Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

A Not-So-Quick Look at the June 22, 2020 Cambridge City Council Agenda

These are the items that drew my interest:

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

Though this item seems to have become a semi-permanent fixture on the City Manager’s Agenda, I continue to appreciate all the information that it brings forward. It helps to arrest my fears. (I can still use the word "arrest," right?)

Manager’s Agenda #6. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $1,641,000 from Free Cash, to the Public Investment Fund Public Works Extraordinary Expenditures Account for the first year of a two-year lease of operating and office space for the Department of Public Works on Mooney Street.

Here’s a little historical tidbit for you: The impetus for starting recycling in Cambridge was the plan from the Commonwealth to locate approximately 13 materials recovery facilities (MRFs) throughout Massachusetts with one of them at "the Mabardy site" on Mooney Street which back in 1989 was a waste transfer facility. The idea was to get an all-volunteer "interim recycling drop-off" system up and running. The first planning meeting was in April 1989 and we had two sites up and running in June 1989. Only one state-operated MRF was ever built (in Springfield). The plans were eventually dropped to 5 MRFS, but as curbside recycling programs were established the waste industry responded by establishing their own MRFs. For the time being at least, Cambridge appears to be keeping its Recycling Drop-off Center (which supplements the curbside collection) at the DPW Yard on Norfolk St., but some of the Public Works operations will relocate to Mooney Street where 31 years earlier our regional MRF was once slated to be built.

Manager’s Agenda #7. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $5,300,000 from Free Cash to the Public Investment Fund Human Services Extraordinary Expenditures Account to construct a new Universal Design Playground.

This is kind of a big deal, especially if you live anywhere within marching distance of Danehy Park. We clearly intend to continue with capital projects like this even with the uncertainties visited on us by that godawful virus.

Manager’s Agenda #8. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to a recommendation of the Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC) for an allocation of $1,000,000 from the CPA Fund Balance to the Community Preservation Act Fund COVID-19 Housing Stabilization Program.

While this is a perfectly great expenditure, it does show how the Community Preservation Act (CPA) has morphed into yet another add-on to the general fund with fewer restrictions than what was approved by voters nearly two decades ago.

Manager’s Agenda #10. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of Federal CARES Act funds in the amount of $1,529,834 to the Public Investment Fund Community Development Department Extraordinary Expenditures account which will be used to assist residents and small business owners who are impacted by the virus.

Manager’s Agenda #12. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $120,000 from Free Cash to the General Fund Executive (Cambridge Office of Tourism) Other Ordinary Maintenance account which will directly support a city-wide campaign, “Hello Again” in collaboration with the City and the business community – to welcome businesses, customers, and the surrounding neighborhoods back by promoting health safety and positivity following the COVID-19 shut down.

Charter Right #1. Policy Order (June 10) Re Addressing Systemic Racism in Cambridge. [CHARTER RIGHT EXERCISED BY COUNCILLOR SIMMONS]

Pardon me while I shift paradigms. The Babson Boulders of Dogtown are my source of inspiration.

Communications #2. A communication was received from Kevin P. Crane, 27 Norris Street, regarding Shared Streets.

Short, sweet, and to the point. I will, however, observe the fundamentally militaristic inclinations of today’s Cambridge activists. It’s all about establishing a beachhead and defending it even as the circumstances change. I personally like the idea of "shared streets" and I feel that a two-way, low-speed, shared-street approach would have been the better way to accommodate cyclists on Brattle Street from Brattle Square to Mason Street. Unfortunately, that beachhead has already been established and its defenders will never give an inch. At this point, my presumption is that Harvard, Garden, and Magazine Streets will forevermore be shared streets even after the virus subsides, and my only concern is that our two-wheeled soldiers will eventually want to stop sharing.

Order #1. That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to work with the appropriate city departments to place all collective bargaining agreements between the City and unions on the city website, in an easily accessible location, to increase transparency for the public.   Councillor McGovern, Vice Mayor Mallon, Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Simmons

Order #5. That the City Manager is requested to provide a report by the end of summer for discussion at a September Council meeting on the advantages and disadvantages of continuing with Civil Service, and the process by which Cambridge could exit Civil Service.   Councillor Nolan

I’m curious what the motivation of Councillor Nolan is in forwarding this Order right now.

No longer under civil service: Acton, Adams, Burlington, Easthampton, Franklin, Grafton, Lee, Lexington, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marlborough, Maynard, Milford, Millis, North Adams, North Attleboro, North Reading, Norwood, Orange, Provincetown, Reading, Sharon, Sudbury, Uxbridge, Walpole, Wayland, Wellesley, Westwood, Williamstown.

From a Town of Wellesley document (2018): "The primary purpose of civil service when the Massachusetts legislature enacted the civil service, ‘Merit System’, in 1884 was to protect hiring and discipline from patronage and political interference. … Today we have comprehensive policies and collective bargaining that afford these protections.” … “The civil service system in Massachusetts is no longer up to the important task of helping government recruit and hire the most talented Personnel.”

It’s interesting that one of the arguments in support of leaving Civil Service is the existence of collective bargaining agreements and a police union. Meanwhile, others are arguing for the prohibition of unions for police and other public safety employees.

I’m of the school that says that all options should be on the table – including the staffing of construction and other details by civilians rather than exclusively by uniformed officers. I’m also of the school that says that free speech should be nearly absolute (except for the usual "yelling fire in a crowded theater" type of prohibitions). I’m not so sure how many people would agree with me these days on either of these counts.

So where is all this headed? I listened to a primarily millennial-and-younger throng ("hundreds" – NBC-Boston, "over a thousand" – Boston Globe, or "some 2000" on a local politics/news/advocacy blog) on Saturday chant “No Justice, No Peace. Abolish the Police” as they strolled through Central Square. I also noted how they had the crowd do a prolonged "repeat after me" session in front of City Hall reminiscent of the "Occupy" days of yore (hard to call this "free" speech when you being asked to repeat somebody else’s speech). In any case, they were not debating whether police unions were OK or whether the Civil Service system is advantageous. I took note of the fact that the Cambridge Police Department provided public safety protection for the throng, especially extensive traffic control, in order to protect the speech of those who would choose to abolish them.

Order #2. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to direct the appropriate City staff to work with the Central Square Business Association in developing a pilot program that will allow Central Square to close to vehicular traffic on Sundays and allow restaurants to fully embrace the concept of outdoor dining for the summer months of 2020, and to report back to the City Council on this matter in a timely manner.   Councillor Simmons

Great idea – really. Bring your masks. Don’t forget to remove while eating.

Order #3. That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to identify an air-conditioned space for a Cambridge Day Services Center for unhoused people.   Councillor McGovern, Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Simmons

Even without the air conditioning, there really is a need for some of the "street residents" to have some safe place to go that has some constructive things to do during daytime hours, especially with the libraries still closed. That said, there are a lot of people who will still prefer to be outdoors.

Order #4. Anti-Racist Free Little Libraries.   Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Simmons, Councillor Nolan, Vice Mayor Mallon

Education is good. I guess what concerns me here is the notion that our local government wants to dictate which books are to be permitted in a "little free library." It’s one thing for a property owner to exercise discretion in curating what’s on the shelves of the little library on their own property, but think for a minute where this road leads when the local legislature does the curation. Will I be fined for placing a few of my old Calculus books on the shelf? Will DPW be contacted via SeeClickFix to yank out any books that fail the litmus test? Will Zondervan/Nolan have an Order next week for "Little Free Climate Change Libraries"? By the way, I’m really overdue in building a Not-So-Little Free Math Library in front of my house to pass along some of my stash.

Order #7. That the Cambridge City Council go on record in support of including a two-track Grand Junction railway crossing in MassDOT’s Allston Multimodal Improvement Project plans, and urges the FMCB to vote in favor of this inclusion.   Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Nolan

This volleyball seems to be going back and forth right now among some people on the Cambridgeport listserv (in addition to the proposal that all people posting on the listserv racially identify themselves prior to expressing themselves – I kid you not). I believe that the current position of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association is that they support a two-track RR bridge for the Grand Junction corridor in the belief that a light rail option (i.e. trolleys) will one day operate along that corridor in addition to the always popular bicycle and pedestrian amenities (which would require additional accommodation on the bridge). It was not so long ago that Lt. Gov. Tim "100mph Rollover Crash" Murray was strongly advocating heavy rail along the Grand Junction corridor. I personally like the idea of a ped/bike/trolley corridor, but I think heavy rail would be a horrorshow of grade crossings, traffic congestion, or – at best – extremely expensive elimination of the grade crossings.

This City Council Order states: "One opportunity is to expand the Grand Junction Railway bridge from a one-track to a two-track crossing, which would realize the potential to connect the commercial hub of Kendall Square to Boston and MetroWest municipalities such as Framingham and Worcester via high-speed regional rail." Be careful what you wish for.

Order #9. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to obtain an itemized statement of all materials, tools, and property owned by the Cambridge Police Department.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

I suppose these intrepid councillors are trying to get at the question of whether or not Cambridge Police have any equipment that might be characterized as "military" in nature, e.g. an armored vehicle. We should ask Brinks the same question as they patrol our streets picking up and dropping off sacks of money from various banking institutions. Personally, I just want to know if the CPD still has a supply of "billy clubs" and "nightsticks" and, of course, keys to open those vanishingly few police callboxes.

By the way, since both of these councillors were at the Saturday rally, did they join in the chants and in the "repeat after me" robotic chants? Inquiring minds want to know. You know… in the spirit of transparency.

Communications & Reports #1. A communication was received from Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, transmitting information from the School Committee’s Special Meeting and Regular Meeting.

I continue to appreciate these reports but I remain very concerned that public education is not being equitably distributed in this virtual environment and that it will remain very difficult to correct this regardless what steps are taken.