The Eve of Derangement – November 4, 2024 Cambridge City Council meeting
The night before a national election often feels strange – when our local government meets to talk about things like hazardous waste collection, speed bumps, and bikes lanes while on the national stage many people are in crisis mode imagining civil war breaking out if the candidate they hate gets elected as President. It often brings to mind the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” So let’s fix those potholes and catch up on those old SeeClickFix requests while much of the country readies for derangement. “Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters.”
I have of late been thinking a lot about what the word “democracy” actually means – a way of governing which depends on the will of the people. What exactly does that mean then “the people” are almost evenly divided between highly divergent viewpoints? Does this mean that 50.1% should translate into imposing policies that are abhorrent to 49.9% of the people or that an Electoral College win should be viewed as a mandate to run roughshod over the interests of the losing party? Extreme partisanship is a deranged view of democracy. If the country (or the city, for that matter) is nearly evenly divided on an issue, the better democratic option is to find whatever common ground there is and to work out compromises that a clear majority can accept and maybe even embrace. It should never be about “winner take all”. The American System is in some ways inferior to parliamentary systems where coalition governments have to be formed when there is no clear majority. Even Cambridge’s system of proportional representation raises the essential question: “Proportional to what?”
A good friend of mine once wrote an essay about our local Cambridge political factions in the 1980s and 1990s when rent control was THE defining local issue. The notable quote about those factions was simply: “They both benefit from the existence of a problem.” In other words, finding actual compromise solutions would dilute their political clout – even if it would be in everyone’s best interest to solve the existing problems. Partisanship continued to be rewarded right up to the point when Question 9 caused the entire political house of cards to come tumbling down.
Call me naive, if you wish, but I still believe that the great majority of Americans share far more in common than the political partisans would have you believe. So bring on the protests while the rest of us are just taking care of our everyday lives. – RW
Meanwhile, back in The Peoples Republic, here are a few notable agenda items for this eve of derangement:
Manager’s Agenda #3. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 24-56, regarding a request to consider scheduling a Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Day and a Paper Shredding Event on a Sunday, instead of having them all on Saturday. [text of report]
Placed on File 9-0
Manager’s Agenda #5. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 24-59, regarding the feasibility of speed control bumps on Antrim Street. [text of report]
pulled by Nolan; comments by Nolan, Brooke McKenna (TPT), Simmons, City Manager Yi-An Huang, Toner, Siddiqui, Deputy City Manager Owen O’Riordan; Placed on File 9-0
Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to work with relevant City departments to prepare a Home Rule Petition to enact legislation which would allow the City of Cambridge to prohibit associations from unreasonably restricting the use of a solar energy system. Councillor Nolan, Councillor Azeem
pulled by Toner; Charter Right – Nolan
Order #2. That the City Manager is requested to direct the appropriate City staff to prominently incorporate recognition of the Massachusett Tribe during key official events, documents, websites, and communications, establish a living memorial in Cambridge that honors the Massachusett Tribe, with special recognition of Sqa Sachem for her leadership and enduring legacy and place a plaque with this language in a prominent location within City Hall, ensuring that this acknowledgment remains visible and lasting. Mayor Simmons, Vice Mayor McGovern
pulled by Simmons (to amend to add Wilson, Toner 9-0); comments by Simmons, Zusy (who proposed deleting references to Sqa Sachem), McGovern, Nolan, Simmons, Wilson, Zusy, Simmons, Siddiqui; Zusy amendment Fails 1-8 (Zusy-Yes); Order Adopted as Amended 8-0-0-1 (Zusy-Present)
Note: Sqa Sachem is referenced in various sources, in particular Lucius Paige’s History of Cambridge (1877), Chapter XX, Indian History. Lucius Paige was both the Town Clerk and (after 1846) the City Clerk of Cambridge.
Order #3. That the City Manager is requested to work with the Law Department to draft a home rule petition for the creation of a Cambridge Jobs Training Trust, and report back to the City Council in a timely manner. [support letter] Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Vice Mayor McGovern, Councillor Siddiqui, Councillor Wilson
pulled by Toner; comments by Sobrinho-Wheeler (with proposed amendment); Charter Right – Toner
Order #4. The City Manager is requested to work with the Department of Public Works (DPW) on the expansion of the mattress and box spring recycling program to include residents living in multi-unit residential buildings, starting with affordable housing properties that charge a fee to their residents. Councillor Siddiqui, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Wilson, Councillor Nolan
Order Adopted 9-0
Resolution #10. Congratulations to Robin Harris on being awarded the 2022 National Humanities Medal by President Joe Biden. Mayor Simmons, Vice Mayor McGovern, Councillor Wilson, Councillor Siddiqui
Comments by Toner, Nolan, Simmons
Resolution #16. Condolences on the death of Alan Steinert, Jr. Councillor Toner, Councillor Nolan
pulled by Nolan to be added as sponsor
Resolution #19. Honoring Cambridge Veterans and Recognizing Veterans Day. Councillor Wilson, Vice Mayor McGovern
Committee Report #1. The Ordinance Committee met on Apr 29, 2021 to conduct a public hearing on the Broad Canal Zoning Petition. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #2. The Ordinance Committee conducted a public hearing on June 10, 2021 to discuss the Cambridge Missing Middle Housing Zoning Petition (Ordinance #2021-2). [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #3. The Ordinance Committee met on July 26, 2021 to continue discussion on two proposals to regulate campaign donations. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #4. The Ordinance Committee met on July 28, 2021 to conduct a public hearing on an amendment to Article 22 of the City of Cambridge Zoning Ordinance “Emissions Accounting” (Ord#2021-13). [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #5. The Ordinance Committee met on Sept 29, 2021 to discuss the Neighborhood Conservation District citizen’s petition. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #6. The Ordinance Committee met on Oct 16, 2019 at 2pm on Taxicab use of E-Hail in the Sullivan Chamber. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #7. The Ordinance Committee met on Oct 23, 2019 at 5pm to discuss the Zoning petition to create an Alewife Quadrangle Northwest Overlay District. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #8. The Neighborhood and Long-Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebrations Committee held a public hearing on Oct 10, 2024 to discuss preliminary recommendations from the Central Square rezoning process. [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #9. The Ordinance Committee held a public hearing on Oct 15, 2024 which was recessed and reconvened on Oct 29, 2024, regarding a Zoning Petition by the City of Cambridge Board of Zoning Appeal to amend the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance in Articles 2.000 and 8.000 with the intent to add a definition of “dormer” to Article 2.000 and to amend the requirements related to adding dormers to nonconforming one- and two-family dwellings in Section 8.22.1.h.2 in order to allow certain dormer(s) construction as-of-right. The Ordinance Committee voted favorably to forward the Board of Zoning Appeal’s amendments to the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance to add a definition of dormer to Article 2.000 and to amend the requirements related to adding dormers to non-conforming one- and two-family dwellings in Section 8.22.1.h.2, to the full City Council with a favorable recommendation and that it be passed to a second reading. [text of report]
pulled by McGovern; Passed to 2nd Reading 9-0; Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0
Committee Report #10. The Health and Environment Committee held a public hearing on Oct 22, 2024 to review and discuss the updates to the Zero Waste Master Plan (ZWMP). [text of report]
Report Accepted, Placed on File 9-0