derrick Neal notes that hospitalizations are now at a high level – stressed but managing; indoor masks recommended; wastewater peaked but declining; Placed on File 7-0-2 (DS,QZ – Absent)


Zoning MattersCity Hall

Manager’s Agenda #10. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board report recommending that the City Council not adopt the Patrick Barrett, et al., Zoning Petition.
Referred to Petition 9-0

Order #2. That the City Manager direct the Law Department to research whether the Barrett et al. petition would need to be refiled should there be a Letter of Commitment attached to the rezoning.   Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 8-0-1 (Carlone ABSENT)

Manager’s Agenda #11. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board report recommending that the City Council not adopt the Duane Callender, et al., Zoning Petition.
Referred to Petition 9-0

Committee Report #2. Joint meeting of the Economic Development and University Relations Committee and the Neighborhood & Long-Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebrations Committee on Dec 7, 2022, at 1:00pm to review and discuss the attached zoning petition regarding lab use. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 8-0-1 (Carlone ABSENT)

Unfinished Business #3. An Ordinance has been received from Diane P. LeBlanc City Clerk, relative to Emissions Accounting Zoning Petition. [Passed to 2nd Reading Dec 19, 2022; To Be Ordained on or after Jan 9, 2023; Expires Mar 6, 2023]

Applications & Petitions #3. A Zoning Petition Has been received from Douglas Brown regarding Amending Article 4, 5 and 8 incrementally modernizing residential zoning.
pulled by Mallon; question about why only one signature on petition, Clerk reads ruling of City Solicitor explaining why this is permissible; Zondervan acknowledges the legality; Toner had same questions about single signature; McGovern also surprised but then barks ABC party line about housing crisis and his desire to not do anything incremental but instead only at a grand scale; Azeem, Simmons also comment; Referred to Ordinance Committee and Planning Board 8-0-1 (Carlone ABSENT)

Order #7. That the City Manager is hereby requested to direct the CDD and the Law Department to examine the Citizen’s Petition submitted by Suzanne P. Blier, et. al on the Harvard Square Zoning Petition Modification regarding Frontage of Financial Institutions and make recommendations for any amendments that are needed.   Councillor Zondervan
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 9-0

Committee Report #5. The Ordinance Committee held a public hearing on Dec 14, 2022, at 1:30pm regarding the Citizen’s Petition submitted by Suzanne P. Blier, et. al regarding the Harvard Square Zoning Petition Modification regarding Frontage of Financial Institutions. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0 (Carlone ABSENT)

Committee Report #4. The Ordinance Committee held a public hearing on Dec 14, 2022 at 12:30pm on Zoning Petition Recommendation – Removing Limit on BZA Compensation (Attachment F of CM22#207 in Council on Oct 24, 2022). The Ordinance Committee voted to send proposed Ordinance #2022-23 regarding removing the limit on BZA compensation to the full Council with a favorable recommendation to Pass to a Second Reading. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File, Passed to 2nd Reading 9-0


Energy, Climate, and all that

Manager’s Agenda #12. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the Cambridge Net Zero Action Plan 5-Year Review and Update. [text of report]
pulled by Toner; comments by Nolan and Zondervan; Placed on File 9-0

Manager’s Agenda #13. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the Stretch Energy Code and Specialized Energy Code. [text of report]
pulled by Toner w/Order #4; Placed on File 9-0

Order #4. That the City Council adopt the Specialized Stretch Code, as outlined in 225 CMR 22.00 and 225 CMR 23.00, with an effective date of July 1, 2023.   Councillor Nolan, Councillor Zondervan, Mayor Siddiqui
pulled by Toner w/Mgr’s Agenda #13; series of forums and other outreach proposed for Feb-March (Farooq); comments by Zondervan (wants to adopt w/o outreach), Nolan (says City has been waiting for this – including the ban of natural gas supply to new buildings and more); Carlone tells of sustainable buildings he’s designed and says Stretch Code doesn’t go far enough – calls it “old guard”; Siddiqui notes that it only applies to new buildings and substantial renovation; Simmons asks about what outreach has been done – Farooq acknowledges that no special outreach has taken place; Charter Right – Toner

In short, this Order calls for the immediate adoption of the new “Specialized Stretch Code” without any further discussion or committee meetings even though the new standards may involve considerable new requirements and expense for Cambridge residents. While it may be true that meetings have been held in the past, I will wager that very, very few residents were aware of such meetings or what adoption of the new code might mean in terms of renovation projects in their homes. This is reminiscent of the adoption of amendments in 2020 to the Bicycle Safety Ordinance where residents only found out much later what was in store for Cambridge roadways.


25 Years Waiting

Manager’s Agenda #14. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appointment of Vivek Sikri, Kimberly Kaufman, and Kathryn Carlson to the Cambridge Traffic Board pursuant to Chapter 455 of the Acts of 1961 (the “Special Act”).
Placed on File 9-0

I first made the case at City Council about 20 years ago that the City was in violation of the law in its discontinuation of the Traffic Board. Without it, regulatory decisions of the Traffic Director are absolute with no mechanism for redress. We’ll have to see whether or not the City Manager has “stacked the deck” with advocates for specific policies or if the Traffic Board will prove to be objective in matters brought before them by residents or in their role advising the Department of Traffic, Transportation and Parking.


… and the rest

Order #6. That the Assistant City Manager for Community Development be and hereby is requested to inform the Ordinance Committee on whether or not it is the case that the rate of rents being charged in the buildings located in the City squares is primarily driven by those who can pay the highest rent amounts.   Councillor Simmons
pulled by Zondervan; rules suspended to also take up Order #7 and Committee Report #5; Order Adopted 9-0
[Note: Zondervan and Nolan question why these Orders from Committee Reports are listed here, but this is the way it had always been done until relatively recently.]

Other than during the rent control years, was this ever not the case for either residential or commercial buildings?

Committee Report #6. The Public Safety Committee held a public meeting on Dec 14, 2022 at 3:00pm to discuss the implementation of the new Community Safety Department and integration with HEART. [text of report]
Taken up with Mgr #1, Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0

The report notes that “Robert Winters… shared concerns on discussions that were presented at the meeting.” That’s quite the understatement. The points I actually made were that: (a) most people, including Cambridge Police, support the idea of having appropriate alternatives in crisis response; (b) the proponents of the HEART proposal have a clear history of hostility toward police; (c) if the City chooses to contract with the HEART proponents in providing alternatives to police, it is inevitable that conflicts and possible litigation will result; (d) all of the rhetoric from the HEART proponents to date has been dismissive of the City’s newly created Community Safety Department which would be the department contracting with HEART; (e) there is no actual evidence of training or expertise among the people associated with HEART; and (f) good management calls for a proper RFP and bidding for the proposed services. – Robert Winters

January 3, 2023

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 573-574: January 3, 2023

Episode 573 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 3, 2023 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Jan 3, 2023 at 6:00pm. Topics: Sheila Doyle Russell – fond memories and good friends, Senior Center, modernization of elections; 2022 highlights; chronology of actions, reactions, and inactions of City and City Council – especially bike lanes, golf course controversy. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 574 – Cambridge InsideOut: Jan 3, 2023 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Jan 3, 2023 at 6:30pm. Topics: 2022 chronology of actions, reactions, and inactions of City and City Council; choosing Auditor, Clerk, and City Manager; FY2023 Budget; charter review; expectations for the coming municipal election year. Host: Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

December 26, 2022

On Love and Elections

Filed under: Cambridge,elections — Tags: , , , , — David Goode @ 3:05 pm

City of Cambridge Mayor Emeritus, Sheila Doyle Russell recently passed away peacefully in her home. She was my friend, but like most things I expect to write here, that seems an inadequate summation. I served as her Campaign Manager for the 7 elections she won for Cambridge City Council and as her Chief of Staff during her tenure as Mayor. These roles set me on my own path in public service, but ultimately were just functions I performed which don’t do much to define our friendship. Notwithstanding, since I did write most of the narrative media used to both request and justify support from the thousands of constituents she served so well in her public service career, these functions provide me a unique, although certainly not definitive, perspective on her life. I never wrote anything for her audience of many without first writing it for the review and approval of Sheila.

I preferred watching Sheila review those materials in person, as I valued her initial expressions while she read as a means to dissect what would always be her more measured assessments in conclusion. As both audience and subject of those narratives, her feedback, positive or negative, was part of an extended ongoing conversation we had about who she was, and how she viewed herself as a public servant. Always insightful, often argumentative, and sometimes unequivocally final in her rejection, I learned about her while she also taught me about myself. I’m acutely aware that this writing is my first on Sheila as the subject that will not receive her corresponding critique and approval. I find that circumstance daunting, but whenever I’d get reluctant to write something, Sheila would say “just give it a go.”

Sheila knew me since childhood as one of many Cambridge kids from a close group of mid-century working-class families helping each other stake a claim to the American dream. Amid stories of JFK and Tip O’Neil, they created their own Cambridge version of what is often referred to as the Irish immigrant political machine. I think Sheila would prefer the Gaelic term “Clann” to describe her constituency, not just for its Irish origins, but because the original meaning is flexible and inclusive depending on how it’s used. Perhaps this ambiguity is part of the reason its original meaning has been so corrupted in modern terminology. It’s root, literally and figuratively, is to plant and grown extensions that are connected. It embodies the family you are born into, the family you choose, and/or the family that welcomes you without prejudice. To care for your Clann means to grow beyond yourself.

Sheila’s Clann was planted in the Catholic Irish working class, but like the neighborhoods she knew so well, it grew extensions with each wave of change. The Irish, Italian, French, and Haitian families that shared the same faith in the same parishes as well other African American, Armenian, and Jewish families who shared similar dreams and challenges found representation in Sheila’s Clann. As a working class widowed woman and mother, Sheila’s own journey reflected the challenges and frustrations other Cambridge women of her generation experienced as the simple American dream of their youth evolved to be both more inviting and more elusive. She won over more than the occasional academic atheist as well with her genuine wit, wisdom, and humor.

Conversely, I would often use the more accessible, albeit banal words such as “community” and “constituency” to describe the people of this common good. Yet after nearly 15 years of watching Sheila read the words I wrote for the purpose of telling people who she was, I know she found terms like these, with their presumptive emphasis on simple demographic attributes, insufficient and unsatisfying. As a politician Sheila was a romantic. Not in the sloppy sentimental mockery of the term, but in the purest philosophical definition of the word. She possessed an awesome natural ability to connect with people as individuals through her genuine empathy and her capacity to validate the importance of anyone that approached her. In a word, she loved them.

As her campaign manager, I was typically more utilitarian in grouping these people by their attributes. In my mind, democratic elections were about candidates marshaling limited resources to optimize public support for a set of positions and ideas to be represented within the institutional bodies of government. I thought in terms of wards, precincts, and probabilities. I constructed the scaffolding and trellis around Sheila’s Clann, but she tended its growth. I targeted voters, but Sheila knew them and loved them.

Even to her last days, she maintained a deep encyclopedic knowledge of the people in her Clann. Not only in the academic attributes of my comfortable utilitarian domain, but in the meaningful romantic connections of the living Clann. When her personal recollections didn’t register with me, Sheila would usually begin a seemingly boundless recitation of associations; “she lived across the street from” or “you played hockey with his brother” or “she was married to Jimmy who worked with Leo at the gas company”. Sometimes she would throw me a more utilitarian bone such as “always voted absentee because she couldn’t do the stairs”. I never reached the limits of her depth on the people she cared about. After several failing attempts to jog my utilitarian memory, she would usually look at me silently for a moment, perplexed at my incomprehension. At first, I wondered if she was judging me, but I realized later that she always had another option to offer but was assessing if continuing on the current path would just freak me out. Sheila could always dive deeper, but I think she worried that it would give me the bends.

Sheila lived her entire 87 years as a native, lifelong Cantabrigian. However, where she existed was that inexpressible space in between the romantic and the utilitarian. Sheila’s Clann was not a collection of individuals that shared some things in common. It was a beating, breathing life of its own, defined as much by the connections and interactions between as by the individuals themselves. As social media platforms increasingly promote the vain promises of their connection algorithms, it has often occurred to me that these are nothing more than pale mutations of how Sheila’s mind worked organically. We are increasingly living in that mutated world of algorithms that is all utility and no romance. John Stuart Mill, the great English philosopher once wrote that whoever could master both romanticism and utilitarianism would possess the entire English philosophy of their age. I suspect that Sheila would smile and quip that the Irish easily find what the English are still looking for.

True also for the proportional representation election system used in Cambridge, which Sheila would reference in shorthand to the uninitiated as the “Irish System”. She had a deep intuitive understanding of how rank voting improved how people expressed their representative preferences, but more importantly, how it incentivized candidates like her to emphasize our connections rather than our differences. In the days of paper ballots, Sheila relished attending “The Count” where full consideration of voter’s choices recorded in penciled preferences took almost a week to fully tabulate. For Sheila, “The Count” wasn’t just about the suspense and drama of the protracted process. It was about the time spent with the friends and supporters of her Clann gathered in the designated watch area. Together we watched and learned how she achieved the requisite proportion of votes (quota) from her primary supporters woven together with additional support cultivated among the secondary preferences of voters that initially made other choices. Each PR count was a lesson in the importance of cultivating connections rather than forcing voters into hard choices. Often it was a hard lesson to learn for many first-time ego-driven candidates more suited to the traditional yet inferior winner-take-Sheila Russell Clann at The Countall elections. In other words, it was a lesson in growth.

It’s why I chose the photos included here to represent the Sheila I want to remember. As someone who made a personal practice of reading the expressions of Sheila as they pertain to her public persona, I think these photos capture her at one of her most cherished moments, one vote away from achieving the election quota and removing her name card identifying her as a candidate in the running. No ballrooms or podiums. No canned speeches in opposite pockets, depending on the outcome. Just friends, and friends of friends and associates and colleagues and fellow citizens gathered together in the same space to congratulate the elected and to console and thank the defeated for their best efforts in representing the public interest. This is Sheila as her best public self, caught on camera in the inexplicable space between the romantic and utilitarian sides of political life, perfectly balanced and at ease. To me, this is her true self, and will remain my lasting image of Sheila.

People often ask me why, with my years of campaign experience and ardent interest in election reform, I haven’t offered my services to other candidates. My standard answer is that every election campaign I managed took place before social media was invented, and I haven’t been able to identify, let alone adapt, to the utility of that new order. That’s true enough, but the more pertinent answer is simply that I’ve never met another Sheila. I’m still just the apprentice to the master, learning how to be part of something that can grow beyond myself.

I visited Sheila at her home shortly before her death. Her body was frail and failing, but the Clann algorithms were still processing like they always did. She told me how much she missed reading the newspapers. She could still see them if held close, but her arms could not keep steady enough to read them the way she enjoyed, usually cover to cover. She didn’t say this as a lament for her present infirmity. She said it as a problem to be solved, as if she was contemplating some combination of prosthetics and contraptions that would allow her to continue learning about the people in the places she cared for. I didn’t say goodbye to Sheila the last time a saw her, only because she didn’t give any indication she was going somewhere. I don’t regret that at all. It was pretty much on brand for Sheila.

I patiently await the long anticipated new birth of freedom when we have an election system for representative governance that allows Sheila’s approach to public service to be more rule than exception. There are positive signs. The good people at FairVote.org who are advocating for this exceptionally important right, and the existence and hopefully eventual adoption of The Fair Representation Act; and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences creation of the “Our Common Purpose” plan for sustaining the American experiment. Right smack in the middle of Cambridge is Harvard Professor Danielle Allen, who for me is the closest contender for the title of next-gen Sheila 2.0 with the academic chops to document and teach what Sheila demonstrated so naturally.

Increasingly, there are more people who understand and can reconcile our shared cultural history with our changing world without sacrificing the romantic ideals of personal and civic connection on the altar of expedient political utility. I remain hopeful that we’ll recognize and preserve the value in what Sheila demonstrated for us during her life of public service. If we succeed, we may take some comfort in knowing that government of the romantics, by the romantics, for the romantics, shall not perish from the earth.

Sincerely and Hopefully,
David R. Goode

December 16, 2022

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle… Dec 19, 2022 Cambridge City Council meeting

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle… Dec 19, 2022 Cambridge City Council meeting

It’s that time of year for the pre-holiday gathering. Here are a few items of interest on this week’s agenda:down of a thistle: the fluffy part of a sharp plant that you can blow away

Manager’s Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a public health update.
Placed on File 9-0

Awaiting Report #22-85. Report on organizing a vaccine clinic in December which will provide gift cards to residents who receive a COVID19 vaccination or booster.  Vice Mayor Mallon, Mayor Siddiqui (O-2) from 12/5/2022
[Note: This event took place on Thurs, Dec 15, 2022.]


Manager’s Agenda #5. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to approval requested for appointments of new members and reappointments to the Cambridge Library Board of Trustees.
Appointments Approved 9-0

I propose that City Council review of Board appointments work like jury selection where each councillor gets one peremptory challenge per Council term. That would be more honest than what I expect we’ll otherwise soon be seeing.


Manager’s Agenda #6. Transmitting Communication from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $4,709,473 from the Water Fund Balance, Retained Earnings ($2,354,737) and from Free Cash ($2,354,736), to the Water Fund Other Ordinary Maintenance account ($3,392,903) and to Water Public Investment Extraordinary Expenditures account ($1,316,570) to fund the purchase of water from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA).
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 9-0

Manager’s Agenda #7. Transmitting Communication from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $700,000 from Water Fund Balance (Retained Earnings) account to the Water Public Investment Extraordinary Expenditures account, to fund the purchase of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) testing equipment.
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 9-0


Manager’s Agenda #8. Transmitting Communication from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation in the amount of $9,812,215.88 from Free Cash to the Public Investment Fund Capital Projects Control Account ($7,036,323.82); to the Grant Fund Historical Control Account ($29,909.04); to the Grant Fund Public Celebrations Control Account ($78,836.02) and to the Grant Fund Police Control Account ($92,457), as well ($2,574,690) to the Capital Receivables account. This is an accounting transaction adjustment requested by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue (DOR), Division of Local Service) based on a change in their position and will eliminate negative balances which have been included in our annual Free Cash calculation for several years.
Order Adopted 9-0


Manager’s Agenda #9. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to changing the name of the City’s Climate Protection Action Committee’s (“CPAC”) to the “Cambridge Climate Committee.”
pulled by Nolan; Placed on File 9-0

Not to be confused with Conservative Political Action Coalition (CPAC), I’m sure.

Manager’s Agenda #10. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board recommending adoption of the BZA Stipends Zoning Petition, with additional comments.
pulled by Carlone; Referred to Petition 9-0

Why not just pass around $75 debit cards to everyone who shows up?

Manager’s Agenda #11. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board report recommending adoption of the Suzanne Blier, et al., Zoning Petition, with additional considerations.
Referred to Petition 9-0

Manager’s Agenda #12. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 22-79, which requested that the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department and Department of Public Works meet with and receive input from residents living on the streets in the impacted area [around Garden St.] to discuss strategies to mitigate and reduce overflow and cut through traffic, including the proposal mentioned in the order, or other traffic calming or traffic diversion methods, and report back to the Council on any short-term recommendations no later than December 19. [TPP memorandum]
pulled by Toner; Placed on File 9-0

…and the Judge wasn’t going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us.

Charter Right #1. That the City Manager is requested to work with the appropriate departments to conduct street cleaning without towing starting with the 2023 season. [Charter Right – Simmons. Dec 5, 2022]
Order Adopted as Amended 6-1-1-1 (Toner – NO, McGovern – ABSENT, Simmons – PRESENT)

[From the previous meeting…] I have mixed feelings about this – especially as a resident who has been voluntarily clearing the storm drains in my neighborhood for decades. I have always appreciated a good curb-to-curb cleaning during the warmer months and plowing snow as close to the curb as possible during winter. Having even one vehicle to go around negates much of this benefit. I would be happier if a new policy had some discretion, i.e., if the crews and police feel that little is gained by towing in a specific occasion then a pricey ticket may be sufficient. Unfortunately, there are many people now living in Cambridge who might just write that off as the “cost of doing business” as they wallow in their negligence.

18 Communications, including 5 from Young Kim and 4 from the inevitable Bob LaTrémouille.

Is cooking a Christmas goose still a tradition?

Resolution #5. Resolution on the death of Sheila Doyle Russell.   Councillor Toner, Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Simmons, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Azeem, Councillor Carlone, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Zondervan

I have known many city councillors since the time I began paying attention to things, but Sheila Russell tops my ticket as the councillor and Mayor I most enjoyed being around. Nobody else even comes close to her mix of wit, wisdom, and willingness to pull a friendly prank on colleagues. The Sullivan Chamber has never been the same since she retired from the Council in 1999.


Order #1. That City Manager be requested to direct Legal Department and CDD to review the final language of the emissions accounting zoning petition, and make any recommended adjustments, including to the effective date, to the city council prior to ordination.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 9-0

Order #2. That City Manager be requested to direct CDD to work with relevant stakeholders to provide a preliminary estimate of the cost and time burden of compliance with the emissions accounting provision, prior to ordination.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 9-0

Order #3. That City Manager be requested to direct CDD to work with relevant stakeholders to inform the design of future regulations associated with accounting for embodied emissions.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern
pulled by Zondervan; Order Adopted 9-0

It’s almost as though our “progressive” councillors have discovered the concept of “unintended consequences.” Keep dreaming.


Order #4. That the City Manager is requested to work with relevant City departments to provide an updated tree canopy projection and provide up-to-date tree data to reflect the effect of the 2022 drought and plans to remedy tree loss as soon as possible.   Councillor Nolan, Councillor Zondervan, Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Toner
Order Adopted 9-0


Committee Report #1. The Neighborhood and Long-Term Planning Committee met on Wed, Oct 19, 2022 to conduct a public meeting to discuss the Cambridge Street Study: Findings and Recommendations Update. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 8-0-1 (McGovern – ABSENT)Report Accepted, Placed on File 8-0-1 (McGovern – ABSENT)

Committee Report #2. The Economic Development and University Relations Committee met on Tues, Nov 22, 2022 to conduct a public meeting to receive an update on the BEUDO amendments from the Community Development Department and a discussion of the environmental and economic impact of BEUDO on residential, business and academic properties/communities. Meeting was recessed and not adjourned. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 7-0-2 (McGovern, Simmons – ABSENT)

Committee Report #3. The Human Services and Veterans Committee met on Tues, Nov 29, 2022 to conduct a public meeting to discuss the unhoused population in Cambridge and uptick in substance use in Central Square. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 7-0-2 (McGovern, Simmons – ABSENT)

Committee Report #4. The Neighborhood & Long-Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebrations Committee held a public meeting on Wed, Nov 30, 2022 to receive and update on the latest recommendations from the Alewife Zoning Working. Meeting was recessed and not adjourned. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 8-0-1 (McGovern – ABSENT)

Committee Report #5. The Ordinance Committee held a public meeting on Tues, Dec 6, 2022, at 1:00pm to discuss proposed Ordinance #2022-20, Emissions Accounting Zoning. The Committee voted favorably to send three policy orders to the City Council that appear on this agenda in the Policy Order section. Further, the Committee voted to send proposed Ordinance #2022-20, Emissions Accounting Zoning as amended, to the Full Council with a favorable recommendation to Pass to a 2nd Reading. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File, Passed to 2nd Reading 7-0-2 (McGovern, Simmons – ABSENT)

Committee Report #6. The Ordinance Committee held a public meeting to continue the discussion of Pregnancy Centers, proposed Ordinance #2022-16 on Dec 6, 2022 @3pm. The Committee voted to send proposed Ordinance #2022-16 as amended, Crisis Pregnancy Centers, to the full Council with a favorable recommendation to Pass to a 2nd Reading. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File, Passed to 2nd Reading 8-0-1 (McGovern – ABSENT)


Communications & Reports #2. A communication was received from Councillor Nolan and Mayor Siddiqui transmitting a Charter Review Committee Status Update.
Placed on File 8-0-1 (McGovern – ABSENT)

The authors state: “As of this communication, the CRC has met almost a dozen times.” — Actually, the CRC has met exactly 7 times. The first meeting of any substance was the most recent Meeting #7 on Dec 6. I have no idea how the authors decided that “the CRC has met almost a dozen times.” All of the meetings have been in Zoom with very limited public attendance or public comment – the opposite of what a process of this significance should be.

The authors state: “The vote to draft a new charter was done with the understanding and knowledge that a new charter could, if desired, maintain every element of the current charter. Starting fresh with a new charter means that the charter would no longer use Plan E, a form of charter no longer allowed in the Commonwealth. Current municipal government charters are usually based on a model charter with each element of the charter decided by the municipality based on needs and circumstances.” — This statement is contradictory. The Plan E Charter is still an option under Chapter 43 of the Massachusetts General Laws with the formal exception that the use of proportional representation (PR) as an election method was subsequently repealed. However, under the provisions of Chapter 43B (Home Rule Procedures Act) and Chapter 43C (Optional Forms of Municipal Administration Act), a city may propose various election methods, including proportional representation (PR) as currently used in Cambridge or (hopefully) a modified version that no longer has the awkward dependence of the order in which ballots are counted. In other words, and as stated in the authors’ first sentence, “a new charter could, if desired, maintain every element of the current charter.” I will add that on May 18, 2022 the Northampton City Council unanimously approved a home rule petition to implement Ranked Choice Voting and PR using the Modified Inclusive Gregory Method. The proposal is essentially the same as the Home Rule Petition from Amherst that proposd to use the Weighted Inclusive Gregory Method (WIGM). The point is that Massachusetts cities have again begun to consider proportional representation methods using improved versions of what Cambridge has used for the last 80+ years, and this is permissible under Massachusetts laws relating to elections. Whether any of these Home Rule Petitions survive the legislature remains an open question. In the case of Cambridge, our current PR system is “grandfathered” and may continue to be used without state legislative approval.

The authors state: “If we are to consider changes to be put on the ballot for 2023, the CRC work must be completed in a timely fashion and the City Council would need to work expeditiously to decide on what proposal to put before the voters. A home rule would have to be filed and passed in order for the ballot question to be put forth.” — Translation: Regardless what this CRC recommends, the current city councillors, subject to state legislative approval, would be the sole deciders on what would go before the voters – unlike an elected Charter Commission which would be able to propose changes independent of what the current councillors may feel is in either their best interests or that of the city. In other words, I wouldn’t expect to see any proposals survive to November 2023 that don’t either maintain or enhance either the power or electablity of the incumbents.

There are several significant themes that really should be considered in the ongoing charter discussions. For example: (1) the loss of neighborhood representation when the role of wards in representation was effectively eliminated in 1940; and (2) the mechanisms for “redress of grievances” with which a reasonable number of citizens can force a hearing and possibly a vote on a specific matter. Previous charters all had such a mechanism, but under the Plan E Charter the barrier is extremely high and any such petition is seen merely as a request that can be simply “Placed on File” with neither a hearing, a vote, or any other consideration.

By the way, in Meeting #7 of the CRC, members were given a review of the current modified Plan E Charter. The document was pretty familiar – it’s the very same document I produced from the original printed text some years ago complete with my choice of formatting and fonts – and even the links to documents on the Cambridge Civic Journal site on proportional representation and chapter fifty-four A. Prior to that, even though Cambridge has been operating under the Plan E Charter since the 1941 election there had been no reference anywhere on the City website to what actually constituted the Plan E Charter. You’re welcome. – Robert Winters

December 13, 2022

Sheila Doyle Russell – City Councillor, Mayor, and Friend

Filed under: Cambridge,Deaths,history — Tags: , , , — Robert Winters @ 4:48 pm

Dec 12, 2022 – Former Mayor Sheila Russell passed away early this morning at her longtime home on Hawthorn Park in West Cambridge.

Sheila RussellRUSSELL, Sheila T. (Doyle) Of Cambridge and Hull, Massachusetts, passed away Monday, December 12th peacefully at home. Wife of the late Mayor Leonard J. Russell; mother of Lenny and his wife Sandy Russell of Hull, Eileen and her husband John Struzziery of Hull, Nancy and her husband Ed Grabowski of Somerville, Katie and her husband Scott Somers of Peabody and predeceased by her son William “Billy” Russell. Loving grandmother of Alyse Brussard and her husband Tom of Boxford, Courtney Hooson and her husband John of Hull, Emily Struzziery of Hull, Caitlin Russell and her fiancé Bobby Murphy of Cambridge, Molly Struzziery of Hull, Meghan Russell of Westport, Patrick and Timmy Grabowski of Somerville and Niamh Walsh and Nolan Somers of Peabody. Great-grandmother of Hazel and Tripp Brussard and Ellie Hooson. Beloved sister of Nancy (Doyle) Navin, the late Marylou (Doyle) Crowley and James “Buddy” Doyle. She also leaves behind many extended family and friends, especially her gang fondly nicknamed “The Murphy Chicks”.

Sheila was fortunate to have been able to raise her five children in Cambridge and Hull, then enjoyed a rewarding career serving on the City Council and then as the Mayor of the City of Cambridge. Sheila touched the lives of so many. She would often talk about her cherished memories and friendships from St. John’s, St. Peter’s, the Hull Yacht Club and the Russell campaign trail. During her tenure as Mayor, Sheila was very proud of bringing the Irish famine monument to the Cambridge Common. As a City Council Woman, Sheila was a champion for many causes, Cambridge businesses and especially for the elderly and for elder services. She was a tireless leader for establishing the Cambridge Citywide Senior Center. In her retirement, her work and dedication were honored in the opening of the Sheila Doyle Russell Community and Youth Center. Although Cambridge was always first in her heart and mind, she enjoyed spending summers at home, entertaining on her front porch and enjoying the beautiful breeze off Hull Bay.

Relatives and friends are invited to Visiting Hours at Saint John’s Church, 2254 Mass Ave. in North Cambridge on Monday, December 19th, from 4-7pm. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated in the church on Tuesday, December 20th at 11am. Burial to follow in Cambridge Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to The Cambridge Program Friends, for Individuals with Special Needs, 1 Hardwick Street, Cambridge, MA 02141.

Dec 13 – My coffee cup this morning. The passing of a great friend will also be occasion for reunions with other great friends.

Mayor Sheila Doyle Russell


A few comments culled from the early issues of the Cambridge Civic Journal:

Nov 1997 – The comic highlight occurred when an Order came up congratulating Councillor Ken Reeves on his upcoming guest appearance in “The Nutcracker” at CRLS. Sheila Russell commented that “I usually do old-fashioned melodramas myself. The last one I was in was ‘The Scheme of the Shiftless Drifter’”. You just gotta love Sheila.

Dec 1997 – This meeting wasn’t exactly one for the ages, but Mayor Sheila Russell showed the good humor that has characterized her term as Mayor. After a discussion about posting “No Dogs Allowed” signs at City tot lots, Sheila said, “All we have to do now is teach the dogs how to read.” Later in the meeting, after a long discussion about whose responsibility it was to clean up the fall leaves after street sweeping was over and whether or not to extend the street cleaning season, Sheila suggested that we should put an Office of Tree Trainer in next year’s budget whose responsibility would be to train trees to drop their leaves directly into the barrels. We don’t yet know who’ll be Mayor this term, but already I’m missing Sheila’s way of keeping everyone at ease.

Jan 1998 – What Makes a Mayor: In my opinion, there are two Councillors who are entirely suitable for the job – Frank Duehay and Sheila Russell. Both have the experience and are moderate enough to be widely acceptable to the public. They are both capable of bringing disparate interests together and of promoting consensus and bipartisanship, ideals that are often elusive in a council elected via proportional representation.

Feb 1998 – Who reads the papers? – The next order of business was a discussion of the costs of legal advertising in local newspapers. The City principally advertises in the Cambridge Chronicle, but deadlines and legal requirements often require that ads go into the Tab, especially those of the Planning Board. The Boston Globe is considerably more expensive. The highlight of the discussion occurred when Counc. Russell asked why we wouldn’t use the Herald since some people never read the Globe. Ken Reeves asserted that some people never read the Chronicle, a clear reference to past differences he’s had with the Chronicle. Councillor Russell responded by saying, “Some people say they never read it but they know every word that was there.” Everyone laughed.

Feb 1998 – Councillor Born and Councillor Russell reminded the Council of how flocks of sheep in roads in Ireland could serve as an effective traffic-calming tool. [Yes, they were joking.]

Mar 1998 – The highlight of this meeting for me was Councillor Sheila Russell’s heartfelt account of the role played by the Marist Fathers and the Holy Union Sisters at Our Lady of Pity Church in North Cambridge, widely know as “The French Church.” She described in wonderful detail growing up in that area and of the good-natured rivalry between children from St. John’s Church and the French Church and of the dedication of the nuns at both churches to serving their community. “That parish was a wonderful, vibrant parish. They did everything for their parishioners. They had plays, they had shows, they had suppers, and they just kept all the traditions alive. So we thank them for what they did for the North Cambridge community and we will miss them.” A short while later, Councillor Russell said “I met my husband at that church. They used to have the University Trio – Nellie, Oscar, and Spike.” It is for moments like this that I continue to go to City Council meetings and to listen to the stories that are told there.

Mar 1998 – Councillor Russell: “That’s why it’s so hard to get people to serve on boards. We hear criticism of the Manager for not making timely appointments to boards. Why should people serve if they’re treated so shabbily?”

Apr 1998 – The comic highlight of the meeting occurred when Councillor Galluccio was needled by fellow councillors about his late entry in the running of the Human Services Road Race the day before. Apparently the good councillor neglected to set his clock forward to daylight saving time and had to be roused out of bed. Councillor Russell and City Mgr. Healy both made reference to the infamous Rosie Ruiz entry in the Boston Marathon. Mayor Duehay said of his vice-mayor, “I depend on you to be there!” Councillor Russell got the biggest laugh when she said, “I was a sleeper in that race.”

Apr 1998 – One of the strangest exchanges occurred during a discussion of Councillor Russell’s Order, responding to a constituent’s call, to refer the issue of “wind chimes” to the Noise Subcommittee of the Environment Committee, chaired by Councillor Born. Councillor Russell facetiously said, “This is a very serious situation. It is the cause of great deliberation and I know I put it in the right hands.” I have come to enjoy the mutual needling of the dynamic duo of Councillors Born and Russell. … Not to be outdone, Councillor Reeves said, “This is one of those moments when I really should just shut up. This worries me. The day will come when someone is wearing a certain shade of yellow and someone else will say ‘That offends me.’ You live in the city. You coexist with a lot of things or you live in the desert and you have no problems….In Somerville, they’re not talking about wind chimes.”

Apr 1998 – A discussion among councillors about the relative merits of supposedly self-cleaning public toilets took place in response to a communication from Central Square Business Association president Carl Barron concerning public urination. Councillors Reeves and Triantafillou heartily recommended these facilities. Councillors Born and Davis expressed some reservations about them. Councillor Russell volunteered to go to Paris on a fact-finding mission.

May 1998 – Councillor Russell provided the biggest smiles of the evening when, in referring to a VFW parking lot on N. Mass. Ave., had some fun by giving as neutral and non-Boston a pronunciation as she could muster to the words “park” and “parking” and then referred to it as a “vehicle storage area”.

June 1998 – The ever-wise Councillor Russell remarked about how most neighborhoods in Cambridge have their share of festivals and other events. “It’s what makes Cambridge Cambridge. It is being a good neighbor to partake in these things and to accept a little extra noise.” Regarding newly arrived residents, she said, “There should be a ‘Ten Commandments’ of how people should be tolerant in Cambridge.”

June 1998 – Councillor Russell: “I feel the same way. I’ve lived in Cambridge my whole life. When I first moved to my neighborhood, on Huron Ave. you could go to a five-and-dime store, a drug store, a barber shop, a hardware store. Now we have art galleries. Councillor Reeves is right. Now we have to put nets around the ball fields so that the ball doesn’t bounce into people’s yards.”

Sept 1998 – Mr. Yoder’s remarks about wildlife in the Alewife area led to various jokes from councillors about geese and goose droppings at the golf course. Councillor Triantafillou noted the increase in the skunk population which caused Councillor Russell to joke that she would put in a Council Order to regulate skunks.

Oct 1998 – With the City Council taking calls that night for input on its goals and objectives, Councillor Russell suggested that they should have a call-in to get Vice Mayor Galluccio a date. He responded by saying, “How many lines do they have up there?” To this, Councillor Russell responded, “One will be enough.”

Oct 1998 – Among other topics that came up was the possibility of requiring pitbulls to be muzzled. (Bill Jones suggested that their owners should be muzzled.) When discussion turned to the subject of people bringing their dogs to the Cambridge Cemetery, Councillor Russell said, “I think this meeting’s going to the dogs!”

May 1999 – The time since the last issue of the CCJ has been a time of great civic angst for this writer. The announcements by Mayor Frank Duehay and Councillor Sheila Russell that they will not be seeking reelection this fall have been very unsettling. These outstanding civil servants have been the most stable influences on the City Council for some time and the prospect of City Hall without them gives me no comfort. We can only hope that the elections this fall lead to future councillors who can match the wit and wisdom of these two individuals.

Mar 1999 – The closing moments of the meeting featured several councillors reciting their favorite “Washington’s Rules of Civility” from a Globe piece distributed by Councillor Davis. Sheila Russell’s choice: “Be not tedious in discourse, make not many digressions, nor repeat often the same manner of discourse.”

May 1999 – When Councillor Born asked if the Cook Petition would preclude garden statuary, Mr. LaTremouille said that it would, because it was taking up space, drawing a parallel with the recent art controversy at Fresh Pond. He said there could be an enormous statue that would take up the whole backyard. Councillor Russell asked if this meant she couldn’t have a statue of the Blessed Mother or some other shrine. Apparently, the petition as written would prohibit this. (This provision was revised the next day to allow shrines.)

May 1999 – During a discussion of the proposed new rules for the City Council meeting, Mayor Duehay quipped, “I think they love us as we are.” To this, Councillor Russell responded, “I take the pulse of the city, and it’s erratic.”

May 1999 – Councillor Galluccio spoke to his order welcoming back the New England Patriots, noting that his mother has been watching the Patriots for 25 years. To this Councillor Russell responded, “I thought she’d made better use of her time.”

May 1999 – The most significant business at this meeting was the passage of the FY2000 budget and the accompanying orders. Of somewhat less significance was Councillor Russell’s order to explore the use of mimes in crosswalks to demonstrate pedestrian safety.

Dec 1999 – Since this was the last meeting for three outgoing city councillors, farewell remarks by Sheila Russell, Frank Duehay, and Katherine Triantafillou were in order. Councillor Russell gave a brief speech and left her magic wand for the next mayor “to use wisely.”


Sheila Russell To Leave City Council Position (Harvard Crimson, May 3, 1999)
Former mayor to retire after 14 years in office

“She has been the glue that holds the council together,” said Preceptor in Mathematics Robert Winters, the publisher of the Cambridge Civic Journal, a monthly political newsletter. “She became one of the binding agents that builds a bridge between the different factions,” he said.

Russell was first elected to the council in 1985, when her husband, former Mayor Leonard Russell, died. She served as mayor from 1996 to 1997. An Independent, Russell became known as an advocate for elderly residents as well as for residents of West and North Cambridge, Winters said.

December 11, 2022

ADDRESS OF THE MAYOR UPON THE FIRST ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT – 1846

City Seal - 1846
CITY OF CAMBRIDGE

ADDRESS OF THE MAYOR
UPON THE
FIRST ORGANIZATION
OF THE
CITY GOVERNMENT

MAY 4, 1846.

PRINTED BY ORDER OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
CAMBRIDGE:

PRINTED BY ANDREW REID,
CORNER OF MAIN AND MAGAZINE STREETS,
1846.

MAYOR’S ADDRESS.

Gentlemen of the City Council: –

On this occasion of the first organization of a City Government for Cambridge, it seems appropriate to advert briefly to the nature of the change we have made in our form of government, and the reasons which have led us to it. We may thus be enabled to appreciate more justly the interests confided in our care, and to understand and perform our duties better.

Under a town organization, all the business, which appertains to the interests of the people, and is subject to municipal regulation, is transacted immediately by the people themselves, that is, by those who are legally qualified to vote., assembled in town meeting. They exercise for themselves immediately, without delegating it to others, the right to deliberate and decide. They constitute the legislative department, and choose Selectmen and others to act for them as executive officers. Such, in brief, is the theory of town government. It is the simplest for; the most purely democratic; has existed in New England from the earliest period of the Colonial history; has done more to cherish the spirit of freedom in the breasts of the people; is regarded by them with feelings of strong attachment; and is not changed for any form of government, except for good and substantial reasons. Nay, the people will submit for years to great practical evils in the administration of town affairs, rather than change a form of government, to which they are attached by so many and such strong associations.

But, as a town increases in population beyond a certain limit, this theory of government, in itself so simple, becomes less and less practicable; a smaller and smaller proportion of the legal voters can be assembled in town meeting for the transaction of business; and the alternative presents itself as unavoidable, of a small minority of voters doing the whole business of the town, or the adoption of a form of government, by which municipal affairs shall be transacted through delegates or representatives elected. for that purpose. The number of inhabitants, contemplated by the Constitution of the Commonwealth to be such as to render a City Government expedient or necessary, is twelve thousand. The population of Cambridge exceeded this number by nearly five hundred, a year ago; and it may be reasonably presumed, that, at the present moment, it is between thirteen and fourteen thousand. It must be obvious to every one, at all acquainted with the mode of transacting town business, that the great interests of the population, relating to the management of the public property, the instruction of two or three thousand children, the support and employment for some part of the year of nearly two hundred paupers, the care of the roads and bridges requiring uninterrupted labor, the maintenance, direction and control of the Fire Department, the raising by taxation, and appropriating annually to specific projects, forty or fifty thousand dollars, cannot be judiciously or satisfactorily in a town meeting, in which by one-fifth or one-sixth of the voters are present, of whom many are but temporary residents, and few perhaps possessed of any considerable stake in the affairs of the town.

A City Government, with two council boards, each having a negative on the other, comprising a limited number of those in whom the electors have reposed confidence, by delegating to them the power to deliberate and act instead of themselves, affords a surer guaranty for a mature consideration of important measures, and a wise and satisfactory administration.

In regard also to accountability, for measures pursued, and for the expenditures of the public money, a city form of government affords far greater security. Where several boards of officers are authorized each to draw upon the treasury, and there is nothing to interpose an efficient check, and where each board looks to the interests of its own, and either does not know, or does not regard, the claims of any other department, it can hardly be otherwise than that specific appropriations will be exhausted before the end of the year; money intended for one purpose will be drawn out for another; some of the great interests of the town will suffer for want of the pecuniary means that had been provided; the treasury will become embarrassed; and a debt will be incurred that must be provided for by increased taxation the succeeding year.

If, moreover, the several boards of town officers act by sub-committees, and each subcommittee shall be swayed, it may be unconsciously, by local feelings, the interest of the whole will suffer by a care which is unequal; one section will be benefitted at the expense of another; and it may be, that one board of officers will be called on the make satisfaction for injuries supposed to have been done by another. The mode also of choosing those town officers, who are not chosen by ballot, that is, by nomination at large in town meeting, where the presiding officer is expected to propose the name which first strikes his ear, is, perhaps, of all modes that could be devised, the one which is the least likely to secure the services of the most suitable individuals.

The police regulations of towns, it is well known, are generally weak and inefficient. In places, where the conduct of every individual is exposed to the observation of all others, and the public sentiment is brought to bear directly upon it, there is less occasion for police restraint. But in regard to a town, situated like Cambridge, in immediate proximity to a large and overflowing commercial metropolis, crowding out into the suburbs, from year to year, its surplus population, large numbers of whom require, from their habits, more efficient restraint than a town administration affords, it may be necessary to resort to a City Government for adequate self-protection. There are many incidents, appertaining to such a local situation, and a rapidly concentrating population, which call for vigilant and efficient officers of police to give that protection to his person and property, which every individual has a right to demand of his government.

Exposed as our citizens are to have the quiet of their homes disturbed by riotous noises at night; to have their persons or lives endangered by the furious driving of horses through the streets, by those who have lost, in a measure, the capacity to guide them; to have depredations committed upon their own or the public property; their fences injured, their enclosures entered, their trees set for ornament and shade destroyed, their windows broken, their buildings set on fire, hospitals prepared for the sick attacked and partially demolished; to have the morals of the youth, the hope of the age, perilled by the establishment of places of low and vile resort, where the gambler and the profligate lie in wait to entrap the inexperienced and unwary; is there not occasion to adopt that form of government which is most likely to afford the adequate protection?

Under our City Charter, the administration of municipal affairs is vested in the City Council, composed of two Boards; of which, from the mode of election, the one represents the general, and the other the local, interests of the city The executive powers of the city, and administration of the police, with all the powers heretofore vested by law in the Selectmen of the town, are vested in the Mayor and Aldermen; and they are required to perform all the duties which the law requires of Selectmen of towns.

All the powers, which were heretofore vested by law in the town, or in the inhabitants, as a municipal corporation, are now, Gentlemen, vested in your two Boards, constituting, in their joint capacity, the City Council; and are to be exercised by concurrent vote, each Board having a negative on the other. You will establish your own rules of proceeding; such as are best calculated to facilitate the orderly transaction of business. You have the power to make all needful by-laws, which shall take effect without being submitted for approval to any court. You are required, in the language of the Charter, to take care that no money be paid out from the treasury, unless previously granted and appropriated; you are to secure a just and prompt accountability from all persons entrusted with the receipt, custody, or disbursement, of the monies or funds of the city. You are to have the care and superintendence of all the property of the city; and exclusive authority and power to lay out streets, construct drains and sewers, and to estimate the damages which any persons may sustain thereby. The powers are transferred to you, which have heretofore been vested in the Board of Health; and you may provide for the appointment of all officers necessary for the good government of the city, not otherwise provided for, prescribe their duties and fix their compensation.

Such, Gentlemen, is the nature of the change we have made in our form of government; and such are some of the powers now vested in you, as the City Council. The possession of powers implies corresponding duties, and involves responsibility for their faithful performance.

After completing the organization of the two Boards, by the election of the Clerk, and when existing vacancies in other Boards of officers shall have been filled, and a City Treasurer and a Collector of Taxes, with other subordinates required by law, shall have been chosen, you will be prepared to enter upon the duties bearing directly on the great interests of the city.

In the first place, an object of special care will be provision for the public schools. The very full and able report of the School Committee, which has been recently distributed, shows, that, in regard to instruction, discipline, and the manners and morals of the pupils, the schools have been improving from year to year, and are now in a condition more satisfactory than they have been at any previous period. There is also a marked improvement in the attendance of the children. The teachers are commended for a “laudable ambition and faithfulness,” and as not often disappointing the high expectations entertained. The great want in reference to the schools, – a want, which, more than all others, presses upon attention every year, and which is the unavoidable result of our rapidly increasing population, – is that of additional or larger buildings for their accommodation. There is a want, in this respect, existing in each of the Wards, but especially in the Second and Third. I refer you to the statements contained in the Report of the Committee, for the particulars; and add the expression of my hope, that the suggestions therein contained may receive your early and favorable consideration. The whole number of public schools is thirty; of teachers and assistants thirty-seven. The whole number of children in town, a year ago, as ascertained by the census, between the ages of four and sixteen, was two thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, – being an increase in a single year of two hundred and thirty-nine, if the preceding census was correctly taken, of which there is some doubt. But taking a period of six years immediately preceding May 1st, 1845, the average annual increase in the number of children in Cambridge, between the ages of four and sixteen, has been one hundred and forty; rendering unavoidable a provision every year for at least two additional schools. I would here throw out the suggestion, though I do it with diffidence, whether it would not be expedient to require that a child, before entering the public schools, should have attained the age of five years.

The conviction exists in my own mind, that it will soon be necessary to make some changes in our school system. At present there are three schools, one in each Ward, combining the characters of a classical and grammar school. The multiplicity of studies is too great, and the time of the instructor too much divided, to allow of proper attention to the pupils in the higher department. What would be the best substitute for the present system, – whether the establishment of one school, centrally located, devoted exclusively to classical studies, or an arrangement, which perhaps might be made, for the admission of a larger number of pupils, on the part of the city, into the Hopkins’ School, or some modification of the two, – I do not feel prepared at present, to suggest.

In this connection I will say a word in reference to the Normal Schools. You are aware that they are institutions, mainly established and supported by the State, for the preparation of teachers for the common schools. There are three of them at present in the Commonwealth, sending out annually, as I am informed, about one hundred and fifty teachers. They have more than realized the sanguine expectations of the friends of the system; and are doing much to supply what has so long been complained of as the greatest want in the common school system of Massachusetts. Just previous to the close of the session or the Legislature, I attended, as a member of the Committee on Education, an examination of one of these schools, – that at West Newton; and the evidences exhibited of the thoroughness of the course of instruction, and of the great proficiency of the pupils, were in the highest degree satisfactory. In the Algebraic department particularly, a gentleman present, who had officially attended as an examiner at the Military Academy at West Point, pronounced the instruction at the Normal School to be a nearer approximation, than any he had elsewhere witnessed, to that in the above institution. I cannot refrain from expressing the hope, that, in order·more highly to elevate our own standard, hereafter, in the choice of teachers, when vacancies are to be filled, preference will be given by the committee to those who have been instructed at one of the Normal Schools.

A successful experiment has been made the past year of Teachers’ Institutes, as another means for the improvement of the teachers of common schools. They had previously been tried in the States of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, and had commended themselves to the friends or education. The aid of our own State treasury has been extended to them by a recent act of the Legislature, making an annual appropriation of twenty-five hundred dollars, without limit in regard to time. At these Institutes, teachers, in number not exceeding one hundred, are brought together, arranged in classes so as themselves to constitute a school, and instructed from day to day, for two or three weeks, by those most experienced and having the highest reputation in their profession. Ten of these Institutes will probably he held in different parts of the State, the present year, and it would seem important that the teachers of our own schools should be able to avail themselves of the advantages thus offered.

For the appropriations that will be needed for the purposes of instruction the present year, and for the erection of new school-houses, and the repair of the old, I refer you to the report of the school committee, in the confident belief, that you will cheerfully provide the means which are necessary to extend equal school privileges to all of the rising generation who are the objects of our care, and enable the schools of our new City to sustain the high reputation which they now enjoy.

In the next place, gentlemen, I ask your attention to the affairs of the Almshouse. Here is a large establishment, of which the value is estimated, in round numbers, at twenty thousand dollars, having afforded relief, in the course of the last year, to one hundred and eighty-seven paupers, of whom only twenty-three had any legal settlement in this Commonwealth, one hundred and sixty-four being State paupers, and one hundred and thirty-nine of these last foreigners; and some of the preceding being insane and others idiotic; and one hundred and fifty of the whole number, as stated in the return made by the Overseers to the Secretary of the Commonwealth, made paupers by intemperance; an establishment, which, in connection with the roads, draws from the treasury annually between eight and nine thousand dollars; but concerning the affairs of which, what the town has known has, for years, been comparatively nothing. Of the management of its concerns, no report has been made since I have had any acquaintance with the affairs of the town. Labor, to a vast amount in the course of the year, is performed upon the highways, by the inmates of this establishment; and I do not know but the value of that labor may be a full equivalent for the whole expense; but it would be some satisfaction to the citizens to be informed as to the fact, or at least to have presented to them from some authentic source an estimate of the balance, whether of profit or of loss.

The town has voted more than once, that all monies, paid for labor·performed by inmates of the Almshouse and the town teams, should be accounted for to the treasurer; but that vote seems not to have been regarded; and though it is well understood that considerable amounts, at various times, have been paid to those having the direction of the work, no account has been rendered to the treasurer, to the auditor, to the committee on finance, or to the town; and the citizens therefore have been kept in ignorance of the actual cost of supporting the establishment. My own conviction is that a parallel to this state of things is hardly to be found elsewhere in the Commonwealth. Let me not be understood as intimating that the money referred to has not been faithfully and properly applied toward defraying necessary expenses; but I speak of the mode of transacting the business as altogether improper, and express my trust, gentlemen, that you will adopt such measures, as in your judgment will secure in this case, what our Charter requires in all, a just and prompt accountability.

The interest upon the original cost of the Almshouse establishment, which should be added to the average annual expenditure for its support, is about equal to the deduction that should be made on account of the allowance from the Commonwealth for the support of State paupers; an allowance, however, of such doubtful expediency and uncertain continuance, that it would seem to be wise for us to protect ourselves for the time, probably not very remote, when it shall be withhold altogether.

It may be proper that I should state to you, in this connection, if you are not already apprized of the fact, that a portion of the town’s claim upon the Commonwealth for the support of State paupers the last year was disallowed by the Legislature. But the amount was small in the case of our own town, when compared with most others, having been but one hundred and sixteen dollars and nineteen cents; and the credit was awarded by the Committee on Accounts to the Overseers of the town of Cambridge alone, of having fairly and openly presented that particular part of the claim, as being distinct in its character from the rest, and of doubtful legality, though sanctioned by a previous loose construction, which the Legislature itself had given to the law.

The subject of the public roads is one of great importance, and will require no small portion of your attention. So great is their extent, such the nature of the soil in many places, and so difficult is it to procure the most suitable material for repair, that probably you will find, as has been found heretofore, that, in this department, it is more difficult than in any other to make that provision which will prove satisfactory, either to yourselves, or to the citizens generally. The town has been subjected, from year to year, to the payment of damages and legal costs, by reason of defects or obstructions in the highways. Nearly three hundred dollars were paid on this account the last year. No human foresight can guard against all contingencies; but it would seem as though, in some of the instances referred to, there could hardly have been exercised the requisite precaution.

Claims, however, to a much larger amount, have been brought against the town the past year, for indemnity to societies and to individuals, for injury they have sustained by the work of reducing the level of the streets by the side of their buildings. Some of these claims have been allowed and paid by the Selectmen. Others will be immediately presented, gentlemen, for your consideration; and I have no doubt that it will be your purpose to take such action thereon, and without unnecessary delay, as justice and equity shall require.

The expenditure for the repairs of bridges the last year has been, as anticipated, more than usually great, having amounted to nearly three thousand dollars; of which the largest proportion was spent upon Prison Point Bridge. What amount will be required for this object the present year, it is not easy to anticipate. Part of one of the piers at the old Brighton Bridge is gone, and some of the remainder is in such tottering condition as greatly to endanger the draw on the passage of vessels. The caps and stringers of the bridge on the Brighton side are so much decayed that the transit of heavy teams has, for some time, been considered unsafe. It will require, and I trust will receive, your earliest practicable attention. Within a few days the draw of the bridge over the canal between the lower Port and East Cambridge has been broken down by a vessel, which was driven against it in the night, as alleged, by a sudden gust of wind. The Selectmen have thought it necessary to commence the work of reconstruction, the prosecution and completion of which will now be subject to your direction.

Pursuant to a Resolve of the Legislature, the sum of three hundred dollars has been paid to our treasury, on an obligation given by the town to the Commonwealth to assume and lay out Magazine street, in Ward II, heretofore belonging to the State, as a public highway, and put and keep the same in good repair. This obligation, given in behalf of the town under the hands and seals of the Selectmen, stipulates that the. work of repair shall be completed within six months from the date of the indenture, that is, from the 17th of March last, and your attention, gentlemen, is respectfully asked, to see that this engagement be literally fulfilled.

It may not be out of place, in this connection, to apprize you of an act, just passed by the Legislature, and not yet published, rendering towns liable for injuries upon any private ways within their limits, or roads that have been opened to the public, though not laid out or accepted as town ways, unless notice be posted up that such ways or roads are unsafe for travel.

By the report of the Committee on Finance, you perceive that nearly two thousand dollars have been expended the year past for the construction of main drains and common sewers. This work has been done under a law enacted in 1841, and accepted by the town, which authorizes the Selectmen to make such drains, and to apportion and assess the cost upon those who may enter into them their particular drains, or who, by any more remote means, shall receive any benefit thereby, for draining their cellars or lands. Of the above amount the larger portion has been reimbursed, by the payment of the assessment; but, in some instances, individuals assessed have withheld payment, on the plea that they were not benefitted, and have made their appeal to the County Commissioners. Their cases remain undecided. You will doubtless be notified of the time of hearing. Several other cases await the issue. Petitions for the construction of other drains have been presented to the Selectmen, but they have deemed it expedient to defer action thereon.

And now, gentlemen, I ask your attention to a few remarks in reference to the Fire Department. By the report of the condition of the Department, made to the Selectmen by the Chief Engineer, on the 1st of April last, there are five Engines, with companies attached consisting each of about forty members, all of which are in good condition, and one of them is new. The same is reported of the apparatus generally, particularly the suction, (twenty-seven feet,) and leading hose, (five hundred feet,) and hose carriages, some of which are new. Two of the engine houses are in good condition, one of them new. The house of No. 2 is said to be out of repair, and needing to be set back from the street. The house of No. 4 is reported as in a very bad condition, and a petition has been presented for a new one. There is one Hook and Ladder Company, consisting of twenty-two members. There is another engine, No. 5, which is pronounced indifferent; no company is attached to it, and it is kept in a hired house. Each of the five companies has a compensation of four hundred dollars, and the Hook and Ladder Company two hundred dollars, amounting to twenty-two hundred dollars, exclusive of the pay of the Engineers.

The Fire Department is certainly one of great and growing importance to Cambridge, where buildings are multiplying with such rapidity, and where, in many parts, they are placed in such close proximity. If well regulated and efficient, it gives a feeling of security to the citizens, which could not otherwise be purchased; and they are, in no small measure, reimbursed for the cost of maintaining it, by the reduced rates at which they can effect insurance on their property. What is the best system for the management of such a Department, I feel not qualified to judge. Whether, and under what conditions, minors should be admitted as members; whether the services of volunteers are to be accepted; and if so, under what restrictions; are some of the questions which should receive mature consideration. The act of the Legislature, passed in 1832, establishing the Fire Department in Cambridge, placed the entire control of it in the hands of the Selectmen, authorizing them to appoint the officers and members, to fix and establish their powers and duties, and to ordain rules and regulations for their government. Such rules and regulations have been made by the Selectmen, and duly published. The power and authority which were by law vested in that board have now, by the City Charter, been transferred to and vested in the Mayor and Aldermen. Whether any additional provisions will be required, gentlemen, for the better government of the Department, I submit to your judgment. The members of the several companies have always displayed a commendable degree of alacrity and promptness in repairing, upon alarm, to the scene of danger; their operations have been skilfully and efficiently directed; and a spirit of ambition has induced efforts to excel. In all those respects, I doubt not they will sustain a creditable comparison with any Fire Department around us. Their services have always been duly appreciated by the inhabitants, and by the officers of the town; and the necessary annual appropriations, now amounting to at least four thousand dollars, have not been withheld.

If, however, beyond all this favorable appreciation of their services, the members of the department expect to be indulged in every request to go abroad, it may be hundreds of miles with their engines, for display, at times too, when their services are required at home, and seek opportunities to manifest their resentment at refusal; if their spirit of emulation, so laudable and useful when confined to proper objects, is allowed to break out into acts of insubordination, toward their own officers, or the municipal authorities; if they show themselves actuated by such an esprit du corps, as shall lead all the members to make common cause with any one, who may subject himself to censure for disobedience of orders, or neglect of duty; if, beyond this, leaving their proper sphere, and their usual party connections, they combine in measures to influence elections, and calling the department together by preconcerted signals, striking the bells to create an alarm of fire, and this too on the Sabbath, they concert their measures for the defeat of particular candidates; it becomes a serious question, whether we are not fostering the growth of a power in our midst, which will one day lead, if unrestrained, to the enactment among us of the scenes which have rendered the same department in Philadelphia so notorious; and the dangers of which will far·outweigh all the benefits conferred.

But I leave a topic on which I should not thus have spoken, had I not felt compelled, by a sense of public duty, to disregard those personal considerations, which, of themselves, would have constrained me to be silent.

It will be your duty, gentlemen, to make an estimate of the probable wants of the City for the year, and to provide the ways and means that will enable you to meet them. The report of the committee on finance, recently printed and in your hands, shows the condition of the treasury on the first of March. Since that time $1402 29 have been received, and $1534 39 have been paid out, leaving a balance in the treasury at the present time of $135 29. The expenditures of the year ending March 1st, for ordinary purposes, were $39,142 03, and, in addition, there had been paid, towards a reduction of the town debt, one half of the note due to the Lowell Institution for Savings, viz.: $5000, thus making the aggregate expenditure $44,142 03.

In March, 1842, the debt amounted to $41,527 41. Since which time, $19,527 41 have been paid, leaving the debt at the present time $22,000, of which $7000, being the amount of a note to Catherine E. Thompson, will become due on the 16th of December next.

An apprehension has been felt by many, which has disinclined them to favor the adoption of a City Government, that its administration would be attended with increased taxation. I do not believe, however, that such is a necessary result; and, though some additional expenditures may be required at first, yet the improved mode of transacting business, and the more strict system of accountability from those entrusted with the disbursements, must furnish a guard against abuse, and conduce to economy. If additional expense be the result, is it not compensated for by the removal or diminution of public evils, and the acquisition of greater security to person and property?

Possessing as we do a building so large and commodious as that we now occupy, a building erected but about sixteen years since, and probably as centrally located as any one could be, a building, which, with some small alterations, I judge, may be made suitable to accommodate, for the present, each of the two boards constituting the City Council, and leave a Hall of sufficient size for those general meetings of the inhabitants, occasions for which are contemplated by our Charter to arise, I do not suppose, gentlemen, that you will think it expedient to provide for the erection of any other building as a City Hall.

Called upon as you will be to make appropriations more than ordinary for the schools, one of which is now held in this building, but which must soon, I presume, be removed, and several other objects presenting claims that cannot, with a due regard to the public interest, be postponed, I feel assured, that, without suggestion from me, you will be disposed to guard against all unnecessary expenditure.

We have reason to be gratified at the prosperity and rapid increase of our population, attended with an annual addition of seven or eight hundred thousand dollars to the taxable property; but a necessary attendant upon this rapid growth is a progressively increasing expenditure, though not necessarily an increase in taxation. With us the ration of assessment has never been higher than 51 cents on $100; for each of the last two years it has been 48 cents;– while, in the town of Marblehead the last year, it was nearly 83 cents; in Newburyport, 78; Beverly, 68; Lowell, 66; Fall River, 63; Danvers, 62; Salem, 58; Manchester, 54; in all of them exceeding our own, and all of them except two under a town government. The comparison, I am inclined to think, if further extended, would, in most instances, be favorable to ourselves. Some allowance must probably be made, however, for a difference in the system of taxation; – some towns making the assessment on a full, and others on a reduced, valuation.

And now, gentlemen, having presented to you these considerations, as not inappropriate to the occasion, and in discharge of the duty imposed on me by the Charter, to communicate to your boards such information, and recommend such measures, as the interests of the City in my judgment may require, I have only to add in conclusion, that: – entering, as I do, upon an untried field of duty, with little experience to guide me, I shall need your indulgent consideration, and that of my fellow citizens. I shall be liable to err in judgment. From mistakes and errors none can be exempt. I can only pledge my sincere endeavors to discharge my duty according to the best of my ability and understanding. I feel strong in the assurance that I can rely on your aid and cooperation. An important trust has been reposed in us. Let us not be unmindful of the obligation to execute that trust with strict fidelity; with a single eye to the public welfare; and unswayed from duty by regard to popular opinion. Guided by that wisdom which is from above, a guidance at all times needed, to supply human deficiency and correct human error, may we be enabled so to administer the affairs of our new City, that none will regret the change. May we secure for our measures the favor, confidence, and respect of all good men; and, above all, may we secure for ourselves that richest of rewards, which springs from the consciousness of sincere and upright endeavor.


City of Cambridge.

In Common Council, May 4, 1846.
ORDERED, That Messrs. Norris, Valentine and Saunders, be a Committee, with such as the Aldermen may join, to wait upon the Mayor, and request a copy of his address to the City Council, for publication.

Sent up for concurrence.
CHAS. S. NEWELL, Clerk of Common Council

In Board of Aldermen, May 4, 1846.
Concurred; and Aldermen Hastings and Batchelder are joined.
LUCIUS R. PAIGE, City Clerk.

Note: The Mayor in 1846 was James D. Green

December 6, 2022

Cambridge InsideOut Episodes 571-572: December 6, 2022

Episode 571 – Cambridge InsideOut: Dec 6, 2022 (Part 1)

This episode was recorded on Dec 6, 2022 at 6:00pm. Topics: Charter Review Ups & Downs; Caroline Hunter elected to School Committee in Vacancy Recount – and memories from 1994; Covid update; and a good word for the Manager’s 90-day update. Hosts: Patrick Barrett, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]


Episode 572 – Cambridge InsideOut: Dec 6, 2022 (Part 2)

This episode was recorded on Nov 15, 2022 at 6:30pm. Topics: This episode was recorded on Dec 6, 2022 at 6:30pm. Topics: Truth-Telling; the Inconvenient truths about proposed lab bans; Pride in the good things; the value of nuance vs. broad proposals; the problem with movements and binary thinking. Hosts: Patrick Barrett, Robert Winters [On YouTube] [audio]

[Materials used in these episodes]

December 5, 2022

First pass at the Dec 5, 2022 Cambridge City Council agenda

First pass at the Dec 5, 2022 Cambridge City Council agenda

The clock is running down on the first half of the game. Time to get a beer or decide to be a candidate or both. Here’s hoping that Maura Healey is in a Cambridge appointing mood this month and next so that we can open up some seats and bring in some prospects from the minors. Here’s what’s on this week’s dance card:Countdown

Manager’s Agenda #4. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board report with a recommendation to adopt the Emissions the Accounting Zoning Petition (Version 3) with clarifying comments. [Planning Board report]
pulled by Zondervan; Referred to Petition 9-0

Manager’s Agenda #5. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board Zoning Petition to consider adoption of the attached Climate Resilience Zoning. [Planning Board Zoning Petition]
pulled by Nolan; Referred to Planning Board & Ordinance Committee 9-0


Manager’s Agenda #6. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the City Manager’s 90 Day Report.
pulled by Mallon; Placed on File 9-0

Committee Report #1. The Government Operations, Rules & Claims Committee held a public meeting on Nov 22, 2022 to discuss the City Manager’s Annual Evaluation process. [text of report]
Placed on File 9-0

Communications & Reports #1. A communication was received from Vice Mayor Mallon, transmitting information regarding the City Manager Annual Review process. [City Manager Performance Review] [Proposed City Manager Annual Performance Review Process] [City Manager Draft Annual Performance Review Template]
Placed on File as Amended 9-0

I especially liked this note in the Manager’s Report: “Finally, many of our greatest challenges are fundamentally regional issues – housing, homelessness, climate change, and transportation. We often view our work within our 6.4 square miles, but there is a need for greater coordination with our neighbors and state government. As we enter 2023 and welcome a new Healey administration, I’m looking forward to Cambridge having a greater voice to advocate for and collaborate to find solutions that match the scale of our challenges.”

And this: “As with all relationships, I believe the relationship between the City and Council is not a static arrangement that can be written down or governed through contract provisions. Relationships are interactions between people over time and built on mutual respect, shared norms, communication, and trust. There will be mistakes and areas for improvement, and we won’t agree on every issue, but I’m committed to creating a government that works and where we are increasing alignment and trust between the City, Council, and community.”

Perhaps the greatest indication of the mettle of our new City Manager will be how he handles all the upcoming appointments to City Boards & Commissions. Will political considerations outweigh other factors? For at least this one observer, those appointments and how the city councillors handle or mishandle their newfound power to review (some of) these appointments will be very telling. The City Manager also speaks of “greater empowerment for leaders and staff,” but accountability and answering for poor decisions and the willingness to change direction when warranted are just as important. The same goes for all of our elected officials.


Manager’s Agenda #7. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to asking the Department of Conservation and Recreation to suspend the Saturday closures of Memorial Drive between Greenough Boulevard and Western Avenue for the remainder of this year. (CM22#241)
pulled by Zondervan; Zondervan motion to ask Manager to not ask DCR to suspend remaining Saturday closures fails 3-6 (AM,QZ,SS – YES; BA,DC,MM,PN,DS,PT – NO); Placed on File 9-0

Charter Right #1. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Reports Items Numbered 16-111, 18-38, and 20-61, regarding Municipal Property Inventory. [Charter Right – Zondervan, Nov 21, 2022]
Placed on File 8-0-1 (Toner ABSENT)

I wish this Property Inventory was so heavily intertwined with the future of the greater Central Square area, but this is the hand we’ve been dealt. I will be very disappointed if the provision of subsidized housing outweighs the whole range of other possibilities. I also hope that residents and councillors from the other side of the city don’t continue in their misguided and lazy belief that all social services should be further concentrated in Central Square – one of our most significant commercial and cultural districts in the city.

83 Communications – mostly from last week expressing shock and outrage about the proposal from three councillors to supersize the city no matter what anyone thinks.

Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to direct the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department to work with the residents at 931 Massachusetts Avenue to identify and provide a short-term parking spot in front of 931 Massachusetts Avenue.   Councillor Toner, Councillor McGovern, Councillor Simmons
pulled by Toner; Toner amendment Adopted 6-3 (BA,AM,QZ – NO); Azeem amendment Adopted 6-3 (DC,DS,PT – NO); McGovern amendment Adopted 9-0; Order Adopted as Amended 8-1 (QZ – NO)

Further evidence that an amended and overly rigid Bicycle Safety Ordinance is no substitute for good traffic engineering that anticipates and takes into account the whole range of parking and transportation needs.

Order #3. That the City Manager is requested to work with the appropriate departments to conduct street cleaning without towing starting with the 2023 season.   Councillor Zondervan, Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Azeem
pulled by Nolan; Charter Right – Simmons

I have mixed feelings about this – especially as a resident who has been voluntarily clearing the storm drains in my neighborhood for decades. I have always appreciated a good curb-to-curb cleaning during the warmer months and plowing snow as close to the curb as possible during winter. Having even one vehicle to go around negates much of this benefit. I would be happier if a new policy had some discretion, i.e., if the crews and police feel that little is gained by towing in a specific occasion then a pricey ticket may be sufficient. Unfortunately, there are many people now living in Cambridge who might just write that off as the “cost of doing business” as they wallow in their negligence. – Robert Winters

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