Cambridge government « Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

October 24, 2013

Members Needed for Cambridge’s “Getting to Net Zero” Task Force

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge government — Tags: Cambridge, Cambridge government — Robert Winters @ 11:50 am

Members Needed for Cambridge’s "Getting to Net Zero" Task Force

Cambridge City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking volunteers to serve on a new "Getting to Net Zero" Task Force that will advise the City Manager on ways to advance the goal of putting Cambridge on the trajectory towards becoming a "net zero community," with focus on carbon emissions from building operations. This includes reducing energy use intensity of buildings and taking advantage of opportunities to harvest energy from renewable resources.

The Task Force will work collaboratively to examine strategies and develop recommendations that address the following topics:

· reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment
· improve energy efficiency and conservation in existing and new buildings
· support renewable energy generation both on- and off-site
· best practices to engage/educate users and influence occupant behavior

The City seeks individuals with a high degree of experience and expertise in these topics and demonstrated ability to work effectively on a team with diverse opinions to craft consensus solutions. The intention is to create a task force that includes subject matter experts in topics such as building design, construction and operation, development economics, energy efficiency, and renewable energy technology & policy, including the concept of Renewable Energy Certificates, as well as community advocates/residents, business/property owners/developer representatives, and representatives of local universities/the Cambridge Climate Compact.

The Task Force will work collaboratively to develop actionable recommendations that are comprehensive, practical and implementable and at the same time bold in their vision; these may include changes to City ordinances, zoning, policies and other directives. The work of the Task Force should continue to advance Cambridge’s role as a regional and national leader in addressing environmental issues.

It is expected that Committee appointments will be made by the City Manager before the end of the year. The group will meet at least monthly starting December 2013 and deliver final recommendations by December 2014.

To apply, please send a letter by Nov 12, 2013 describing your interest in the study and any experience you have working on similar issues to:

Richard C. Rossi, City Manager
City of Cambridge , 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: citymanager@cambridgema.gov
Fax: 617-349-4307

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October 6, 2013

Cambridge at cross purposes about traffic

Filed under: Cambridge,cycling,Fresh Pond,planning,transportation — Tags: Alewife, Belmont, bicycle, bicycling, Cambridge, Cambridge government, Concord Avenue, cycle track, cycling, elections, Fresh Pond, Massachusetts, sidepath, traffic, Urban design — jsallen @ 10:29 pm

Readers of the newsletter of the Belmont Citizens Forum will find much news there about neighboring North Cambridge. Editor Meg Muckenhoupt’s lead story in the September-October 2013 issue is about major, new housing developments planned for the part of Cambridge west of Alewife Brook Parkway and north of Fresh Pond Park. The article expresses concerns with traffic which is already approaching gridlock and affecting access to the Alewife T station.

Quoting from the story:

The decision document issued by Cambridge’s Planning Board for the 398-unit 160 Cambridgepark Drive, which is predicted to cause 1,324 new trips, states, “The project is expected to have minimal impact on traffic and will not cause congestion, hazard, or substantial change to the established neighborhood character.” Ominously, the decision continues: “It is also noted that the traffic generated by the project is anticipated to be less than that associated with the office/research and development project on 150, 180 and 180R Cambridgepark Drive for which entitlements currently exist under a previously granted special permit.” In short, if the city of Cambridge accepted a potential increase in traffic for a special permit in the past, the city should accept that increase in traffic for all future permits—no matter how much the population has increased in the meantime.

[…]

Concord Avenue and the Alewife Brook Parkway rotary won’t escape traffic woes. Cambridge’s 2005 Concord Alewife Plan included a “critical movement analysis” of the area. Critical movements are conflicting traffic movements. They are the times when vehicles block each other from moving, such as when a car turns left and crosses a lane of oncoming traffic. The Concord Alewife Plan reports that for the area roughly bounded by the Route 2/Route 16 intersection, the Alewife Brook Parkway, and Concord Avenue, service starts to deteriorate when a roadway reaches the “critical sum” of 1,500 vehicles per hour, or 1,800 vehicles per hour for rotaries. Below those numbers, and most motorists can get through an intersection in two or fewer light cycles. Above those thresholds, you’ll wait at that light a long time. As of 2005, the Concord/Route 2 rotary was already operating at 1,880 critical interactions—80 above the threshold—with a total traffic volume of 4,300 trips per day, while Concord Avenue at Blanchard Road had already reached 1,400 “critical sums” per hour, with 2,460 trips per day.

The report also predicted vehicle trips per day for 2024 for the area after Cambridge’s rezoning (which Cambridge enacted in June 2006.) The permitted 70 Fawcett Street development, which will be located between these two intersections, by itself promises to add enough vehicle trips to reach the predicted 2024 buildout trip level by 2014—and there’s plenty more space for apartments and garages alongside between the Concord Avenue rotary and Blanchard Road.

Also:

Of course, some of these buildings’ residents will take the T to work—if they can fit on the T…The Red Line is already “congested” and running at capacity, according to a June 2012 study by the Urban Land Institute titled Hub and Spoke: Core Transit Congestion and the Future of Transit and Development in Greater Boston.

So, Cambridge publishes a plan for the Alewife area which reports that traffic congestion is already a problem, but then it permits several large housing developments which will worsen it. The Belmont Citizens Forum article does report that design study has been funded for a new bridge over the commuter rail tracks west of Alewife Station, connecting it with Concord Avenue. That will relieve some congestion near the Alewife Brook Parkway/Concord Avenue rotary but will have little effect elsewhere. And this is still only a design study.

As a bicycling advocate and repeated critic of Cambridge’s treatment on Concord Avenue — see summary of my comments here — I have found another major inconsistency with the 2005 Concord-Alewife Plan: the recent reconstruction of Concord Avenue so as to maximize the number of conflicts between bicyclists and motorists. The new traffic signal just west of the Concord Avenue/Alewife Brook Parkway rotary backs up traffic into the rotary whenever a bicyclist or pedestrian actuates the signal to cross. The westbound sidewalk bikeway installed on the north side of Concord Avenue crosses a driveway or street on average once every 100 feet, requiring motorists to stop in the only westbound travel lane, blocking traffic, to yield to bicyclists overtaking on their right. Buses traveling both ways on Concord Avenue must stop in the travel lane, where their doors open directly into the bikeway. The conflicting turn movements between motorists and bicyclists, and bus passengers discharged onto the the bikeway, pose serious safety concerns too.

In previous posts on this blog and elsewhere, I recommended a two-way bikeway on the south side of Concord Avenue next to Fresh Pond Park, where there is only one signalized intersection, and maintenance of the previous roadway width and bike lanes.

The 2005 Concord-Alewife Plan contains no mention of the Concord Avenue bikeway — see recommendations for Concord Avenue on page 80 of the report. The plan therefore does not account for the congestion caused by the bikeway, on which construction began only 4 years later.

The overall impression I get is that Cambridge’s planning is disorganized, but also, Cambridge’s bicycle planning occurs in a fantasyland where the well-known conflict situations which cause crashes are greeted with a claim that the goal is to make bicycling more attractive, then, poof, when there are more bicyclists, by magic, bicycling will become safer. I call this the “Pied Piper” approach to bicycle planning. Well, actually, Cambridge is reporting a steady level of bicycle crashes in spite of an increasing volume of bicycle traffic. Some decrease in risk with increasing volume occurs with any mode of transportation as its users gain longer experience. The issue I have is with using this as an excuse for wishful thinking and crap design, and writing off the victims of preventable crashes as expendable. Cambridge has had some gruesome preventable crashes, and has intersections with the highest volumes of bicycle crashes anywhere in Massachusetts.

Another overall impression which I can’t shake is that Cambridge is very selective about reducing traffic congestion. The Concord Avenue project; the residential developments planned for the Alewife area; the Western Avenue roadway narrowing and sidewalk bikeway; and the proposed bikeways along Binney Street increase congestion at the portals to the city. It all strikes me as rather desperate and underhanded way to decrease congestion in the core of the city, but there you have it, as it appears to me.

[Added paragraphs, October 7, 7:40 AM] Residential development close to the urban core is certainly preferable to sprawling suburbs to minimize environmental impacts and traffic congestion, but resolving the traffic problems in the Alewife area would require major investments to increase Red Line and bus service, and disincentives (read: high cost) for single-occupant motor vehicle travel. The public resists all of these. If there is a logic to the City’s approach to these challenges, it is to break down resistance by making the problems so pressing that the pain becomes intolerable.

Bicycling and walking can make some contribution, but the plans for the new housing developments describe it as small. Quoting again:

To be fair, the developers of these various projects are attempting to make car-free commuting more attractive to their residents. Several of these buildings have extensive bicycle-parking facilities, including the Faces site and 160 Cambridgepark Drive. But the city of Cambridge doesn’t anticipate that those bicycles will get much use. For 398-unit 160 Cambridgepark Drive, for example, the city estimates the residents will make 1,324 daily car trips, and 202 pedestrian trips, but just 98 journeys by bike.

Most of the traffic in the area in any case is to or from more distant locations, or is passing through. Bicycling and walking may serve as feeder modes for these longer trips but don’t compete well with motorized modes to cover the distance.

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June 28, 2013

The Strange Symmetry of Cambridge History

Filed under: Cambridge — Tags: Cambridge, Cambridge government, CCA, history — Robert Winters @ 4:16 pm

June 28, 2013 – A recent controversy over a proposed residential project at 93 Kirkland Street for which a curb cut was sought was recently settled via a June 17 City Council vote. This was followed by a motion to Reconsider the vote at the June 24 City Council meeting. The motion to Reconsider failed and the granting of the curb cut was made final. The proponents seeking the curb cut were Mark Boyes-Watson and Muireann Glenmullen. The primary opposition came from the Dewire Family Trust representing the wishes of James and Thomas Dewire of 2 Holden Street whose families have a very long history in the neighborhood and just across the border in Somerville. There was also a petition campaign to block the curb cut initiated by some nearby residents.

To those of us who have a passion for Cambridge history, there was a magnificent symmetry in this controversy that pitted longstanding residents against what was characterized, perhaps unfairly, as an unwelcome intrusion into this established neighborhood. Indeed, in an historically significant incident 127 years earlier, it was the arrival of a saloon across the street at the site where Savenor’s Market now stands that triggered a firestorm that would help to shape the civic battle lines in Cambridge for the next century. The proprietor of that saloon was a Mr. Dewire who had recently moved his business there from just up the street in Somerville. The story of "the Dewire incident," and much of what it inspired, is told in the book "Ten No-license Years in Cambridge: A Jubilee Volume" published in 1898 by the Citizens’ No-License Committee.

The full story of this period is fascinating, especially when understood in the context of the civic reforms that it inspired which ultimately culminated several decades later in the adoption of the Plan E Charter (1940) and the establishment of the Cambridge Civic Association (1945) that owed its existence, at least in part, to the controversy triggered in 1885-86 when the saloon arrived across the street from Harvard Professor Charles Eliot Norton. The letter from Prof. Norton that sparked the movement follows. – Robert Winters

LETTER OF PROF. CHARLES ELIOT NORTON
Cambridge, 27 April, 1886

Editor Cambridge Tribune:

I desire to call the attention of the citizens of Cambridge to a recent proceeding of the majority of the committee on licenses supported by a majority of the Board of Aldermen which seems to me to deserve the serious consideration of every one interested in the good government and the moral condition of our city and to warrant severe condemnation.

For a considerable number of years a man named Dewire has kept a grocery, and sold liquor in a shop at the corner of Washington and Beacon streets in Somerville, close to the boundary of Cambridge. Washington Street is the continuation of Kirkland Street in Cambridge. In 1884, when Somerville voted that no licenses should be granted for the sale of liquor in that city, Dewire, finding his chance of profit diminished, bought a lot over the line in Cambridge at the corner of Lynde and Kirkland streets, a few hundred feet from his original shop, and proceeded to erect upon it a double house of some pretension, fitting up the lower story in a showy and attractive manner, with large windows and other arrangements suitable for a drinking saloon. His more modest establishment in Somerville had been a nuisance to the neighborhood; his new one in Cambridge promised to be still more objectionable. He applied to the committee on licenses in 1885 for a victualler’s license, and a license to sell liquor. A protest against the granting of the license, numerously signed by residents on Kirkland and the neighboring streets, was laid before the committee; and Dewire’s petition was rejected. He, notwithstanding, proceeded to open his new establishment, and, if evidence which seems trustworthy may be relied upon, to sell liquor without a license and against the law.

Soon after the beginning of the present year, he made a fresh application for a license to the committee. A remonstrance similar to that of last year was handed in. The remonstrance was signed by such well known citizens as Professor Child, Prof. B. A. Gould, Prof. J. P. Ames, ex-Alderman C. H. Munroe, the venerable Eben Francis, Mr. L. E. Jones, three ladies, householders and residents in the immediate vicinity of Dewire’s saloon, myself, and numerous others. The remonstrants asked a hearing of the committee in case there should be any question as to the granting of the license, which they did not expect. To their surprise, they were summoned to a hearing on the 10th inst. Professor Child was prevented by illness from appearing, but ex-Alderman Munroe, the Rev. Eben Francis, Jun., Mr. F. L. Temple (the proprietor of the nursery gardens on the corner of Kirkland and Beacon streets), Professor Ames, Mr. Arthur E. Jones, and myself attended, and presented clearly the reasons against the granting of the license. The main objections we made were, – the lack of any legitimate ground for the existence of a drinking-shop in the neighborhood; the injury done and the nuisance created by it; the difficulty of keeping strict police supervision over the establishment on account of its position on the line of division between Cambridge and Somerville; the want of due regard to the express wish of the majority of voters of Somerville in case a license should be granted for the sale of liquor on its immediate boundary. We urged that the petitioner for a license ought to show cause that the granting of his petition would be for the public advantage, or, at least, would enable him to supply a legitimate public need. We pressed upon the committee the fact that the remonstrance of well-known respectable citizens of the neighborhood against a license ought to be a sufficient ground for rejection of any such application; that the committee were primarily bound to consider the moral interests of the community, and to protect it from the grave injury resulting from a practically indiscriminate granting of applications for licenses. We urged that an excessive number of licenses had been granted in previous years; that intemperance had thereby been promoted in Cambridge; that this was a case plainly of a sort in which no just ground whatever for the granting of the petition could be shown to exist.

The chairman of the committee, Mr. J. J. Kelley, avowed with a cynical frankness that did credit to his honesty, that a majority of the voters of the city of Cambridge having voted for license, and the estimates for the expenditure of the city having been made upon the basis of a receipt from licenses of at least thirty five thousand dollars, the committee proposed to grant licenses in sufficient number to secure that sum; and that they did not regard the moral interest of the community as a matter which deserved their consideration in the administration of the license system. Further, upon being questioned, he with equal frankness admitted that the number of licenses, nearly two hundred and twenty, granted last year, was in excess of any legitimate need of the inhabitants, leaving it to be inferred that, by the granting of a number so excessive, the habits of intemperance and drunkenness in the community were inevitably encouraged.

In spite of the views held by the chairman of the committee, the remonstrants against Dewire’s petition could not believe that their arguments would not, in this case at least, prevail with the committee. They could not believe that the reasonable desires of such a number of the respectable citizens of the neighborhood, most of them old residents, all of them known well as having the real interests of the city at heart, most of them payers of large taxes, would not be heeded as against the petition of a recent inhabitant, one who had taken up his residence in the city for the avowed purpose of carrying on traffic injurious to the morals of the community and condemned by every good citizen.

It was with astonishment, therefore, that they learned a few days after the hearing that the majority of the committee on licenses, consisting of Mr. Kelley and Mr. P. A. Lindsay, had, in spite of the earnest opposition of the third member, Dr. E. R. Cogswell, himself a resident on Kirkland Street, voted to recommend to the Board of Aldermen that the petition of Dewire be granted.

The remonstrants still believed that the Board of Aldermen, upon learning the facts of the case, would refuse to adopt the report of the majority of the committee.

But, on the contrary, the Board of Aldermen, at their meeting on the 21st inst., in spite of Dr. Cogswell’s presentation of the objections to the granting of the license, voted, by six to four, that the license should be granted. The names of the majority ought to be known to the citizens of Cambridge, that their course in the matter may be remembered against them. They were E. W. Hincks, G. Close, J. J. Kelley, J. Cogan, C. W. Henderson, and P. A. Lindsay.

The personal interests involved in this special case may be of small moment; it may be of little matter that the desires and arguments of a weighty body of the best citizens of Cambridge have been unceremoniously disregarded. The interests involved are not local or personal. They are those of the whole community. An outrage to the moral sense of every good citizen has been committed by those to whose guardianship not only the material but the moral interests of the city are committed. A great wrong has been done, not to the residents on Kirkland Street alone, but to every inhabitant of the city. It is a matter in which the fundamental principles of good municipal government have been brutally violated. I trust that the voice of other citizens, who have the interests of the community at heart, will be heard concerning it. I am, sir,

Your obedient servant,

Charles Eliot Norton

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April 1, 2013

April 1 Cambridge News

Filed under: Cambridge — Tags: April 1, Cambridge government, Harvard, Kendall Square, MIT — Robert Winters @ 12:01 am

Healy Changes Mind – To Remain as City Manager through 2020

Rossi cries foul. Will challenge Healy to settle matter via baseball contest.

"Don’t get me wrong." said Rossi. "Bob has been a great city manager. I’m sure he has a few good seasons left in him, but I can hit with power and can also run the bases."

Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs Louis Depasquale will serve as umpire. "I don’t take sides," said Depasquale, "except when it involves the New York Yankees." It has been reported that both sides are making offers to former Budget Director and long-ball hitter David Kale to return in time for the game.

City Councillor and State Representative Marjorie Decker is still undecided whether she will sign on with the Healy or the Rossi team. Said Decker, "I’ve been going to bat for both of these guys for years." Meanwhile, Councillor Kelley has announced that he will refuse to attend the contest. "I’ve been voting No for a decade. Why should I switch now?" said Kelley.

Casinos to Replace Pharma in Kendall

Gambling "We must have been on drugs," said industry representative Viagra Q. Zantax.

MIT/Kendall Petition amended to add gambing as allowed use in PUD-5 district.
House Speaker DeLeo Vows to Fight Plan
"Why anyone would locate a casino outside of Saugus or Winthrop is beyond me," said House Speaker Robert DeLeo. " I could see Revere, maybe, but no way Cambridge." Cambridge’s Economic Development Division (CDD) is working with the Tourism Board to develop a slogan for this new addition to Cambridge’s diverse economy. "We wanted to use ‘whatever happens in Cambridge stays in Cambridge‘ as our slogan, but Nevada officials have informed us that the phrase is owned by a desert town in Nevada not far from Hoover Dam."

City Faces Lawsuit over Roundtables

A Cambridge resident has filed suit in Massachusetts Superior Court seeking an emergency injunction to end meetings that the Cambridge City Council has dubbed "roundtable" meetings. According to the Council, roundtable meetings allow a more relaxed give-and-take. While these meetings are public, neither public comment nor television broadcasts are possible. Tom Stohlman, a previous candidate for the Council who has tangled with them over interpretations of the Open Meeting law, said that he was seeking injunctive relief because the Council had gone too far. "The Council has the right to make its own rules, but it doesn’t have the right to make new meanings for old words," Stohlman said. "There’s nothing round about these roundtable meetings.

"The tables are set up in almost a square, and the tables themselves are rounded rectangles." Stohlman, an architect by training, said that the misrepresentation of meeting geometry was a betrayal of the public trust and a symptom of a deeper distrust between the Council and Cambridge residents. Mayor Henrietta Davis, who chairs the City Council, declined comment on Stohlman’s suit, but noted that, in our litigious society, these sort of suits were, in her words, "the shape of things to come."

Late Changes to MIT/Kendall Zoning Petition

Miniature Golf Kendall In response to overwhelming pressure from the MIT and East Cambridge communities, MIT officials today announced their intention to include miniature golf as an allowed use in the proposed PUD-5 District. "It’s an essential part of the innovation ecosystem for this area," said Steve Marsh, Managing Director of Real Estate, MIT Investment Management Corporation – MITIMCo. "We realize this is only a start. We are now working with MIT’s Mechanical Engineering faculty to develop what will likely be one of the greatest rollercoasters ever conceived. We had plans to build a Go-Kart track, but City officials informed us that this would violate the City’s Vehicle Trip Reduction Ordinance." When informed that the Go-Kart Rally might require the zoning petition to be again re-filed, MIT Executive Vice President Israel Ruiz said, "No way we want to do that. We feel that miniature golf will fulfill the shared goals of MIT, the Kendall Square Association, and the City’s Planning Board. It’s entirely consistent with the recommendations of the K2C2 Committee."

Future plans include water skiing on the Charles River. "If this doesn’t connect the people of East Cambridge and our Kendall Square entrepreneurs to the river, I don’t know what will," said Marsh. Even former MIT Director of Campus Planning Bob Simha agrees with the concept. "It’s consistent with the 1965 plans for the eastern end of the MIT campus."

MIT Graduate Student Association President Brian Spatocco also expressed excitement: "Sure, we were looking for more graduate student housing, but this is gonna be AWESOME!" The petition is expected to come to a vote on April 8.

Central Square Urban Renewal District Created

Cambridge Redevelopment Authority to Oversee Clearing of Buildings
and Kickstarting of New Development

Plans include replacing Moody’s Falafel Palace with a 300 ft. tall slender residential tower. "With the new microhousing units", said City urban design specialist Roger Boothe, "we should be able to accommodate at least 4-5 units per floor. We estimate about 1200 units with this property alone." When asked about other possible development in the area, recently appointed CRA Executive Director Tom Evans said, "The sky’s the limit."

Residential Towers proposed
Two Towers have been proposed for Massachusetts Avenue at both the eastern and western ends of Central Square. The tentative name for the western tower is Minas Tirith which will feature 7 distinct levels consistent with the bulk control plane requirements of the zoning code. The eastern tower will be known as Minas Morgul and will feature 24-hour concierge service. Her name is Shelob and she promises that you’ll sleep well for all eternity in these new residences.

Cambridge Historical Commission recommends landmark status for Central Square MacDonalds

Historical Commission Executive Director Charles Sullivan presented the detailed report of the Commission last week. He noted the important cultural asset that this property represents. "The latter half of the 20th Century was, in large part, defined by the explosive growth of the fast food industry. Many of the historical remnants of this storied history are rapidly vanishing as new cafes and fancy-ass restaurants are displacing these community institutions." Sullivan continued, "I shudder at the thought that one day there will be no more golden arches to be found except along highways. It’s the cities that always suffer." The report recommends that in the event that the MacDonalds cannot be saved in the face of extraordinary development pressure, the golden arches could still be incorporated into the facade of any new building. "We must respect the past even as we welcome the future."

City Discovers Master Plan – It’s the Zoning Ordinance!

Members of the Association of Cambridge Neighborhoods and its alter-ego group, the Cambridge Residents Alliance, issued a statement upon the announcement of the discovery of the document. "Who knew?" said ACN cameraman Charles Teague. "We were looking far and wide, high and low for the City’s master plan, and there it was all the time!" Said Assistant City Manager Brian Murphy (CDD), "We thought we had done a pretty good job with the department’s website redesign, but I guess a few documents just fell through the cracks. It may be that we filed it under ‘zoning’ instead of ‘master plan’ where it should have been. We promise to immediately rectify this unfortunate confusion."

City to Propose Ban on Fossil Fuels

Pursuant to City Council Order #14 of April 1, 2013, Cambridge hopes to pass a local ordinance banning the use of fossil fuels "for all purposes not to include leaf blowers." The proposed ban came as a surprise to no one. "We have long been aware of the threat of climate change," said Councillor Minka vanBeuzekom, chief sponsor of the ban. "If we don’t start this process here in Cambridge, the relentless march toward extreme weather and disappearing shorelines will continue unabated." Major oil companies have stated their intention to seek an injunction to the ordinance if it should be ordained, but they’re not the only parties lining up to protest the ban. Robert "Red" Fawcett of Fawcett Oil Co. was quoted saying, "What about local businesses like mine? If we can’t sell oil, what are we supposed to do? Fill our tanker trucks with Nantucket Nectars? We may have to go back to selling Hay & Grain."

Rat Race A legitimate question is, of course, how people will heat their homes in the absence of fossil fuels. While some have proposed solar panels heavily subsidized by the City’s unlimited wealth, Councillor vanBeuzekom had a more novel plan. "Rat power," she said. We can harness the rodent power of Cambridge by installing batteries of ‘hamster wheels’ in each home and put these rodents to work!" Speculators have already taken out permits to open new industrial pet food supply outlets to keep up with the expected demand for rodent chow. "Shares in the Ralston-Purina company soared in anticipation of the proposed ban.

"I’m more than happy to volunteer as wrangler for this new four-legged workforce," said vanBeuzekom. "We should start by removing all the rat baits now distributed around the city. We need to maintain a healthy workforce." The alternative is to use people for power generation, but they’re far more expensive to keep.

The Consolidation Plan

The City will announce this week plans to consolidate its many boards and commissions. Some expected that the Peace Commission, Human Rights Commission, and a variety of other boards might be joined into a single "mega-board" to deal with complaints from disgruntled citizens. Instead, the Board of Zoning Appeals will merge with the Planning Board. Chair Hugh Russell said, "This will be a great step forward in streamlining government." He added, "We’ll be able to incorporate all the exceptions as part of the plan."

recycling symbol Future plans include folding the Licensing Commission into the Planning/BZA commission as well. The Recycling Advisory Committee will merge with the Police Review Advisory Board (PRAB). While current PRAB Director Brian Corr worried that the additional focus on recycling might delay investigation of police misconduct, Recycling Advisory Committee members expressed excitement at the fact that they will now have subpoena power. "There will no longer be the need to beg citizens to comply with recycling regulations," said long-time member Robert Winters. "We’ll now be able to just haul their asses before the Board."

MIT to Refocus its Mission

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), an institution in Boston and Cambridge since the days of the Civil War, announced today that it would retool as a training school for the hotel/motel industry. "We have for far too long focused on technological innovation," said MIT President Rafael Reif. "It’s time we focused on the people. Like no other institution, we have the capacity to engineer ways to deliver comfortable accommodations to travelers around the globe." In acknowledgement of the many financial contributions toward this exciting new initiative, it was announced that Killian Court will be renamed "Marriott Plaza." Protests are already planned. In addition, the large dome at 77 Massachusetts Avenue will be substantially altered to better reflect the hospitality industry. Several designs now being considered by a faculty advisory committee are shown below.

Sign planned for 77 Massachusetts Avenue

Neon 2

Neon 1

Signage planned for the new Kendall Square Hotel Innovation Cluster

Mathematics Department officials were excited. Said an unnamed department spokesperson, "The Differential Equations course (18.03) was getting kind of tired with its inhomogeneous nth order linear differential equations and Laplace transforms. Now we can do something really transformative. Opportunities like this grow neither on trees nor along rural highways."

Harvard University to Fold

In response to the announcement that MIT had already developed extensive plans to refocus its mission on the hospitality industry, Harvard announced yesterday that it would be closing at the end of the current academic year. "We’ve had a great 377 year run," said Harvard President Drew Faust. "But discretion truly is the better part of valor. We have no need to spill our crimson blood in a battle with MIT. With the sale of our extensive real estate holdings, we’ll make out like bandits." The Harvard Board of Overseers has yet to comment on the proposed closure, but rumors suggest that they may dedicate the remaining endowment funds toward the rapidly expanding gaming industry.

Williamson to Get Job

James Williamson, long-time public commenter, announced yesterday his intention to seek employment. "I’ve had a long and storied career in the commenting industry, but the lack of a paycheck has limited my ability to do many things." While thanking City, State, and Federal authorities for housing him all these years, Williamson said, "It’s time to give back to the community."

City Council Announces Retirement Plans

In a group statement, the nine incumbents announced, "We’ve had a good run, but there’s got to be more to life than just public service."

There is no word yet from incumbent School Committee members.

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February 22, 2013

Proposed City Manager Contract between City of Cambridge and Richard C. Rossi

Filed under: Cambridge government,City Council — Tags: Cambridge government, City Council, Richard Rossi — Robert Winters @ 1:38 am

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE
AND
RICHARD C. ROSSI
February 2013

THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT ("this Agreement"), pursuant to Chapter 41, Section 108N of the Massachusetts General Laws, is made this __ day of February, 2013, by and between the CITY OF CAMBRIDGE (the "City"), acting by and through its City Council, with a principal place of business at 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, and RlCHARD C. ROSSI (hereinafter referred to as "Mr. Rossi" or the "City Manager"). This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements between the City and Mr. Rossi, except as otherwise provided herein, and except for Appendix A and the Deputy City Manager’s contract expiring on July 1, 2013.

WHEREAS, Mr. Rossi has been the Deputy City Manager for the City since August, 1982; and

WHEREAS during Mr. Rossi’s tenure as the Deputy City Manager, Mr. Rossi has performed the duties of the City Manager in the City Manager’s absence;

WHEREAS, the City wishes to employ Mr. Rossi as the City Manager effective July 1, 2013;

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual promises contained in this Agreement and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby acknowledged, the parties agree as follows:

SECTION 1 – EMPLOYMENT OF MR. ROSSI

1.1 The City, pursuant to applicable provisions of the Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 41, Section 108N, and the City Charter, hereby employs Mr. Rossi as the City Manager for the City effective July 1, 2013 and Mr. Rossi hereby accepts such employment under the terms and conditions in this Agreement and the City Charter.

1.2 Mr. Rossi agrees to continue his employment with the City as the Deputy City Manager through June 30, 2013, which is the subject of a separate agreement, as amended, between Mr. Rossi and the City. Mr. Rossi and the City agree that there shall be no break in his service as the Deputy City Manager and his employment as the City Manager.

1.3 Mr. Rossi shall devote his full working time to his duties as the City Manager and shall not engage in any business activity during the terms of this Agreement except with the advance written consent of the City Council.

SECTION 2 – SERVICES

2.1 Mr. Rossi will exercise the full authority and perform all the functions, duties and responsibilities of the City Manager as specified in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 43, Sections 93 through 108 inclusive and shall perform other legally permissible and proper duties and functions as the City Council may from time to time assign to him. The City acknowledges him as the Chief Executive of the City government.

2.2 The City Council may, from time to time and in consultation with Mr. Rossi, establish policies, subject to the City Charter, and the City Manager shall carry out those legislative policies in accordance with the City Charter. The failure by the City Council to establish any specific policies shall in no way and to no extent relieve Mr. Rossi from any of his obligations pursuant to Section 2.1, above.

2.3 The City Council shall review and evaluate the performance of the City Manager at meetings scheduled by the Government Operations Committee of the City Council. Said review and evaluation shall be done in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A, Sections 18-25 ("the Open Meeting Law").

SECTION 3 – TERM

3.1 Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent, limit, or otherwise interfere with the right of the City Council to terminate the services of Mr. Rossi and this Agreement at any time subject to the provisions of Section 5 of this Agreement.

3.2 Subject to the provisions of this Agreement, Mr. Rossi shall be employed as the City Manager for the City commencing July 1, 2013 and ending on June 30, 2016.

3.3 Mr. Rossi shall undertake his duties promptly upon the commencement of this Agreement and shall diligently and faithfully perform those duties in a professional manner.

3.4 If the City intends to continue Mr. Rossi’s employment beyond June 30, 2016, it shall give written notice to Mr. Rossi on or before March 1, 2016, and initiate negotiations for a successor employment contract, which contract, if agreed to, shall become effective July 1, 2016. Absent agreement on a successor employment contract, this Agreement shall terminate on June 30, 2016.

SECTION 4 – COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

4.1 Mr. Rossi has separately and voluntarily agreed to amend his Deputy City Manager Employment Agreement to remove the sick leave and compensatory time buy back provisions in Section 3, Paragraph A of such Deputy City Manager Employment Agreement, thereby extinguishing the contractual buyout provision for compensatory time and the contractual buyout provision for sick leave accrued during the course of his employment with the City, the total of which is estimated to have a current value of approximately $615,000.00 under his contract as Deputy City Manager. The City Council recognizes the unique and invaluable experience and familiarity with the City’s operations and needs that Mr. Rossi has acquired in his more than 40 years of employment with the City, including his 31 years of service as the Deputy City Manager. The City Council further recognizes the value to Mr. Rossi of the compensatory time and sick leave buyout provisions in Mr. Rossi’s Deputy City Manager Employment Agreement and has considered the extinguishment of such compensatory time and sick leave buyout in setting the salary for Mr. Rossi as City Manager. As compensation in full for the services Mr. Rossi is to perform as City Manager for the City, subject to this Agreement and Appendix A, Mr. Rossi’s annual salary shall be three hundred thirty thousand dollars ($330,000.00) per contract year. For purposes of this agreement, each contract year shall commence on July 1st and end the following June 30th and for the term of this Agreement the contract years shall be as follows:

Contract Year	Dates	Salary per Contract
Contract Year 1	July 1, 2013 – June 30, 2014	$330,000.00
Contract Year 2	July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015	$330,000.00
Contract Year 3	July 1, 2015 – June 30, 2016	$330,000.00

In the event that Mr. Rossi serves for less than a full contract year, in accordance with this Agreement and the City Charter his salary shall be prorated for the portion of the contract year actually served. The City Manager’s salary shall be subject to withholdings and deductions in accordance with applicable federal and state laws. The City Manager’s per diem rate shall be calculated by dividing the salary for the contract year by 261.

4.2 The City Manager acknowledges that he is an exempt employee under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and Massachusetts overtime provisions, including provision providing for compensatory time in lieu of overtime pay, and that he is not entitled to any overtime pay or compensatory time pursuant to the FLSA, provisions in the Massachusetts General Laws, or provisions in City ordinances, except for compensatory time provided for under this Agreement and Appendix A.

4.3 The City Manager shall be entitled to all medical, dental, vision, hospital, life insurance, and other benefits not otherwise covered by this Agreement, including those provided in Appendix A to this Agreement, and those generally available to other non-union managerial personnel employed by the City on the same terms, conditions, and limitations as such benefits are generally available as a matter of uniform City policy to all other non-union managerial personnel employed by the City. He shall be eligible for the same holiday, personal and administrative leave benefits, and all such other benefits of employment, including but not limited to deferred compensation, flexible spending, longevity, management allowance, sick leave incentive pay, and tuition reimbursement, as are provided to other non-union management employees of the City, excluding any benefits which are provided only as a matter of individual employment contract with other employees.

4.4 The City Manager shall be entitled to twenty-five (25) working days of vacation per contract year, exclusive of legal holidays. Such vacation shall be awarded at the beginning of each calendar year, as is the practice with other managerial employees. Subject to the second paragraph of this Section, the City Manager may carry over up to and including five (5) days of accrued unused vacation time from one contract year to the subsequent contract year, but in no event shall the City Manager carry forward more than five days of vacation in any one contract year.

The parties agree that Mr. Rossi has accrued unused vacation days on June 30, 2013 from his service as the Deputy City Manager, the amount of which shall be determined as of June 30, 2013. The parties agree that Mr. Rossi will be entitled to carry over no more than fifteen (15) days of such accrued, unused vacation time and that he shall be eligible to buy back all such accrued, unused vacation days earned as Deputy City Manager at the time of his retirement or termination or in accordance with this Section. The buyback of the total of such accrued, unused days, minus the fifteen (15) carried-over days, shall be at his rate of pay as Deputy City Manager. Mr. Rossi may also exercise the option to buy back all or a portion of the balance of such accrued Deputy City Manager vacation at any time during each of the three years of this Agreement. The total accrued, unused vacation days which are subject to this buyback shall be determined as of June 30, 2013.

The parties further agree that at the time of his retirement or termination, Mr. Rossi shall be eligible to buy back, at his then existing rate of pay, all his accumulated vacation, personal, compensatory and administrative leave that remained unused at the time of retirement or termination and that was earned by him in the position of City Manager, and any remainder of the fifteen (15) days carried over from his service as Deputy City Manager.

4.5 The City Manager shall be entitled to fifteen (15) days sick leave awarded at the beginning of each calendar year, as is the practice with other non union managerial employees. Sick leave shall accumulate unlimited, year to year. The parties agree that Mr. Rossi has accrued substantial unused sick leave from his many years of employment with the City and such accrued, unused sick leave shall be carried over upon the commencement of this Agreement on July 1, 2013. Any sick leave buyback upon the termination of this Agreement shall be limited to the cap established by the City for other non-union management employees at the time of such termination.

4.6 The parties recognize that Mr. Rossi received certain benefits during his employment as the Deputy City Manager and that while such benefits would not be available to other individuals who may some day serve as the City Manager, the City Council agrees that the continuation of such benefits for Mr. Rossi is, in part, an inducement to Mr. Rossi to accept employment as the City Manager for the City and waive certain sick leave benefits. Therefore, the benefits provided for in Appendix A, attached to this Agreement, are hereby incorporated into this Agreement by reference.

SECTION 5 – REMOVAL AND TERMINATION; SUSPENSION

5.1 Mr. Rossi may terminate this Agreement and his employment with the City at any time by giving the Mayor and City Council written notice at least 4 (four) months prior to the effective date of termination. With the exception of payment for accrued unused vacation, sick leave buyback as provided in paragraph 4.5 above, and other benefits, as provided in paragraphs 4.3 and 4.4 above, as well as the compensatory time and supplemental retirement benefits provided in Appendix A of this agreement and other accrued benefits as are due to Mr. Rossi under the terms of this Agreement, including Appendix A, Mr. Rossi shall not be entitled to receive any other compensation or benefits after the date of termination under this Section 5.1.

5.2 Mr. Rossi may be suspended and/or removed as the City Manager, and this Agreement terminated, for "Cause" by a majority vote of the City Council. For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "Cause" shall mean conviction of a felony; serious conduct unbecoming a City Manager; repeated inefficiency or incompetency in the performance of his duties as City Manager, provided that the City Council has given written notice to Mr. Rossi of such inefficiency or incompetency and thirty (30) days to cure; and incapacity, subject to the ADA. With the exception of payment for accrued unused vacation, sick leave buyback as provided in paragraphs 4.4 and 4.5 above, and other benefits, as provided in paragraph 4.3 above, as well as the compensatory time and supplemental retirement benefits provided in Appendix A of this agreement, and other accrued benefits as are due to Mr. Rossi under the terms of this Agreement, including Appendix A, Mr. Rossi shall not be entitled to receive any other compensation or benefits after the date of termination under this Section 5.2.

5.3 Mr. Rossi may be removed as City Manager, and this Agreement terminated at any time for any reason by majority vote of the City Council. If such termination is not for "Cause" pursuant to Section 5.2 of this Agreement, and Mr. Rossi is willing and able to perform his duties under this Agreement, in addition to the other payments specified in Sections 4.3, 4.4, 4.5 and Appendix A of this Agreement, the City shall pay him an early termination payment in a lump sum minus withholdings required by law or authorized by Mr. Rossi, as follows: if such early termination occurs within the first Contract Year, in the gross amount of twelve (12) months of salary at the annual rate specified in Section 4.1, above; if such early termination occurs within the second Contract Year, in the gross amount of nine (9) months of salary at the annual rate specified in Section 4.1, above; if such early termination occurs within the third Contract Year, the gross amount of six (6) months of salary at the annual rate specified in Section 4.1, above.

SECTION 6 – INDEMNIFICATION

6.1 To the fullest extent permitted by law, the City shall (1) defend, save harmless and indemnify the City Manager against any tort, professional liability, claim or demand, or other legal action, whether groundless or otherwise, arising out of an alleged act or omission occurring in the performance of his duties as City Manager, even if said claim has been made following his termination from employment, provided that the City Manager acted within the scope of his duties, and (2) shall pay the amount of any settlement or judgment rendered thereon. The City may compromise and settle any such claim or suit and will pay the amount of any settlement or judgment rendered thereon without recourse to the City Manager.

The City shall reimburse the City Manager for any attorneys’ fees and costs incurred by the City Manager in connection with such claims or suits involving the City Manager in his professional capacity.

This indemnification shall also apply to the City Manager after he leaves the employment of the City.

Indemnification of Mr. Rossi shall not apply to any proceeding to terminate his employment as the City Manager pursuant to statute, this Agreement or otherwise. Mr. Rossi agrees to cooperate fully with the City and the City’s attorney in any claim, suit, or matter in which the City is indemnifying Mr. Rossi. Mr. Rossi shall be paid the existing daily rate for his position at the time of his retirement or other end of his service for time spent for testimony or consultation by or on behalf of the City in defense of such claims or actions. This Section 6.1 also applies with respect to claims, suits, or matters which arise out of Mr. Rossi’s performance of his duties as Deputy City Manager.

The City agrees to review purchasing "Directors and Officers" liability insurance from an outside insurance company for the City Manager as to coverage and cost. If the City Manager and the City Council agree on the purchase of such insurance after the City’s review, the City shall purchase such coverage at the City’s expense for the City Manager.

This Section shall survive the termination of this Agreement.

SECTION 7 – GENERAL PROVISIONS

7.1 This Agreement and Appendix A, attached, constitutes the entire agreement between the City and Mr. Rossi regarding the subject matter hereof and may be changed (amended, modified, or terms waived) only if mutually agreed to by the parties and set forth in a writing approved by majority vote of the City Council and signed by the Mayor and by Mr. Rossi, subject to the City Charter.

7.2 Any notices pursuant to this Agreement shall be directed to Mr. Rossi at his residence as identified in the City’s personnel records for Mr. Rossi and made by in-hand delivery or by certified mail, return receipt requested. Any such notices shall be directed to the City and made by certified mail return receipt requested to the office of
the Mayor.

7.3 This Agreement is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the City Charter.

7.4 Unless the parties expressly agree in writing to extend or renew the employment relationship between the City and Mr. Rossi subject to the City Charter, such employment relationship between the City and Mr. Rossi shall terminate on June 30, 2016.

7.5 If any portion or provision of this Agreement is held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, the remainder of the Agreement will be considered severable, will not be affected, and will remain in full force and effect. The language of all parts of this Agreement shall be construed as a whole, according to its fair meaning, and not strictly for or against either party.

7.6 Subject to this Agreement, and Appendix A, all other general provisions of the City’s ordinances, rules or policies relating to uniwriform benefits for non-union management employees shall also apply to the City Manager in addition to the benefits enumerated herein for the City Manager.

In witness whereof, the City Council of the City of Cambridge has voted that this agreement be entered into as duly attested by its City Clerk and Mr. Rossi has signed and executes this Agreement this __ day of 2013.

CITY MANAGER

_____________________________
Richard C. Rossi

_____________________________
City Clerk

_____________________________
Approved as to Legal Form
City Solicitor

CITY OF CAMBRIDGE

_____________________________
Mayor Henrietta Davis

_____________________________
Vice Mayor E. Denise Simmons

_____________________________
Councillor Leland Cheung

_____________________________
Councillor Marjorie C. Decker

_____________________________
Councillor Craig A. Kelley

_____________________________
Councillor David P. Maher

_____________________________
Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves

_____________________________
Councillor Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

_____________________________
Councillor Minka vanBeuzekom

APPENDIX A
TO THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE
AND
RICHARD C. ROSSI, City Manager
February 2013

This Appendix A supplements the Employment Agreement between the City of Cambridge ("City") and Richard C. Rossi ("Mr. Rossi" or "City Manager") and is an integral part of that Employment Agreement, fully enforceable under the laws of the Commonwealth.

Whereas Mr. Rossi had certain benefits in his employment agreement as the Deputy City Manager and has certain benefits under his Employment Agreement; and

Whereas the City wishes to continue such benefits as an inducement for Mr. Rossi to enter into an employment agreement with the City to serve as the City’s City Manager;

Now Therefore, the City and Mr. Rossi agree to the following:

A. Transportation. The City Manager shall be provided with the use of a City owned or leased automobile for the City Manager’s unrestricted use. Insurance, maintenance and repairs and gasoline in connection with the operation of said automobile shall be paid by the City. Upon termination of this Agreement and the City Manager’s employment with the City, he shall return the automobile to the City.

B. Cellular Phone. The City Manager will be provided with a cellular phone, tablet, and other devices to be used in accordance with his duties for the City. It is understood that some moderate personal use will be permitted in recognition of the City Manager’s work schedule.

C. Vacation and Compensatory Time. The City Manager acknowledges that he is frequently required or called upon to perform work outside of the normal office hours of the City and he commits to performing such work. The City Council recognizes that the City Manager’s hours require that he devote a great deal of time outside of the normal office hours of the City and the City shall permit the City Manager to earn and take up to three weeks of non-FLSA compensatory time off per year. One week of earned but unused compensatory time may be carried over from one Contract Year to the subsequent Contract Year, on a cumulative basis. Mr. Rossi shall be eligible to buy back up to three weeks of unused vacation time, earned as City Manager at his then existing rate, on an annual basis. If he elects to buy back such vacation time he shall not be eligible to carry over any of the vacation time awarded for that year into the next calendar year.

This provision is without prejudice to the vacation time owed to the City Manager from his Deputy City Manager’s contract.

This provision survives the termination of this Agreement.

D. Life Insurance. The City Manager shall be covered by an insurance policy in the amount of $120,000 payable to the beneficiary/beneficiaries named by the City Manager. This insurance may include "whole life", "paid up" or "cash value" insurance at the discretion of the City Manager.

E. Retirement. The City agrees that upon retirement, the City Manager shall be paid, in addition to any retirement benefits that he would be entitled to pursuant to the provisions of Chapter 32 of the Massachusetts General Laws, further supplemental retirement benefits pursuant to MGL Chapter 41, Section 108N. It is the intention of the City Manager, upon retirement, to select Option C as specified in MGL Chapter 32 Section 12, in order to provide a survivor benefit. The City agrees, pursuant to MGL Chapter 41, Section 108N to supplement the City Manager’s retirement benefit by paying to him a monthly payment equal to the difference between his actual monthly retirement allowance, under Option C, and the allowance he would receive had he selected Option A as specified in MGL Chapter 32 Section 12. These monthly payments shall begin with the date of his retirement and shall terminate with his death. These monthly supplemental benefit payments shall be payable from the non-contributory retirement account. If, for any reason, this is determined to be unenforceable, there shall be an affirmative duty on the part of the City to make such supplemental payments from the Employee Benefits Account or other appropriate account. It is understood and agreed that this contractual right to these supplemental retirement benefits is vested with the City Manager in the same manner and extent that his other pension rights are vested pursuant to Chapter 32, sections one to twenty-eight inclusive, of the Massachusetts General Laws, including as provided in Section 10 thereof. It is the intent of this Agreement that these supplemental pension rights vest with the City Manager immediately upon execution of this Agreement. This provision (Section E) shall survive the termination of this Agreement and his employment as City Manager.

The parties acknowledge that upon the effective date of the Agreement between Mr. Rossi and the City for Mr. Rossi to be employed as the City Manager for the City, Mr. Rossi’s employment contract as the Deputy City Manager, including Section 9 therein, shall be tenninated (without any consequences of termination as may be provided in that contract) and superseded by this Agreement on July 1, 2013, but without prejudice to his vacation leave as provided in this Agreement or Appendix A. The supplemental retirement benefits previously provided to Mr. Rossi under that Section shall be provided under the above Section E of this Appendix and not Section 9 of the Employment Agreement between the City of Cambridge and the Deputy City Manager.

In witness whereof, the City Council of the City of Cambridge has voted that this Appendix to the Employment Agreement between the City and Mr. Rossi be entered into as duly attested by its City Clerk and Mr. Rossi has signed and executes this Appendix A to this Agreement this __ day of February, 2013.

CITY MANAGER

_____________________________
Richard C. Rossi

_____________________________
City Clerk

_____________________________
Approved as to Legal Form
City Solicitor

CITY OF CAMBRIDGE

_____________________________
Mayor Henrietta Davis

_____________________________
Vice Mayor E. Denise Simmons

_____________________________
Councillor Leland Cheung

_____________________________
Councillor Marjorie C. Decker

_____________________________
Councillor Craig A. Kelley

_____________________________
Councillor David P. Maher

_____________________________
Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves

_____________________________
Councillor Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

_____________________________
Councillor Minka vanBeuzekom

Comments (2)

December 10, 2012

Prospect Pubs, Planning, and Pilot Programs – Dec 10, 2012 Cambridge City Council Agenda Highlights

Filed under: Cambridge,Central Square,City Council — Tags: Cambridge government — Robert Winters @ 11:36 am

Prospect Pubs, Planning, and Pilot Programs – Dec 10, 2012 Cambridge City Council Agenda Highlights

It will be difficult to top last week’s excitement when the City Council voted 8-1 to appoint Rich Rossi to succeed Bob Healy as City Manager starting July 1, 2013. The only other point I’ll make about that excellent decision is directed to those who have suggested that the appointment be an "interim" or "acting" appointment. This is not the lifetime appointment of a Pope or a Supreme Court Justice. Just because Bob Healy has served for over three decades does not change the fact that for his entire term, contract or no contract, Bob Healy served "at the pleasure of the City Council." The same will be true of Rich Rossi. There is nothing interim nor permanent about the job. Unless someone is filling in due to an unexpected departure, you’re either the City Manager or you’re not. The public elects the City Council who then hires their choice of City Manager. The democracy part takes place every 2 years in November. If anyone is especially passionate about this, you can pull papers next July to be a City Council candidate or start recruiting candidates you can support.

Here are the items that I found interesting:

Manager’s Agenda #1. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to a Planning Board recommendation on the Patty Chen, et al Zoning Petition.

The Council has until Feb 12, 2013 to pass this petition that would slightly expand the set of streets on which bars and alcohol-serving entertainment venues may locate their entrances to include one block of Prospect Street north of Mass. Ave. The Planning Board supports it, and little or no objection from the public has been heard. It’s a good idea and should be approved forthwith. People are waiting to open for business.

Manager’s Agenda #4. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to a report from the Department of Public Works that summarizes the results from a feasibility study regarding a possible pilot program for curbside food scraps collection from residents for composting.

Honey Wagon From the Executive Summary:
If implemented, the pilot will run one day a week for one year. We estimate 2 tons per day of food and 124 tons per year. This assumes 800 households generating 10 pounds of food scraps per week with an 85% participation rate and 70% setout rate. To ensure an efficient pilot route, we will choose a neighborhood within one collection day. We would target a range of housing types including single-family homes and residential buildings with up to 12 units… Households participating in the pilot will receive a kitchen scrap container and a year’s supply of 3-gallon compostable bags to line the container…. If the pilot is successful, a voluntary citywide program would be phased in by collection day to get enough participation among households to achieve minimum route density.

This is an exciting development. Many of us will continue to compost organics in our backyards, but if the pilot is successful and the program can eventually be expanded to a citywide program, this will be a great service to those who either cannot set up composting at home or who may prefer an organics collection service. Bring back the honey wagon! What was old is new again.

Applications and Petitions #2. A zoning petition has been received from Zevart M. Hollisian, Trustee of Garabed B. Hollisian Trust and L-Z Realty Trust and Seth D. Alexander, President, MIT Investment Management Company to amend the Zoning Ordinance and Map by extending the Cambridgeport Revitalization Development District from Green Street out to Massachusetts Avenue in the area adjacent to Blanche Street; said petition includes a map and a commitment letter.

This is essentially the same petition that was filed last March together with the committments subsequently made in July prior to the expiration of that petition. The main argument then for why the petition should be allowed to expire was that the Central Square Advisory Committee 2011/2012 was still in the process of formulating its recommendations. That process is now complete, so the time is right to revisit this proposal.

Memorandum from the Central Square Advisory Committee 2011/2012 on its Final Recommendations

Central Square and Osborn Triangle Plan & Recommendations

Discussion of Recommendations Presentation

Parking Lot Reuse Presentation

Communications #1. Open Meeting Law Complaint filed by Tom Stohlman.

Order #9. That the City Clerk, in consultation with the Law Department, draft a response regarding an Open Meeting Law complaint received on Dec 4, 2012 for the City Council’s consideration at its Dec 17, 2012 City Council meeting in order to meet the Dec 21, 2012 deadline. Mayor Davis

It is doubtful that there is any merit to the claim that the Open Meeting Law was violated in the drafting of last week’s Order on the appointment of Rich Rossi as City Manager starting next July. As City Clerk Donna Lopez clearly explained last week, the Order was drafted by a minority of City Council members and was submitted to the City Clerk who then circulated the Order to provide other councillors the opportunity to sign on as cosponsors. This is standard procedure. There were neither meetings involving a majority of councillors nor were there "serial meetings." It is likely that some councillors had conversations on the topic, but the intention of the Open Meeting Law has never been to require elected officials to avoid all conversation except when meeting in a public session.

Order #4. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council on the cause and other details of the power outage on Nov 29, 2012. Mayor Davis

The best report I’ve seen so far is by John Hawkinson of MIT’s The Tech.

Communications and Reports from City Officers #1. A communication was received from Mayor Henrietta Davis transmitting a copy of the Silver Ribbon Commission Report.

There report is available here. [Thanks to the Mayor’s Office for posting the 50-page original document!] – RW

Comments (3)

December 3, 2012

Enjoying? the Concord Avenue “raised bike lanes”

Filed under: Cambridge government,cycling,Fresh Pond,planning,transportation — Tags: Alewife, bicycle, bicycling, bike lane, Cambridge government, Concord Avenue, cycle track, cycle tracks, cycling, Fresh Pond, Plan E, sidepath, traffic, Urban design — jsallen @ 2:49 pm

The Cambridge City Council meeting on December 3, 2012 is to address issues of debris on the Concord Avenue “raised bike lanes”. These replaced conventional bike lanes at street level. I put the term “raised bike lanes” in quotes because a bikeway behind a curb is not a bike lane. By definition, a lane is at street level, so it is possible to merge to and from other lanes. Rather, this is a nonstandard bicycle path.

This post supplements comments which I posted on my own blog before Concord Avenue was reconstructed. The photos here are stills from video shot during a ride westbound at mid-day on November 20, 2012, with moderate motor traffic and very light bicycle traffic.

First photo: Crosswalk just west of the Alewife Brook Parkway rotary is backing up motor traffic. This already generates traffic jams with light bicycle traffic. The City expects the bikeways to attract more cyclists and to lead to a major increase in bicycle traffic.

Crosswalk backs up traffic on Concord Avenue

Next photo: The westbound bikeway crosses 8 streets and 24 driveways in 3000 feet. The most persistent hazard on the westbound bikeway is of “right hook” and “left cross” collisions. The van in the photo not only is turning across the bikeway; it also might be hiding another vehicle preparing a left turn from ahead. The bikeway places bicyclists where they are defenseless against these threats. I say more about them, and how to avoid them, in my earlier blog post.

Right hook and left cross threat on Concord Avenue bikeway

Next — bus stop. When the bike lanes were at street level, bicyclists could pass a stopped bus on the left, or wait behind it. Motorists also usually could pass a stopped bus. Passing would have been even easier with bus turnouts on the westbound side, where there is only one travel lane. Now that the roadway has instead been narrowed, converting the conventional bike lanes into “raised bike lanes”, buses must completely block the travel lane, and passengers getting off a bus step down directly into the path of bicyclists. A 2007 research study in Copenhagen showed an increase in bicyclist-pedestrian collisions of 17 times, and of injuries of 19 times, when bus stops were placed outside bikeways like this. More about that study.

Bus stop on Concord Avenue, with green paint

That study was published well before construction on the Concord Avenue bikeway began. Not only that, the City’s bicycle coordinator repeatedly points to Copenhagen as a model of what Cambridge should do.

To resolve conflicts between bicyclists and passengers descending from buses, the City first painted bicycle markings. Those markings, however, suggest that bicyclists have priority, and these markings also may not be directly in front of a bus’s door when it opens, to warn the passengers. At some later time, green carpet painting was added. This is normally used to indicate where motorists yield to bicyclists (see Federal Highway Administration interim approval), but here it is intended to indicate where bicyclists must yield to pedestrians, a confused and contradictory message. This bus stop is at a driveway. Traffic has worn away some of the green paint and you can see the bicycle marking which was painted over.

Bicycle marking under green paint at bus stop on Concord Avenue

One problem to be discussed at the City Council meeting is that snow clearance is not practical on the westbound bikeway, because of its repeated ups and downs. Ice also puddles there. Here’s a photo from another blogger, dr2chase, showing winter conditions on the westbound bikeway. dr2chase’s blog has many more photos.

dr2chase’s photo of winter conditions on the Concord Avenue bikeway westbound

dr2chase also has made the point that snow clearance is much more practical on the eastbound bikeway, which has only one driveway entrance in its entire length. Here is his photo illustrating that:

drchase’s photo of the eastbound bikeway in winter

The bikeway on each side is designated as one-way. People are likely to use both of them for two-way travel, and not only in snow season, because a cyclist must stand in the street to lift the bicycle over the curb of the eastbound bikeway at most locations. Also note the seam between asphalt and concrete running down the middle of the photo above. It is intended to separate bicyclists from pedestrians. It won’t, especially with two-way bicycling, and over the years, it will deteriorate so it traps bicycle wheels. dr2chase and I have both made the point that a properly-designed, designated two-way bikeway on the south side of Concord Avenue, adjacent to Fresh Pond Park, would have made good sense, connecting with the existing bikeways in the park and crossing only one driveway in its entire length — at a signalized intersection. I also would have liked to keep the street at its previous width, with street-level bike lanes, to allow efficient through travel and make it possible to reach the eastbound bikeway without lifting a bicycle over a curb.

The next photo illustrates the crossing-the-street issue. Note the driveway at the right rear, and that there is no break in the curb on the far side of Concord Avenue. To cross without stopping in the street, and to avoid having to double back, cyclists will most likely ride eastbound in the westbound bikeway. That is illegal and hazardous: motorists pulling out of side streets and driveways look in the opposite direction for traffic.

The mailbox adjacent to the 5-foot-wide bikeway adds a nice touch as well. Nick it with your handlebar, and you go down hard. Even without such obstructions, 5 feet is minimal for one-way travel. This mailbox is one of a large number of fixed-object hazards adjacent to the bikeway.

Mailbox, and curb on far side of Concord Avenue

Not all hazards are fixed-object hazards. There are these trash barrels.

Trash barrels on westbound bikeway on Concord Avenue

Behind the trash barrels, you may have noticed a car discharging passengers. A cyclist who regularly rides Concord Avenue reports that delivery vehicles also now stop in the bikeway.

Car stops in bikeway to discharge passengers, on Concord Avenue

My next photos show what I call the X-merge, or double-cross merge.

Normal traffic law requires a driver to maintain a constant lane position when another driver is overtaking. Here’s an excerpt from the Massachusetts law:

Except as herein otherwise provided, the driver of a vehicle passing another vehicle traveling in the same direction shall drive a safe distance to the left of such other vehicle and shall not return to the right until safely clear of the overtaken vehicle; and, if the way is of sufficient width for the two vehicles to pass, the driver of the leading one shall not unnecessarily obstruct the other.

Bicyclists may overtake on the right, according to another section of the law:

…the bicycle operator may keep to the right when passing a motor vehicle which is moving in the travel lane of the way…

When a bicyclist is directed to merge from right to left at an arbitrary location, and a motorist to merge from left to right at the same location, they are both violating the law. Green paint here is used to direct cyclists and motorists to operate illegally.

X-merge on Concord Avenue

I avoided right-hook threats by merging in behind the stopped car so the next vehicle turning right could safely pass me on the right.

Avoiding the X-merge on Concord Avenue

Before Blanchard Road, a traffic island narrows the roadway. The bike lane, between the through travel lane and right turn lane, is too narrow to allow safe clearance on both sides. Note in the photo below that the narrow median on the far side of Blanchard Road allows much more room to the left of the bike lane. The traffic island predates the reconstruction: the bike lane has been shoehorned in by narrowing the other lanes. Concord Avenue is wide enough to accommodate turning traffic without the island’s being so wide.

Wide traffic island at Blanchard Road narrows bike lane on Concord Avenue

Well, enough. You get the idea. I’ll finish with a couple of quotes. Here’s one from MarkS, commenting on dr2chase’s blog post:

I don’t know why they wasted the time and money to put these tracks in in the first place. I find a bike lane much more convenient, and in some ways safer — clearly safer than that abomination on the north side of Concord Ave — the “outgoing” side. And, if ever we decide to re-design the situation, the expense of doing so will be significantly — and that’s an understatement — more than it would be to just re-paint the lines where the bike lane would have been.

Here’s another quote, from dr2chase:

…the west-bound side is about the most ineffective botch I have ever seen. But the eastbound side is quite nice (with the exception of the scary-high curbs). One extremely-low-traffic intersection, no driveways, hence none of those risks, and so wide that (with current bike/ped traffic levels) there is little harm in riding the wrong way on the good side. Technically illegal, but vastly safer, and I cannot fault someone for making the safer choice.

I agree! And have a look at the video online!

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March 19, 2012

Getting Down to Business – Mar 19, 2012 Cambridge City Council Agenda Highlights

Filed under: Cambridge,Cambridge government,City Council,Kendall Square — Tags: Cambridge, Cambridge government, City Council, City Manager, Council — Robert Winters @ 1:12 am

Getting Down to Business – Mar 19, 2012 Cambridge City Council Agenda Highlights

There can be little doubt that this meeting is the most serious meeting so far this year and possibly for this entire year. Front and center on the agenda is City Council Order #7, cosponsored by seven of the nine city councillors, calling for an extension of the City Manager’s contract (through mid-2013) and a commitment to begin consideration of how the process of succession might be conducted should this be the final contract extension for City Manager Robert W. Healy. There has been no recent public statement from Mr. Healy regarding his wishes for any additional contract extension, but a short-term extension like the one proposed seems consistent with statements made in recent years. It is noteworthy that seven of the nine city councillors had the good sense to grant a contract extension. The two councillors who did not sign on to this Order are Councillor Kelley (who has been a vocal opponent of Mr. Healy since long before his time as a councillor) and Councillor Reeves (speculation encouraged).
[Update: City Manager Robert Healy has now stated that he will retire at the end of this extended contract – in mid-2013.]
The relevant Order is this:

O-7 Mar 19, 2012
COUNCILLOR MAHER, COUNCILLOR CHEUNG, COUNCILLOR DECKER, VICE MAYOR SIMMONS, COUNCILLOR TOOMEY, MAYOR DAVIS, COUNCILLOR VANBEUZEKOM
WHEREAS: City Manager Robert Healy’s current employment contract with the City of Cambridge expires on Sept 30, 2012; and
WHEREAS: The contract contains a notification provision which needs action by the City Council or Mr. Healy on or before Mar 31, 2012; and
WHEREAS: As a result of Mr. Healy’s long tenure as City Manager, the City of Cambridge has not undertaken a search for a new City Manager for over thirty years; and
WHEREAS: It is imperative to the overall stability of the City of Cambridge that the City Council develop both a comprehensive short-term and long-term succession plan that will assist the City Council in their ongoing goal of providing fiscal stability and thoughtful strategic planning and any short-term plan should be in place before the FY 2014 budget process begins; now therefore be it
ORDERED: That the City Council amends the expiration date of the City Manager’s current employment contract to June 30, 2013 which coincides with the fiscal FY 2013 year-end; and be it further
ORDERED: That all other provisions of the employment contract remain unchanged; and be it further
ORDERED: That the City Council’s Government Operations and Rules Committee, with the assistance of the City Manager, begin the process of developing comprehensive short-term and long-term succession plans. Such plans shall include timelines and outline opportunities for input from the community including residents, businesses, institutions and City staff. Once developed, such plans shall be presented to the full City Council for final consideration.

Regardless whether any addition contract extensions occur in the future, there is wisdom in this City Council developing some kind of vision of how the City will one day, perhaps next year, make the difficult transition to a new City Manager after three decades of extraordinarily competent leadership. Let’s just hope that when the time comes this City Council or a future City Council is up to the task.

Elsewhere on the agenda:

Manager’s Agenda #1. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to the block rates for water consumption and sewer use for the period beginning Apr 1, 2012 and ending Mar 31, 2013.

The proposal is that the water and sewer rates remain unchanged for the coming year – the 2nd consecutive year of 0% increases. The future may not be as bright with projected water rate increases in the coming few years of 1.1%, 0.2%, 1.3%, and 2.0% but more significant projected sewer rate increases of 5.8%, 9.1%, 6.0%, and 10.2%. Sewer costs are currently about 72% of a typical water/sewer bill, so escalating sewer rates will have a significant impact down the road even as the water rates remain relatively stable.

On The Table #2. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to a request from Boston Properties Limited Partnership ("Boston Properties") for the modification of two existing open space restriction covenants on buildings located at Four and Five Cambridge Center in connection with the creation of a new 47,000 square foot urban park and new open space restriction covenant for a net gain 28,853 square feet of public open space.

The proposal introduced several weeks ago by Boston Properties (to reduce the rooftop garden on the Kendall Square garage in exchange for greatly extending the agreement to maintain the garden and landscaping additional open space in the Kendall Square MXD District) was Tabled in order to allow more time for public process and, presumably, negotiation. Much of the public comment to date has been resoundingly negative, and there has been at least one proposal (from the East Cambridge Planning Team) to link any changes to the existing rooftop park to the provision of comparable space on adjacent buildings and a commitment to build the housing mandated by zoning guidelines. There are efforts to lure prize tenant Google away from Cambridge should this matter be long delayed, so there is some pressure on the City Council to resolve this soon and, hopefully, amicably for all affected parties.

Communications #3-32 and #36-111. A barrage of computer-generated petitions regarding the proposed reconfiguration of Community Schools programs associated with the temporary relocation of the King School and the programs housed therein.

It took me all of about a week to grow tired of the computer-generated communications that these "change.org" petitions produce – all identical lemming-like statements of dissatisfaction over whatever the flavor-of-the-week gripe happens to be. There are aspects of the proposed Community Schools reconfiguration worthy of discussion, but advocacy by the pound is thoroughly unappealing. Several well-considered letters from a few thoughtful individuals carry so much more weight than 76 sheep clicking "send" on a petition-generating website.

Much more entertaining are the following communications from the Odd Wizard of Franklin Street.

Communication #34. A communication was received from Peter Valentine regarding activity throughout the nation and territories where the national interests are involved.

Peter urges the following: To all True Americans from Peter Valentine, National Officer In Charge under the authority of a Constitutional State of "Imminent Danger That Will Not Admit Delay" 37 Brookline St., 3/9/2012. Orders that all governments in the United States of America be it Town, City, State or National implement a Department of Constitutional monitoring, investigation and corrective action to whatever degree necessary pertaining to any rights violations that a citizen believes a government may have perpetuated against a citizens’ constitutional rights. And further to all True Americans be it known that the National Officer In Charge is aware of all subversive activity throughout the nation and territories where the national interests are involved whether it be enemies who have infiltrated the government, the security forces or to undermine the security and well being of society in general. As Above, So Below. The term True American does not have to be defined because if you are a True American, You have The intelligence to Know What It Means.

Communication #113. A communication was received from Peter Valentine regarding the way to end all the world’s problems is for everyone to become creative instead of average and or despotic.

Peter urges the following: To all True Americans from The National Officer In Charge, under the authority of a "Constitutional State of Imminent Danger That Will Not Admit Delay", citizen Peter Valentine, 37 Brookline St. 3/11/2012. The Officer In Charge sends the Directive forward that the way to end all the world’s problems if for everyone to become Creative instead of Average and or Despotic.

Resolution #1. Retirement of Darleen G. Bonislawski from the Election Commission. Mayor Davis

Darleen Bonislawski has served honorably as an Election Commissioner since 1988 (24 years). As one of the few residents who ever goes to meetings of the Election Commission, I’ll note that Darleen has been the most outspoken commissioner advocating for members of under-represented communities to register and to vote. Her successor must be appointed by April 1 from a list of three persons nominated by the Cambridge Democratic City Committee. Two of those nominees, Tom Stohlman and Larry Ward, are superb choices – either of whom would be an excellent choice to succeed Darleen.

Order #3. That the City Manager, in conjunction with the Community Development Department, is requested to investigate the improper leases and rental of owned affordable housing units. Councillor Reeves

What a revelation. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the days of rent control when property owners were constrained in what they could legally charge for rent, but many tenants were earning great money (including a former mayor) and other tenants were subletting their rent-controlled apartments for substantially more than the maximum legal rent. I guess it just goes to show that we’re all good capitalists at heart. That includes many people in subsidized housing who are expert at being "poor on paper" in order to qualify for taxpayer-supported cheap housing, and apparently a few ultra-capitalists who are now using their taxpayer-supported housing as a tradable commodity. All Hail Marx and Lenin here in the Peoples Republic!

Order #8. That the City Manager is requested to work with the Information Technology Department and the Government Operations and Rules Committee to look into the feasibility of recording all roll call votes online and report back to the Cambridge City Council. Councillor Cheung

As the ultimate Council observer, I endorse this wholeheartedly. It does, however, seem rather odd that the City is so enslaved and choked by its own technology that the IT Department is required when all that is needed is a simple annotation indicating how people voted. This is already done for some items voted by the City Council. – Robert Winters

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