Tee Time for Toddlers – January 24, 2022 Cambridge City Council meeting
I’m just trying to figure out if Councillors Nolan, Carlone, Zondervan, and Azeem are trying to take over the Fresh Pond Golf Course. There’s also these:
Manager’s Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on COVID-19.
Placed on File 9-0
Though still an order of magnitude greater than last summer, positive Covid tests continue to drop quickly as predicted by the wasterwater data. Drops in hospitalizations (and fatalities) generally follow. Cambridge residents continue to exercise greater caution than in most places, and there seems to be little or no cause to impose any additional restrictions. With luck we may even look forward to restrictions being eased within a few weeks.
Manager’s Agenda #4. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the Cambridge Net Zero Action Plan 2021 Update and Executive Summary.
Referred to Health & Environment Committee 9-0
The documents are interesting, but what I would really like to know is how some of the ideas and proposals translate into requirements, costs, and incentives for various categories of property owners. If I need to do a roof repair or siding replacement on my triple-decker, will I soon be required to make other changes at a significantly increased cost? When my gas-fired boiler reaches the end of its useful life, will I be able to replace it or will I have to reconfigure my whole building and install a completely different heating system? Will mandates come with funding sources? Will new requirements have the unintended consequence of delaying renovations due to added costs? Should a homeowner rush a renovation now before costly new mandates are imposed? How will possible “point of sale” mandates affect decisions about potential improvements and who will bear the added costs? Will requirements for commercial properties lead to relocation? Perhaps we need an “Idiot’s Guide to Net-Zero Requirements” for ordinary people.
Charter Right #1. That the City Council designates the Chair of Government Operations, Rules, and Claims Committee to serve as the City Council’s designee to coordinate with Randi Frank Consulting, LLC as well as appropriate City officials in carrying out the executive recruitment process for a new City Manager search process. That the City Manager is requested to ask the Purchasing Agent to coordinate with the Chair of Government Operations, Rules and Claims committee to engage the services of the identified Community Engagement Specialist(s) to work with Randi Frank Consulting, LLC in the executive recruitment for a new City Manager. [Charter Right – Simmons, Jan 10, 2022]
Order Adopted 9-0
Communications & Reports #2. A communication was received from Mayor Siddiqui, transmitting information regarding the Clerk search process.
Placed on File 9-0
Communications & Reports #4. A communication was received from City Auditor, James Monagle, transmitting a memorandum regarding his retirement at the end of his current term.
Placed on File 9-0
At this point my confidence in our elected officials to competently fill all three of the positions for which they have direct control under the Plan E Charter (City Manager, City Clerk, City Auditor) is close to Net Zero. At least one councillor with serious self-loathing issues has already expressed the point of view that only candidates from outside of Cambridge should be considered. My sense is that if they really screw this up there may be an exodus of other prominent City staff.
Resolution #4. Congratulations to Christine Elow on her appointment as Commissioner of the Cambridge Police Department. Councillor Simmons
Resolution Adopted 9-0
It was an inspired choice by City Manager Louis DePasquale to appoint Christine Elow as Acting Commissioner last August, and this seals the deal. One point worth emphasizing is how much has changed in the ~30 years since the transition was made from Police Chief to Police Commissioner. This was very controversial and political back then, and in the interim all of the Commissioners have come from outside of Cambridge – Perry Anderson, Ronnie Watson, Robert Haas, and Branville Bard. I remember Ronnie Watson once remarking that his intention was to have the command staff become so solid that there would be no need to look outside for his successor. Well, it took a few years but it’s noteworthy that Christine Elow is Cambridge born and bred and rose up through the ranks, and nobody in the political sphere finds it at all controversial that she is now Police Commissioner – especially when you consider the fact that there are continuing conversations about possible restructuring of public safety and how to respond to emergency calls.
Order #2. That the City Manager is hereby requested to confer with the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department to determine what safety improvements could be made to the area in front of CRLS and the crosswalk on Broadway. Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor McGovern
Order Adopted 9-0
This Order brought back a memory from when I first arrived in Cambridge in 1978 and for a long while afterwards. It used to be commonplace for CRLS students heading home after school to purposely walk in the middle of the travel lanes on Broadway – not because it was necessary but just to be defiant. I haven’t seen that so much in recent years. I suppose it all fits under the umbrella described in Bruce Springsteen’s song “Growing Up”, e.g. “when they said ‘sit down’ I stood up.”
Order #3. That the City Manager is requested to work with relevant City departments and committees to present a report to the Neighborhood & Long-Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebration Committee which includes information on the history, membership data of golf course users, environmental conditions, and a legal analysis of what uses are currently permitted or what would be involved in changing use for other city needs. Councillor Nolan, Councillor Carlone, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Azeem
Charter Right – Toner
[Note: There was overwhelming opposition to this Order during Public Comment. The only people speaking in favor of the Order seeking to change the use of the Fresh Pond Golf Course were from “Our Revolution” and the “Cambridge Residents Alliance”.]
I suspect this is all about toppling the perceived aristocracy minus the guillotines. I have never played golf (except miniature golf), but I have never viewed it as a sport of the elite. The Revolutionary Guard within the Cambridge City Council takes on yet another battle to nowhere. Is the latest vacant thought to replace 18 holes with 18 stories? One of the things I like most about Cambridge is the diversity of buildings, densities, and uses – and that includes that fact we somehow can still have a golf course in addition to our current considerable density of housing.
Order #4. That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Inspectional Services Department, the Department of Public Works, the Cambridge Historical Commission and other relevant City departments to determine the feasibility of expediting the Demolition and Rebuilding permitting process in the event of a natural disaster. Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Azeem, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor McGovern
Order Adopted as Amended 9-0
Do these three councillors know something about a “natural disaster” to come? Flood? Pestilence? Tornadoes? Actually, the essence of the Order concerns disasters like building fires, so I suppose this is more of a semantic thing rather than planning for the Apocalypse.
Order #5. That the City Council go on record in support of House Bill 965 and Senate Bill 623 that would prohibit the sale of fur, and urge the Massachusetts Senate to pass this bill. Councillor McGovern
Order Adopted 9-0
I learned something new from this Order – raccoon dogs. They’re not racoons. Be like Pat Nixon and wear a respectable Republican cloth coat.
Committee Report #1. The Health & Environment Committee met on Dec 22, 2021 to discuss the BEUDO amendments. [Minutes] [Cover Letter] [Proposed Amendments – red-lined] [Proposed Amendments – clean] [City Solicitor Letter]
Proposed Amendments Referred to Ordinance Committee 9-0
This has been in the works for some time – amendments to the Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance that was ordained in 2014 that requires energy and water reporting from commercial properties over 25,000 square feet and residential properties over 50 units. It is an essential element of the Net Zero Action Plan (NZAP). It’s not just about disclosure. There are requirements for emissions reduction explicitly in the ordinance: From a Baseline determined in 2018-2019, covered properties are required to reduce emissions to 80% of Baseline by 2025-2029; 60% by 2030-2034; 40% by 2035-2039; 20% by 2040-2044; 10% by 2045-2049; and 0% for 2050 onwards. It remains to be seen if similar requirements may be imposed on smaller residential properties at some point. – Robert Winters
