Jan 16, 2020 – As expected, David Weinstein was elected at the Jan 16 Vacancy Recount to the Cambridge School Committee seat vacated by Emily Dexter (who was elected in the November 2019 municipal election but decided not to serve the term to which she was elected).
Dexter Vacancy Recount (Jan 16, 2020) – David Weinstein elected
2020 School Committee Vacancy Recount
Jan 9, 2020 – A vacancy has been created in the School Committee due to the decision of Emily Dexter to not serve as a member of the School Committee for the term beginning January 6, 2020. Pursuant to the Cambridge Charter and Massachusetts General Law Chapter 54A, the Cambridge Election Commission will hold a Vacancy Recount to fill the seat.
This “Vacancy Recount” of Emily Dexter’s ballots will be held on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at 5:30pm in the Election Commission office, 51 Inman Street (1st Floor), Cambridge, Mass. Tanya L. Ford-Crump, the Election Commission Executive Director, has been designated as the Director of the Count for this purpose.
Eligible candidates will be invited to attend and are entitled to appoint two witnesses and two alternative witnesses provided that written notice of the names and addresses of the appointees signed by such candidate is filed with the Election Commission no later than 24 hours before this Vacancy Recount.
Sun, Jan 5 – It’s the Eve of Inauguration of the 2020-21 City Council (10:00am start, City Hall) and School Committee (6:00pm start, Cambridge Public Library, Lecture Hall, 449 Broadway). Upon inauguration of the City Council, they will proceed directly to the Election of the Mayor (and then the Vice Chair should a Mayor actually be elected). There has been the usual chatter among residents (as well as some posturing of incumbents meant to suggest who might have disproportionate influence in the process) but other than the logic of those with high vote totals deserving an advantage in the selection, I have no specific information on how the vote will go. Often the person who is seen as delivering the decisive vote is rewarded by being elected Vice Mayor or getting choice committee assignments. I have attended these inaugurations every two years for a very long time and have generally found the mayoral maneuvering to be interesting, especially in trying to decipher which favors are granted to whom in exchange for votes. It would so much more interesting if there were actual horses being traded.
In between the inevitable hushed meetings to secure the necessary five votes to become mayor for the 2020-21 term, the lame duck session continues quacking. The agenda is quite short, but a few items worth noting are listed below. Honestly, I’ve been having more fun studying the 2019 ballot data now that the election results were finalized Friday evening [