2026-09-14 - City Council Regular Meeting

00:03Good evening everyone. It's 5:30. With a

00:07quorum being present, I wanted to call

00:09tonight's

00:11September 20, not 20, 14th, 2026 regular

00:16meeting of the Cambridge City Council to

00:18order. The first order of business is a

00:19roll call of members present.

00:21>> Council El Zubie,

00:22>> present. Vice Mayor Zim,

00:24>> present. Council Flareity,

00:28>> present. Councelor McGovern

00:30>> present. Councelor Nolan

00:31>> present. Councelor Simmons

00:33>> present.

00:34>> Present. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler

00:35>> present.

00:36>> Present. Councelor Zusi

00:37>> present.

00:38>> Present. Mayor Sadiki

00:39>> present.

00:39>> Present. You have nine members recorded

00:41as present.

00:42>> Please join me if you can in the pledge

00:44of allegiance and then pause for a

00:46moment of silence.

00:48>> Pledge allegiance to the flag of the

00:50United States of America and to the

00:53republic for which it stands, one nation

00:56under God, indivisible. Liberty and

00:58justice for all.

01:12Per chapter 2 of the acts of 2025

01:15adopted by the Massachusetts General

01:16Court and approved by the governor, the

01:18city is authorized to use remote

01:20participation at meetings of the

01:21Cambridge City Council. In addition to

01:24having members of the council

01:25participate remotely, we've set up Zoom

01:27teleconference for public comment. You

01:29can also view the meeting via the city's

01:31open meeting portal or on the city's

01:33cable channel 22. To speak during public

01:35comment, you must sign up at

01:37www.cambridgemma.gov/public

01:40comment. You can also email written

01:42comments for the record to the city

01:44clerk at cityclerkambridgemma.gov.

01:47We welcome your participation.

01:50Folks usually can sign up until 5:30

01:52p.m. Please note that the City of

01:54Cambridge audio and video records this

01:56meeting and makes it available to the

01:58public for future viewing. In addition,

02:00third parties may also be audio and

02:02video recording this meeting. We will

02:05move on to announcements. Are there any

02:06announcements from the body?

02:08>> Yes, Councelor Nolan.

02:10>> Thank you. We will be talking about this

02:12later, but the announcement is that at

02:14the next regular meeting of the of the

02:16city council, which is September 28th,

02:17there will be a really important tax

02:19rate hearing. And I know that many

02:21people in the city didn't get notice of

02:23it in in time or felt that they really

02:25wanted to understand that would be

02:26happening. And that will be at the

02:27September 28th uh meeting. Uh and that

02:30tax rate is set every year and will

02:33impact and we will uh understand and be

02:35able to tell both residential and

02:37commercial tax rates.

02:39>> Thank you, Councelor Nolan. We have

02:41councelor Simmons and then councelor

02:43Zusi.

02:43>> Uh thank you madam mayor. Less of

02:46announcement more of a a gratitude. This

02:49weekend we had two festivals that went

02:51extraordinarily well. One was the Cosmos

02:54and Damian. Council Flity was there. It

02:57was well attended. Was very nice. 101

03:00years of celebrating. So I just wanted

03:02to acknowledge that out loud. We also

03:04had the Caribbean Carnival. Another

03:06wonderful event in the rain. Um, I hear

03:09the rain makes things grow. I'm not any

03:11taller, but I did get wet. I think it's

03:14worthy to just mention that because so

03:17much work went into it. And so, uh, they

03:19were very appreciative to have a city

03:21that allows that.

03:23>> Thank you, Councelor Zusi.

03:25>> Uh, thank you, Mayor Sadiki. I just

03:27wanted to announce that this weekend we

03:29have open studios um between uh 12 and 6

03:34across the city. you'll be able to go

03:35into people's homes, see their art, and

03:38also there's Dana Park Family Day. So,

03:41I'm looking forward to both of those

03:43events. There's also a meeting on

03:45Thursday night the 17th at 6 PM about uh

03:49about the bike lanes on Outer Hon um on

03:52Outer Haron. So, that will be by Zoom

03:56only at 6:00 pm. Thank you.

03:59>> Any other announcements?

04:01I have a quick one. Uh September is meet

04:04your neighbor month. And so on September

04:0726th, my office uh with uh the Cambridge

04:11Port Neighborhood Association and uh

04:13some neighborhood partners, we're

04:14hosting a cat Cambridge cat tour and

04:17Meow Fest. So if you have a cat and

04:18you'd like to show your cat, um please

04:22register, uh you have until um the end

04:25of this week. And then Meow Fest uh will

04:28be right after the tour. The tour starts

04:30at 2:00 meeting at Dana Park and then

04:32Meow Fest will be after the tour and

04:34there'll be free food resources uh and

04:39we would love to see you. Councelor

04:40Flity has already signed up so really

04:43appreciate it. Uh so those are it for

04:45the announcements. We'll move to public

04:47comment. Public comment may be made in

04:49accordance with Massachusetts General

04:51Laws chapter 30A section 20G and city

04:54council rules 23D and 37. Once you

04:57finish speaking, the next speaker will

04:59be called. Individuals are not permitted

05:01to allocate the remainder of their time

05:03to other speakers. Please state your

05:05name and address for the record and the

05:06item on the agenda that you're speaking

05:09on. Right now, we have 21 speakers who

05:11have signed up. Each speaker will have

05:13two minutes.

05:16Our first speaker is Lauren Chua,

05:19followed by Anie Adavi. Lauren, you have

05:22two minutes. Please go ahead.

05:27Lauren, if you can turn the mic on, just

05:28press the button and you'll see a green

05:30light. All right. Thank you. My name is

05:32Lauren Chua. I am at 565 Somerville

05:35Somerville A in Somerville. Um I am

05:38employed at MIT as a graduate student

05:40and I'm speaking to uh policy order uh

05:43three in favor. Uh thank you uh

05:44Cambridge city counselors and Cambridge

05:46residents for being here today. um as

05:49president of UEI local 256, the MIT

05:51graduate student union

05:54that represents the 3,00 graduate

05:56workers who teach and do research at

05:58MIT. I am deeply concerned about the

06:01future of MIT and the future of higher

06:03education

06:04and that future that MIT seems to be

06:06choosing from their actions at the

06:08bargaining table with us. I fear what

06:10the future of 3,000 graduate workers in

06:12Cambridge looks like without a fair

06:14contract quickly set in pace this fall.

06:16When we started negotiating with MIT in

06:18April, our members united around the

06:20vision of an MIT that was a fair and

06:23secure work environment that workers

06:24would be protected, especially those

06:26most vulnerable, and that MIT would

06:28commit both financially and in policy to

06:30its researchers and teachers in the face

06:31of funding cuts and broader uncertainty

06:33in higher education, attacks on

06:35international workers, the LGBTQ plus

06:37community members, and more. Instead,

06:39MIT has come to the bargaining table

06:41with concessionary proposals regarding

06:43our union, our healthcare. And instead,

06:46MIT is also refused to commit to

06:48international worker uh protections.

06:51We, as the graduate workers who make MIT

06:53run, want to settle a fair and just

06:55contract when that meets the moment. We

06:57cannot have a contract with concessions.

06:58We cannot have a contract without strong

07:00international worker protections. And we

07:02cannot have a contract that weakens our

07:04union security. And we certainly can't

07:06have one with healthcare. the burdens of

07:08that cost onto workers. So, we are

07:10calling on MAT to stop taking advantage

07:12of the Trump administration's policies

07:14and heinous attacks on higher education,

07:16immigrants, and working people as a

07:17whole, and to rather work with its

07:19graduate students to look after the

07:20needs of students, workers, faculty, and

07:22staff on campus, not the whims of a

07:24billionaire administration. Thank you

07:26for considering this policy order, and I

07:28hope you approve it. Thank you.

07:30>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Ani

07:32Adavi, followed by Baltasar Dennis, then

07:35Benjamin. Anie, you have one minute.

07:38Sorry, two minutes.

07:40>> Um, hello. My name is Ani Davi. I'm a

07:44Cambridge resident and a fifth year.

07:46>> You can lift the mic up. It moves.

07:47>> Sorry. I'm a fifth year PhD student in

07:50the materials science department at MIT.

07:53Um, I'm also the recording secretary of

07:55the MIT Grad Student Union. And I'd also

07:57like to speak in favor of policy order

07:59three. Um, so our first union contract,

08:02which expired earlier this year, really

08:04secured historic protections for grad

08:06workers at MIT, since its ratification

08:08in 2023, from real recourse for

08:11harassment discrimination to codified

08:13health and safety standards to del

08:15dental insurance. Um, grad workers

08:17gained rights and protections that

08:19they'd been denied in some cases for

08:21decades. And the reason we've actually

08:23been able to enforce all of those

08:24hard-fought protections is because we

08:26won a union shop agreement, which means

08:29grad workers covered by the contract

08:31contribute dues to enforce it. Now we're

08:34negotiating for our second contract

08:35under the second Trump administration,

08:38which has attacked unions and workers

08:39rights from the outset. And in these

08:42uncertain times, instead of working with

08:44the grad students who helped make MIT

08:46run, uh the MIT administration has taken

08:49the opportunity to threaten cuts to our

08:51previous contract, as you've heard, uh

08:53including the critical union shop

08:55agreement that underlies the strength of

08:57our union.

08:59We know that like what happens to unions

09:01and unionized workers when they you lose

09:03their union shop um because that's the

09:06norm in right to work states right to

09:08work laws which are rooted in the

09:09shameful legacy of Jim Crow are the same

09:12laws that MIT has cited as an example to

09:14follow and if MIT succeeds in

09:16undercutting the security of a 3000

09:18member union other employers will take

09:20note and seek to replicate their success

09:23um so that's why your intervention to

09:24call on MIT to reverse these cuts to

09:27union shop and to settle fair contract

09:29will have critical implications not only

09:31for our contract fight but for labor

09:33standards across Cambridge and perhaps

09:35across the country and that's why I urge

09:37the council to pass this policy order.

09:40Thank you.

09:43>> Our next speaker is Baltasar Dennis

09:45followed by Benjamin Hles. Baltasar you

09:48have two minutes please go ahead.

09:49>> Hi everyone, my name is Baltazar. I'm a

09:51resident at 92A Gore Street in East

09:53Cambridge. Um, I'm also an international

09:55graduate worker at MIT coming from

09:57Portugal. I came to Cambridge three

09:59years ago and I felt very welcomed like

10:01thousands of other grad workers in the

10:03area. However, since the times are

10:06different, we all remember very vividly

10:08rooms oir being taken from our streets a

10:12couple years ago and we know how we felt

10:14the days and weeks after. Walking out of

10:16the house was different. Coming home

10:18from work at night was different.

10:20Cambridge felt different. Naturally,

10:22when we came into this bargaining cir

10:24cycle, we had as one of our main

10:26priorities enshrining stronger

10:27protections for international workers so

10:29that all international workers have real

10:32guarantees that we can rely on. We hoped

10:34and expected that this would be a topic

10:36of greater alignment with MIT who should

10:38have a shared concern to protect its

10:39international community at this time. We

10:41were surprised to be disappointed. In

10:44particular, we proposed strict rules for

10:46sharing data with the government

10:47requiring legal procedures to be

10:49followed. We proposed remote appointment

10:51rules that would allow uh grad workers

10:54that would be stuck outside the country

10:55to continue their degrees. We proposed

10:58an international legal defense fund to

11:00provide access to resources to deal with

11:02new fees and legal emergencies. And we

11:05asked MIT not to cooperate with ICE on

11:08campus and to have protocols for that

11:09eventuality. To all of these um MIT not

11:13only rejected our proposals but has

11:15offered no meaningful counters leaving

11:17us to rely on their promises alone. But

11:20how can we if they are will unwilling to

11:23codify those promises in our contract.

11:26Um this has also been in the process of

11:29deteriorating conditions for

11:31internationals with the changes in

11:33duration of stay rule and changes to the

11:35curricular practical training rules that

11:37has made it impossible for us to pursue

11:39internships. So I urge the council to

11:41approve the policy order and I thank you

11:43for your time.

11:44>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Benjamin

11:47Vez followed by Kristen Pvost then

11:50Suzanne Bleier. Benjamin, you have two

11:53minutes. Please go ahead.

11:54>> Hello, my name is Benjamin Vez. I live

11:56right here in Central at 50 Magazine

11:58Street and I am speaking in favor of

12:00policy order number three calling on MIT

12:02to settle a fair contract with its

12:03graduate workers. When people think of

12:05folks in their 20s and 30s, their

12:06healthcare needs is not what immediately

12:08comes to mind. But I can't stress enough

12:10both as a b biologist and as someone who

12:11lives with a bunch of doctors that

12:13preventative health is crucial and is

12:14very much in the front of mind of MIT

12:16grad students. It's especially crucial

12:17when you're dealing with dangerous

12:18chemicals or stressful and chaotic PhD

12:20timelines. I mean, we literally just had

12:22a scare involving a dangerous chemical

12:23exposure two weeks ago. But even knowing

12:26all of that, MIT has decided to

12:27prioritize its own bottom line over the

12:29long-term health of its workers. On May

12:3111th, MIT proposed language to

12:33unilaterally

12:34make our health coverage worse whenever

12:36they want. Further, on July 21st, they

12:39confirmed they are seeking the power to

12:40remove guaranteed benefits we already

12:41have. This is the same institution whose

12:44endowment grew by 11.4% to 27.4 billion

12:48last year. The same institution that

12:50paid its former president $1.8 million

12:52last year even though they are no longer

12:54president. While it's and then it also

12:56it further paid their top five

12:58administrators a combined total of $13.7

13:00million combined. The same institution

13:03also bought $3 million worth of AI

13:06cameras last year.

13:07Moving these co moving the cost of

13:09healthare onto its workers is what MIT

13:11has chosen. But that means we have to

13:13start choosing between options like

13:14suffering through chronic health

13:15problems and paying rent. These are not

13:18abstract issues. According to MIT's own

13:20cost of living calculator, we currently

13:22make only 76% of the living wage for

13:24Boston and Cambridge. This puts us under

13:26tremendous financial strain, especially

13:27if our healthcare costs go up. Quality

13:30healthcare is a priority for every MIT

13:31grad worker, especially for those who

13:33are directly affected. So to understand

13:35a little bit of that, I want to talk a

13:36little bit about um I want to urge you

13:39guys to um vote for these things.

13:41Especially if one of the richest

13:42universities on the planet can't hold

13:44the standard of ensuring the folks that

13:46are healthy enough to do their job who

13:47can, please uh help us hold them

13:49accountable by calling on them to agree

13:51to our reasonable proposals. Thank you.

13:53>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Kristen

13:56Pvost, followed by Suzanne Bier, then

13:59Anel Garcia Langley. Kristen, you have

14:01two minutes. Please go ahead.

14:06Hello everyone. My name is Christian

14:08Pvost. I live at seven Lawrence Street

14:10here in Cambridge. I'm here tonight to

14:12speak in support of policy order number

14:14two. I'm a clinical social worker at

14:16Boston Medical Center and a member of

14:18the platelet disorder support

14:20association for which I run a support

14:22group for patients and caregivers in New

14:24England. I also have immune

14:26thrombocytoenia or ITP.

14:29ITP is a rare autoimmune bleeding

14:31disorder in which the body mistakenly

14:32destroys its own platelets, the cells

14:34that clot our blood. As a result, people

14:37with ITP can experience significant

14:39bruising and prolonged or spontaneous

14:41bleeding. But the physical symptoms are

14:43really only one part of what it means to

14:44live with this disease. For many of us,

14:46ITP is marked by fear, uncertainty, and

14:49isolation, which is why awareness

14:51matters so much.

14:52I was diagnosed with ITP here in

14:54Cambridge two years ago and I feel

14:56incredibly proud and lucky to call this

14:58city home. I was fortunate to have

15:00access to excellent health care that

15:02allowed me to receive a swift diagnosis

15:03before I had a serious bleeding event.

15:06Importantly, Cambridge is also home to

15:08some of the bioarm companies working on

15:10the interventions that are changing what

15:11life with ITP can look like. The medical

15:14innovation happening here has given

15:16patients like me options, hope, and in

15:19many ways pieces of our lives back. When

15:22we request to light city hall purple, we

15:24want to recognize the people in

15:25Cambridge and around the world who are

15:26living quietly with this rare disease.

15:29But we're also recognizing the people in

15:31this community who are working every day

15:32to better understand and change this

15:35experience for us. For a condition that

15:37can feel so invisible and isolating,

15:39seeing the heart of our city illuminated

15:41in purple on September 25th would send a

15:43powerful message. I respectfully ask the

15:46council to support this policy order and

15:48thank you for giving me the opportunity

15:49to speak tonight.

15:51Thank you. Our next speaker is Suzanne

15:53Bier followed by Anel Garcia Langley.

15:58Suzanne, you have the floor. If you

16:01could unmute yourself, please go ahead.

16:04>> Thank you. Uh Suzanne Bier, Five Fuller

16:06Place. And I'm going to speak to a

16:08couple things tonight. One is I do

16:10support MIT staff and would hope that

16:13MIT would also build more housing for

16:16its undergraduate and graduate students.

16:18that's critical to MIT itself and to the

16:21city of Cambridge. Secondly, I really

16:24support whatever you can do with permits

16:26or otherwise to help local businesses.

16:29uh my family were local business owners

16:31in Burlington, Vermont and uh the

16:35struggles that this these groups are

16:37facing is critical and this might

16:38include even permitting um local

16:41businesses to have spaces in parking

16:44areas outside banks or cannabis stores

16:47just so we can find a place for them

16:49because the lease costs are are insanely

16:52expensive in Harvard Square and

16:54elsewhere. Finally, I support the city

16:57move against the Trump administration

17:00visav the preservation of key parts of

17:04our universe, including uh here in the

17:07state. Um, you know, we're we're losing

17:10potentially very very important Native

17:12American and other uh places. I think

17:16it's very important also, I mean, we all

17:17know about what's happening with the

17:19White House, but finding ways that we as

17:21a city can support um the broader group

17:24of interests against the Trump

17:26administration on this issue and others

17:28is important. Thank you very much.

17:31>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Anel

17:34Garcia Langley followed by Suina Sina

17:37Lam. Anel, you have two minutes. Please

17:40go ahead.

17:41>> Hi, my name is Anel Garcia Langley.

17:46I push this. Okay. And I'm here today in

17:48support of policy order three. I want to

17:50add to what my fellow workers have

17:51already shared by talking about what our

17:52union means to me in practice. As a

17:55department chief steward, I have had the

17:57privilege of helping my fellow grad

17:58workers navigate conflicts related to

18:00the work we do at MIT. We come to MIT

18:02because we care deeply about our

18:04research and teaching. My own work is on

18:06systems designed to protect coastal

18:07communities from increasingly severe

18:09storms in the climate crisis. I have

18:11been incredibly lucky to work in an

18:12amazing lab with a fantastic adviser.

18:14But not everyone gets so lucky. Through

18:17my work as a steward, I have seen

18:18firsthand what can happen when grad

18:20workers are unjustly kicked from the

18:21research positions. Which is why

18:23protections like just cause are so

18:25fundamental. Grad workers should not

18:27have to rely on luck or having a good

18:28relationship with an individual

18:30supervisor to know that they will be

18:31treated fairly. Our contract gives

18:34workers rights, a process, and someone

18:36standing beside them when they need

18:37support. But there's an irony in my

18:39standing here today. I am currently

18:41funded through a fellowship. Although I

18:43do the same grad research, work along

18:45the same colleagues, and help other grad

18:47workers exercise their contractual

18:48rights as a fellow, I do not have access

18:51to many of those same protections myself

18:53due to MIT's f fellow exclusion. Our

18:56union is fighting to include fellows

18:57like me in these protections, but MIT

19:00has vehemently vehemently refused to

19:02even discuss our inclusion. whether a

19:04grad worker has basic workplace

19:06protections should not depend on the

19:07source of their funding. I urge the

19:10council to pass policy order three and

19:12stand with us in demanding a fair

19:14contract that protects all grad workers.

19:16Thank you.

19:18>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Suina

19:21Saam. Apologies if I'm mispronouncing

19:23your name. Followed by Valerie Bonds,

19:26then Daniel Shen. Sina, two minutes.

19:29>> My name is Suina Silam. My address is 64

19:32Willow Street in Cambridge. I'm the vice

19:33president of the MIT graduate student

19:35union and I'm speaking in favor of

19:36policy order 3. According to MIT's own

19:39living wage calculator, graduate workers

19:41earn 75% of the living wage in

19:43Cambridge. That means that many of us

19:45that work at MIT cannot afford to live

19:46in the city without making sacrifices on

19:48other aspects of our lives, our savings,

19:51our future, our health. This is

19:52accompanied by everinccreasing housing

19:54costs, even in MIT's own graduate

19:56student housing, which has increased an

19:58average of 4% every year for the past

20:00three years. Our union has proposed

20:02raises that match the cost of living,

20:04additional support for for out-of-

20:05pocket health care expenses, fully

20:07funded dependent healthcare coverage,

20:09and for this to be covered by MIT's

20:11consider considerable endowment. This

20:13would bring grad workers to a living

20:15wage and provide additional support for

20:16those in exceptional circumstances. In

20:19return, MIT has offered us a measly

20:21raise of 2.75% in the first year and

20:232.5% the year after, which would be an

20:25effective pay cut in comparison to the

20:27rate of inflation. Beyond that, MIT has

20:29also proposed striking our no reduction

20:31in pay clause, which would allow MIT to

20:34unilaterally reduce all stipens to the

20:36general minimum as an actual pay cut.

20:38MIT has rejected all additional

20:40proposals, arguing that our proposals

20:42would compromise the stability of their

20:4427 billion endowment. Our proposals

20:47would only be 0.6% of MIT's total

20:50operating budget. We are calling on MIT

20:53to support its graduate workers. The

20:54basis of MIT's teaching and re research

20:57enterprise and the reason why MIT is the

20:59respected successful institution that it

21:02is today. Graduate workers also deserve

21:04to be able to live in Cambridge in the

21:06city that we all work. That is why I

21:08urge the city council to approve this

21:09policy order. Thank you.

21:11>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Valerie

21:14Bonds followed by Daniel Shen then

21:16Zamayra Johnson.

21:21Valerie, you have the floor. You have

21:23two minutes. Please go ahead.

21:26>> Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity

21:29to speak with you. I live at a 12

21:32Memorial Drive here in Cambridgeport

21:35and I support the uh unions. Uh we know

21:40how important unions are in protecting

21:43the rights of employees. I was a little

21:46bit surprised to hear that some

21:49chemicals that are being tested at MIT

21:52expose their workers. And I'm wondering

21:54what our city is doing to protect its uh

21:58members, its community members from any

22:00of these chemical researches that are

22:02taking place at um MIT. I certainly

22:07support uh turning lights on purple. Uh

22:11and I support the um

22:16control of fireworks in certain parts of

22:18our city. Uh any illegal fireworks that

22:21are exposing any area of our city, not

22:24just area 4, but other areas of our

22:26community where illegal fireworks are

22:29taking place.

22:30Uh I also want to take this time to uh

22:35say happy birthday to Carolyn Hunter uh

22:39a recognized um contributor to our

22:42school committee, a superior uh educator

22:47at Cambridgein High School and a a

22:51well-known advocate uh for civil rights,

22:55women's rights and community rights for

22:57Cambridge. Uh took me a while. Well, I

23:00really didn't see anything on the agenda

23:02regarding housing, public safety, or

23:05education or senior health, but I do uh

23:08thank the city council for this

23:10opportunity.

23:12Thank you. Our next speaker is Daniel

23:14Shen, followed by Zamira Johnson, then

23:17Rachel Plamer. We are at speaker number

23:2010 for those who are waiting. Daniel,

23:22two minutes, please go ahead.

23:23>> Hi, my name is Daniel Shen. I live at 20

23:25Cornelius Way over in Kendall. I'm also

23:27the chief steward for the MIT Graduate

23:29Student Union. Um, and also a graduate

23:31student worker at MIT. I'm speaking to

23:33policy order three. Um, we've been in

23:35negotiations with MIT since May of this

23:37year and several key issues remain on

23:39things like benefits and protections and

23:41our workplace rights, but I specifically

23:43wanted to use this time to speak to our

23:46union shop as um, previous speaker Anie

23:49also spoke to. So, I've been at MIT for

23:51a while and I organized with hundreds of

23:53workers 5 years ago to form our union in

23:55an election. We won that vote 2 to1.

23:57There were over 1,700 grad workers that

24:00voted yes to form our union. And we

24:01subsequently were able to win a song

24:03contract. But one of the things that MIT

24:05held out then during that first set of

24:06contract negotiations as they are now is

24:09this question of union shop. Um to

24:10reiterate, union shop is the fundamental

24:12principle that everyone in the union

24:14benefits from the contract and the fact

24:16there is a union and so everyone chips

24:18in to support the fact that we have a

24:20functioning organization that can defend

24:22our workplace rights and our democracy.

24:24This is in contrast to places with an

24:25open shop where dues payment is entirely

24:28voluntary and unions are subsequently

24:30much weaker for that. Um, and it's

24:32really frustrating frankly that MIT

24:34keeps making us relitigate this question

24:36every three year three years when our

24:37contract is up for renegotiation. And

24:39it's really undemocratic and frankly

24:41aligned with some of the worst excesses

24:43of the Trump administration to undermine

24:45the rights of workers and their voice

24:47across this country. Our members are

24:49ready to strike to win a fair contract

24:51if MIT continues to stall and refuse to

24:54settle a fair agreement that includes

24:55things like a strong union to support

24:57our union shop. Um, and a contract which

25:00meets the needs of thousands of grad

25:02workers and uh teaching and research

25:04assistants at MIT. And I look forward to

25:06the city council supporting our contract

25:08campaign. And I look forward to seeing

25:09each and every one of you on the picket

25:11line if it comes down to it and we have

25:12to go on strike. Uh finally, happy

25:14birthday Joe, our uh financial secretary

25:17for our union and shout out as well to

25:19SEIU 32BJ who represents the facilities

25:21workers at MIT who are also negotiating

25:22for a fair contract.

25:24>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Zamira or

25:27Zamira, I'm Apologies if I'm

25:29mispronouncing you Johnson.

25:31>> Please go ahead. You have two minutes.

25:33>> Zamira Johnson. I'm at 27 Ellery Street

25:36just a couple blocks from here and I'm a

25:37thirdyear PhD student and grad worker at

25:39MIT. I'm speaking in support of policy

25:41order 3. Building on the wonderful

25:43points that my co-workers have made, us

25:45as grad workers come to MIT and move to

25:48Cambridge to do exemplary research and

25:50to contribute to the culture of

25:51education and advancement that Cambridge

25:53as a city is connected to. And I don't

25:55think any of us have come here to become

25:57labor lawyers. But in the last year and

25:59over the entire history of our union,

26:01MIT as an administration has gone out of

26:03their way to take away our rights and

26:05make it even more expensive and

26:06unhealthy to be a grad student at MIT.

26:08And then they tried to punish us and

26:10disrespect us for asking for respect and

26:12consideration as the people who make MIT

26:14what it is. And I just want to convey

26:16plainly how much effort every grad

26:18worker here has put in to go through the

26:20bargaining process and how little

26:22respect and consideration MIT has given

26:24us. And MIT wants to use our status as

26:27students to take advantage of Cambridge

26:29residents. I want to convey plainly how

26:32critical it is that Cambridge community

26:33members who care about workers rights

26:35and quality of life in our city take

26:37every action that they can to

26:39demonstrate visible solidarity with MIT

26:41GSU. Because if MIT has their way with

26:45taking our rights away, it will spread

26:47to every other major research

26:48institution in Cambridge. And our unions

26:51are endeavoring to take the tangible

26:52action to fight against this injustice.

26:55and I hope that city council makes the

26:57moves to stand with us.

26:59>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Rachel

27:03Plamer, followed by Marilie Meyer, then

27:05Tina Aloo. Rachel, two minutes. Please

27:08go ahead.

27:09>> Thank you. My name is Rachel Plamer. I'm

27:11a resident at 10 Wendell Street and I'm

27:13the associate director at Cambridge

27:15Economic Opportunity Committee or CEOC

27:18and I'm testifying today in support of

27:20policy order 12 and the city manager

27:23agenda item number two. At CEO, we've

27:27seen firsthand the detrimental effects

27:29of federal changes to the SNAP program.

27:32Expanded work requirements, limigrant

27:34limits to immigrant eligibility, more

27:37paperwork, and a greater share of cost

27:39dumps onto states have caused many

27:41residents to lose their SNAP benefits.

27:44Since July of last year, SNAP

27:46participation has declined 15% in

27:48Cambridge. Most of those people are

27:50still eligible for SNAP, but just could

27:53not break through the red tape and

27:54paperwork burden. Unfortunately, many of

27:57these same changes are going into effect

27:59for Mass Health in the coming months.

28:01For the first time, residents will have

28:03to comply with complicated work

28:05requirements in order to keep their

28:07health insurance. New immigration status

28:09restrictions will also be in place.

28:12Across the state, 200,000 residents are

28:14expected to lose their mass health

28:16coverage. In partnership with the city

28:18and the Cambridge Community Foundation,

28:21we are standing up a coalition of

28:22community partners that will be

28:24mobilized to respond to this crisis to

28:26keep as many people on SNAP and Mass

28:28Health as possible. We hope you'll

28:30consider the city manager agenda item

28:33number two requesting funding for this

28:34initiative. And on policy order 12, we

28:37ask the city council to urge the Healey

28:40Driscoll administration to hire

28:42additional case workers at DTA. Not only

28:45have the federal changes I mentioned,

28:47made maintaining SNAP benefits much more

28:49challenging, but the understaffing at

28:51DTA, the state agency that administers

28:54SNAP, has made getting in touch with the

28:56agency near impossible. Only 30% of

28:59calls on a given day get through to DTA.

29:02So, please support policy order number

29:0412. Thank you.

29:05>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Marily

29:08Meyer, followed by Tina Aloo, then

29:10Elaine D. Roza. Marily, you have two

29:13minutes. Please go ahead.

29:15>> Hi, Marilyn Meyer, tend to Dana Street,

29:17and I too would like to wish Carolyn

29:20Hunter a happy birthday. Um, please

29:22support the National Historic

29:24Preservation Act, which is being

29:26dismantled to allow Trump's vanity

29:28products of projects as he destroys our

29:31material culture and world identity.

29:34While development continues in our n um

29:37nation's capital, indeed everywhere, it

29:39is important to maintain um our

29:42oversight of um multi-era multicultural

29:46stories, reminding Americans where they

29:48come came from and how patterns grew in

29:51this 250th year. Those um include Native

29:55American and African-American and even a

29:58Smithsonian. It is terrifying um how

30:01fast the president is ignoring protocol

30:04and national guidelines, our national

30:07identity um um affecting our national

30:10identity identity uh without respect

30:14compromise or nuance. not supporting the

30:16basic gu um guard rails is tantamount to

30:19being tonedeaf in its implications that

30:22you don't mind the damage of the

30:24reflecting pool, the destruction of the

30:26east wing, the arch blocking the um

30:28Lincoln Memorial without permits

30:31permission or view that you don't mind

30:34gilded statues, the roads gardens

30:36replaced by a terrace without checking

30:38with the caretakers. Washington DC is a

30:42travesty. Please educate the tone deaf.

30:45Support the preservation act. Once

30:48landmarks are gone, they are gone for

30:50good. Thank you.

30:53>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Tina

30:55Aloo, followed by Ela D. Roza, then

30:58Hannah Mullerick. Tina, you have two

31:01minutes.

31:02>> Good evening. My name is Tina Aloo and I

31:04live at 113 and a half Pleasant Street.

31:07I'm testifying tonight as executive

31:09director of CEOC to speak on a few

31:12items. First on city manager agenda

31:15number two regarding the federal changes

31:17to SNAP and Mass Health. We know that

31:20many people have already lost their SNAP

31:22benefits because of confusion over

31:24requirements, fear of applying or

31:26renewing doing due to immigration status

31:29and the almost impossible task of

31:31getting through to DTA. This will

31:34continue to be the case going forward

31:36unless we implement a largecale

31:38education and awareness campaign along

31:41with accessible hands-on assistance to

31:43help people overcome the barriers.

31:46Additionally, changes to mass health

31:47focused on immigration status and new

31:50work requirements starting in January

31:52will be another blow to so many

31:54vulnerable residents. CEO has been

31:57working on these issues for a while, but

31:59it's too large an endeavor endeavor to

32:02provide the necessary support alone.

32:04When the city manager reached out to

32:06offer city resources, and the Cambridge

32:08Community Foundation joined in, we knew

32:11that we could conduct the kind of effort

32:13necessary to leave no one behind. Last

32:16Tuesday, we convened a meeting where

32:17over 30 community-based organization and

32:20city department staff came forward to

32:22ask what they could do. There was an

32:24incredible sense of partnership and

32:26commitment to fight back and support our

32:28neighbors who are struggling to put food

32:30on their tables and keep their health

32:31insurance. It will take resources for

32:34staffing materials to do this, and we

32:36ask you to support that. I'd also like

32:39you to please vote to accept the CPA's

32:42committee's recommendation to keep the

32:44funding formula at 80% for affordable

32:47housing. And lastly, ask that you

32:50support policy order number 12 to

32:52encourage Governor Healey to prioritize

32:54the hiring of additional DTA workers so

32:57that the log jam of calls and requests

32:59can be processed in a timely fashion.

33:01Thank you.

33:03>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Hannah

33:07Malars, followed by Vinus Patel, then

33:10Christopher Cassa. Hannah,

33:14>> oh, I'm sorry. I skipped I skipped you.

33:16I'm so sorry. I thought I was skipping

33:17someone. Elaine D. Roza followed by

33:19Hannah. Elaine.

33:22>> My name is Elaine D. Roza. I live at

33:24Fort Pleasant Place. I'm speaking to two

33:26of the city manager items. As a member

33:28of the uh community preservation act

33:30committee, I urge you to support the CPA

33:32recommendation to maintain its

33:34affordable funding formula at 80%

33:37affordable housing, 10% historic

33:39preservation, and 10% open space. This

33:42year, the CPA staff again conducted

33:45extensive comprehensive outreach and

33:47received many recommendations from the

33:49community. We heard from community

33:51organizations and individuals and the

33:53overwhelming recommendations and

33:54comments were to maintain the affordable

33:57housing at 80%. The CPA committee also

34:00heard from individuals and organizations

34:02proposals for historic preservation and

34:04open space which are included in the

34:07recommendation that are presented in

34:09tonight's report and they represent a

34:12comprehensive uh citywide programming

34:14which I think you'll find interesting.

34:17The other item I want to join with CEOC

34:19is the chair of the Cambridge Housing

34:20Authority Board to urge the support for

34:23the city manager's recommendation on the

34:25$500,000 for the coordinated citywide

34:28response to the new federal changes

34:31whose sole goal is to create burdens and

34:33confuse and discourage eligible people

34:36from applying for services that they

34:38require. This will be an incredible

34:40benefit to the residents of the

34:42Cambridge Housing Authority as it will

34:44be to everyone throughout the city.

34:45Thank you.

34:48Our next speaker is Hannah Malarsk

34:50followed by Venice Patel, then

34:52Christopher Cassa. Hi, I'm Hannah

34:55Malarchek. I'm a graduate worker at MIT

34:57and I've been a resident of Cambridge

34:59for eight or nine years now, most

35:01recently at 26 Porter Road in Porter

35:03Square. I'm here to speak in favor of

35:06policy order number three. I was at MIT

35:09um before we had a first union contract

35:11and when we won an excellent first

35:13contract, it absolutely transformed the

35:15lives of all students at MIT. Students

35:18are healthier, happier, safer, and

35:21significantly better off financially in

35:23a city with a very cost very high cost

35:26of living as we all know. Um now, three

35:28years later, we're negotiating our

35:30second contract. And since day one, it's

35:32been clear that MIT wants to take this

35:34away from us. Every month this summer,

35:37MIT has only offered us two two-hour

35:39long sessions of bargaining each month.

35:42And MIT has made it clear to us that

35:44they don't want a contract. They don't

35:46respect our workers and our choice to

35:49stay unionized workers. As we have seen

35:52with our union siblings, SEIU 32BJ

35:55representing the facilities workers on

35:57campus, MIT has chosen to claim its

36:00inability to support workers and

36:02students because of the funding cuts and

36:04pressures on their multi-million billion

36:06multi-billion sorry B billion dollar

36:08endowment. Um MIT wants to take away our

36:11union shop, replacing it with an open

36:13shop. This would slash the size of our

36:15union and slashed the amount of

36:17unionized workers living and working in

36:19the city of Cambridge. When we first won

36:22our union shop three years ago, it set a

36:24precedent um across the city, the state,

36:27and the nation. And if we lose union

36:30shop, it will similarly set um a

36:32precedent that will weaken unions here

36:34and everywhere. Many of the workers in

36:37Cambridge are MIT graduate students. Um,

36:39many of them are graduate workers at

36:41other places and many of them are

36:43workers in general or just unionized

36:45workers in general and I hope you help

36:48us fight for all of them today. Thank

36:49you and happy birthday Joe and happy

36:51early birthday Lauren.

36:53Thank you. Our next speaker is Fus Patel

36:56followed by Christopher Cassa then

36:58Kenneth Reeves.

37:08Lionus has not joined. We will go to

37:10Chris Cassa.

37:16>> Chris Casa, you have two minutes. Please

37:18go ahead.

37:20>> Hey, good evening everyone. First, I

37:22want to wish a happy birthday to Carolyn

37:24Hunter. Uh even though I haven't met

37:26her, I really respect her work and her

37:28advocacy with the apartheid movement and

37:30also her work in the schools. Um, but

37:33I'm speaking tonight about uh city

37:35manager's agenda item related to the

37:36decrease in traffic citations over the

37:38last decade and specifically how it

37:41relates to our work to make it safer for

37:43people to walk and bike in Cambridge.

37:45Uh, much of the city's work on road

37:48safety has focused on improving the

37:50physical design of the streets, making

37:51it safer to cross in a crosswalk,

37:54building protected bike lanes, building

37:56better intersections.

37:58But at the same time, even though those

38:00are being implemented, when those are

38:03finished, they can still be obstructed

38:05by dangerous drivers who are either

38:07going into them or blocking them. And

38:10that work really needs to be um

38:14enforced. We we need to make sure that

38:16people are staying at these facilities

38:17and that they're respecting the rules of

38:20the road to make sure that people are

38:22safe on our streets. Um, part of the

38:25work that I do in the group is I read a

38:27lot of the emails that we get and we re

38:29we routinely receive emails about people

38:32who have had frightening close calls.

38:34They often involve a loved one, a

38:37partner, a child that they were biking

38:39with and that it is just really

38:44distressing to receive those. We we've

38:45had residents write to us saying they've

38:47seen dangerous behavior happen in front

38:49of a police officer and that the police

38:51officer didn't respond and they're

38:53really upset about it. Uh and of course

38:54the hardest messages come from people

38:56who whose lives have been changed by

38:58serious crash either uh grieving

39:00community or people who have lost a

39:02loved ones. And I just wanted to kind of

39:05take this back to the specific um city

39:08manager report. We saw there's a 57%

39:12decrease and in the citations and what

39:15that means is we have to really figure

39:18out how to actually get this back on

39:19track and enforce the rules to make sure

39:22that people are safe out there.

39:25>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Kenneth

39:28Reeves followed by Heather Hoffman and

39:31Sam Rodriguez.

39:33>> Good evening. Ken Reeves, 340 Harvard

39:36Street, president of the Cambridge NACP

39:40as well as a taxpayer.

39:44Um,

39:46my comments tonight are relative to

39:49zoning and zoning amendment wherever

39:52they appear in your agenda. Uh there is

39:56great concern that the multif family

39:59zoning which has passed throughout the

40:01city is having outcomes that were not

40:04anticipated. Many of us thought well

40:07it's bad but maybe they'll build it

40:08behind the house. We didn't think you

40:10were going to tear down the house and

40:13give us a whole new village. And so uh

40:17urban renewal was not as effective as

40:20this ordinance that we have at the

40:22moment. So there is a great desire for

40:25review and and and for

40:29uh

40:30addressing the outcomes before they

40:33destroy us completely. I can be dramatic

40:37but this is not

40:40uh funny drama. This is real drama

40:43because we are impacting the basic

40:46realities of our city in the name of

40:50affordable housing. But we don't know

40:52who this affordable housing is going to

40:56and but we do know that we're destroying

40:58what we have. And so I just would

41:02implore all of the counselors to

41:04understand there are impacts to zoning

41:07that our wonderful community development

41:09department tends not to let the

41:12counselors know that once you let c

41:14certain cats out the bag that it's all

41:17over. and we're feeling that we're in a

41:20situation where there is not the

41:21greatest awareness of this. The other

41:25thing on behalf of the NACP, you know,

41:27the Cambridge

41:28uh census of African-Americans has been

41:33going down year by year and the negative

41:37impact of this zoning on the African

41:41community

41:42>> is extraordinary. So, thank you for your

41:45this opportunity to say a few words.

41:48Thank you.

41:48>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Heather

41:51Hoffman and our final speaker will be

41:53Sam Rodriguez. Heather, you have the

41:56floor. You have two minutes. Please go

41:58ahead.

42:02>> Hello, Heather Hoffman, 213 Hurley

42:04Street. Let me agree with the preceding

42:07speaker. Um,

42:10and also with a few other people what

42:15Marilyn Meyer said about the National

42:18Historic Preservation Act, what Rachel

42:20Plamer said about SNAP and Mass Health.

42:26It is incredibly important for people to

42:29be able to get through the day like

42:31having food. Um, a different thing

42:33that's on the the agenda saying we can't

42:37do it is has to do with whether people

42:40can pee. I will give the foundry as an

42:43example of a place that is full of

42:45genderneutral bathrooms that seem to

42:48work. Um, I

42:52would like to say huzzah about Paula

42:55Crane. You've all heard me say how much

42:59respect I have for the city clerk's

43:01office and I am

43:05concerned that you couldn't get anybody

43:09else to be interested in

43:13um in running such a fine office. But I

43:16am very glad that Miss Crane is willing

43:18to do it. Um, with respect to the CPA in

43:23general, I like the choices for historic

43:27preservation and open space. I'm kind of

43:29amazed that they're even in Cambridge.

43:31So often they aren't, especially open

43:33space. So good on that. And um, with

43:38respect to couple of things talking

43:41about belonging and community, meet your

43:43neighbor month and um,

43:48and such. I hope that you will think

43:51about and this is very much in line with

43:55all of the stuff in the litigation that

43:58you continue to tout about treating

44:03people with respect. City council can do

44:06better. Thank you.

44:08>> Thank you. Apologies. We have three more

44:10speakers. Our next speaker will be Sam

44:12Rodriguez, followed by James Williamson,

44:15then Dan Totten. Sam, you have two

44:18minutes. Please go ahead.

44:26>> Good evening. My name is Samuel Gome

44:29Rodriguez Jr. employee of Northeast

44:31Security at Nor Eastern University and

44:33member of 32BJ SEIU.

44:36My fellow workers and I are currently

44:38borrowing a contract to make it known

44:41that we wish to be treated not as tools

44:43but as human beings.

44:45We are here to make it known that we are

44:47demanding of our bosses the basic human

44:50right of health care and the dignity of

44:52receiving an increased livable wage.

44:56Almost every major city within the

44:58United States in which our unions are

45:00based have already received health care

45:02fully paid for by the bosses and

45:05increased wages. I ask why are we dead

45:09last to receive these basic human

45:10rights? Do we not work as hard as this

45:14as our security comrades across the

45:16nation? Do we not all have families we

45:19wish to love and to care for?

45:23Do we not all have our own health to

45:25worry about in order to continue to work

45:28hard to care for our clients and to

45:31continue to love and take care of our

45:33families? The answer is yes. Yes, we do.

45:38We say no more to living paycheck to

45:40paycheck and hand to mouth due to low

45:43unlivable wages. We say no more to

45:46skipping trips to the hospital because

45:47of the lack of transportation and funds.

45:50We say no more to having to choose

45:52between either to pay for bills, rent,

45:56groceries, or medication. We say no more

45:59to living without health care. We say no

46:02more to living without health care

46:03because it is cheaper to live with

46:05chronic pain. We say no more to living

46:08without health care because it is

46:09cheaper to live with severe mental

46:11illness. We say no more to living

46:13without health care because it is

46:15cheaper to live with disease. We say no

46:18more to living without health care

46:20because it is cheaper to die. We say no

46:23more and we ask will you stand in

46:25solidarity with us and help us fight for

46:28our rights and our dignity by voting for

46:30policy order one. Speaking on behalf of

46:33my fellow security officers, airport

46:35workers, and myself,

46:36>> Sam, that's time. Thank you so much. You

46:39can send us the remainder if you have

46:41any.

46:42>> Our next speaker is James Williamson,

46:44followed by Dan Totten. James, you have

46:46the floor. You have two minutes. Please

46:48go ahead.

46:51>> We can hear you.

46:52>> Thank you. Um, James Williamson. I live

46:54in North Cambridge. Um, first of all, on

46:57the policy order, I think it is that's

46:58proposing to uh elect the mayor. I

47:03really wish you all would get serious

47:05about shifting power and uh and uh

47:11consider electing the city manager. Um,

47:16at least do the thought experiment. Why

47:17don't we elect the city manager? uh the

47:20whole uh charter reform process was I

47:24believe rigged to avoid uh a serious uh

47:28step towards shifting power toward the

47:30people in the city. So we remain with we

47:34we remain with the city manager. How

47:36about we elect the city manager? Think

47:38about it. Um the the other thing the

47:41main thing I wanted to speak to other

47:43than that is the uh citations issue. The

47:46real problem, as far as I'm concerned,

47:47and I'm out in the city all the time, is

47:50the lack of enforcement of rules for

47:52bicyclists. Um, this is an outrageous

47:55situation in this city just outside an

47:58elderly disabled building in North

48:00Cambridge where I live. There is a um an

48:04an intersection with a dedicated

48:06pedestrian phase. It's opposite

48:09Churchill A in North Cambridge on North

48:11Massav. I have never once seen a

48:13bicyclist ever stop at that red light um

48:17when when it's in the pedestrian phase

48:20just a half a block from an elderly

48:22disabled building with like 198 units.

48:25Are you kidding me? There is zero

48:26enforcement and there's nothing in the

48:28data that really makes it possible for

48:31us to understand what's going on with

48:34enforcement of rules for bicyclists in

48:36this city. It's really an outrage. Now

48:39maybe PE police officers could be moved

48:42over to the traffic enforcement, hire

48:44some more police officers. The budget

48:46keeps going up, but the enforcement

48:48doesn't. Thank you.

48:50>> Thank you. Our final speaker will be Dan

48:52Totten. Dan, you have two minutes.

48:54Please go ahead.

48:55>> Hi. Uh my name is Dan Totten. I live at

48:5754 Bishop Allen Drive. Uh, first of all,

49:01on behalf of your UFCW siblings at

49:03Lamplighter, I want to wish both 32BJ

49:06and the MIT GSU the best of luck in your

49:09struggles. Please let us know if there's

49:10any solidarity asks and you know where

49:12to find us if you ever need a beer. Um,

49:16I want to speak tonight mostly on the

49:19question of electing the mayor. uh

49:21picking up on James' thread a little bit

49:23because I think he's right that the

49:25charter review committee that we spent

49:26years on and a lot of money on at as the

49:28city was essentially rigged. It was a

49:31waste of the of the time of the people

49:33who served on that committee because all

49:34of their suggestions were thrown in the

49:36trash unceremoniously by most of this

49:38council. Um and I appreciate the people

49:40who did not vote that way, but that's

49:42what happened. And now we're only coming

49:44back and starting to explore some of

49:46those ideas like the sortic that were

49:50explored in that. And so it brings us

49:53back to the question of what should we

49:54do about the mayor? Because right now

49:56our executive branch is not elected by

49:58the people. If you live in Cambridge,

49:59you don't get to vote for our executive

50:01branch, right? And a lot of us feel very

50:04strongly that we should be able to elect

50:06the executive branch, including some of

50:07you, right? But there's this other trap,

50:10right? The trap is that you could move

50:13to uh an elected ceremonial mayor, I'll

50:16refer to it as, which would basically

50:18just mean that the voters get to vote

50:20for the the council president. No

50:23offense, madame mayor, but that's

50:24effectively what you are. And I I I

50:27think that's a waste of everybody's

50:29time. I think it's a complete waste. I

50:31think it's it's worse than doing nothing

50:32because it sends the message to the

50:34voters that we're just going to we're

50:37going to let you make a ceremonial

50:38choice that won't actually impact the

50:40decisions about when a homeless shelter

50:42closes or when we don't fund preschool.

50:45And that's all the executive who's

50:46unelected and not accountable to the

50:48voters. So, I ask you tonight, don't

50:49waste the vote the residents of the city

50:51of Cambridge's time. Ask questions of

50:54the Colin Center, but don't switch to an

50:56elected

50:57uh ceremonial mayor. Thank you, Madame

51:00Mayor. That is all that were signed up

51:01to speak.

51:04>> Thank you to everyone for their public

51:06comment. We'll go ahead and close public

51:09comment on a motion by

51:11>> Motion to close public comment

51:12>> on motion by councelor Simmons to close

51:15public comment. All those in favor say

51:17I. I.

51:17>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

51:19it. Public comment is now closed.

51:21>> Madam Mayor,

51:22>> we Yes, councelor Simmons. I'd like to

51:23move suspension of the rules to bring

51:25forward policy orders one and three in

51:28deference to the individuals that are

51:31here. We we're not going to with the

51:33length of items in the city manager's

51:35agenda be it may be quite late before we

51:38get there. So I wanted to suspend the

51:40rules, bring those items forward, vote

51:41them, allow these people to go home.

51:44>> So councelor Simmons is moving to

51:46suspend the rules to take policy orders

51:49one and three right now. So on

51:52suspension, all those in favor say I. I.

51:55Those against say no. The eyes's have

51:56it. We are in suspension. So we'll move

51:59on to policy order number one. This is

52:01that the city council supports 32BJ SEIU

52:04security officers and Logan airport

52:07service off workers. This was filed by

52:09councelor Simmons, Council McGovern,

52:11councelor Sabrina Wheeler. Councelor

52:13Simmons, you have the floor.

52:14>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh I bring this

52:17forward with my colleagues to do what we

52:20usually do which is important which is

52:22saying to the to Logan airport we want

52:25people to be treated fairly and be to

52:27treat them fairly you have to pay them

52:29fairly they need to have a reasonable

52:31not even a reason a living wage in order

52:33to take care of their families. I want

52:35to thank each of them for coming this

52:37evening and I think what they said in

52:39public comment tells the story. People

52:41are choosing whether they should have

52:43medicine,

52:45you know, or or pay the rent,

52:49buy things for their children or pay the

52:51rent. No one should have to in a city in

52:54working for Logan Airport. Not that I'm

52:56going to be dissing on Logan Airport

52:58tonight, but just to just bring that

53:01forward, no one should be begging for

53:03scraps or working three jobs to make

53:05ends meet. And so I'm hoping first of

53:07all let me thank my colleagues councelor

53:08McGovern and councelor Sabrina Wheeler

53:10for signing on it. You know we have to

53:13vote our values and our values are that

53:15people should be paid a fair wage for

53:18work done. And so I hope my colleagues

53:20will um support this policy order. With

53:23that I'll yield the floor to my

53:25co-makers or whatever you choose to do

53:27madame mayor but I'm hoping that people

53:29will vote for this.

53:30>> Great. Council McGovern will go to you

53:33as a co-sponsor. Uh, [clears throat]

53:35thank you, Madam Mayor. Through you, um,

53:37I just echo the the comments made by

53:39councelor Simmons. Um, you really on

53:42both of these orders. I know only one

53:44number one is in front of us, but it's

53:46interesting. We have some items on the

53:48agenda tonight um about SNAP, right? And

53:52and we do a lot of work here. I've done

53:53a lot of work. Counselor Zubie and I are

53:55doing a lot of work now through the

53:57human services committee on food

53:59insecurity and and poverty in the city.

54:01And um sometimes we forget that a lot of

54:04those folks are our graduate students

54:06and our students who can't afford to

54:09feed themselves necessarily and so and

54:12have to make those difficult choices. So

54:14um whether it's our security workers uh

54:17at our universities as as well as at

54:20Logan or our graduate students um it's

54:22important that we remember that these

54:24are valuable people in our community and

54:25they deserve um the same opportunities

54:28as everyone else. And so I'm proud to

54:30support both of these orders. Thank you,

54:31Madam Mayor.

54:32>> We'll have there's one before us right

54:34now, so just speak to that one first.

54:37Yes, councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

54:39>> Thanks, Madam Mayor. No, I would echo

54:40the other two sponsors and say it should

54:42not be this hard for working people and

54:44airport workers should be able to afford

54:46to live in Cambridge and our surrounding

54:47communities. So, I hope we can move

54:48forward with this.

54:50>> Councelor Alubi,

54:52I'd love to be added as a co-sponsor.

54:55>> Anyone else who'd like to speak?

54:57Councelor Nolan.

54:59>> Thanks. I'm sure. And when we get to the

55:01next one, living wage says it all.

55:03Healthc care for all says it all. Love

55:05to be added. And we absolutely have to

55:08set a standard for the country that this

55:10is something we stand behind for all

55:12workers.

55:15>> We can go ahead and add councelor Alzi

55:17and councelor Nolan to the policy order.

55:20All those in favor say I. I. Those

55:22against say no. The eyes have it. Those

55:25counselors have been added.

55:28We can go ahead and if there's no

55:30objection, I definitely support uh the

55:33the order. Thank you, Councelor Simmons

55:35and the co-sponsors for bringing this

55:36forward. We'll go ahead and uh adopt

55:40policy order number one as amended. All

55:42those in favor say I. I. Those against

55:45say no. The eyes have it. Policy order

55:47number one as amended is adopted. We'll

55:50go to policy order number three. This is

55:52at the city council support the UEE256

55:55graduate workers at MIT and their

55:58efforts to secure a fair contract. This

56:01was filed by councelor Sabrina Wheeler,

56:04Council McGovern, Vice Mayor Ze, and

56:05Councelor Alzi. Councelor Serena

56:07Wheeler, I'll go to you first as a the

56:09main sponsor.

56:11>> Um, just briefly because I think the

56:12folks in public comment said it much

56:14better than I could and wasn't planning

56:16on pulling this myself. Uh I think these

56:18are basic worker protections especially

56:19at a time when uh immigrant workers are

56:22under attack and I hope MIT can agree to

56:25these contract uh negotiations with

56:27these workers and hope we can move

56:28forward with this this evening. The lack

56:31>> councelor Simmons.

56:34>> Thank you Madame Mayor. Uh first of all

56:36to council Sabrina Wheeler McGovern Zim

56:38and Alzubi. Thank you for offering this

56:40policy order again. It speaks to our

56:42values as a city. You years ago, uh,

56:45back in the dark ages, as my children

56:47often say, we voted to have a living

56:50wage and we should demand support and

56:52stand by any organization, particularly

56:55um, employees uh, uh, unionized

56:57employees to be paid fairly. So, thank

56:59you for bringing it forward. I proud to

57:02um, support it and would like to be

57:03added as a co-sponsor.

57:05>> No problem.

57:06>> Council McGovern.

57:07>> Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. Um

57:10I was actually going to say something

57:11very similar uh councelor Simmons that

57:14you know we demand of our city of our

57:17city government that we pay [snorts] our

57:19employees a living wage and to demand

57:21that also of um certainly our

57:24universities and that uh I I acknowledge

57:29the financial struggle and the attacks

57:30that they're under under this horrific

57:33administration in DC

57:35um but still need to step up and do

57:37what's right by their workers the way we

57:39try to do right by our workers and so

57:41again happy to be on this order. Thank

57:43you.

57:44>> Would anyone else like to be added? Yes,

57:46councelor Nolan.

57:47>> Yeah, same thing before. I mean it all

57:49goes down to living wage, healthcare,

57:51people having an ability to live with

57:53respect and dignity and not have to make

57:55choices between I mean as has been

57:57pointed out often students are the ones

57:59in this city using our food banks

58:01because they they need that. So yes

58:03would love to be added and I fully

58:04support this. You can go ahead and add

58:07councelor Simmons and councelor Nolan to

58:09policy number three. All those in favor

58:11say I. I. Those against say no. The eyes

58:14have it. Councelor Simmons and councelor

58:15Nolan have been added to the policy

58:18order. Thank you to the co-sponsors and

58:20thank you to everyone who came for

58:22public comment. We'll go ahead and adopt

58:24this policy order as amended. All those

58:27in favor say I. I. Those against say no.

58:29The eyes have it. Policy order number

58:31three is adopted. We will now go back to

58:34the submission of the record. We have

58:38five sets of minutes from the regular

58:41city council meeting on March 2nd, the

58:43regular city council meeting on March

58:459th, the city council public hearing on

58:48March 9th, the regular city council

58:51meeting on May 11th, and then the

58:53regular meeting held on May 18th on a

58:56motion by councelor Nolan to adopt these

59:00minutes and place them on file. All

59:02those in favor say I.

59:03>> I.

59:05>> Those against say no. The eyes have it.

59:07Those reports have been accepted and

59:09placed on file. We now move on to

59:13reconsideration.

59:14Councelor Nolan has filed

59:16reconsideration for the policy order

59:192026-140,

59:21which is that the city manager bean

59:23hereby is requested to work with the

59:24city solister and the license commission

59:27to draft and submit a home rule petition

59:29to authorize one additional section 15

59:32all alcoholic beverages license not to

59:35be drunk on the premises. Councelor

59:38Nolan, I will recognize you now.

59:40>> Thank you. Um, I think it would make

59:41sense to suspend the rules to pull

59:43forward communication from other city

59:44officers. Number four, which is about

59:46the RA my uh memo about reconsideration.

59:50>> So, councelor Nolan moves suspension to

59:52bring forward a communication reports

59:54from other city officers number four.

59:56All those in favor say I. I. Those

59:58against say no. The eyes have it. That's

1:00:01forward with us with the reconsideration

1:00:03request. Councelor Nolan,

1:00:05>> thank you. I won't um read the entire

1:00:08memo, but I am asking us to reconsider

1:00:10the vote as explained in the uh

1:00:12communication memo. Since after the

1:00:14vote, which I did support, um all of us

1:00:16had spent several months um with some

1:00:19various meetings and lobbying about

1:00:21this, I did hear some concern in the

1:00:23community about the vote and thought I

1:00:25should dig a little deeper into the

1:00:26proposal. So, I spent some time the last

1:00:28few weeks, I did file for

1:00:29reconsideration. And I spent some time

1:00:31the last few weeks reaching out to city

1:00:32staff and a couple and some local

1:00:34business owners to understand the impact

1:00:36of this proposed ad hoc legislative

1:00:38strategy for alcohol licensing. Look, in

1:00:40full disclosure, I don't think we should

1:00:42have any um uh caps on what the state

1:00:46allows us to have. We don't have any for

1:00:47on premises. I don't know why we have

1:00:49some for off- premises, but we do. Um, I

1:00:51just felt that city staff have

1:00:53additional context for this vote on both

1:00:55the process and how to consider this

1:00:56issue holistically, which could be

1:00:59important for the council to hear. I

1:01:01recognize that we are very pressed for

1:01:02time at the summer meeting when this

1:01:03vote initially took place. We had not

1:01:05done our usual practice of discussing

1:01:07the context, gathering input from most

1:01:09affected stakeholders. So, I do hope we

1:01:11consider this issue with additional

1:01:13context and expertise. The issues and

1:01:15questions to consider include the

1:01:17specifics of the order, the home rule

1:01:19petition approach, and the economic

1:01:21development and equity impacts of

1:01:22additional stateisssued licenses being

1:01:24requested. In speaking with business

1:01:26associations, local small business

1:01:28owners, and other stakeholders, I heard

1:01:30their potential consequences for the

1:01:32vote that made me uncomfortable support

1:01:33it as is. One of the key issues is that

1:01:36we would be handing a license worth at

1:01:37least several hundred,000 to an

1:01:39individual who already has a malt uh

1:01:42wine license. And as we considered this

1:01:44idea, without having told all the small

1:01:46business owners across the city that we

1:01:48were doing that, I spoke with two owners

1:01:50who have all alcohol licenses who paid

1:01:53more than $300,000 for them. And when I

1:01:56asked without saying anything about how

1:01:58I voted about what they thought about

1:02:00the city getting a license for someone

1:02:02for free, one direct quote was, "You are

1:02:05really doing that? The council is

1:02:07considering that? That seems unfair when

1:02:10I had to pay several hundred,000."

1:02:13So, I think other small business owners

1:02:15didn't know that they could ask the

1:02:16council for this license or couldn't or

1:02:18didn't think to hire a lawyer to promote

1:02:20a home rule for them. And that made me

1:02:22just uncomfortable about the equity of

1:02:23this. So, again, personally, I'd get rid

1:02:26of all caps and before we do this for

1:02:28one person, it seems to be good

1:02:29governance to offer similar privilege to

1:02:32all in the city in similar positions.

1:02:35Boston had petitioned the state to allow

1:02:36for more than 200 on premises licenses,

1:02:38which they did for equity. I'm not sure

1:02:40if they included off- premises. And so I

1:02:42would support Cambridge considering how

1:02:44to distribute any new licenses that we

1:02:46are granted equitably. Um so so that's

1:02:48why I filed this. There's a little bit

1:02:49more detail in the um in the memo, but I

1:02:52yield to Mayor Sadiki.

1:02:54>> Thank you, Councelor Nolan. So basically

1:02:55the vote is as follows. So if you'd like

1:02:58to re reconsider the matter, you would

1:03:01vote yes. If you wouldn't like to

1:03:03consider the matter, you'd vote no. if

1:03:06it gets reconsidered, then we can have

1:03:09that opportunity um to ask some of the

1:03:12questions that councelor Nolan has um

1:03:15listed out in her communication from

1:03:17other city officers. So, for now, we'll

1:03:20I'll just go to some counselors.

1:03:21Councelor McGovern,

1:03:22>> thank you. Um just before on the

1:03:24reconsideration vote, um so I also had

1:03:28some conversations and I spoke to uh

1:03:30Attorney Sullivan who's who's

1:03:32representing the the petitioner. he's

1:03:35going through this situation in another

1:03:37community and they went forward and

1:03:40asked for um I think he said four sort

1:03:44of general licenses to do this exact

1:03:46thing not for specific businesses but

1:03:48for general licenses and the house

1:03:50already said no to that. They said we

1:03:52need to know specifically who is getting

1:03:53these licenses but we're not just going

1:03:55to give you a blanket. So

1:04:00I'm not going to vote for

1:04:01reconsideration. Um, I I I would like to

1:04:04move forward with this business as this

1:04:07particular business. I would be happy

1:04:08and I agree with councelor Nolan on

1:04:10looking for a way to sort of lift the

1:04:12cap in general and look at if there are

1:04:14other businesses in Cambridge that also

1:04:15want to do this. We're going to have to

1:04:17list them

1:04:19when we go to the state. And so we

1:04:22should do that and we should have that

1:04:23conversation. But I I'm not I don't want

1:04:25to hold up this particular business

1:04:26that's in some dire straits right now.

1:04:28So, um I agree with we should do this at

1:04:31some point, but I will vote no on

1:04:32reconsideration on this particular

1:04:34issue.

1:04:35>> Councelor Zabina Wheeler.

1:04:37>> Thanks, uh Madame Mayor through you. I

1:04:38was going to ask the city manager and

1:04:40law department uh about this. I uh

1:04:43frankly I think agree with the larger

1:04:46point of getting rid of the caps and

1:04:47then on this specifically. If the law

1:04:49department feels like it needs more time

1:04:51to review this and we should pull it

1:04:53back, I'm happy to pull it back. If the

1:04:55law department says we're fine with it

1:04:57as is, I'm fine with it to go ahead as

1:04:59well. So, I'm curious what city staff

1:05:01has to say here.

1:05:06>> So, solicitors coming up.

1:05:20Uh, good evening through you, Madame

1:05:22Mayor. Um

1:05:24so, uh you know, staff doesn't really

1:05:27have a opinion on the policy side of

1:05:30this. Um it's really up to the council

1:05:33whether to reconsider and decide where

1:05:38to go with this policy order and sending

1:05:40um a home ruled petition to the

1:05:42legislature for this specific business.

1:05:45We uh both um chair of the license

1:05:49commission Nicole Moradi Ferrer who is

1:05:51on the zoom if there are any questions

1:05:53for her or if she wants to jump in um

1:05:56you know her and I um can give some

1:06:00factual information

1:06:02uh to the council that might help in

1:06:04your consideration. Um happy to provide

1:06:07written response if the council wishes

1:06:09to some of the questions that councelor

1:06:11Nolan raised in her communication. if if

1:06:13the council uh passes a order to get

1:06:16those questions answered. Um the

1:06:22you know I I think I said this when

1:06:24there were a couple of questions when

1:06:25this was before the council before um

1:06:28you know it might end up being that you

1:06:31hear from more businesses wanting the

1:06:34same type of home world petition for

1:06:37their particular business moving

1:06:38forward. Um, you know, I would have

1:06:41suggested and I I still might, uh, that

1:06:43an option would be a petition along the

1:06:46lines of what councelor McGovern

1:06:47referenced from another community where

1:06:50the city could try to increase the

1:06:53number of licenses available to any

1:06:55applicant. I would be interested in

1:06:57finding out more about what the uh, you

1:07:00know, the legislature said to that

1:07:02example. I think there have been other

1:07:04communities that have increased um the

1:07:06number of licenses they have for various

1:07:08license types. Um I think there needs to

1:07:11be some um communication or uh in the

1:07:15home rule petition to the legislature of

1:07:17why there's a public interest in

1:07:18increasing the number. Um perhaps that

1:07:21was missing from this other community

1:07:23but you know happy to look into that. Um

1:07:26so I think I think I answered your

1:07:28question. If there are more questions

1:07:30let me know. I guess the question madam

1:07:33may like the question I have is if

1:07:35there's a legal question about this that

1:07:37needs more research. It sounds like

1:07:38you're saying we have the legal

1:07:42understanding. It's more of a policy

1:07:44question about if we're doing one

1:07:46business or multiple businesses.

1:07:49>> Yes. Through you, Madame Mayor. And just

1:07:51to be clear, I I there's no legal reason

1:07:53you can't move this home rule petition

1:07:55forward. um or some other type of ask of

1:08:00the legislature. So, it is more of a

1:08:03policy uh consideration for the council.

1:08:06>> Councelor,

1:08:07>> hi. Thank you. Um that doesn't make this

1:08:10easier, unfortunately. But uh I am down

1:08:12to move forward with this for one

1:08:14business, down to move forward with it

1:08:15for businesses. Like councelor, I think

1:08:17McGovern and Nolan both agreed on this

1:08:19cap doesn't make any sense at all. So,

1:08:21down to move forward with it for all

1:08:22businesses. In which case, I think I'm

1:08:25I'm going to vote no on reconsideration.

1:08:27Happy to do a broader one. If there are

1:08:28other businesses for other businesses,

1:08:30we can do a separate thing. We can do a

1:08:32formal petition to lift the cap

1:08:33entirely. Um, but if there's not

1:08:35actually a legal question here, I I

1:08:37don't see the reason to reconsider at

1:08:38this moment.

1:08:40>> We'll go to councelor Alzi and then

1:08:42councelor Zusi.

1:08:43>> Yeah. Through you, Madam Chair. So, I'm

1:08:44curious to councelor McGovern's point on

1:08:47submitting just for multiple licenses,

1:08:49but it getting rejected from the state

1:08:51legislature. Do you anticipate seeing

1:08:54that kind of thing if we were to move

1:08:56forward with a policy order asking for

1:08:58something like that?

1:09:01>> Uh thank you through you, Madame Mayor.

1:09:03So when you say asking for something

1:09:05like that, do you mean a petition to

1:09:07expand the number of licenses generally

1:09:10versus Okay. Um I I don't know. I I was

1:09:13aware of some legislative action in

1:09:18communities like the Boston with on

1:09:20premises to expand the number allowed.

1:09:24Um it's and like I said, I think I said

1:09:26public interest, but the correct term is

1:09:28public need. I you do have to show the

1:09:31legislature there's a public need for

1:09:33granting additional licenses in the

1:09:35community. So perhaps that petition that

1:09:37councelor McGovern referred to didn't in

1:09:39the uh legislator's eyes satisfy that

1:09:42requirement of public need. Um so I'm

1:09:45I'm happy to look more into that and

1:09:48compare that home rule petition and the

1:09:50action the legislature took and speak

1:09:52with attorney Sullivan to get um

1:09:54information from him to find out more to

1:09:57be able to have a more informed answer

1:09:59of what the likelihood would be if um if

1:10:01we the if the council wanted to do that.

1:10:04Council Zubie

1:10:05>> and to be able to do that. Would

1:10:07reconsideration on this specific

1:10:10uh this specific issue that we passed be

1:10:14worthwhile in having that conversation

1:10:16with the law department attorney

1:10:17Sullivan and otherwise?

1:10:20>> Uh thank you through you, Madame Mayor.

1:10:24If reconsideration passes there, that

1:10:27would

1:10:29give the opportunity for potentially a

1:10:32um revised policy order that asks more

1:10:36generally for information about other

1:10:39options and the likelihood that those

1:10:41other options might be successful.

1:10:44>> Okay.

1:10:45>> Yeah, I this is definitely an

1:10:47interesting situation. I'm open to

1:10:49reconsideration, but definitely would

1:10:51want more context on, you know, what

1:10:53councelor McGovern raised and councelor

1:10:54Nolan because I think they both bring up

1:10:56very valid points. Um, but largely the

1:10:59the main points around the quotas and

1:11:02all that I'd also support. So, I'll

1:11:03yield.

1:11:04>> Councelor Zusi.

1:11:06>> Uh, thank you, Mayor Sadiki. I I think

1:11:09we should reconsider this. I think we

1:11:11made the wrong decision. I think it's

1:11:14inappropriate to advantage one business,

1:11:17especially one that already has a molt

1:11:20and wine license. I I I fully understand

1:11:23why Ferros Food Town wants to remain in

1:11:26that location. Um, and I think we really

1:11:29need a grocery in that location, but I I

1:11:32think it would be inappropriate to

1:11:34advantage this one business. And I think

1:11:35it's a really bad precedent that will

1:11:38open Pandora's box. Um, I think it would

1:11:42be just the beginning of lots of

1:11:44requests for full alcohol licenses. So,

1:11:48I think it's a good idea to pull back,

1:11:51reconsider, and uh, rethink this

1:11:53decision. Thank you,

1:11:56>> Vice Mayor Zim.

1:11:57>> Uh, thank you. Um, I feel like I'm

1:11:59missing something and curious to hear

1:12:01from my colleagues in that, um, my

1:12:04understanding is like, you know, I think

1:12:05a lot of us would support removing the

1:12:07liquor license limit. the state house is

1:12:08not interested in doing that, right? Um

1:12:11the state house if we sent like hey can

1:12:13we get 20 more right? The state house in

1:12:16other municipalities broadly in general

1:12:18has not shown interest in doing that.

1:12:21And so what we have is a case here is

1:12:23like one person wants one for one

1:12:25specific case and they have made a

1:12:28strong case that's important for them to

1:12:30continue their business. Um, so I think

1:12:32that if we reconsider this and don't do

1:12:34this, that business gets hurt. And does

1:12:38anyone else benefit? I'm not sure. I

1:12:41mean, you could argue that like we

1:12:42should open it wide and try to get like

1:12:44six more people who also wanted to send

1:12:46specific petitions to us, but that seems

1:12:48like a long extended process and like we

1:12:52can do that anyways afterwards, right?

1:12:53Like I don't think that there is a like

1:12:55the state house does not give us the

1:12:56option of like, hey, can we get 10 more

1:12:58that we will equitably distribute? that

1:13:00doesn't seem to be a realistic option

1:13:02unless I'm missing something. And so I

1:13:04feel like it like ideally there would be

1:13:07a lot better ways to do this, but given

1:13:08the my understanding of it, I feel like

1:13:10this is our like this is the best out of

1:13:13the options what we have. So um I'll

1:13:14leave it there, but I'm not sure if

1:13:15anyone has any feedback.

1:13:20>> Does anyone have any else to say?

1:13:25I guess I had two quick questions uh and

1:13:27then we can go ahead. Um to the

1:13:30commissioner on the Zoom, I'm just

1:13:32curious around um how many how often you

1:13:37all hear from people about um getting

1:13:41all alcohol licenses.

1:13:45>> Thank you. Through through you, Madame

1:13:46Mayor. Um

1:13:49that's a difficult question to answer

1:13:51because it's it it really depends. Uh

1:13:55sometimes in a year we can get two phone

1:13:58calls, you know, do you have any

1:14:00licenses available or sometimes it can

1:14:02be more often. I can tell you that right

1:14:05after uh the council considered this, we

1:14:08got one phone call from another business

1:14:11asking if there were any all alcohol

1:14:13available. I think they just kind of

1:14:15heard through the grapevine that there

1:14:16was an all alcohol happening. Um, so

1:14:19it's really hard to say, you know, we we

1:14:22get inquiries, but I don't know that I

1:14:24could tell you that we get a lot of

1:14:25inquiries, but I think also people know

1:14:28that there's a limit and a quota.

1:14:31>> Thanks, Commissioner.

1:14:34to uh the city solicitor

1:14:36was wondering what your opinion [snorts]

1:14:39uh was on the the circumstances beyond

1:14:42control of the lency line in the home

1:14:45rule.

1:14:51Uh to you madame mayor. So attached to

1:14:54the policy order that is now up for

1:14:56reconsideration.

1:14:58Um

1:15:00there is a

1:15:02sample home rule petition that was

1:15:04attached. Um the policy order as you

1:15:07will recall asked for staff to work on

1:15:11preparing a home rule petition. So, um

1:15:14you all the council left open the

1:15:16possibility that we might have suggested

1:15:18changes to the proposed polic um home

1:15:21rule petition, but looking at what was

1:15:24attached and is proposed um it talks

1:15:28about or it makes reference to the fact

1:15:30that this site uh 336 Ringav is under

1:15:36construction with just a start right

1:15:37now. And so the um business

1:15:41hopes to move back at the completion of

1:15:43construction, but they did um build in

1:15:46some language in here to this petition

1:15:49that if they're not able to move back um

1:15:55that they would be able to transfer the

1:15:56license to a different location. Um and

1:16:00so the language was if they're not if

1:16:03they are displaced

1:16:06due to redevelopment, lease termination

1:16:08or circumstances beyond the control of

1:16:10the Lency.

1:16:12Uh I think

1:16:15when and we haven't fully evaluated

1:16:17this, but if the uh reconsideration

1:16:21doesn't pass and we come back to the

1:16:23council with a home rule petition that

1:16:26we propose for the council to vote on

1:16:28and send to the legislature, I would

1:16:30have some suggestions to that section 4

1:16:33to to clarify that language and tighten

1:16:35it up a little bit um as to you know

1:16:39what are circumstances beyond the lences

1:16:41control that would allow them to

1:16:43transfer the license to a different

1:16:44location.

1:16:46>> Okay. So, just for the sake of moving

1:16:49the conversation forward, I'll say that,

1:16:52you know, I do think um I'll probably I

1:16:55will vote to reconsider because I do

1:16:56have some questions and um there are

1:16:59some unintended

1:17:01consequences here. Um, with that said, I

1:17:04don't know if you know that motion that

1:17:07councelor Nolan has passed will will um

1:17:10pass. But with that said, it seems uh,

1:17:13city solicitor, you'll regardless,

1:17:15you'll be coming back to us with your

1:17:17opinions on this home rule. Um, and so

1:17:20um, I think there will be another time

1:17:23to discuss before we actually approve

1:17:25um, something.

1:17:27Correct?

1:17:29>> Yes. um because the policy order ordered

1:17:32that the manager work with the solicitor

1:17:34and the license commission to draft and

1:17:36submit a home rule petition. So the vote

1:17:39that the council took on this policy

1:17:40order wasn't actually to forward a home

1:17:42rule petition to the legislature. So we

1:17:44will be back in order to allow the

1:17:46council to do that.

1:17:47>> Okay. Thank you so much. So why wouldn't

1:17:49we go ahead? We've heard from everyone

1:17:50who wanted to be heard on councelor

1:17:53Nolan's motion and so yes vote would be

1:17:56to reconsider and no vote to would be

1:17:58not to. Councelor

1:18:00El Zubie,

1:18:02>> yes. Vice Mayor Azim,

1:18:03>> no.

1:18:04>> No. Council Flareity,

1:18:05>> no.

1:18:06>> No. Councelor McGovern,

1:18:08>> no. Councelor Nolan,

1:18:09>> yes.

1:18:10>> Yes. Councelor Simmons,

1:18:11>> no.

1:18:12>> No. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler,

1:18:14>> no.

1:18:14>> No. Councelor Zusi,

1:18:16>> yes.

1:18:17>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki,

1:18:18>> yes.

1:18:18>> Yes. And you have four me four members

1:18:20recorded in the affirmative and five

1:18:22recorded in the negative.

1:18:24>> Reconsideration fails. So we will then

1:18:28now go ahead to placing the

1:18:32communication and reports from other

1:18:33city officers number four on file as

1:18:36well. So all those in favor say I. I.

1:18:39Those against say no. The eyes have it.

1:18:41That communication and report from other

1:18:43city officers is placed on file. Mayor

1:18:46Sadiki.

1:18:46>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

1:18:48>> I'm just not sure. Do we have to also

1:18:49separately move to place the

1:18:51reconsideration itself on file?

1:18:53>> I think we're okay.

1:18:54>> I think we're okay. Yeah.

1:18:57So we now move on to the city manager's

1:18:59agenda. Pleasure of the city council.

1:19:02>> Mayor Sadiki.

1:19:04>> I have councelor Nolan and then

1:19:06councelor Alzubi.

1:19:07>> Thank you. Number 11.

1:19:10Number 18.

1:19:15And I'll see if I'm I assume someone

1:19:17else will pull a couple others. If not,

1:19:19come back to me. And oh, and number 24

1:19:21and 25.

1:19:25We can go to councelor alubi and then

1:19:27councelor Sabrina Wheeler and then vice

1:19:29mayor.

1:19:30>> I'll pull two and 20.

1:19:35>> 2 and 20. So so far just for the record.

1:19:40We've pulled two. I'll pull number three

1:19:44for the CPA appropriations. We've pulled

1:19:46number 11, 18, 20, 24, and 25. Councelor

1:19:51Sina Wheeler. Uh, number 19.

1:19:53>> Number 19. Vice Vice Mayor.

1:19:59>> 19.

1:20:00>> Okay.

1:20:02>> And councelor Nolan, you pulled number

1:20:0418, right?

1:20:06>> Uh, yes.

1:20:07>> Anyone else? Councelor McGovern.

1:20:10>> 12.

1:20:14>> Pleasure of the city council.

1:20:18So, just for the record before we move

1:20:21to the roll call on the balance on a

1:20:23motion by councelor Simmons, we've just

1:20:24pulled two, three, 11, 12, 18, 19, 20,

1:20:3124, and 25. So, we'll go ahead on

1:20:34councelor Simmons motion to do a roll

1:20:36call on the balance of the city manager

1:20:38agenda items.

1:20:40Council El Zubie,

1:20:41>> yes.

1:20:42>> Yes. Vice Mayor Rim,

1:20:44>> yes.

1:20:44>> Yes. Council of Flareity,

1:20:46>> yes. Council McGovern,

1:20:47>> yes. Yes. Councelor Nolan.

1:20:49>> Yes.

1:20:49>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

1:20:51>> Yes.

1:20:51>> Yes. Councelor Sabrino Wheeler.

1:20:53>> Yes.

1:20:53>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

1:20:55>> Yes.

1:20:55>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

1:20:56>> Yes.

1:20:57>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:20:58in the affirmative.

1:21:00>> The balance of the city manager agenda

1:21:02items is adopted. We're going to city

1:21:04manager agenda item number two. This is

1:21:07a communication transmitted from Ian

1:21:08Huang, city manager, relative to an

1:21:10appropriation in the amount of $500,000

1:21:13from the federal grant stabilization

1:21:14fund to the grant fund department of

1:21:17human services programs other ordinary

1:21:19maintenance account to support a

1:21:20citywide response to federal changes

1:21:23affecting SNAP and mass health benefits

1:21:25under the one big beautiful bill act.

1:21:28Councelor Al Zubie pulled it. And just a

1:21:30reminder to folks, you'll have

1:21:32opportunity to ask two questions. Uh,

1:21:34and we can come back in the next round

1:21:38if you have more. Council Zubie.

1:21:39>> Cool. Thank you, Madame Mayor. I do want

1:21:42to acknowledge that I'll be supporting

1:21:43this appro appropriation and want to

1:21:45thank the community foundation COC for

1:21:48building this out. I do also just want

1:21:50to highlight this for the public too

1:21:52because our own numbers are showing that

1:21:54SNAP enrollment is down 15% since the

1:21:57big beautiful bill and the city's own

1:22:00data is actually showing that most

1:22:02people aren't losing eligibility. It's

1:22:0577% of DTA calls getting disconnected

1:22:07before anyone answers. It's 70% of

1:22:10denials being procedural and that's

1:22:12hopefully what some of this u

1:22:14appropriation will help fund. I do want

1:22:17to note though some thoughts um and a

1:22:19question to the city manager. This isn't

1:22:21the first time that we've drawn from the

1:22:23federal grant stabilization fund. Um it

1:22:25said that in the report and I just want

1:22:28to recognize that this fund was also

1:22:30supposed to be there first from the

1:22:33situation if it changed for our mixed

1:22:35status households and emergency housing

1:22:36vouchers. And the last update from what

1:22:39I understand is we don't have a clear

1:22:41timeline on where the the HUD litigation

1:22:43stands and feel free to correct me if

1:22:45I'm wrong. So quick question through you

1:22:48to the city manager. Can we get uh

1:22:50current running balance of that fund?

1:22:52what tonight's appropriation would leave

1:22:54and if the city's open to making sure

1:22:57we're able to s to support the to

1:23:00continually financially support this

1:23:02fund, especially um if we were to need

1:23:05it for help with emergency housing

1:23:07needs.

1:23:09>> City manager.

1:23:10>> Uh through you, Mayor. Um thank you for

1:23:12the questions, Councelor Alzubi. Um the

1:23:16current uh balance in the federal grant

1:23:18stabilization fund is $3.1 million. Uh

1:23:22and so uh we've got a list of what we've

1:23:26drawn out of that fund. Uh so far after

1:23:29this $500,000 appropriation, we would

1:23:31have 2.675

1:23:34uh million dollars remaining. Um I know

1:23:37we've had a lot of conversations about

1:23:39uh housing uh particularly both the HUD

1:23:42continue of care program and then the

1:23:45emergency housing vouchers. Uh we're

1:23:47continuing to have really good

1:23:50conversations about planning for uh both

1:23:52of those. Um as you all know, we're in

1:23:55litigation with HUD over the continuum

1:23:57of care program. Um that program

1:23:59continues to be running based on the

1:24:01existing allocations, but there are some

1:24:03pretty significant program changes that

1:24:05we're working through. Um and we've been

1:24:08having conversations with the housing

1:24:09authority about how to ensure that um

1:24:12that we are supporting uh folks who are

1:24:15housed. Um, I think that's incredibly

1:24:16important. We've heard that from this

1:24:18city council. Um, and I think, you know,

1:24:21in so far as the current amount of

1:24:24resources in the federal grant

1:24:26stabilization fund, I think we feel

1:24:28cautiously optimistic. Um, and certainly

1:24:30in the future, um, we still have a

1:24:33number of years of this administration

1:24:35to go. Um, if it were the case that we

1:24:38would need to come back and, uh, look at

1:24:41additional funding, I think that we

1:24:42would be very open to that conversation.

1:24:45Councelor Alzubi.

1:24:46>> Awesome. Uh thank you for that and just

1:24:48want to acknowledge again that this fund

1:24:51is super crucial for so many different

1:24:53things and I'm I'm glad that we are uh

1:24:55taking the time to support this and want

1:24:57to make sure that the emergency housing

1:24:59needs are not left out. I'll yield. And

1:25:02I'll just say that I'm, you know, really

1:25:03glad that uh we are doing this uh for

1:25:06and all for the updates we've received

1:25:08over the summer um as the impacts of the

1:25:11one big um beautiful bill act have

1:25:14continued to unfold. I'll just also

1:25:17quickly wanted to express appreciation

1:25:19for the folks who were involved. um you

1:25:22know that was CC CCF and Christina

1:25:25Turner, Rachel Plamer, Tina from COC

1:25:28along with um many of the other uh

1:25:31nonprofit partners who've been deeply

1:25:33engaged in their work. Uh I think

1:25:35they've been coordinating and their

1:25:37persistence really um has been

1:25:39invaluable as residents face these just

1:25:42really complex challenges uh accessing

1:25:46SNAP and um math health mass health and

1:25:49I was able to participate in the

1:25:51convening on September 8th and so I want

1:25:53to also acknowledge um the city manager

1:25:55um and the office his office's effort in

1:25:59making that effective citywide

1:26:02coordination happen. Uh I think it's

1:26:04definitely the role that we should be

1:26:06playing as a city um not just on food

1:26:08insecurity right but across many uh

1:26:10issues. So I just wanted to say that I

1:26:12know councelor Zusi you had your hand

1:26:14up. Please go ahead.

1:26:15>> Uh thank you. Um I also will be

1:26:18supporting this but I I I did have a

1:26:20couple of questions. One is has the

1:26:22$250,000

1:26:24that we allocated earlier for SNAP

1:26:26benefits has that been distributed

1:26:30>> uh through you mayor? Yes.

1:26:32[clears throat]

1:26:33Um, it is all distributed.

1:26:35>> Okay, that was easy. Uh, so what I'm

1:26:39wondering is, so $500,000 I I really is

1:26:42a a lot for outreach. I really uh

1:26:45support uh or I like honor the work of

1:26:48the CEO and helping to um manage this.

1:26:53Um but so with that $500,000, will they

1:26:57be adding a lot of staff? It just seems

1:26:59like everything funnels through CEO. I I

1:27:03guess what one of the things I'm

1:27:04wondering is do we need more money for

1:27:07food? I I realize a lot of the focus of

1:27:10this will be to really get people signed

1:27:13up for mass health benefits because um

1:27:17uh it may cost us 28.8 million dollars

1:27:20otherwise. that um again tell me more

1:27:23about how the 500,000 will be spent and

1:27:26whether we need to be thinking about

1:27:27food as well.

1:27:30>> Uh through you mayor um I think yes

1:27:32absolutely there is tremendous need in

1:27:35the food pantry network for emergency

1:27:38relief. Um I think this allocation is

1:27:41really focused on coordinating a

1:27:44response to support people to stay

1:27:46enrolled in both SNAP and Medicaid. Um,

1:27:50I think a lot of what we've realized,

1:27:53especially as we've seen the projections

1:27:56of enrollment drops, is just how many

1:27:58federal dollars are at risk. Um, dollars

1:28:01that are supporting the real needs of

1:28:03households in the city. Um, and so, you

1:28:06know, I think right now at a 15% drop,

1:28:09we're already seeing $3 million a year

1:28:12of less SNAP benefits in our community.

1:28:15Um, if we were conservatively to project

1:28:18out another 15% decline, that's $6

1:28:21million of SNAP funding that families in

1:28:25Cambridge don't have access to. Uh, on

1:28:28the Mass Health side, uh, we're looking

1:28:30at maybe 28 to $30 million worth of

1:28:34funding for medical care. Um, and that

1:28:36translates into, you know, people not

1:28:39getting access to medical services or

1:28:42taking on direct medical debt. Um, and

1:28:45so I think a lot of what we're looking

1:28:47at is $500,000 is a um is an amount that

1:28:52we think will be um very well leveraged

1:28:56compared to how much money in federal uh

1:29:00benefits uh we could keep people on. Um,

1:29:03and so a lot of that focus, especially

1:29:05immediately, is to uh is to support

1:29:08increased case workers who can navigate

1:29:11uh for um for people who are struggling

1:29:14to get on benefits. Um, but I think we

1:29:17also recognize that as we as we figure

1:29:20out how to coordinate across a lot of

1:29:22our community partners, um, there may be

1:29:24either additional case workers that that

1:29:27we will need to hire or additional uh,

1:29:29services that we want to offer. And so I

1:29:32don't think we have all of that $500,000

1:29:34allocated, but I think we thought this

1:29:36was a good starting point.

1:29:38>> Councelor Zusie.

1:29:39>> Uh, thank you. That's very helpful.

1:29:42>> Anyone else before we move? Yes, Council

1:29:44Flity.

1:29:45>> Well, I think through you, Madame Mayor,

1:29:46that was actually my question, my

1:29:48follow-up question. Is 500,000 enough?

1:29:50because it sounds like this money is

1:29:51outreach and translation and making

1:29:54certain that we're assisting people to

1:29:57remain in the program so we can get the

1:29:58federal dollars. But do we have enough

1:30:01staff? Do we have the boots in the

1:30:02ground to actually make sure people are

1:30:05properly and correctly applying to make

1:30:08certain those federal dollars come back

1:30:09to Cambridge so we can alleviate that

1:30:12burden. Do we need more money is really

1:30:14my question.

1:30:16>> Uh through you mayor. Um, thank you for

1:30:18the question, Councelor Flity. I think

1:30:20we'll know more as we as we get this

1:30:23stood up. Um, and so I think we didn't

1:30:25want to ask for too much and then end up

1:30:28realizing that we we didn't necessarily

1:30:30need all of that. Um, so I think this is

1:30:32a starting point. Um but certainly if if

1:30:34we're seeing a lot of success, if we're

1:30:37seeing greater need in the community,

1:30:39greater response, um and we don't have

1:30:41enough case workers to support that

1:30:43demand, um I think we would we would

1:30:46come back with more data about how many

1:30:49calls we're getting, uh how many people

1:30:51we've been able to enroll, and and we'd

1:30:53have a I think cleaner, uh request, um

1:30:56to come back with. So, um I don't want

1:30:59to say that like we we know for sure

1:31:01that this is going to be enough. Um but

1:31:03um but I also would want to come back

1:31:05with more information later if we were

1:31:07going to request additional funding.

1:31:09>> Councelor Flity.

1:31:10>> Well, thank you for you, Madam Mayor. I

1:31:12appreciate that. And uh you know, my

1:31:15only suggestion would be don't wait.

1:31:17This is a pre precipitous drop and if

1:31:20this federal dollar is available for the

1:31:22city of Cambridge, especially when we've

1:31:24uh we're encountering the difficulties

1:31:26that we are, I think we should uh we

1:31:28should do all we can to ensure that our

1:31:30population is coverage and we get that

1:31:33get those benefits. So, thank you very

1:31:35much for your efforts,

1:31:37>> Councelor Simmons. Uh thank you, Madame

1:31:39Mayor. As we talk first of all, uh

1:31:42through you do the city manager. I

1:31:43really appreciate the hard work and and

1:31:45the attention you've paid to making sure

1:31:47that we're meeting the needs of our

1:31:49citizens, particularly while we have um

1:31:52people in the federal government that

1:31:55are seem to be hellbent on making sure

1:31:58that people get

1:32:00less and less um while they build an

1:32:04addition to the White House and some

1:32:05other ridiculous things. My question

1:32:08though um as we do this and I certainly

1:32:11will you know support it. I mean, I

1:32:13think it just needs to be placed on

1:32:14file. I don't have it right in front of

1:32:15me. One question I do have is have going

1:32:19kind of thinking back to the 25 I want

1:32:22to think it's a 25 and 26 report we got

1:32:25from the rating agency standards and

1:32:28pores Fitch. I think I said that wrong.

1:32:30Fitch Finch, whatever they call

1:32:32themselves. Um they had a line wasn't

1:32:35more than a line about you know we're

1:32:38happy to to give this AAA bond rate bond

1:32:42AAA rating to the city and we know that

1:32:45AAA rating means that we can borrow

1:32:48money at a lower rate but they also and

1:32:50it wasn't much that they said is you

1:32:52know Cambridge has very vocal and

1:32:56[clears throat] proactive constituency

1:32:58and we we have we just want Cambridge to

1:33:01be mindful as they draw draw down on the

1:33:04unexpended fund balance. And so as you

1:33:06think through that, I just want to say

1:33:08out out loud, you know, we want to be

1:33:10able to remain solvent so that we can

1:33:13continue to pay off the debts that we

1:33:15have and the debts that we may incur as

1:33:18well as trying to meet the need that's

1:33:20coming to us not because of our own

1:33:23doing or bad money management because we

1:33:25have a anyways you understand that. So I

1:33:29just want to raise that concern and can

1:33:31you talk us through how you are going to

1:33:33insulate us um going forward because

1:33:37we're going to have at least two more

1:33:39years of this and I suspect this is not

1:33:42going to end. How do we how do how do

1:33:44you insulate us so that we can continue

1:33:47to enjoy that AAA re that trip? I'm

1:33:51going to say it wrong, but you know what

1:33:52I'm trying to say. So that we can borrow

1:33:54money to fund the things that we want

1:33:58the funds that so we can continue to

1:34:00fund the needs that are being

1:34:03underfunded and undermined by the

1:34:05federal government.

1:34:08>> Uh through you, Mayor, I think that's a

1:34:09great question, Councelor Simmons. Um, I

1:34:12think we'll continue to be trying to

1:34:14walk that balance um between recognizing

1:34:17that we continue to have the resources

1:34:20to make investments in um things that we

1:34:23see as really important um and and I

1:34:27think certainly like the federal

1:34:28stabilization fund, the efforts that

1:34:30we're putting into um addressing some of

1:34:33the gaps that are being created by our

1:34:35own federal government. Um, I think that

1:34:37goes on the list of things that we we

1:34:39sort of see an immediate need to do

1:34:41something about. Um, I think your

1:34:44question is is the right one for us to

1:34:47wrestle with on um where do we justify

1:34:51one investment versus all of the things

1:34:53that obviously we all want to do. Um,

1:34:55and I think that's where um that's

1:34:58where, you know, we're going to have to

1:35:00continue to work together to find

1:35:02where's the case why this expense or

1:35:05this initiative um rises to the top. Um,

1:35:08and I think the broader, you know, I

1:35:10think the broader dynamic as we get into

1:35:13the FY20, you know, we're going to set

1:35:15the tax rate for FY27. We're going to

1:35:17have a conversation about the FY28

1:35:19budget. Um, but to your point, a lot of

1:35:21that is also going to be continuing to

1:35:24be responsible with all of our existing

1:35:26spending, finding efficiencies, uh,

1:35:28finding ways for us to continue to

1:35:31deliver all of the services and programs

1:35:32that we want to deliver.

1:35:34>> Um, but um, but also managing within uh,

1:35:37our means,

1:35:40>> through you, Madam Mayor, and very

1:35:41quickly, uh, please let the city council

1:35:45know as soon as possible. I know we're

1:35:48in the budget process. It may be a

1:35:51little early. I think you started

1:35:52November. Maybe I'm wrong. But as you

1:35:55start to look at the budget process, um

1:35:57because we know it there going to be

1:36:00more needs to the degree that you can

1:36:02forecast that um letting us know if it's

1:36:05going to have any impact on setting the

1:36:07rate. It's going to have any impact on

1:36:09the taxpayer. uh at the last uh last

1:36:13year when we had a conversation around

1:36:16increasing what we were going to ask

1:36:18particularly from the commercial side

1:36:19and I know we're very close to the cap

1:36:22um people were a little concerned

1:36:24because they felt like well we didn't

1:36:25know that was coming. So to what degree

1:36:27we can forecast again forecast this to

1:36:30the taxpayer to say you know these are

1:36:32the hard times this is what we want to

1:36:34do this is what we're going to need to

1:36:35do to soften the blow but also to inform

1:36:39us that it's coming so that we can be

1:36:42fully engaged and informed. I yield.

1:36:45>> Thank you.

1:36:47Anyone else would like to say anything

1:36:48before we go ahead and do a roll call on

1:36:51the appropriation and placing the

1:36:53communication on file hearing? None.

1:36:56We'll do the roll call.

1:36:57>> Councelor Alzubi,

1:36:58>> yes.

1:36:58>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zim,

1:37:00>> yes. Councelor Flity,

1:37:01>> yes.

1:37:02>> Yes. Councelor McGovern,

1:37:03>> yes.

1:37:04>> Yes. Councelor Nolan,

1:37:05>> yes.

1:37:06>> Yes. Councelor Simmons,

1:37:07>> yes.

1:37:07>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler,

1:37:10>> yes. Councelor Zusi,

1:37:11>> yes.

1:37:12>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki,

1:37:13>> yes.

1:37:13>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:37:15in the affirmative.

1:37:16>> The money has been appropriated and

1:37:18communication number two, the city

1:37:20manager agenda, has been placed on file.

1:37:22We'll move on to city manager agenda

1:37:24item number three. This is a

1:37:26communication transmitted from Ian Wong,

1:37:28city manager, relative to the community

1:37:30preservation act appropriations.

1:37:32Want to just thank um you know all the

1:37:35work that goes behind the scenes uh here

1:37:38to uh get these recommendations uh

1:37:41before us. Thank the community

1:37:44preservation act committee. Um we have

1:37:47the chair Taha Jennings here. So, if you

1:37:49want to say a few words, uh you w you're

1:37:53welcome to. Uh we h have to take roll

1:37:55calls on uh four of these uh votes. Uh

1:37:59there's multiple parts to each vote. Uh

1:38:03and so wanted to pull it for that reason

1:38:05and then also for uh you to say a few

1:38:09words.

1:38:12>> Thank you through you, Madame Mayor. Um,

1:38:15I do want to take just a quick moment to

1:38:18uh acknowledge the sudden and unexpected

1:38:21passing of a longtime CPA committee

1:38:23member, Kevin Foster. Uh, he was an

1:38:26active member of the committee since at

1:38:28least 2012, and he always pushed the

1:38:31group to thank and operate with an eye

1:38:33towards equity and being a voice for

1:38:36those that aren't always represented or

1:38:38heard. Um, and I just want to recognize

1:38:41his contributions to the committee and

1:38:43his work to really make the community a

1:38:45better place. Um, he will be missed, but

1:38:48the positive impacts he had on the

1:38:49community, I'm sure, will last a very

1:38:51long time. I also want to thank the rest

1:38:54of the community preservation act

1:38:56committee for their volunteering, their

1:38:58time and work and effort over the last

1:39:00several months. I want to acknowledge

1:39:02and thank uh deputy budget director

1:39:04Daniel Liss from the budget office for

1:39:06coordinating this year's process as well

1:39:09as staff from the housing department,

1:39:11historical commission, open space

1:39:12committee uh for really providing a lot

1:39:15of expertise throughout the process. Uh,

1:39:18the CPA or Community Preservation Act,

1:39:20as you probably know by now, has been a

1:39:23very important source of funding for

1:39:25city projects, especially related to

1:39:27affordable housing. Uh, since 2002,

1:39:31uh, more than $324 million has been

1:39:36allocated through this process. Um, and

1:39:38it what it uses funds from, uh, local

1:39:43uh, property tax searchcharge and state

1:39:45funds. and over um several years we've

1:39:48been able to use some of the fund

1:39:49balance as well. Um for FY27 we're

1:39:54recommending uh 23,750,000

1:39:58in total uh 19 million to affordable

1:40:02house for to the affordable housing

1:40:03trust 2,375,000

1:40:08uh for historic preservation projects

1:40:10and 2,375,000

1:40:13to open space projects. Excuse me. Um,

1:40:17within those three categories, at least

1:40:1910% of, uh, CPA funds have to be

1:40:22allocated. So, uh, for years, the city

1:40:25has maintained, uh, 80% for affordable

1:40:28housing and 10% for both historic

1:40:31preservation and open space. Uh there's

1:40:34a lot of information as well in the uh

1:40:38book of project recommendations uh that

1:40:41was distributed to council and um other

1:40:44than that be happy to answer any

1:40:46questions. We have staff also available

1:40:48to help answer questions about any

1:40:50particular projects that you have but as

1:40:52you noted madame mayor there are a

1:40:53series of votes to take. We have to vote

1:40:55on the 80% 10% allocations for each of

1:40:59the funding categories being uh state uh

1:41:03funds, local searchcharge funds and from

1:41:06the fund balance. Thank you.

1:41:11>> Thank you. We'll go to councelor Zusi.

1:41:14>> I just wanted to congratulate you on all

1:41:16your all the work the CPA committee has

1:41:18done and I applaud your recommendations.

1:41:22Um, again, I I'm aware that not only is

1:41:25this often seed money, but it leverages

1:41:27other money. So, it's just amazing that

1:41:31um almost 200 and well, $60 million has

1:41:36gone into affordable housing since 2002,

1:41:39creating 3,5 units. And that has

1:41:42leveraged $600 million

1:41:45um to build that affordable housing. And

1:41:49um again with historic preservation and

1:41:51o open space projects $32.3 million

1:41:54since 2002 has been invested and

1:41:57[snorts] I I saw that money leveraged at

1:42:00Magazine Beach you know you know so for

1:42:03you know again and again the city would

1:42:05put in like a half or a third or just

1:42:07even anything it and and the state was

1:42:10inspired to match the money or or give

1:42:13more to take on the project. So I feel

1:42:16as though this is an incredible source

1:42:18of funding. I am personally very excited

1:42:22that the gift of the wind this will make

1:42:24possible the restoration of the gift of

1:42:26the wind at Porter the Porter Square

1:42:27MBTA station. Um it'll help to preserve

1:42:31the oddfellows hall facade restoration

1:42:33which I know is an expensive item but

1:42:36$500 towards that larger project. And it

1:42:40will also help to fund another project

1:42:41close to my heart which is the ADA

1:42:44accessibility of St. Augustine's Church

1:42:47in Cambridgeport with a grant of 250,000

1:42:52and then you'll be fixing the belfry or

1:42:55the city will of city hall. So I I just

1:42:59um I thank you uh for your leadership uh

1:43:02Taha and I um again I will be supporting

1:43:06your recommendations. fabulous, fabulous

1:43:08work yielding amazing results for the

1:43:11city. Thank you,

1:43:14>> Councelor Zimmons.

1:43:15>> Uh, thank you, Madam Mayor. Three, Mr.

1:43:17Jennings. Uh, I I want to concur with my

1:43:19colleague, Council Zuzie. I was it it's

1:43:24in these difficult times that we can

1:43:26continue to do this is exemplary. I know

1:43:29it's no hard, it's not an easy task, but

1:43:31I'm glad that we're able to do it. Uh,

1:43:33I'm trying to read very quickly. There

1:43:35were I wanted to speak to St.

1:43:37Augustine's but my colleague has done

1:43:39that. Uh there were two other items. I'm

1:43:42going to see if I can find it very

1:43:43quickly that had to do with the cemetery

1:43:47and I wasn't quite sure what it meant

1:43:49and I went online to try to figure out

1:43:52what it was that we I love cemeteries

1:43:55just so you know I'm going to have a

1:43:57party there. I hope you all will come.

1:43:59Um, what is that particular what is it

1:44:03that you were speaking to? And I'm I'm

1:44:06um Thank you.

1:44:08>> Yes. This your cemetery lodge stained

1:44:10glass windows. Is that what you Yes.

1:44:12>> I I'm sorry. I don't even know where the

1:44:15cemetery stained glass window is. And so

1:44:18I was just curious to to I'm happy to

1:44:21see it happen, but

1:44:23I didn't know. I couldn't I couldn't

1:44:25visualize.

1:44:27Is it is it in the Cambridge cemetery?

1:44:30>> Um uh through you mayor um Sadiki on

1:44:34page 20 of the um package. So it's on

1:44:39page 20 of the report there is a write

1:44:41up at the top that talks about um the

1:44:44Gothic style building. So it's the

1:44:46little chapel, the historic chapel

1:44:48that's on in Cambridge Cemetery and then

1:44:51it's windows within that chapel. So, it

1:44:53is not a chapel that's um utilized, but

1:44:55it is um an amazing historic building,

1:44:58but Charlie Sullivan probably knows

1:44:59more, but um there is a description of

1:45:02the project on page 20 of the report.

1:45:04>> I saw it, but I didn't think it was that

1:45:05building.

1:45:06>> Thank you. Through you to um whoever you

1:45:09are, Miss Watkins. I I saw that, but I

1:45:12said that can't be it because I don't

1:45:13know where the stained glass window is,

1:45:14but Okay. So,

1:45:15>> you will when it's done. It'll be

1:45:17beautiful.

1:45:17>> See, that's very helpful. That's very

1:45:19helpful. And there was one um relative

1:45:21to um black history and again I very

1:45:26quickly I can't find it. I was happy to

1:45:28see it. Um I think it was around

1:45:30archiving.

1:45:31Can you speak can you talk us through

1:45:32that?

1:45:33>> That one's on page 19. I I can't speak

1:45:35to that one personally but that is on

1:45:37the previous page of the report is the

1:45:39write up of that one. And then lastly,

1:45:41um, Hitfield.

1:45:44It's it says the the requesttor was Open

1:45:48Space Committee. And I'm just, you know,

1:45:49Hoyfield is very important to the

1:45:51African-American community in

1:45:52particular. You heard uh former mayor

1:45:55Ken Reeves talk about it. It there's

1:45:57certain places that we kind of hold on

1:45:58and think of as our own. We are with our

1:46:01numbers diminishing or not. It's a place

1:46:03that we kind of gather because it holds

1:46:05a lot of history for a lot of us. And

1:46:08I'm just wondering did we kind of are we

1:46:10informing the community about what we're

1:46:13going to be doing there? And it was it

1:46:15is it in the amount of money we're

1:46:17spending and how it's it's wonderful

1:46:20that we know but it'd be important for

1:46:22the community to know as well. through

1:46:24you, Madame Mayor. And I believe we have

1:46:27um some representatives from the open

1:46:29space committee on the line who can

1:46:31speak to this. Um but this is we're

1:46:35there's a process hasn't begun for

1:46:37Hoyfield just yet. We're working to

1:46:40build up funding for it. So I think it

1:46:42says in the description the total

1:46:44project cost uh is probably more than

1:46:47this or we anticipate future um funding

1:46:51requests for this project. Uh so this is

1:46:54you know as we gear up for that process

1:46:58trying to make sure we're lining up

1:47:00funding to support it.

1:47:03>> Okay. Uh through you madam very quickly

1:47:05through director Jennings. So I

1:47:08understand that and I'm pleased. I'm

1:47:09just curious what it is and is I mean

1:47:13not what it is so much is that the

1:47:14community is engaged in that

1:47:16conversation. We I think the Tarbell

1:47:18schools in there which I was very happy

1:47:20about but it's also important to the

1:47:23community however whatever the numbers

1:47:25are to say this is what we're doing in

1:47:27the community that has a lot of history

1:47:30for the African-American community in

1:47:32particular um the Caribbean black

1:47:35Caribbean community.

1:47:37So I it's just important for us to let

1:47:40people know that this is what we're

1:47:41doing and why we're doing it and kind of

1:47:43bring them along.

1:47:45Thank you. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I

1:47:46yield.

1:47:47>> Thank you. Are there any other questions

1:47:49about the preparations? Yes, councelor

1:47:51Councelor Nolan and then councelor

1:47:52Sabrina Wheeler.

1:47:53>> Um, I think it's it's thanks. I know

1:47:55this is a lot of work and when you

1:47:57actually review the number of projects

1:47:59involved in the range of the open space

1:48:02and the historic preservation, it's

1:48:04clear that there's a really thoughtful

1:48:06process that goes through a range of

1:48:08things across the city. So I think what

1:48:10I want to do is one appreciate it that

1:48:12it does represent I think very different

1:48:15uh segments of the city and different

1:48:17level projects. Um we can always be

1:48:19doing more but these do seem to be ones

1:48:21that um I think the city would would

1:48:24should take pride in and the that just

1:48:26this summary note and then it's backed

1:48:28up as as has been said before with much

1:48:30more detailed reports. So the the I'm en

1:48:33encouraging folks who haven't looked at

1:48:34it to actually just look at the the list

1:48:36of things we've done over the years and

1:48:37I really appreciate that this is a a

1:48:39long haul and and appreciate the the

1:48:42work that the committee does to get to

1:48:43this point.

1:48:46>> Council Wheeler.

1:48:47>> Thanks, Madam Mayor. I just want to note

1:48:49that I think this marks 25 years of

1:48:51Cambridge having the Community

1:48:52Preservation Act. Cambridge voters uh

1:48:55voted to adopt it in 2001. appreciate

1:48:58the this you know quarter century of

1:48:59funding for affordable housing and open

1:49:01space and historic preservation uh and

1:49:04you know bringing these things together

1:49:06and appreciate the foresight of

1:49:07Cambridge residents 25 years ago voting

1:49:09to adopt that and to tax themselves

1:49:11more. The the one on the ballot to say

1:49:13you know should we all vote to increase

1:49:16our taxes ever so slightly so that we

1:49:18can fund affordable housing and

1:49:19preservation and open space. That same

1:49:22year Boston voters rejected it and have

1:49:24a number of other communities. There's

1:49:25still dozens of communities in

1:49:26Massachusetts that have not adopted the

1:49:28Community Preservation Act. But I think

1:49:30it is just an important reminder of uh

1:49:32that when Cambridge residents are given

1:49:33the chance between, you know, keeping a

1:49:35little more for themselves or putting

1:49:37into a collective project for affordable

1:49:39housing for community goals, they choose

1:49:40to to contribute and to build. And I

1:49:43think that's an important lesson for us

1:49:44on the the council and for uh you know

1:49:46the community as well that because of

1:49:48the foresight of residents 25 years ago,

1:49:49we've invested so much in our community

1:49:51and we need to continue to do that as

1:49:53well. I yield back. Councelor Flity

1:49:57>> and I'd just like to say a thank you

1:49:59through you, Madame Mayor, to the

1:50:00committee and especially for selecting

1:50:02the gift of the wind project. That's uh

1:50:06been a sort of a sore spot in Porter

1:50:10Square for a little while and I think

1:50:11everyone who's been there sees the decay

1:50:15and what has happened. But it it's I

1:50:17think the selection of this as a as a

1:50:21project with the community preservation

1:50:22act and to invest the money that we're

1:50:24investing in that is a uh I it's it's

1:50:29symbolic for the city of Cambridge that

1:50:31we're thinking of art and we're thinking

1:50:34of how people live their lives. people

1:50:36who commute in Porter Square every day

1:50:38see this and rather than lift pe

1:50:42people's spirits up recently it's

1:50:44probably made people feel

1:50:47less each day when they see it and they

1:50:49say why aren't we doing something about

1:50:51the and it's a beautiful magnificent

1:50:53piece of art and the fact that the

1:50:55committee has selected this and is going

1:50:57to expend the dollars and take the time

1:51:00and the effort to improve that uh simply

1:51:03to make uh a moment in everybody's

1:51:06life in Porter Square a little bit

1:51:08better I think is a uh is an excellent

1:51:12example of what we should be doing as

1:51:15city leaders. So I congratulate you and

1:51:18I thank you very much for doing it

1:51:19because I enjoy looking at it when it's

1:51:21when it's well done. So thank you very

1:51:23much.

1:51:25>> So I think we've heard from everyone who

1:51:27had wanted to be heard. We have 10 roll

1:51:29call votes. So um we'll bear with me as

1:51:33I I say them. So the first vote 1A uh

1:51:36this is uh so basically the full vote um

1:51:40would be to allocate 80% of the FY2027

1:51:43CPA local fund revenues which would be

1:51:4716 million2

1:51:50uh 200,000

1:51:52to be allocated to the affordable

1:51:53housing and appropriated to the

1:51:56Cambridge affordable housing trust. So

1:51:57we'll do a roll call on doing that.

1:51:59>> Councelor El Zubie. Yes. Vice Mayor Zim.

1:52:02>> Yes. Council Flareity. Yes.

1:52:04>> Yes. Council McGovern.

1:52:05>> Yes.

1:52:05>> Yes. Council Nolan.

1:52:07>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

1:52:09>> Yes. Councelor Sabrino Wheeler.

1:52:10>> Yes.

1:52:11>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

1:52:12>> Yes.

1:52:13>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

1:52:14>> Yes.

1:52:14>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:52:16in the affirmative.

1:52:17>> Madame Mayor.

1:52:18>> Yes.

1:52:19>> Yes. Just for um clarification, you

1:52:22actually only need to take the four

1:52:24votes as long as you read the contents

1:52:27under each vote. So, we could take a

1:52:30roll call on just vote one

1:52:33to uh allocate fiscal year local funds

1:52:36and then you could read off 80% for

1:52:39affordable housing, 10% for these

1:52:41projects and similar down the list.

1:52:45>> So, just follow

1:52:46>> Got it. So, I'll just do you you're

1:52:48saying I can do them all together?

1:52:51>> Yes. So, but as long as you just read

1:52:53through what is underneath each vote?

1:52:56>> Yes. Okay. So, we'll go ahead and do

1:52:59that for vote uh number one, B, and C.

1:53:03So, number B would be voting to adopt

1:53:0710% of the FY2027 CPA local fund

1:53:10revenues, which is 2,25,000

1:53:15allocated to historical preservation as

1:53:17follows. And I I'll read all of this

1:53:20list, right? Yeah. Number one is $43,000

1:53:25appropriated to the cemetery lodge

1:53:26stained glass windows. Number two,

1:53:29$200,000 appropriated to the city hall

1:53:32fry restoration. Number three, $40,000

1:53:35appropriated to document conservation.

1:53:38Number four, $150,000 appropriated to

1:53:41the restoration of Gift of the Wind.

1:53:43Number five, half a million appropriated

1:53:45to Oddfellow's Hall facade restoration,

1:53:49which is at the dance complex. Number

1:53:51six, $650,000 appropriated to

1:53:53preservation grants. Number seven,

1:53:56$100,000 appropriated to the

1:53:57preservation projects administrator.

1:53:59Number eight, $250,000 appropriated to

1:54:02St. Augustine's Church accessibility

1:54:04improvements. Number nine, $32,280

1:54:10appropriated to vital records

1:54:12conservation. And then number 10,

1:54:15$59,720

1:54:20to be reserved for future use. And then

1:54:24I'll go ahead. We can go to vote

1:54:26>> roll

1:54:28vote C or we doing it separate.

1:54:30>> You're going to do B and C.

1:54:31>> We'll do we'll do C. I'll read C now.

1:54:34>> Okay.

1:54:34>> That's what Yeah. So vote 1 C is that

1:54:37we'll allocate 10% of the FY2027 CPA

1:54:40local fund revenues which is 22 million

1:54:43excuse me and $25,000

1:54:46allocated to open space as follows.

1:54:49$97,000 appropriated to ecological

1:54:51restoration ly Brook reser reservation

1:54:55number two $65,000 appropriated to

1:54:58expanding native species at Hell's

1:55:00Halfacre and tree care along Memorial

1:55:03Drive. Number three, $1,433,000

1:55:08appropriated to Hoy Field. Number four,

1:55:11$30,000 appropriated to site

1:55:13improvements at the Lynch Family Skate

1:55:15Park. Number five, $400,000 appropriated

1:55:18to Wilder Lee Park. So, we'll go ahead

1:55:21and do a roll call on BNC.

1:55:24Council Zubie,

1:55:26>> yes. Vice Mayor Zim,

1:55:27>> yes.

1:55:27>> Yes. Council Flareity,

1:55:29>> yes. Council McGovern,

1:55:31>> yes. Councelor Nolan,

1:55:33>> yes. Yes. Councelor Simmons.

1:55:35>> Yes. Councelor Sabrino Wheeler.

1:55:37>> Yes.

1:55:37>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

1:55:38>> Yes.

1:55:39>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

1:55:40>> Yes.

1:55:40>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:55:42in the affirmative.

1:55:44>> Great. So 20,250,000

1:55:49have been appropriated um for vote one.

1:55:52We'll move on to vote two, which is the

1:55:562026 state matching funds. So we have

1:55:59three roll calls here.

1:56:02Vote 2A is 80% of FY2026 state match

1:56:06revenues

1:56:08and which in the form of 2 million4 and

1:56:11two 2,400,000

1:56:13be allocated to affordable housing and

1:56:15appropriated to the Cambridge affordable

1:56:17housing trust

1:56:18number vote 2B is 10% of FY2026

1:56:22state match revenues the form of

1:56:24$300,000 alloc be allocated to historic

1:56:27preservation as follows number one

1:56:30$50,000 appropri orated to Black

1:56:32Cambridge historical collections. Number

1:56:35two, $250,000 appropriated to the

1:56:38Tarbell School facade restoration at the

1:56:40comm Cambridge Community Center. And

1:56:43then vote 2C, which is 10% of the FY2026

1:56:47state match revenues the form of

1:56:50$300,000 alloc be allocated to open

1:56:52space and appropriated to Wilder Lee

1:56:56Park. We'll go ahead and do a roll call.

1:57:00Yes. Vice Mayor Razim.

1:57:02>> Yes. Council Flareity.

1:57:03>> Yes.

1:57:04>> Yes. Councelor McGovern.

1:57:05>> Yes.

1:57:05>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

1:57:07>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

1:57:08>> Yes.

1:57:09>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

1:57:10>> Yes.

1:57:11>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

1:57:12>> Yes.

1:57:12>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

1:57:14>> Yes.

1:57:14>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:57:15in the affirmative.

1:57:17>> Okay. 300 million um in state matching

1:57:21funds have been adopted. We'll go to

1:57:23vote number three, which is the motion

1:57:25to adopt the CPA fund balance. So vote

1:57:283A is 80% of CPA fund balance which is

1:57:31400 $400,000

1:57:34is allocated to the affordable housing

1:57:35trust and appropriated to the Cambridge

1:57:37affordable housing trust. Both 3B is 10%

1:57:40of the CPA fund balance which is $50,000

1:57:43is allocated to historical preservation

1:57:46as follows and appropriate to city hall

1:57:48winter weatherization. Number vote 3 C

1:57:51is 10% of CPA fund balance which is

1:57:53$50,000 is allocated to open space and

1:57:56appropriate to Wilder Lee Park. We'll go

1:57:59ahead and do a roll call.

1:58:01>> Councelor Elubie.

1:58:03>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zim.

1:58:05>> Yes. Council Flareity.

1:58:06>> Yes.

1:58:07>> Yes. Council McGovern.

1:58:08>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

1:58:10>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

1:58:11>> Yes.

1:58:12>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

1:58:13>> Yes.

1:58:14>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

1:58:15>> Yes.

1:58:16>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

1:58:17>> Yes. Yes. and you have nine members

1:58:18recorded in the affirmative.

1:58:21>> Half a million has been adopted as part

1:58:23of the CPA fund balance. We'll go to the

1:58:25final vote which is number vote 4A. This

1:58:28is the motion to adopt the CPA fund

1:58:30balance for administration. This is

1:58:32$15,000 appropriate administrative cost

1:58:35for community preservation coalition

1:58:37membership dues. We'll do a roll call,

1:58:39please.

1:58:39>> Council Elubie,

1:58:41>> yes. Vice Mayor Zim,

1:58:43>> yes.

1:58:44>> Yes. Council Flity,

1:58:46>> yes.

1:58:46>> Yes. Yes. Council McGovern,

1:58:48>> yes. Councelor Nolan,

1:58:49>> yes. Councelor Simmons,

1:58:51>> yes.

1:58:51>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler,

1:58:53>> yes.

1:58:53>> Yes. Councelor Zusi,

1:58:55>> yes.

1:58:55>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki,

1:58:56>> yes.

1:58:57>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:58:58in the affirmative.

1:59:00>> $15,000 has been adopted as part of the

1:59:04CPA fund balance. We can go ahead and

1:59:06place that communication number three

1:59:08for city manager manager agenda item

1:59:11number three on file. All those in favor

1:59:14say I. I. Those again say no. The eyes

1:59:16have it. That communication is placed on

1:59:19file. Thank you. We're almost at 7:30.

1:59:23We're uh moving on to

1:59:26number 11 in the city manager's agenda,

1:59:30which is a communication transmitted

1:59:31from Ian Wong, city manager, requesting

1:59:34that the city council amend the city of

1:59:36Cambridge's authorized revolving fund

1:59:38ordinance to establish a new revolving

1:59:40fund for the renewable energy and

1:59:42greenhouse gas reduction to serve the

1:59:44city's municipal energy use. Councelor

1:59:47Nolan, you have the floor.

1:59:49>> Thank you. Um really glad to see this

1:59:52ordinance change. Um

1:59:55it's uh just to remind folks, we did do

1:59:57a virtual PPA, which is a power purchase

1:59:59agreement just to try to accelerate our

2:00:02own [snorts]

2:00:03uh purchasing of clean energy in the

2:00:05form of a solar farm in Illinois and a

2:00:08wind farm in North Dakota. And I think

2:00:10this allows us to add to the existing

2:00:12funds. Um I do uh what what the

2:00:17ordinance would allow us to do is set up

2:00:19the fund in order to receive um the

2:00:24overage or the underage from the virtual

2:00:26PPA as I understand it. That looks like

2:00:28there's confirmation of that from the

2:00:29folks at the table. Um a couple

2:00:32questions are when would we expect to

2:00:33see revenue from them? I know that that

2:00:36uh those uh

2:00:39field the field is in in process now I

2:00:42believe right in generating. So I the

2:00:44question is when or do we expect to see

2:00:45revenue and I know that the

2:00:47recommendation which I support is to

2:00:50since we have this before us to not send

2:00:52it to ordinance but to uh pass it to a

2:00:55second reading tonight. Is there a

2:00:58reason why we're behind on approving

2:01:00this and we actually need to use the

2:01:01emergency power we have to actually

2:01:04ordain it tonight?

2:01:08>> So just if if an emergency exists, we

2:01:10are allowed to suspend our rules, I

2:01:13believe, if if the city's lister is

2:01:14still here. And I just don't know the

2:01:16timing of this. I know that we want to

2:01:17get this in place as soon as possible.

2:01:19So I'm just curious as to where we're at

2:01:21with that and and how quickly we need

2:01:23this to move forward. And if there's

2:01:24anything else you want to add about why

2:01:25we're doing this now, now's the time.

2:01:27>> Director Katz.

2:01:29>> So through you, Mayor Sadiki. Um, so to

2:01:32answer your first question, Council

2:01:34Nolan, um, this revolving fund is on

2:01:37behalf of the city operations

2:01:39electricity use. And, um, we've signed a

2:01:43virtual power purchase agreement with

2:01:45the wind project, the Bowman wind

2:01:47project. Um it did it actually started

2:01:51operating a little sooner than we had

2:01:53expected. So it started operating last

2:01:56December actually. Um we've been making

2:01:59payments for it. We actually just

2:02:02received our first revenue from the

2:02:05system. I think it covered month of July

2:02:08possibly. Um, so what we're looking to

2:02:12do is since it's already in play,

2:02:15basically get all the funds in the right

2:02:17place. So we can take to basically move

2:02:22to from the revenue, take the revenue

2:02:24first and then um that would be primary

2:02:27and then city funds some of which have

2:02:30already been appropriated for this

2:02:31fiscal year would then be the secondary

2:02:34um source of payment. The second thing

2:02:37that we're doing also is we have several

2:02:41on-site um PV systems that the city has

2:02:45constructed and the Bowman project gives

2:02:48us more than enough wrecks that we need

2:02:51to fully offset our municipal

2:02:54electricity use. So, what we've just

2:02:56started doing is selling the Rex in the

2:03:01local market for renewable energy

2:03:05certificates and we received our first

2:03:09um check for those as well. It just came

2:03:11in I think last week and um that

2:03:14basically enables us to have the same

2:03:17number of the same offsetting of our

2:03:20electricity but that one has a high

2:03:24value in the marketplace because

2:03:26Massachusetts is a regulated market and

2:03:29um so there are utilities and suppliers

2:03:32who are looking to for those um they're

2:03:35srex they're called solarrex so um

2:03:39That's that's the reason that I would

2:03:42say is also we have the money coming in

2:03:44and we want to make sure that it's all

2:03:45available to spend it.

2:03:48>> Councelor Nolan.

2:03:49>> Yep. Yeah. At at some point we'll have a

2:03:51longer conversation because what that

2:03:52means is we cannot claim credit for that

2:03:54solar energy that we are generating here

2:03:56because we cannot double count it. If we

2:03:58sold it we can't and we last I looked at

2:04:01our report we're only producing 5% on

2:04:046.5% on site of solar of clean energy

2:04:07generation on site. So, we're using this

2:04:10uh wind farm, but that's also funding. I

2:04:12thought that energy was also used for

2:04:14people like me who participate in the

2:04:16community aggregation program. So, I

2:04:17think we just have to make clear that we

2:04:19are not double counting and that and and

2:04:22we are way way behind as a city on our

2:04:25goal of on-site solar generation in the

2:04:28city based on our net zero action plan.

2:04:29So, I'm just I'm just wanting to make

2:04:31sure we understand all that, but I'm

2:04:33happy to move this forward and I don't

2:04:34know if we need since it's already

2:04:36receiving revenue if the sense of the

2:04:39city would be we should actually ordain

2:04:40tonight or just pass to a a second

2:04:42reading is sufficient.

2:04:44>> Director Cass,

2:04:48>> um through I think the recommendation

2:04:49was to pass it to a second reading,

2:04:51correct?

2:04:52>> Yes.

2:04:52>> Yes. So, it wasn't to try to ordain

2:04:54tonight, but it was to pass it to a

2:04:56second reading without going to

2:04:57ordinance.

2:05:00Okay, we're set. We'll go to councelor

2:05:01Zusi.

2:05:02>> So, I support that and at some point

2:05:04want to understand the full implication

2:05:05of selling our Rexer.

2:05:07>> Councelor Zusi,

2:05:08>> thank you. Um, I'll be supporting this

2:05:10as well. I just wondered one, what are

2:05:13the anticipated revenues like annually?

2:05:16And two, it's note you note that the

2:05:19expenditures will be used to support

2:05:22reduction programs as well as Oh, will

2:05:25you'll be using the expenditures to

2:05:28monitor, but will it also be used to

2:05:31support greenhouse

2:05:34gas reduction projects or will Yeah. So,

2:05:38yeah, more about the revenues, more

2:05:40about the expenditures. Sure. Through

2:05:43you, Mayor Sadiki. So, the I actually

2:05:48don't have the specific figure of

2:05:50revenues right now. Um, I know that with

2:05:55our on-site systems, we could be

2:05:57generating 150 to $200,000 a year. Um,

2:06:02for the VPPA, I don't have that figure

2:06:04in front of me and I could provide it.

2:06:06Um, and I'm sorry, what was your uh your

2:06:09other question? So you note that you're

2:06:12going to be using the money to support

2:06:15monitoring, but will it also help to

2:06:19support reducing uh projects that reduce

2:06:21greenhouse emissions? So at this point,

2:06:25it is not intended to because it's

2:06:28particularly related to the VPA. The

2:06:30VPPA itself is reducing our greenhouse

2:06:34gas emissions. It's it's basically

2:06:37saying that every

2:06:39every piece of electricity that the city

2:06:42uses for our lights, for street lights,

2:06:45for park lights is now being considered

2:06:48renewable electricity. So, it's fully

2:06:51offset the greenhouse gas emissions for

2:06:53those.

2:06:55>> Councelor Zusi,

2:06:57>> I I think I'll just that's that's you

2:07:00know, this is very complicated. Uh

2:07:02anyway, that's a good enough answer for

2:07:04now. Thank you. Other

2:07:06questions on this

2:07:09hearing? None. On a motion by councelor

2:07:11Nolan to pass this uh revolving fund

2:07:16ordinance to establish a new revolving

2:07:18fund for the renewable energy and

2:07:20greenhouse gas reduction to serve the

2:07:22city's municipal energy use to the

2:07:24second reading. We'll do a roll call.

2:07:26Councelor El Zubie.

2:07:27>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zim.

2:07:29>> Yes. Councelor Flity.

2:07:30>> Yes.

2:07:31>> Yes. Councelor McGovern.

2:07:32>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

2:07:34>> Yes. Yes. Councelor Simmons.

2:07:36>> Yes.

2:07:36>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

2:07:38>> Yes.

2:07:38>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

2:07:40>> Yes.

2:07:40>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

2:07:41>> Yes.

2:07:42>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

2:07:43in the affirmative.

2:07:45>> We will. That um ordinance has been

2:07:47passed to a second reading. And we will

2:07:50go ahead and place that communication on

2:07:54file. On a motion. All those in favor

2:07:57say I.

2:07:58>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

2:08:00it. That communication is placed on

2:08:02file. We're going to city manager agenda

2:08:04item number 12. This is a communication

2:08:06transmitted from Ian Wong, city manager,

2:08:08relative to awaiting report item number

2:08:1026-27,

2:08:12requesting that the city manager direct

2:08:14staff to examine whether the city can

2:08:16enact an ordinance requiring public

2:08:18buildings and places of public

2:08:19accommodation in Cambridge with one or

2:08:21more single stall restrooms to have at

2:08:24least one single stall restroom with

2:08:26gender neutral signage. Councelor

2:08:30McGovern.

2:08:30>> Uh, thank you, Madame Mayor. through

2:08:32you. Uh, thank you, Madam Solicitor, uh,

2:08:35for the report. I'm not thrilled with

2:08:37the answer, but that's not on you. Um,

2:08:39that's it. It's it's uh I know that I

2:08:43guess we can't um require this in in in

2:08:46ordinance, but I was wondering if there

2:08:48was something I know in in the report it

2:08:50says that, you know, that ISD will talk

2:08:53with with folks and make them aware that

2:08:56um this is an option for them. Is there

2:08:58is there anything that we can do in

2:09:00between a requirement and just a hey,

2:09:02you might want to think about this. Um

2:09:04is there a best practice standard? Is

2:09:07there a I don't know. I just I think

2:09:09this is an important issue for the folks

2:09:12in the trans community. um and

2:09:14especially given uh the state of the

2:09:17country at this point to to to not feel

2:09:20um either you know have to make that

2:09:22decision about which bathroom they enter

2:09:24and what uh the ramifications of that

2:09:27you know might be for them. So you know

2:09:29this wasn't

2:09:31you know this wasn't just like a nice

2:09:33thing to do like I think this is really

2:09:35something important. So are there any

2:09:37other options at our disposal? [sighs]

2:09:40Uh thank you three you madame mayor and

2:09:42I'll start and um deputy commissioner

2:09:45Lazaro might have more to add but we

2:09:48can't have a requirement in place so we

2:09:50can't have a regulation or an ordinance.

2:09:52Um there might be other ways though of

2:09:56getting the the message out to uh

2:09:59contractors or developers or um you know

2:10:02people who would be coming in with plans

2:10:06to uh you know build these places of

2:10:09public accommodation such as you know

2:10:11restaurants. I here really it's aimed at

2:10:13restaurants. Um you know and maybe it's

2:10:16something where we can partner with uh

2:10:19the LGBTQ plus commission to as well as

2:10:23maybe the economic development division

2:10:25in CDD um to try to get information that

2:10:29ISD can likely help put together to get

2:10:33that information out to those who might

2:10:35be making these decisions.

2:10:38>> Council McGovern.

2:10:39>> Uh thank you madam. Yeah, I I'd

2:10:41appreciate that. But I I'd appreciate it

2:10:42if we could just maybe put our heads

2:10:44together and think about um you know

2:10:46given the limitations that we what we

2:10:48can do legally with an ordinance, how

2:10:50else we might be able to uh encourage

2:10:53folks to to think about this this issue.

2:10:56Thank you.

2:10:57>> Any other questions on this matter?

2:11:02Hearing none, we'll go ahead and place

2:11:04city manager agenda number 12 on file.

2:11:08All those in favor say I. I. Those

2:11:10against say no. The eyes have it. Item

2:11:12number 12 is placed on file. We're going

2:11:15on to city manager agenda item number

2:11:1618. This is a communication transmitted

2:11:18from Wong, city manager, relative to the

2:11:212025 transportation demand management

2:11:24program report. Councelor Nolan, you

2:11:26pulled this.

2:11:28>> Thank you. Yes, just had a a couple

2:11:30questions. I always appreciate this this

2:11:32report to come before the council um

2:11:35because it's something we've relied on

2:11:36over time to uh look at how it is that

2:11:39it's just our our larger properties are

2:11:41dealing with this question of

2:11:43[clears throat] mode share and

2:11:45particularly with this with the goal of

2:11:47reducing um single occupancy vehicle

2:11:49vehicles. As I as I read it, it seems

2:11:52that

2:11:53while there has been a reduction, it's

2:11:55kind of more steady state because the

2:11:58the TDM property so the transition

2:12:00transportation demand management

2:12:02properties which are the larger

2:12:03properties in the city did see uh less

2:12:06or have seen sometimes less um single

2:12:08occupancy vehicle but that is only

2:12:10because of remote work if I'm reading

2:12:12that correctly that um so that I I I

2:12:15think that the couple questions I have

2:12:16is how are how do we see with the future

2:12:19of this moving forward of how is it that

2:12:21we are um blending our work on transit

2:12:24because that's clearly something that

2:12:26that does increase and certainly the

2:12:28folks living in Cambridge are using that

2:12:29more than the folks folks who are just a

2:12:31workforce in Cambridge. And then

2:12:33separately from the um at the end

2:12:36there's many charts about mode share for

2:12:39people and also where they park their

2:12:41vehicles and locations. And that is only

2:12:43for the the TDM properties. There's a

2:12:45couple other places in the report where

2:12:47there is resident surveys or a larger

2:12:49group of Cambridge workforce and

2:12:51Cambridge residents, but not for that

2:12:53section of the report. Is that something

2:12:54that we've ever done or could expect to

2:12:56see in the future? if that makes sense

2:12:58as as questions and I apologize I didn't

2:13:00send these earlier today so I know you

2:13:03may not have the answers

2:13:04>> that's all right um through you madame

2:13:06mayor um the I'm going to start with the

2:13:09second question first if that's okay um

2:13:11I am not aware of a data source that we

2:13:13have that would allow us to look at um

2:13:15parking locations for uh residents

2:13:17citywide um it's kind of unique that we

2:13:20have this even this small window into

2:13:22where residents are parking um

2:13:26do you of another source. Okay, great.

2:13:29Uh

2:13:30>> when 80% are in a driveway, it means

2:13:32they're in the large driveway or or in a

2:13:34garage, it means obviously that makes

2:13:36total sense only because TDM properties

2:13:38are large buildings.

2:13:40>> Yes. Yeah. So, they're generally parking

2:13:42um in the the on-site garage or the

2:13:43lots. Um the first question was about uh

2:13:48reduction in um SOV rates over time uh

2:13:52and how they um might be affected by

2:13:55moves to hybrid work and and that sort

2:13:57of thing. Is that the right question?

2:13:59>> And and how we're doing to move forward

2:14:00on our goal of reducing single occupancy

2:14:03vehicle use because it's still 45% of of

2:14:06folks who are using it throughout the

2:14:08week. You know, much less on Friday, but

2:14:10that's because they're remote.

2:14:11>> Yeah. So, um the I I think we're just

2:14:16starting to see kind of what the effects

2:14:17of hybrid work are going to be uh in the

2:14:20future on um on the mode share kind of

2:14:23split. Um people make decisions about

2:14:27where to live and where to work partly

2:14:28based on um their transportation options

2:14:30of course and so when one of those

2:14:32options is working remotely that can

2:14:34have an effect on where people choose to

2:14:35live and work. So I I think there are

2:14:37some sort of long-term effects that

2:14:39we're not able to see yet. Um

2:14:45the uh the other thing to mention I

2:14:48think is the net zero trans or sorry it

2:14:50has a new name the zero emission

2:14:51transportation plan um which is looking

2:14:54not just at PTDM properties but citywide

2:14:56uh and uh finding um options for

2:14:59reducing so travel that actually work

2:15:02for people. Um so I think once that

2:15:04begins to be implemented we'll maybe see

2:15:06more movement on the citywide numbers.

2:15:08Um, you know,

2:15:10>> councelor Ellen.

2:15:12>> Yeah. And obviously I look forward to

2:15:13continued progress on that citywide

2:15:16free, affordable, frequent, reliable

2:15:18shuttle that goes across the city,

2:15:19combining all of the shuttles from

2:15:21various players because I think that's

2:15:23something, you know, we've talked about,

2:15:24I know, is is being studied, I believe.

2:15:26Is that is that correct, to move forward

2:15:29um so that we can get to a point where

2:15:31people will leave their cars at home

2:15:32only when they have other options that

2:15:34they view as viable. So So those were

2:15:36the questions. Again, I was I was happy

2:15:37to see it and would love to um I'll

2:15:40probably send a few follow-up questions

2:15:41that we don't talk about here because I

2:15:42realize they may be more specific than

2:15:44is fair to ask here, but thanks again

2:15:46for your work. It's a critical part of

2:15:48our our city moving forward into an era

2:15:52of reducing the sing vehicle and making

2:15:54it a more livable place for all. So, I

2:15:56yield.

2:15:57>> We'll go to councelor Zusi and then

2:16:00councelor Flareity.

2:16:01>> Uh thank you, Mayor Sadiki. Um so my big

2:16:04takeaway from this was um most of all

2:16:08when people were asked what they needed

2:16:10to do if if we wanted to encourage them

2:16:13to use more greener transportation modes

2:16:16modes they said we need better more

2:16:18frequent more reliable and expanded

2:16:21buses and trains. So, um, we've got to

2:16:26continue to encourage Phil Ang to work

2:16:30with us and I know we're working closely

2:16:31with the MBTA to continue to produce,

2:16:35um, better systems here so that more

2:16:37people can rely on mass transit. I

2:16:39wanted to ask I have a question for you,

2:16:41but I just wanted not to put you on the

2:16:44spot, but what were your biggest

2:16:45takeaways from this study?

2:16:50>> Thank you. Uh, through you, Madame

2:16:52Mayor. Um, I think the the big takeaways

2:16:55that I had from the study this year are

2:16:57um the small decrease in remote work

2:17:01days um from 24 to 25 um and uh kind of

2:17:06small increases in driving alone and

2:17:08transit sort of compensating for that um

2:17:11at least in the employee survey. Um like

2:17:14you counselor Zusi I uh want to note

2:17:17that improving transit service seems to

2:17:19be one of the strongest uh strategies

2:17:21that we have for reducing driving alone.

2:17:24Um

2:17:26I think there's also in the resident

2:17:28survey uh some kind of evidence that

2:17:31that is actually helping. Um so uh after

2:17:34the track improvement program the MBTA

2:17:37completed in 2024 um we saw a jump from

2:17:4026% of resident work trips being used uh

2:17:45or being through transit to 31% this

2:17:47year. Um which is quite a big jump u and

2:17:50I think probably reflects the the better

2:17:51transport uh public transportation that

2:17:53we have available. Um, one small one

2:17:57more small thing. Um, I think it's

2:17:58really exciting that the uh that walking

2:18:00is the most popular mode for patrons um

2:18:04of our local businesses uh with about

2:18:0648% of patrons arriving um by walking.

2:18:10>> Yeah. And I noticed that too. I thought

2:18:12that I found that really really

2:18:13interesting that um and that makes sense

2:18:16that makes sense to me too. Uh because I

2:18:19think mostly because it is so hard to

2:18:21park. I think people are going to local

2:18:24businesses and lo local restaurants. I

2:18:26know my husband and I that's what that's

2:18:28what we do. We walk everywhere. Um so I

2:18:31I my question is does the does the city

2:18:35the city doesn't participate in either

2:18:37of these surveys and how do we track uh

2:18:43city staff transportation patterns?

2:18:46because I you know we do have 2,000

2:18:48employees so I think it's really we we

2:18:50love city staff but I think we many live

2:18:53outside of the city and we have to

2:18:55understand how they're getting to work

2:18:57and where they're parking so we can

2:18:59accommodate them. Thank you

2:19:06>> through you madame mayor. Um councelor

2:19:08Zy thank you for the question. We have a

2:19:10couple city properties that are in the

2:19:12PTDM program. So, some properties are um

2:19:18some city employees are covered by PTDM

2:19:21benefits and we do have we do track how

2:19:24they get to work. We also have um every

2:19:27two years the state requires us to do a

2:19:31D ride share survey which is um

2:19:34something that large employers are

2:19:36required to do. So, we do track for all

2:19:39city um employees how they get to work.

2:19:43And um I believe this coming year we

2:19:47will be starting um that survey again.

2:19:49So, we'll have new information.

2:19:53>> Cerusy.

2:19:54>> Yeah. Great. That's wonderful because I

2:19:56I just think again uh it it seems that

2:20:00about 40% of the PDM people are driving.

2:20:05We have a lot of people driving and

2:20:06commuting. Um and

2:20:11and again, it's just really important to

2:20:15um plan make sure they can park

2:20:17somewhere because uh I think this will

2:20:19continue for some time until we have

2:20:21shared autonomous vehicles and better

2:20:23mass transit. It seems as though people

2:20:25will need a place to park. Thank you.

2:20:29>> We will go next to Councelor Flity.

2:20:33>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. through you. So,

2:20:35I've got a question. I might have this

2:20:36wrong, but I remember reading this and

2:20:38seeing that maybe there were 79 79

2:20:42properties under the uh TDMP and 11 of

2:20:46them were not make meeting their

2:20:48commitments, something like that. And

2:20:50so, my question is what happens when a

2:20:53property doesn't meet its commitments?

2:20:57>> Thank you for the question uh through

2:20:58you madame mayor. Um our first uh

2:21:02attempt at least uh whenever there's a

2:21:04compliance issue is um to work

2:21:06collaboratively with the property owner

2:21:08um to bring the property into

2:21:10compliance. Um sometimes that looks like

2:21:12just helping them figure out how to

2:21:14implement the TDM measures that are

2:21:16already required by their PTDM plan or

2:21:18by their special permit. Um in some

2:21:20cases it means developing new TDM

2:21:22measures that will um kind of expand the

2:21:25options that are available to folks who

2:21:27are traveling to that site. Um, we do

2:21:29have some enforcement mechanisms um

2:21:32through both the PTDM ordinance and

2:21:34through the special permit process. Um,

2:21:35but we so far have always been able to

2:21:37work with the property owner in order to

2:21:40decrease the S so rate over time. Um, so

2:21:43we haven't had to use those.

2:21:44>> Okay, fair enough.

2:21:46>> And uh through you, Madame Mayor, if you

2:21:48could fix the tea, maybe that would uh

2:21:50solve all our problems, but I know

2:21:51that's not within your scope of

2:21:55responsibilities, duties, or abilities.

2:21:57So, I appreciate your reference. Thanks.

2:22:00>> Any other questions on this report

2:22:03before we move on?

2:22:05Hearing none, go ahead and do a roll

2:22:08call on placing city manager agenda item

2:22:11number 18 on file. All those in favor

2:22:14say I.

2:22:15>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

2:22:17it. City manager agenda number 18 is

2:22:20placed on file. We'll move on to city

2:22:23manager agenda ite number 19. This is a

2:22:25communication transmitted from Ian Wong,

2:22:27city manager, relative to a waiting

2:22:29report item number 26-45

2:22:32regarding review of decline in traffic

2:22:35enforcement. This was filed by councelor

2:22:37Sabrina Willer and then I'll go to the

2:22:39vice mayor uh next. Councelor Sabrina

2:22:42Willer.

2:22:42>> Thanks, Madam Mayor. Through you, I just

2:22:44had a couple questions on this and

2:22:45thanks for the report back and um sort

2:22:48of overview of traffic enforcement

2:22:50trends here. Um, the one question I had

2:22:53was, um, you know, I know we don't have

2:22:54automated speed enforcement cameras yet

2:22:57or red light cameras yet because they

2:22:59haven't been authorized by the state

2:23:00legislature. The state government, um,

2:23:02last year or the year before did

2:23:04authorize the installation of cameras

2:23:06uh, for school buses to catch drivers

2:23:08who illegally pass halted school buses

2:23:11with their stop sign out. I think we

2:23:13passed a policy order around that kind

2:23:15of traffic enforcement. So, is that

2:23:17something that our school buses have

2:23:19adopted yet? Do you know? And are there

2:23:21data trends around that?

2:23:24>> Uh to you, Madame Mayor, unless you

2:23:26know, uh I don't believe I have any on

2:23:28that.

2:23:29>> All right, stand by

2:23:36you, Madame Mayor. Um I don't have the

2:23:38latest update on that. Um some time ago

2:23:41I did have a short conversation with

2:23:43folks at the school department and they

2:23:44were kind of doing their due diligence

2:23:46around how to um implement that type of

2:23:51enforcement in their full range of

2:23:54transportation op options. Um so that's

2:23:58something that I can I can speak to the

2:24:00school department about and ask them to

2:24:01give you an update.

2:24:03>> That would be great. Thank you. Um and

2:24:05then the other question around traffic

2:24:07enforcement specifically around

2:24:08intersections where we've continued to

2:24:10see some of the the most dangerous

2:24:12crashes uh including on city streets

2:24:14where we've you know seen people killed

2:24:16in the past couple years and then just a

2:24:18few weeks ago it was on DCR controlled

2:24:20land but in Cambridge uh MIT professor

2:24:23and cyclist killed at an an intersection

2:24:26there. Um so I just wanted to ask how

2:24:28the the city you know prioritizes

2:24:30high-risisk intersections um especially

2:24:32from a traffic enforcement perspective.

2:24:34I know we've been been doing a lot of

2:24:35work around design and and turn

2:24:37hardening around intersections, but

2:24:39particularly from an enforcement

2:24:40perspective. Um, just how we prioritize

2:24:43enforcement around uh, you know, high

2:24:45speeds, failure to yield, running red

2:24:47lights, illegal right turns, especially

2:24:49by larger vehicles, trucks, you know,

2:24:51some of the most dangerous ones. how we

2:24:53sort of prioritize the most uh dangerous

2:24:55intersections and how we're using data

2:24:57around that to to narrow in on the most

2:24:59dangerous intersections, where we see

2:25:01the most crashes or the most illegal

2:25:04turns. Um, and if there are more things

2:25:06we could do to be, you know, really

2:25:07honing in on those uh dangerous

2:25:09intersections.

2:25:10>> Uh through you, Madame Mayor. I'm going

2:25:11to have uh my expert traffic lieutenant

2:25:15uh answer that question for you.

2:25:18So, the department has a full-time

2:25:20traffic analyst that um goes through all

2:25:22the crash reports that are taken in in

2:25:25the city. And using that data, we break

2:25:27it down by street address, intersection,

2:25:31and also the

2:25:33devices involved in the collision as

2:25:35well. Um because in the city, it's not

2:25:38just like you're saying, it could be

2:25:40pedestrian versus motor vehicle, motor

2:25:41vehicle, motor ve, the combination of

2:25:43devices. It could be in the city goes

2:25:44on. Um, we then take that data and they

2:25:48can create maps for us and the they're

2:25:50color-coded maps and you know wherever

2:25:52you see the dark red is basically where

2:25:54you see the areas of most concern and

2:25:56they're just it's consistently been the

2:25:59longest roadways. Massav from Walden up

2:26:01to the Arlington line, I in square area

2:26:04of Hampshire Street, um Cambridge

2:26:06Street, basically from Third Street down

2:26:09to Windsor Street, those such areas. Um

2:26:12officers do do enforcement in those what

2:26:14we call high accident uh areas and

2:26:17there's a 86 alpha called directed

2:26:20enforcement that they can call off on to

2:26:22show they're addressing those specific

2:26:24areas. Um, I know currently there's a

2:26:27lot of construction going on at

2:26:29Hampshire and Prospect, which is one of

2:26:31those areas. They're putting in a

2:26:32separated bike lane, and that there are

2:26:34infrastructure changes along the way.

2:26:36All those areas as well also have bike

2:26:38lanes on them, um, which is something we

2:26:40also address, clearing out the cars and

2:26:42the bike lanes. But um

2:26:45basically it's it is something and I

2:26:47know that the commissioner recently has

2:26:49had this traffic analyst prepare reports

2:26:52for her command staff meetings so that

2:26:53the higher-ups in the department can

2:26:55look see what the trends are and then

2:26:57use them in patrol operations to use the

2:26:59resources of both patrol and the traffic

2:27:01unit to address these concerns.

2:27:04>> Cers,

2:27:05>> thank you. That's helpful. I may have

2:27:07some follow-up questions offline. Um but

2:27:08I'll yield for now so my colleagues can

2:27:10ask questions. Vice Mayor Zim.

2:27:15>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Um, I had a

2:27:17question in your report. Um, it starts

2:27:20with 2021 and, um, my thought was that,

2:27:25um, I know there was a dip in, you know,

2:27:27general driving in traffic during the co

2:27:30years and it's rebounded a little bit

2:27:31since then. I looked at the um open data

2:27:34online and um it's slightly different

2:27:37numbers but I just thought I would ask

2:27:39um before 2019 or you know 2019 and

2:27:42before that I saw much higher numbers

2:27:44than even now. Uh does that match the

2:27:47story or uh of what you guys have heard

2:27:49as well?

2:27:52>> Through you madam mayor. Yes.

2:27:56>> So the the numbers were on a decline

2:27:59then COVID hit. Since then, they

2:28:01basically had nowhere to go but up

2:28:03>> with that as well

2:28:05co in 21 we did not receive any grant

2:28:08funding from OGR. Since then uh 2022

2:28:12we've received the municipal road safety

2:28:14grant which has allowed us additional

2:28:16funds to address public safety concerns.

2:28:18um that crime an I'm sorry that traffic

2:28:20analyst I just discussed uh found a high

2:28:23collision rate at Brattle and Sparks

2:28:26that area there where Craigy Street is

2:28:28and we utilize those funds to sign

2:28:31officers there to address the crash rate

2:28:33between bicyclist and motor vehicles

2:28:35that area but as far as the trend of the

2:28:37numbers go yes from 19 to 20 went down

2:28:4121 went up a little bit and then since

2:28:43then they've sort of gone up and

2:28:45plateaued.

2:28:47>> Yeah. Um, so

2:28:48>> Vice Mayor,

2:28:48>> oh, thank you. Um, I was just wondering

2:28:50what do you think is the rational for

2:28:52why they're still lower than P209

2:28:54levels? I understand like you know these

2:28:56grants or other things would be helpful

2:28:57and like I don't think that the police

2:29:00department, correct me if I'm wrong, has

2:29:01dramatically different resources than it

2:29:03did in 2017 2018. So, I was just

2:29:05wondering if you could go more into why

2:29:07you think that they're still um again,

2:29:09maybe the numbers on the open data

2:29:11portal are not exactly the same, but I

2:29:13see almost double the number of what we

2:29:15have now citations per year.

2:29:18>> Through you, Madam Mayor, it's

2:29:21a complicated answer. Our data trends

2:29:24match those of the surrounding

2:29:25communities of law enforcement. Um, and

2:29:29we are slightly better than most of

2:29:31them. The

2:29:33infrastructure changes in the city do

2:29:35appear to be working. Speeding is the

2:29:38most complained about thing in the city,

2:29:40but through our speed trailer data and

2:29:41the data at DOT, we're not seeing

2:29:46speeding uh as much as people are

2:29:48complaining about it. And when we have

2:29:50people go out and address this, so part

2:29:52of it is the community interaction

2:29:53aspect of it. We'll send the officers

2:29:55down to run LAR. Neighbor will come out

2:29:57and say, "Hey, I'm the one that

2:29:58complained." This happened right over

2:29:59here on Clinton Street, actually. and we

2:30:01sat there with them showing them the LAR

2:30:04what the numbers were on there and they

2:30:05were surprised at what their perception

2:30:07was and how fast it was going. We've

2:30:09also done this on Massav as well. Um but

2:30:13ultimately why the numbers went down is

2:30:16we if we could pinpoint it to one thing

2:30:18we could address it but we think it's a

2:30:19number of things and part of it is the

2:30:21way these infrastructure changes have

2:30:22gone. It's cut down on the ability to

2:30:24take risk uh such as running a red light

2:30:26because traffic's congested traffic

2:30:28calming wise to prevent two lanes of

2:30:31traffic. It's down to one now. The other

2:30:33thing is the city has done a good job of

2:30:35with the

2:30:38way the roads are done. Going in a

2:30:40straight line is the easiest way to

2:30:41speed up. That's really been taken away

2:30:44on most of the main roads. Um, Broadway,

2:30:47they're currently doing construction

2:30:48there, putting in bike lanes and putting

2:30:50in uh shifts in the road and um they did

2:30:54it up on Garden Street as well.

2:30:57>> Were um okay. Um I would just say that

2:31:00that's very helpful. Um I think that um

2:31:03if it's for those reasons, that's like a

2:31:05compelling positive reason, you know,

2:31:06that the city's getting safer. Um, and I

2:31:09think that I would just, you know, um,

2:31:11maybe not for this sort of conversation,

2:31:13but just, uh, the the reason I'm a

2:31:15little concerned is that like if we just

2:31:16saw these numbers in Cambridge, like it

2:31:18would be like, okay, like there's

2:31:19Cambridge specific story here, or even

2:31:21if it's just other cities that were also

2:31:23making road changes, and yet it seems to

2:31:24be like a national trend that like

2:31:26citations dropped in 2019, 2020, they

2:31:29rose back a little bit, but they're, you

2:31:31know, 10 or like 30 or 40% of what they

2:31:33were before. And so that just makes me

2:31:35feel a little bit of like, you know, did

2:31:37we, you know, dep prioritize enforcement

2:31:40and then people are now like

2:31:42uncomfortable with it in a way that I I

2:31:44don't want us to make that the norm, but

2:31:46it feels like you guys have different

2:31:48explanations. So I would just say

2:31:49perhaps you know at some point or

2:31:50another we can have a longer

2:31:51conversation about this, but this was

2:31:53very helpful. Thank you.

2:31:55>> We have council McGovern and then

2:31:57councelor Zusi and then councelor Flity.

2:32:00>> Uh thank you. Thank you [clears throat]

2:32:01madame mayor through you. Uh thank you

2:32:03uh for the report. Um and I lie with I I

2:32:06agree with what you said about the um

2:32:09you know the efforts that we've taken in

2:32:11traffic calming. You know I know people

2:32:14complain because it you can't get around

2:32:16as fast as you know there's traffic and

2:32:18you can't get across town as fast as

2:32:19maybe you used to. The benefit of that

2:32:21the flip side of that is that people are

2:32:23going slower and it's safer. Um, but a

2:32:27couple things I I I wanted to mention,

2:32:29and this is maybe not just for the

2:32:31police department, but everybody up

2:32:33there. Um,

2:32:36one of the complaints I hear a lot, and

2:32:40and I've witnessed this myself,

2:32:42unfortunately, I think that, you know, I

2:32:46know that the police the police can't be

2:32:47everywhere, right? And we don't want

2:32:49police on every street corner, right?

2:32:50you guys are out doing really important

2:32:53work and you can't be monitoring who's

2:32:57double parked or you know wherever all

2:32:59the time. But there are times when

2:33:02people have complained and and reported

2:33:04and I've seen it where

2:33:06there's been a violation

2:33:09with a police officer present and then

2:33:11that doesn't get responded to and I

2:33:13think that creates some frustration for

2:33:15people. Um, and so I just want to make

2:33:19sure that we're, you know, making sure

2:33:21that officers know that, you know, if

2:33:24they see a violation, they should

2:33:26enforce it because I think there's three

2:33:28main things we have to do as a city. We

2:33:29have to provide

2:33:31safe infrastructure,

2:33:33we have to provide enforcement, and we

2:33:35have to provide education. I think we're

2:33:37doing a, you know, we're doing a good

2:33:39job on the infrastructure. Um, I think

2:33:41we tried with the education. We made

2:33:43those books the rights of the I don't

2:33:45know if anybody ever got one or where

2:33:47they saw them. There's probably a

2:33:49hundred cases sitting somewhere. Um but

2:33:52um I do think in general as for the

2:33:54city, Mr. Manager, we do need to do some

2:33:57kind of citywide educational campaign

2:33:59about

2:34:00road safety for everybody, right? Um not

2:34:04just drivers, but drivers are driving,

2:34:07you know, vehicles that can kill people.

2:34:10um to really educate people about being

2:34:13more courteous, slowing down, being more

2:34:16considerate, paying more attention. Um

2:34:18we do need some I think we need some

2:34:20sort of citywide like

2:34:24motivational kind of uh action or or or

2:34:28campaign. Um, the other thing I would I

2:34:31I was going to ask I mentioned this and

2:34:32maybe this is for for um

2:34:35for uh for Brooke that Miss McKenna that

2:34:39um you know if you not that I've ever

2:34:42done this but if you double park on

2:34:43Boilson Street in Boston to let's just

2:34:45say let somebody run in your kid run

2:34:47into the Apple store um you're not there

2:34:50for more than 4 seconds before a

2:34:54uh a van from the Boston Traffic

2:34:57Department pulls up behind you with a

2:34:58little light on and a loudspeaker that

2:35:00says move your car. You know, do we we

2:35:03don't do that. At least I've never seen

2:35:05us do anything like that. I mean, do we

2:35:07need because the police can't be

2:35:09everywhere and have very important

2:35:11things to do. Can we create some other

2:35:14way? Because there are a lot of people

2:35:17parking in bike lanes, double parking,

2:35:19clogging up the streets

2:35:22that, you know, you can't respond fast

2:35:24enough to give them a ticket, but is

2:35:26there some other thing that we can do to

2:35:28move those people along and and and make

2:35:30sure they're not doing that?

2:35:33>> Three, Madame Mayor. Well, I'm excited

2:35:35to to talk about the fact that we

2:35:37actually are going to be introducing um

2:35:40automated parking enforcement. Um you

2:35:42guys wonderfully got that passed through

2:35:45the um through the state legislature,

2:35:47the home rule that we needed. And with

2:35:50that type of technology, we can do the

2:35:53type of enforcement that is so

2:35:54challenging to do in person, whether it

2:35:56was by a parking officer in my

2:35:58department or by the police department,

2:36:00which are those shorter term violations

2:36:02like a bike lane or a double parking.

2:36:05[clears throat] So, what we can do is we

2:36:07can identify those high incident

2:36:09locations, install the cameras that

2:36:12issue the tickets, um, and that, um,

2:36:15hopefully will be, uh, a a better way to

2:36:18address those really challenging in

2:36:20person, um, you know, get there because

2:36:23it's they're only going to be violating

2:36:25for five minutes, but it's a really

2:36:27impactful thing that they're doing. So,

2:36:29we're making prog.

2:36:31>> Thank you. And so, yeah, my my time's

2:36:33up, but I I'll just I do hope we do also

2:36:35maybe in another time really talk about

2:36:36some kind of citywide campaign around

2:36:38rules of the road and just everybody

2:36:41taking a breath and being a little more

2:36:43considerate of one another. Um, I think

2:36:46it would go a long way, but we have to

2:36:47promote it and really get behind it.

2:36:49>> Thank you.

2:36:50>> We have councelor Zusi next, followed by

2:36:52Councelor Flity.

2:36:54>> Thank you. Um, building on what

2:36:57councelor McGovern was saying, I um I

2:37:00agree we need to I I feel like we're

2:37:03investing in safer crosswalks,

2:37:06uh, safer bike lanes. Um, but now we

2:37:11really need to I think enforcement is

2:37:13absolutely essential. And I and I was

2:37:16looking I one of my questions was and

2:37:18looking at the numbers of citations my

2:37:20my question was going to be but I'm not

2:37:22going to use that question is whether it

2:37:24includes warnings but then someone sent

2:37:26me the August 26 traffic citations for

2:37:29the Cambridge Police Department. So in

2:37:31August cyclists there were 53 citations

2:37:36but 49 were warnings four were civil

2:37:40fines and they collected $80.

2:37:43And then with cars, there were 266

2:37:46citations, but 27 of those were

2:37:49warnings. 35 had were civil fines, 24

2:37:53criminal, and we raised $3,265.

2:37:58So, this just makes me think I think we

2:38:03I think we need to be very clear about

2:38:05expect, you know, what behavior we

2:38:07expect. I think we should be

2:38:10um giving more civil fines for uh to

2:38:15ensure um parking that that that people

2:38:18are following our rules. And I'm sorry,

2:38:21I just lost this great memo. Here it is.

2:38:24Um I I got this idea from a friend. Will

2:38:27the CPD create a program focused on

2:38:30dangerous turning speeds, failure to

2:38:32yield, red lights, and illegal right

2:38:34turns, especially by larger vehicles?

2:38:36What support could CPD what what do they

2:38:39need to run it regularly at the highest

2:38:41risk risk intersections identified

2:38:44through crash data? So, I just I feel

2:38:46like what the trans the Department of

2:38:48Transportation is doing is like you're

2:38:51doing a lot. I I really commend you for

2:38:53your work, but I feel like the other

2:38:55work and I know it it seems like

2:38:57enforcement

2:38:59um isn't uh as

2:39:02it's considered old school, but I

2:39:04actually feel as though it's relevant. I

2:39:06think if people know what they can do

2:39:09and what they can't do, and if we're

2:39:10clear, they're more likely to follow the

2:39:12rules. So, in your report, you note that

2:39:16there there's a problem because of

2:39:17staffing shortage and uh you need more

2:39:21people in patrol operations and that

2:39:24you're hoping uh to increase that maybe

2:39:28to shift resources. So I just I wanted

2:39:30to know more about one would you think

2:39:33about developing such a program uh of

2:39:36enforcements enforcement focused on

2:39:39these dangerous intersections where like

2:39:41bad things happen? And two, how many

2:39:44people do you currently have in your

2:39:46patrol operations and how many more do

2:39:48you think you would need to actually

2:39:51enforce intersections and enforce

2:39:54traffic? Well,

2:39:58>> I can start that to you, Madame Mayor.

2:40:00Um, when we say that uh we're underst

2:40:03staffed, it's more the number that we're

2:40:05supposed to be at, we just can't seem to

2:40:07get at. Um, it's not I don't want to go

2:40:09over that number. I just want to get to

2:40:11that number. Um, and you know, all over

2:40:14the country, obviously, there's been

2:40:15serious staffing issues for police

2:40:17departments all over the country. And

2:40:19with this new um uh alternative pathway

2:40:22of hiring, we're I think we're going to

2:40:25be able to get there uh sooner than than

2:40:27we thought we we would be able to. So,

2:40:30in that sense, um that's going to put us

2:40:32in a much better place to do more

2:40:34enforcement for sure. And those traffic

2:40:37questions I'm going to give to this guy

2:40:42>> through you, Madame Mayor. When you

2:40:43discuss a program, are you just like a

2:40:46public education campaign? You talking

2:40:47about like targeted enforcement at these

2:40:49locations,

2:40:50>> concerty?

2:40:50>> Yeah, I'm talking about targeted

2:40:52enforcement because again when you know

2:40:55the two times I've campaigned, the most

2:40:58common refrain I heard was that people

2:41:00don't feel safe. People don't feel safe

2:41:02crossing the street. They uh it's it's

2:41:05so the wild west out there. So I think

2:41:08enforcement is really essential. And I

2:41:10know the police have you have over what

2:41:12like 220 30 40 staff. Can't more be put

2:41:17on patrolling?

2:41:18>> I believe that's what we're

2:41:22supposed to have those numbers and I

2:41:24don't believe I believe it's closer to

2:41:27possibly 200.

2:41:29I'm not sure what the staffing is, but

2:41:32the dedicated enforcement campaign is

2:41:34something we'd absolutely be open to

2:41:35discussing or working on with the city

2:41:37council. Um so yes, we'd be open to it.

2:41:41um given we can have a discussion

2:41:46and I guess very simply the answer is

2:41:48yes this is a something that yes we'd be

2:41:51open to

2:41:52>> but it's also I have to I have to say

2:41:54it's also offices have discretion around

2:41:58those types of things when they pull

2:42:00people over they do have discretion I

2:42:02mean we can we can't force them to write

2:42:05a money fine but we can certainly have

2:42:08conversations around public safety

2:42:10campaigns where that would be part of it

2:42:12and that would be something that we

2:42:13could

2:42:16>> thank and I yield.

2:42:18We will go to councelor Flity and then

2:42:20councelor Nolan just a time check it's

2:42:228:12 p.m. Councelor Flity

2:42:24>> very quickly. So Lieutenant I was sort

2:42:27of I think that kind of answers my

2:42:29question and this probably isn't even a

2:42:31fair question but with the explosion and

2:42:34the anticipated um explosion of the use

2:42:38of micromobility devices. Uh you made a

2:42:42good point I think with the intersection

2:42:44of brattle and sparks. I know it well.

2:42:47It's dangerous. Having a cop there made

2:42:50a great uh change and I think it was

2:42:53excellent use of resources. I know the

2:42:55numbers are down, but conceptually, this

2:42:58probably isn't a fair question for you

2:43:00right now, but conceptually, how do we

2:43:03how as a city will be be able to um do a

2:43:08robust enforcement program for all

2:43:12micromobility devices, all bicycles, all

2:43:16automobile,

2:43:17um every type of mode of transit? What

2:43:20would that require? would require a a

2:43:24separate department for the registration

2:43:27of micromobility devices.

2:43:30Is is it is it so much of a lift that

2:43:33it's next to impossible or is it

2:43:36something that we could plan for because

2:43:39I mean as you know council Zusi noted

2:43:42and as everybody knows transportation in

2:43:45Cambridge is a real challenge

2:43:50through you madam mayor.

2:43:53[cough]

2:43:54[clears throat]

2:43:55So, there's a micromobility committee. I

2:43:57think it's called alternative travel. We

2:43:59changed its name, but um I sit on it

2:44:02with DOT and with the law department,

2:44:04with the disabilities commission, and um

2:44:07we presented to the council as well the

2:44:10current rules. We're still waiting on

2:44:11this new law to be signed in. So,

2:44:14basically everything could change and

2:44:16then we have to figure out how we would

2:44:17do it.

2:44:18>> Right. Currently we we are addressing

2:44:21the it's you know for the longest time

2:44:23in the city it was motor vehicle versus

2:44:25bicyclist and their needs and wants and

2:44:28them fighting well the e-cooters have

2:44:30united them everybody hates them and so

2:44:32um it's something that we're addressing

2:44:35in the business districts right now uh

2:44:37and currently

2:44:39according to that citation portal data

2:44:41we are number one in the state in citing

2:44:42these e- scooters so we are addressing

2:44:44these concerns

2:44:46um through a mix of education and

2:44:48enforcement. And so basically a very

2:44:51short very succinct way of saying we

2:44:53don't know what we don't know yet

2:44:54regarding microobility and what's

2:44:56coming. Once we do then we can kind of

2:44:58regroup with this committee and come up

2:45:00with a plan and give the council

2:45:02suggestions or adisements of what we've

2:45:03learned. Um, but we are aware of the

2:45:06impact that these new mobility devices

2:45:08are having on the city you with people

2:45:10commuting and how they're on sidewalks

2:45:12and bike lanes in traffic all around the

2:45:15city, mainly the business districts. And

2:45:16with the students coming back, we're

2:45:18going to see an increase in that as

2:45:19well.

2:45:21>> Um, through you, mayor. I I think this

2:45:23is a great discussion. Um, I think also,

2:45:27you know, it's clear to me that when

2:45:29we're thinking about, uh, especially

2:45:32safety, um, the enforcement coming from

2:45:34the police department is just one piece

2:45:36of a much bigger picture that I know

2:45:38we've got a lot of work on, including

2:45:40infrastructure and design. Um, I know

2:45:43that there is uh, more proactive

2:45:45thinking we're doing, especially about

2:45:47micromobility.

2:45:48um because I think the regulations have

2:45:50really lagged. Um, and I think there is

2:45:52an opportunity for the city to be

2:45:55considering um, how we set the stage for

2:45:58some of the state level conversations

2:45:59that also need to happen um, but are

2:46:01probably going to be a little bit

2:46:02slower. Um, and then I know uh,

2:46:05Commissioner McKenna um, has a little

2:46:08bit more update um, on both uh, speed

2:46:11humps um, and which I know as we're

2:46:13talking about speed is a is a big factor

2:46:16and then some additional technology that

2:46:17we're we're thinking about

2:46:20>> if we can. This is kind of going beyond

2:46:22what's the in the packet. So I'll let

2:46:25you briefly chime in and then we have to

2:46:28move on.

2:46:29>> Three, madame mayor. Um, very quickly,

2:46:31we are, you know, we launched our speed

2:46:33hump program last year and we are

2:46:35continuing that and looking for outside

2:46:37sources of funding to enhance that as

2:46:39well. Um, and then I know that we have

2:46:41already or you have as the council um

2:46:44showed your support uh at the for

2:46:46changes at the state level around

2:46:48automated enforcement for um for red

2:46:51light cameras and speed. And I think for

2:46:53us uh continuing to push on that is a is

2:46:56a really important element um to

2:46:58enforcement because the more that we can

2:47:00do automatically then the more the

2:47:02resources can go to other things like

2:47:04microobility and um and things you know

2:47:08that aren't covered by automatic

2:47:10automated enforcement.

2:47:12>> Councelor Flity, are you set?

2:47:15>> I think it's a fair answer and we can

2:47:16move on. Thank you very much.

2:47:18>> Councelor Nolan.

2:47:20>> Thank you. Um, yes, the state is has a

2:47:22bill in process right now and we're

2:47:24waiting to refile our home rule based on

2:47:26what they do with that. So, it's it's

2:47:28it's held in obeyance and a definite uh

2:47:31would love to know the status of how of

2:47:34how soon we'll see the parking violation

2:47:36ticketing be able to be in place. And

2:47:38shout out to Will Brownsburgger who

2:47:40really shephered this through the Senate

2:47:41which it was lagging for months and

2:47:43months until his staff took it on. and I

2:47:45had about 17 conversations with him to

2:47:47make sure he got it over the finish line

2:47:49after the council had passed that. So,

2:47:51thanks very much. I know I'm sure the

2:47:54legal department got sick of hearing

2:47:56from me about this. So, really glad.

2:47:57But, do we know when that'll actually be

2:47:59in place? Because I know you gave us a

2:48:00memo about how you're going to try a few

2:48:02different ones

2:48:04>> through you, Madame Mayor. We're deep in

2:48:05the planning of that and um the next

2:48:08step will be coming for the surveillance

2:48:09ordinance approval shortly.

2:48:12>> Thanks. Um counc. Yep. Um, two more. Uh,

2:48:17a lot of the points have been have been

2:48:19um, made. One question is that the memo

2:48:23talks about the data shows that for the

2:48:24last three years CPD has issued more

2:48:27citations than the surrounding

2:48:28municipalities. I don't expect the

2:48:30answers now, but it would be good to

2:48:31just get a follow-up to say how that was

2:48:33calculated and and measured because um,

2:48:35it would just be good to know how we

2:48:37compare since it sounds like we have the

2:48:39data. Um and it should be done based on

2:48:42um cars and workforce you know is is it

2:48:46corrected for act it sounds like maybe

2:48:48you already have that data

2:48:50>> through you madame mayor I can tell you

2:48:51where we got the numbers from it's that

2:48:53that citation portal that people have

2:48:54been talking about it's a state website

2:48:56and you can look at the municipalities

2:48:59specifically with like Boston and state

2:49:01they break it down by barracks and

2:49:02district even so we can see what the

2:49:05what what citation information has been

2:49:07reported to the state and that's what's

2:49:08on this portal So that's where we got it

2:49:10from. As far as the size of the

2:49:11departments, that'd be something else we

2:49:13could look into as well. But ultimately,

2:49:15the numbers that have been discussed

2:49:16here tonight are the same source we got

2:49:19those numbers from from the surrounding

2:49:21community.

2:49:22>> Councilman,

2:49:23>> great. Yeah, it would just be good to

2:49:24know if they're corrected for population

2:49:26because or for miles traveled or however

2:49:28it is because you want a baseline. You

2:49:30want to be comparing apples to apples.

2:49:31So if we have that information, great. I

2:49:33don't want to create extra work. Um I do

2:49:35have a so thanks for that. And then the

2:49:38question is we've talked a lot about we

2:49:39know that the most dangerous I know the

2:49:41intersections we've gone over some of

2:49:42the distracted driving but it's it's

2:49:45dealing with and proactively

2:49:46understanding how these large trucks

2:49:48throughout our city are um how it is

2:49:50that we can do harm reduction and

2:49:51mitigation. So, do we have a a sense of

2:49:53what how we're working on that

2:49:58>> through you, Madame Mayor? Um, we are

2:50:00looking as part of our intersection

2:50:01safety um program, we're looking at um

2:50:06uh how to turn hardening at corners to

2:50:09to do exactly that, to slow down how the

2:50:11turns are making. And and very soon in

2:50:13the next month or so, you'll start to

2:50:15see um at our higher crash locations,

2:50:18wherever the geometry allows, um they're

2:50:23uh black and yellow, we call them

2:50:24bumblebees, um that are are are put out

2:50:28in a way that will slow significantly

2:50:30slow vehicles um including larger

2:50:33vehicles as they're making turns. So,

2:50:35we're excited about that coming up

2:50:37shortly.

2:50:38>> Council Nolan.

2:50:39>> Yep. Thanks um for all the work on this.

2:50:42I know we've kind of been peppering you

2:50:44with with questions and we we do want to

2:50:46understand how it is that we get to more

2:50:49safety. And I want to echo what several

2:50:50of us have also said is the more we can

2:50:52get education out there for all users of

2:50:54the roads that that the rules of the

2:50:56road is actually a really good document

2:50:58because it does lay out when it is that

2:51:00you should do a certain thing. But for

2:51:02driver, for pedestrian, for cyclists,

2:51:04and then there's this whole question of

2:51:06of e-mobility. the sooner we can get to

2:51:08understanding that because especially

2:51:09now with students back, we definitely

2:51:11see it. Um that many of the the users do

2:51:15not understand that for instance they

2:51:17should not be going the wrong way in a

2:51:18bike lane as uh ludicrous as that sounds

2:51:21and I know we're trying but the more we

2:51:23can work particularly with the

2:51:24universities to ensure that they're

2:51:25doing education I think that would be

2:51:26really helpful.

2:51:29>> Thank you councelor Nolan. Anything else

2:51:31on this

2:51:33hearing? None. Thank you. We'll go ahead

2:51:36and place city manager agenda item

2:51:39number 19 on file.

2:51:42All those in favor say I. I. Those

2:51:45against say no. The eyes have it. City

2:51:47manager agenda number 19 is placed on

2:51:49file. We'll move on to city manager

2:51:52agenda item 20. This is a communication

2:51:54transmitted from Ian Wong, city manager,

2:51:56regarding welcoming city ordinance

2:51:58reporting from the Cambridge Police

2:52:00Department. Councelor Alzoo, you have

2:52:01the floor.

2:52:03>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. Uh, no question

2:52:05here. I just wanted to share a quick

2:52:07comment. Um, thank you for this report.

2:52:09It's definitely a good one. Saw that

2:52:11there was zero detainers and zero

2:52:13warrants. Um, so thank you for that. I I

2:52:16do want to note one entry though. Um, in

2:52:19July, an ICE officer had called ahead of

2:52:21a home visit to confirm there had been

2:52:23no quote dangerous incidents at the

2:52:25address before going. And I I definitely

2:52:28can understand why that might call get

2:52:30that might call might get answered on

2:52:31reflex. Um but just want to acknowledge

2:52:34that it would be great for the

2:52:35department to treat that with the same

2:52:37mindfulness and uh caution because we

2:52:40have agreed that we cannot cooperate

2:52:42with ICE and in in some ways this is

2:52:45operational assistance to ICE. That's

2:52:48all. Thank you for the report.

2:52:49Appreciate it. I'll yield.

2:52:53>> Anyone else would like to comment on

2:52:56this?

2:52:58Hearing none, we'll go ahead and do a

2:53:01voice vote on placing city manager

2:53:03agenda number 19 on file. All those in

2:53:06favor say I.

2:53:07>> I.

2:53:07>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

2:53:09it. City manager agenda number 19 is

2:53:12placed on file. Move on to city manager

2:53:13agenda number 24. This is a

2:53:16communication transmitted from Ian Wong,

2:53:18city manager, regarding the Cambridge

2:53:20preschool program and the establishment

2:53:22of a task force charged with identifying

2:53:24policy solutions to expand support for

2:53:25families with young children. Councelor

2:53:28Nolan, you have the floor.

2:53:29>> Thank you, Mayor Sadiki. I think since

2:53:31the next communication number 25 is very

2:53:33similar, I'd like to suspend the rules

2:53:34just so we can anyone who wants to talk

2:53:36and discuss both at the same time.

2:53:38>> Councelor Nolan is moving to suspend the

2:53:41rules to take these matters together.

2:53:44All those in favor say I.

2:53:46>> I.

2:53:46>> I.

2:53:47>> Those against say no. The eyes have it.

2:53:49We have 25 as well before us which is

2:53:54transmitted from Ian Wong, city manager

2:53:56relative to appointments to the joint

2:53:57childcare access task force. Councelor

2:53:59Nolan.

2:54:00>> Thank you. I I really wanted to make

2:54:03sure we understood the significance of

2:54:04this and also first I want to start out

2:54:06thanking your office mayor Sadiki

2:54:08because I know this has taken a

2:54:09tremendous amount of of time and effort

2:54:11but also energy and passion on the part

2:54:13of your office um a few different people

2:54:16and also the city manager's office and

2:54:18also I don't know if if uh Cheryl is

2:54:20still here probably it's kind of late

2:54:23but um it's certainly been a joint

2:54:26effort and I know our our our DCM Gordin

2:54:30is also here who's been worked on this

2:54:31as well as city manager. This is a

2:54:33milestone that is occasioned by a couple

2:54:36years of work building on our efforts to

2:54:39increase childcare access. What it also

2:54:41has done to remind us all is this came

2:54:44out of a city council discussion about

2:54:45what are our priorities. [snorts] We

2:54:47have the social housing task force which

2:54:49has already been launched. This is one

2:54:50that is launched with for the child care

2:54:52access and expansion to understand that

2:54:55the one of the critically important

2:54:57things we can do for people across the

2:54:59city is to ensure that we have

2:55:02highquality available affordable child

2:55:04care for all of our kids as young as we

2:55:06can go. Right now we're doing it for all

2:55:08four-year-olds. We have it for most

2:55:09three-year-olds but not all. the the

2:55:11charge for this uh task force which I am

2:55:14really happy to be co-chairing with uh

2:55:16councelor McGovern and also with uh

2:55:18Mayor Sadiki leading us as well. I I

2:55:21think the only question is is there

2:55:22anything that that uh the city wants to

2:55:24say as we launch this effort and how it

2:55:26is that we're moving forward or mayor

2:55:28Sadiki or Councelor McGovern if you

2:55:30wanted to um to add to this because

2:55:31we've been working on this for quite a

2:55:33while and it really is um incredibly

2:55:35exciting to think that we will be doing

2:55:37this and launching this.

2:55:40Council McGovern, do you want to say

2:55:41anything?

2:55:42>> Uh, yes. Thank you, [clears throat]

2:55:43Madam Mayor. Through you. Thank you, uh,

2:55:45Councelor Nolan. Yeah, just to echo this

2:55:47is this is exciting. It's it's, you

2:55:49know, this this whole conversation

2:55:50around early childhood education has

2:55:52been so long and going on for so many

2:55:54years in the city. And to think just

2:55:55within the last five, you know, or so,

2:55:59we're now moving to um, you know, four

2:56:02and a half year olds and and and I mean

2:56:04all four-year-olds and and some three

2:56:05and a half year olds um being served and

2:56:08now potentially looking at um, you know,

2:56:11three-year-olds, which uh, is even

2:56:13before kids enter school. So, it's a

2:56:15it's a you know, a different program,

2:56:16but one in which we can we can help and

2:56:19assist more families and and and more

2:56:20children. So, it's just really exciting.

2:56:22I I too want to thank Madame Mayor. I

2:56:24want to thank you and your staff and

2:56:26councelor Nolan and and and Patrick on

2:56:28your staff who've really been um uh you

2:56:32know great at organizing this and

2:56:33pulling this together. So very exciting.

2:56:35It's good work. It's going to you know

2:56:37make a difference to a lot of people. So

2:56:40um very excited about this.

2:56:42>> Yeah. And I'll just echo the

2:56:44appreciation and say um you know this

2:56:46has been something that we've all been

2:56:48excited to work around. You know, we've

2:56:50long understood uh that the first five

2:56:52years of a child's life are so uh

2:56:54important and we've been proud to lead,

2:56:56I think, on early childhood education

2:56:59and uh our preschool program is a a

2:57:01great example of that commitment as well

2:57:03as our other programs um around extended

2:57:06day and summer care to families with the

2:57:09greatest uh financial need. And so

2:57:12getting this task force together will

2:57:14provide us with a great opportunity to

2:57:17take the next step. and I think about

2:57:19what we mean by uh expanded access. And

2:57:22so I'm really excited to work with uh

2:57:25councelor Nolan and McGovern on this and

2:57:27uh to keep the entire body updated on

2:57:29their progress. And so thank you to all

2:57:32the staff um who's who've been in

2:57:35involved as city manager and Dr. Olsen

2:57:37and ACM Corini. So with that, I'll pass

2:57:41it to you all to say any few words you'd

2:57:44like.

2:57:46>> Uh sure. Three, mayor. Um very excited.

2:57:48Um and thank you to um the mayor uh

2:57:52councelor McGovern uh councelor Nolan

2:57:54and the council for the broader

2:57:56prioritization. Um I do think this

2:57:58builds on a lot of the really great work

2:58:00that has been happening for so long and

2:58:02that led to the roll out of the

2:58:05universal prek program. Um and we

2:58:07recognize that there are so many uh

2:58:09families who are still incredibly

2:58:11burdened uh by the financial costs of

2:58:15child care. um and that that's really

2:58:17important both for uh our families um

2:58:20but also for for children to have access

2:58:22to highquality uh programming. Um so

2:58:26looking forward to this task force. I

2:58:28think there's both really important

2:58:30implementation details and program

2:58:32design discussions that need to be had

2:58:34and also decisions as we think about um

2:58:37where to expand and how to build out a

2:58:39work plan um for the coming years. Um so

2:58:43thank you all. Very excited about this

2:58:44getting started and I'll turn it over to

2:58:46assistant city manager Corzini.

2:58:49>> Thank you Mr. Manager. Um Madam Chair

2:58:51through you. Um first I'd like to

2:58:53acknowledge uh Cheryl who I believe is

2:58:55online and Michelle Godfrieded um from

2:58:58our team. They've done tremendous work

2:59:00um in this area. And you know, one of

2:59:02the things I think it's most important

2:59:03for the council to know is that when the

2:59:05focus on infants and toddlers didn't

2:59:07just sort of come out of uh staff

2:59:10conversation and isolation from the

2:59:11community. Uh this is an area upon

2:59:14reflection and and conversation with

2:59:17community members and partners that we

2:59:19clearly articulated a need. And so as we

2:59:22move into this work, we're super excited

2:59:23to be looking at opportunities to expand

2:59:25access, to be working on a critical

2:59:27issue that residents have sort of, you

2:59:29know, um, informed us on. And so, um, it

2:59:32is our goal in our tent to ensure that

2:59:34we continue the good work that Cambridge

2:59:36has done in terms of early education,

2:59:37expanding access to all families. I'm

2:59:39not sure if Cheryl is on or she wants to

2:59:41add a comment.

2:59:45>> Dr. Johnson,

2:59:46>> good good evening. I don't have much to

2:59:48add other than to share the excitement

2:59:50that so many others have spoken about.

2:59:52The city's made such tremendous um

2:59:55commitments and investments in the

2:59:57Cambridge preschool program and we are

2:59:58serving many children and families

3:00:00through that program. But we know as

3:00:02others have mentioned this evening um

3:00:04families of infants and toddlers still

3:00:05struggle to find and afford highquality

3:00:07care. So, I am incredibly excited uh to

3:00:10join many um on on this call and around

3:00:13around your table um to tackle this um

3:00:16and to provide services to these

3:00:17families.

3:00:19>> Great. Thank you. So, what we'll do now,

3:00:22we'll do a um voice vote on the first uh

3:00:26communication. Um so, that's

3:00:30communication number 24 to place that on

3:00:32file. All those in favor say I. I. Those

3:00:35against say no. The eyes have it. City

3:00:39manager agenda item number 24 is placed

3:00:41on file.

3:00:42>> For city manager agenda item number 25,

3:00:45we will go ahead and uh do a roll call

3:00:47and approving the appointments and then

3:00:49placing the CMA on file.

3:00:52>> Councelor El Zubie.

3:00:54>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zim.

3:00:55>> Yes.

3:00:55>> Yes. Council Flareity.

3:00:57>> Yes.

3:00:57>> Yes. Council McGovern.

3:00:59>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

3:01:01>> Yes.

3:01:01>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

3:01:02>> Yes.

3:01:03>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:01:05>> Yes.

3:01:05>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

3:01:07>> Yes.

3:01:07>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

3:01:08>> Yes.

3:01:08>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

3:01:10in the affirmative.

3:01:12>> We are done with uh the city manager

3:01:16agenda. We'll move on to policy orders.

3:01:19We've disposed of one and three.

3:01:22Pleasure of the city council.

3:01:24>> Madame Mayor.

3:01:25>> Councelor Simmons.

3:01:27>> I got to find the number. Sorry.

3:01:29>> It's number

3:01:32four.

3:01:33No, it's seven.

3:01:36>> Okay. So, you're pulling number seven.

3:01:39>> Yes. And uh number four. Yes. I'm

3:01:43thinking

3:01:44>> and then

3:01:46I'll pull um number nine and 11.

3:01:50Anyone else?

3:01:52>> Councelor Nolan?

3:01:53>> Yeah, I just wanted to pull uh 10 and 12

3:01:57just to be added. So, not long

3:01:58conversation.

3:01:59>> 10 and 12 to be added.

3:02:03Uh, madame mayor.

3:02:04>> Yes, council.

3:02:04>> I just want to clarify, councelor

3:02:06Simmons, you did pull number four,

3:02:07right?

3:02:07>> She did. I did.

3:02:08>> Okay. Yeah.

3:02:09>> So, for the record, we've pulled number

3:02:12four, we've pulled number seven, we've

3:02:15pulled number nine, we pulled number 10,

3:02:1711, and 12. Okay. And we can go ahead

3:02:21and do a roll call on adopting items

3:02:25number two,

3:02:275,

3:02:296, and 8. Move the adoption.

3:02:33>> Councelor El Zubie,

3:02:35>> yes. Vice Mayor Razim,

3:02:36>> yes.

3:02:36>> Yes. Council Flareity,

3:02:38>> yes.

3:02:38>> Yes. Councelor McGovern.

3:02:40>> Yes.

3:02:40>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

3:02:42>> Yes.

3:02:42>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

3:02:44>> Yes.

3:02:44>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:02:46>> Yes.

3:02:46>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

3:02:48>> Yes.

3:02:48>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

3:02:49>> Yes.

3:02:50>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

3:02:51in the affirmative. The bounds of the

3:02:52policy orders adopted. We'll go to

3:02:55policy order number four. This is that

3:02:57the city manager is requested to confer

3:02:58with the Cambridge Police Department and

3:03:00other relevant departments to develop a

3:03:02coordinated July 4th response plan for

3:03:04the Cherry Street, Harvard Street, and

3:03:06Fletcher Maynard Academy area to ensure

3:03:08that this spot not be utilized for the

3:03:11illegal use of fireworks. This was filed

3:03:13by councelor Simmons and councelor

3:03:15Flity. Councelor Simmons.

3:03:16>> Uh thank you, Madam Mayor. I know that

3:03:18my colleagues um Alzubi and Sabrina

3:03:22Wheeler brought in a amendment around

3:03:25earlier today. Um and I'll let them let

3:03:28them speak to their amendment and then

3:03:30I'd like to hear from my colleagues and

3:03:32then I'll speak but let me also yield to

3:03:34my colleague Council Flid if he wants to

3:03:36say something now.

3:03:38>> Councelor Flity.

3:03:40>> Sure. Uh and through you madame mayor. I

3:03:43I noticed the amendment too and you know

3:03:46I'm having some um difficulty

3:03:50understanding the rationale of the

3:03:51amendment because this is essentially a

3:03:54a crowd control and a nuisance

3:03:58um um function of the Cambridge Police

3:04:02Department. It's their visibility I

3:04:04think that um is effective in these

3:04:07situations. Uh so I I'm I'm having some

3:04:11difficulty understanding the rationale

3:04:13to uh eliminate them by amendment from

3:04:17the policy order. So I'm happy to hear

3:04:19it what the rationale is but so I I

3:04:22yield to this moment

3:04:24Simmons.

3:04:24>> Madame Mayor I yield to council Sabrina

3:04:26Wheeler and then to councelor Al Zubie.

3:04:29>> So these amendments are from councelor

3:04:32Alubi and councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:04:34Councelor Al Zubie, do you want to go

3:04:36first?

3:04:37>> Yeah. Thank you through you, Madame

3:04:39Mayor. Um I I do want to thank councelor

3:04:41Simmons and Flity for filing this. I I

3:04:43do think it's important to navigate and

3:04:45I do want to explore the opportunity for

3:04:48uh working towards exploring the power

3:04:50of relationship building here. So the

3:04:52amendment that is on everyone's desks uh

3:04:55that I proposed with Sabrina Wheeler is

3:04:57asking for a coordinated response led by

3:05:00the community safety department, an

3:05:02engagement with HART. It it doesn't

3:05:04eliminate the police department. I I

3:05:06just want to acknowledge that the the

3:05:08use of those fireworks um should give us

3:05:11an opportunity to actually build those

3:05:13relationships to be able to enact

3:05:16behavioral changes. And I recognize that

3:05:19the police might come and go and the

3:05:21fireworks might come and go. And I'd

3:05:23love to be able to create room for a

3:05:25shift in that behavior, not necessarily

3:05:27solely being reactive. I'll defer to

3:05:30councelor Sabrina Wheeler if he has

3:05:31anything he wants to add.

3:05:33>> Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:05:34>> Yeah. to the questions um from the

3:05:36sponsors and and I would echo councelor

3:05:38Azubian and thank you for thinking about

3:05:40this issue and putting it in to the the

3:05:41rationale for the amendments. I think it

3:05:43it's pretty straightforward in that the

3:05:45activity here fireworks is not violent.

3:05:47There's no suggestion that it's violent.

3:05:49There's no suggestion that it's related

3:05:51to a violent activity and to go along

3:05:53with the city's approach of trying to

3:05:55address issues and behaviors that aren't

3:05:57violent. There's not a weapon involved

3:05:59here. There's not a gun. There's not a

3:06:01knife. to try to address that via the

3:06:03means of the community safety

3:06:04department, which is the department

3:06:05here. Um, and also to the point about it

3:06:07eliminating the police department, it

3:06:09actually doesn't do that. We um kept the

3:06:12language from the original policy order

3:06:14that talks about other relevant

3:06:15departments. If there is a part where

3:06:17the police department is uh relevant,

3:06:20they would be included under the other

3:06:22relevant departments. Uh it's just

3:06:23suggesting that the lead in this be the

3:06:25community safety department since this

3:06:27is I think everybody agrees a

3:06:28non-violent issue. who one of the

3:06:30warehouses talks about the police

3:06:31responding and then the activity

3:06:33starting up again when the police leave

3:06:35it's sort of saying the approach right

3:06:36now isn't isn't working suggesting that

3:06:38because this is a nonviolent activity

3:06:40the lead should be the community safety

3:06:42department if there is a part where the

3:06:43police should be involved you know other

3:06:45relevant departments can be involved

3:06:47including the fire department including

3:06:48the police department but just that the

3:06:50lead department should be the community

3:06:51safety department back

3:06:55>> so these are the amendments before us we

3:06:57will have to vote them up or down and

3:06:59Then um then there would be adoption of

3:07:03the PO. So discussion of the amendments

3:07:06before us from the body.

3:07:09Councelor Zusi.

3:07:11Um I I agree with councelor Simmons and

3:07:16Flity. I I I think you're going to I

3:07:19think the community safety department

3:07:21and heart should be involved. It would

3:07:23be great that they would be involved. I

3:07:25agree that this isn't violent action.

3:07:28So, councelor Sabrina Willer, I like I

3:07:31understand your where you're coming

3:07:33from, but I I think I think uh people

3:07:38will be more responsive if if the police

3:07:41are present. So, I I think they they

3:07:44need to be the the lead department there

3:07:48working in maybe in collaboration with

3:07:50this community safety department and

3:07:52heart

3:07:55>> councelor. Before we go back to

3:07:56councelor Simmons, anyone else who'd

3:07:58like to speak? Councelor McGovern.

3:08:00>> Uh, thank you. You know, one of the um

3:08:04given that this is this is talking about

3:08:06things like fireworks and and whatnot. I

3:08:09mean, one of the things is that we're

3:08:11we've been hoping for for a while, but

3:08:13right now the care team is not a 24-hour

3:08:15I mean, most of these things happen at

3:08:16night and over the Fourth of July uh

3:08:19holiday. So, um I think involving I

3:08:23think in the original order it says um

3:08:26not just the Cambridge Police

3:08:27Department, but it does say other city

3:08:29departments as well of which uh the

3:08:32Cambridge the community safety

3:08:33department would would qualify for that

3:08:37uh in that area. Um, I'm not sure that

3:08:39they could necessarily be available to

3:08:42respond if these calls come in at 10,

3:08:4511, 12:00 at night over a holiday

3:08:47weekend. Um, where the police department

3:08:50would be. Um,

3:08:53you know, I I also think that the with

3:08:56the police department, it's not always

3:08:58about

3:08:59um I think we have we have police

3:09:02departments within the police department

3:09:04that are more focused on community

3:09:08building and

3:09:10um relationships that I, you know, they

3:09:13may already have relationships with some

3:09:15of the the folks who are uh involved in

3:09:17this. So I I certainly don't um I think

3:09:20it's important to name the police

3:09:22department as as one of the departments

3:09:24that would be involved in this because

3:09:26it is a you know it although it's not

3:09:29violent and I agree with that it it is a

3:09:31public safety um issue too. So um yeah

3:09:36so I I uh I would not want to um strike

3:09:42them from from the ordinance.

3:09:45Thank you.

3:09:47One thing I did want to say um is that

3:09:51looking at this issue kind of the last

3:09:54few years, it's the departments that I

3:09:56think are the most involved um are

3:09:59Cambridge firefighters, police officers,

3:10:02emergency medical staff, really

3:10:05Cambridge emergency communications. So

3:10:07they should, you know, they're all um I

3:10:09know there's a blanket relevant

3:10:11departments uh section. You know, I

3:10:14think I agree that I think if we just

3:10:17listed all of them out

3:10:20to develop a coordinated July 4th respon

3:10:23response plan, I think that would get at

3:10:25some of,

3:10:27you know, some of that concern because

3:10:30inherently,

3:10:31you know, this is a there is some civil

3:10:35enforcement here that does happen um to

3:10:38possess there's no jail time for for

3:10:40possessing fireworks, but um you know,

3:10:43if something were to happen, someone

3:10:45gets hurt, um there's a lot of there's

3:10:48going to have to be a lot of I think all

3:10:51of these departments involved. So, I am

3:10:54totally fine with community safety

3:10:55department being listed. Um but I also I

3:10:59do agree that we should probably list

3:11:02actually inherently the what it happens

3:11:04now is

3:11:07multiple uh apartments, not just the

3:11:10Cambridge Police. Um it's particularly

3:11:12ECC the fire department uh when they do

3:11:15get calls about fireworks in the

3:11:17neighborhood. So that's what I'll say.

3:11:19>> May I

3:11:20>> councelor Simmons?

3:11:21>> Thank you. I don't I was

3:11:22>> Can you speak into the mic?

3:11:24>> Yes. I was trying to send this to Naomi

3:11:27to show it to her and I can send it

3:11:29along to my colleague so you can get an

3:11:31idea. But what's happening?

3:11:38So what's happening is every fourth of

3:11:40July around 10:00 right after the little

3:11:44slower the honey a little slower uh for

3:11:46people to at what happens at 10:00 after

3:11:49the regular um fireworks young people

3:11:54that live that are invited by the

3:11:57gentleman that lives at the corner of

3:11:58Cherry Street and Harvard for the last

3:12:0310 years through Commissioner Hos,

3:12:06Commissioner Branville Bard

3:12:08Commissioner Elo and now with

3:12:10Commissioner Wells, they start at 10:00

3:12:13at night firing off those fireworks and

3:12:16it goes to 2 in the morning. They are in

3:12:18the Fletcher Main Academy Schoolyard.

3:12:22So, who knows? It's hard to So, what

3:12:25happens is because they don't clean up

3:12:27behind themselves, the DPW has to come

3:12:30down the day after. But what's the

3:12:31hardship is? The hardship is young pe

3:12:35people that have young children. This is

3:12:37going on to 200 a.m. in the morning. So,

3:12:41I'll call the the police department

3:12:43because if you go down there, there's

3:12:45about 40 people on the street. 40

3:12:47people. They don't live in the

3:12:49neighborhood. So, just imagine imagine

3:12:52for a moment listening to Oh, thank you

3:12:54for bringing my bringing my phone back.

3:12:56Um listening to that.

3:12:59I don't know if I can play it just so

3:13:01you can hear it.

3:13:03Oh, I stopped it.

3:13:0810 magnify 10 TIMES

3:13:19in the morning,

3:13:27they stop. As soon as the police are

3:13:29gone, they start again. And this goes on

3:13:322 a.m. in the morning. So, I talked to

3:13:34the

3:13:36friends.

3:13:38This is our property.

3:13:53>> That's outrageous. And it doesn't happen

3:13:56anywhere else that I know of. Is anyone

3:13:59shooting fireworks in your 2 a.m.?

3:14:03Anyone? 2 am someone shooting

3:14:07>> say what

3:14:08>> river

3:14:09>> at 2 am

3:14:11but it's loud it's it's up the street

3:14:15from a number I mean in my neighborhood

3:14:18we have five I would say family related

3:14:21housing so I appreciate your

3:14:24thoughtfulness but it's not about

3:14:27because it says that they that um

3:14:30Cambridge somebody should follow the

3:14:32lead uh That's why I don't support it

3:14:35because it's not about leading a

3:14:36conversation about engaging community

3:14:38engagement. We've talked about it. I've

3:14:41talked to my neighbors about it and

3:14:43every year they say, "What are you going

3:14:44to do to stop this?" And so that's where

3:14:48we are. We're just trying to get

3:14:53the appropriate people involved,

3:14:55including neighborhood people that have

3:14:56already started to talk about this to

3:14:58say, how do we gain control over our

3:15:01neighborhood in such a way that our

3:15:03quiet and peaceful enjoyment over a

3:15:06holiday weekend is not disturbed by

3:15:08people that don't even live in the

3:15:10neighborhood. So, I respectfully um uh

3:15:15appreciate your thoughtfulness. I mean,

3:15:17I got kind of late in the evening, so I

3:15:19we didn't get to have a chance to have

3:15:20more of a bour. So, it's not against you

3:15:24personally. It's about the neighborhood

3:15:26is just tired. And and so I hear

3:15:30community safety, but for me, what the

3:15:34community is saying, why isn't the

3:15:35police doing something? So, when they

3:15:37don't see that, they think they're

3:15:38turning a deaf ear and a blind eye. And

3:15:41we know that that's not the case. Anyone

3:15:45who hasn't spoken on this matter who

3:15:48would like to speak before I go back to

3:15:50councelor Sabina Wheeler seeing no one

3:15:53councelor councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:15:55>> Thanks and I just wanted to um sort of

3:15:58clarify a bit the the amendment here is

3:16:00not about this not being an issue.

3:16:03Everybody agrees loud noises disrupting

3:16:05sleep and and the neighborhoods are an

3:16:07issue. The amendment is about uh which

3:16:09department where it's saying the lead.

3:16:10And the policy order says the police

3:16:12department approach hasn't been working.

3:16:14We want more police department. This is

3:16:16just saying let's let's try something in

3:16:18addition to that, right? Let's also ask

3:16:20the community safety department. It's

3:16:21not saying don't involve the the police

3:16:23whatsoever. Don't whatever. If the

3:16:25policy order honestly had just said that

3:16:27the city manager work with relevant

3:16:29departments to to work on this like

3:16:30would have voted for this easily. I

3:16:32agree fireworks noise or loud noises are

3:16:34a bad issue. whichever what I I guess

3:16:36struggle with is is saying the current

3:16:38approach with the police department

3:16:39response isn't working. Let's try that

3:16:41again. I'm just asking let's let's look

3:16:44at other things. Let's try something

3:16:45different here in addition to what we're

3:16:47doing right now. And so that's what the

3:16:49amendment is. I'd also be fine with an

3:16:50amendment that just says any relevant

3:16:52departments so that we can bring in

3:16:53other city staff. I just have a problem

3:16:55with saying hey the current approach

3:16:57isn't working. Let's try the current

3:16:58approach some more.

3:17:00>> Madam

3:17:02does anyone else want to speak? Does

3:17:03anyone else like to speak? Yes. I had

3:17:05counselor Nolan next.

3:17:07>> Yeah, I I agree. This should be

3:17:09addressed. I mean, it's in my

3:17:10neighborhood, too. It it depends, but

3:17:12certainly.

3:17:14>> Yeah.

3:17:15>> Um she says something,

3:17:16>> particularly right near Danhee Park, um

3:17:18depending on where you are, but clearly

3:17:20we need to do this. We need all hands

3:17:21in. So, I do think it makes sense to

3:17:23call out the community safety department

3:17:25because they will they should be

3:17:26included in it and other relevant

3:17:28departments as well. I I think the key

3:17:30is to get us all on board to have

3:17:32everybody work on this. And I also know

3:17:34the fire department is one who

3:17:36>> is often involved as well because this

3:17:39could be something that would end up uh

3:17:42creating some issues that we need the

3:17:43fire department's expertise on.

3:17:47>> Other questions or comments? I'll go

3:17:51back to council Simmons one more time

3:17:53and then I suggest we do a vote.

3:17:56>> So, a couple of things, Madame Mayor. In

3:17:58the one two three in the first order it

3:18:01strikes Cambridge police altogether and

3:18:04then it says confer with the community.

3:18:06It says confer with the community safety

3:18:09department. I think that's care and

3:18:11heart which is not a department of the

3:18:13city but anyway so that's part of it and

3:18:17it says heart and heart wasn't in the

3:18:19original policy orders. It's not in red

3:18:22so it was it kind of took me off a

3:18:24little bit. And then again in the last

3:18:27order it says Cambridge Police

3:18:28Department. It strikes that strikes them

3:18:30out again. And if the way I read it, it

3:18:33would seems like you don't want the

3:18:35Cambridge Police Department. And I kind

3:18:37of know my community a little bit and I

3:18:39think if they saw this convening and

3:18:41didn't see them, they would call it out.

3:18:43So I I it just concerns me. Um so I

3:18:49think we've heard from everyone who

3:18:51wanted to be heard on this. So, I

3:18:52suggest what we can do is um do a roll

3:18:57call on adopting the amendments and then

3:19:00we'll go ahead and adopt the policy

3:19:03order

3:19:04>> depending on where the amendments go.

3:19:08>> Did you want to speak? Yes, Vice Mayor.

3:19:12>> What?

3:19:13>> Yes. Go ahead.

3:19:14>> I was just going to say um my opinion is

3:19:16that we're going to end up in the same

3:19:17place with or without these amendments.

3:19:19Uh, I think that the community safety

3:19:21department and Cambridge PD should work

3:19:23together. And so I'll vote no on these

3:19:24amendments, but only because I think

3:19:26that they do the same thing. And if we

3:19:28wanted to list out all the departments

3:19:29later, I can I'd be supportive of that,

3:19:31too. Thank you.

3:19:32>> So, Madame Mayor, I'm going to charter

3:19:34right.

3:19:36>> Okay. Councelor Simmons has exercised

3:19:38her charter right on policy order number

3:19:42four. We will go to policy order number

3:19:45seven.

3:19:46>> Okay. This is to proclaim September 14th

3:19:49as Blessed Sacrament Drill Team and

3:19:51Color Guard Day in Cambridge and ask

3:19:54that the city council go on record

3:19:56celebrating the 90th anniversary of the

3:19:58Blessed Sacrament Drill Team and Color

3:20:00Guard and recognizing its artistic

3:20:02achievements, historical contributions,

3:20:04and nine decades of commitment to

3:20:06empowering young people throughout

3:20:08through discipline, teamwork,

3:20:10creativity, and community. This was

3:20:12filed by councelor Zusi and myself.

3:20:14Councelor Simmons pulled it. I will go

3:20:17to just the lead sponsor and then I'll

3:20:19go to Councelor Simmons. Go ahead,

3:20:20Councelor Zusi.

3:20:21>> Um, thank you very much, um, Mayor

3:20:23Sadiki. I think we have, um, a good

3:20:27contingent of the um, the Blessed

3:20:30Sacrament Color Guard right here today.

3:20:33Thank you for being here. Thank you for

3:20:34your patience. We should have we should

3:20:36have looked at this much earlier as

3:20:38well. Um but I I feel as though this is

3:20:41like such a happy policy order because

3:20:44we're celebrating something wonderful

3:20:4790 years of this um drill team um

3:20:52performing uh practicing

3:20:56uh and so I just let me just share a

3:20:58little history. The Blessed Sacrament

3:21:00began this in 1936 with an all female

3:21:04parish drill team created to provide

3:21:07recreation, discipline, fellowship, and

3:21:10performance opportunities for the girls

3:21:12from Cambridge Port. And then it became

3:21:15one of the strongest drill train teams

3:21:18in all of greater Boston. So they were

3:21:22known as a championship drill team in 8

3:21:25in in 1944,45

3:21:2747 48 and 49.

3:21:31Um and then and then uh they became a

3:21:36regular finalist at the Winter Guard

3:21:39International World Championships. They

3:21:42won the independent worldclass

3:21:44championship in 1990 and earned numerous

3:21:49additional medalist and finalist

3:21:51placements over the following decades.

3:21:54So this really is an amazing drill team.

3:21:57Um it's still going strong. You know,

3:22:00Blessed Sacrament um the the team moved

3:22:03from the Blessed Sacrament when the

3:22:05church uh turned into condos uh what

3:22:08like a decade ago. but they're still

3:22:10going strong and they are competing and

3:22:13practicing sometimes in Medford,

3:22:15sometimes in Lind, sometimes in

3:22:17Dorchester. But I think it's a a

3:22:19beautiful story of um a a team that has

3:22:24provided

3:22:26um fellowship and exercise and community

3:22:30to so many over the years. [snorts] And

3:22:33um and so I think the idea of

3:22:36celebrating them and proclaiming today

3:22:38as Blessed Sacrament Drill Team and

3:22:41Color Guard Day in Cambridge is a

3:22:44beautiful, beautiful thing. So I hope

3:22:46you'll join me in this. Thank you.

3:22:49>> Thank you, Councelor Zusi. I'll go to

3:22:51Councelor Simmons. [snorts]

3:22:53Thank you uh through you, Madame Mayor.

3:22:56First, I wanted to be um be added as a

3:23:00co-sponsor as a drill team mom

3:23:08who rode on the bus lots of times and

3:23:11sat on very hard benches. Uh but we beat

3:23:15Brookline a lot of times. And that was

3:23:18the that was my proudest melt moment. My

3:23:20children went right through the ranks

3:23:22starting at with the little guys all the

3:23:24way uh to seniors. I had the holes in

3:23:27the walls to resemble all the rifles

3:23:31that I had three daughters that were in

3:23:33drill team. One was a rifle, one was a

3:23:35flag, and one was flag rifle saber. Uh

3:23:39and they're not sharpened saber, so

3:23:41don't worry about that. Uh you but it

3:23:43did put a few holes in the ceiling,

3:23:45knocked out a few windows, uh left

3:23:48permanent dents. I just stopped

3:23:49replacing it cuz why bother? Cuz they

3:23:51going to they were going to keep uh

3:23:53practicing. And it's so funny because

3:23:55even now we just recently the girls were

3:23:57together and they can't listen to music

3:23:59and have something in their hand without

3:24:01spinning it. You we are we together on

3:24:04that you know once once in color guard

3:24:07always in color guard. But it was

3:24:09wonderful. I mean they practice

3:24:11Saturdays, Sundays, holidays sometimes.

3:24:14I mean, you know, Bless Sacman threw us

3:24:16out because we were wrecking their

3:24:17floor. But it was it was just a great

3:24:20experience. Um, everyone got along very

3:24:23well except for the one year that some

3:24:25one group, I don't remember where it

3:24:27was, got really cranky with blessed

3:24:29sack. Uh, because we were just so good.

3:24:31You know, if you're good, you're good.

3:24:33Uh, but it was it's wonderful. I am so

3:24:36pleased that the drill team is still

3:24:38going on. Uh, my daughter, two of my

3:24:40daughters keep talking about, well,

3:24:41maybe I'll come back, but they haven't

3:24:43done it. So, I'm just really proud that

3:24:47we're moving strong and moving forward.

3:24:50It's a wonderful thing for young women

3:24:52and men to participate in was mostly

3:24:55men. My girls participated with Mr.

3:24:57Zapula. Remember Mr. Zappa?

3:25:00>> Yes, Mr. Zappa. He poor his poor wife. I

3:25:03felt for her.

3:25:06She probably never saw him. Maybe that

3:25:07was okay. uh but he was he was just so

3:25:11committed to the whole process of color

3:25:14guard and so congratulations. I'm I pray

3:25:18that the this policy order will go

3:25:20forward. Um I'm sure it it will be and

3:25:23maybe sometime you'll come and give us a

3:25:25little um demonstration of what color

3:25:28guard is and the ceilings are high

3:25:30enough we probably won't knock out any

3:25:32um light bulbs. Uh so with that uh I

3:25:35yield the floor. Thank you, Councelor

3:25:37Simmons, and uh a big congratulations to

3:25:40you all. Uh we'll go ahead and add

3:25:42Councelor Simmons to the policy order.

3:25:45Um all those in favor say I. I.

3:25:48>> Those against say no. Eyes have it.

3:25:50Councelor Simmons is added to the policy

3:25:53order. With that hearing from no one

3:25:55else, uh we'll go ahead and adopt the

3:25:58policy order as amended. All those in

3:26:00favor say I. I.

3:26:01>> I. Those against say no.

3:26:03>> The eyes have it. Policy order number

3:26:06seven as amended is adopted.

3:26:09Congratulations.

3:26:11[applause]

3:26:15We will now move on to policy order

3:26:16number nine. This is that the city

3:26:18managers requested to work with relevant

3:26:21departments to develop a coordinated

3:26:22initiative to improve and streamline the

3:26:24permitting and licensing process for

3:26:26small businesses. This was filed by

3:26:28myself, Vice Mayor Zim, Councelor Nolan.

3:26:32I would love to entertain a motion to

3:26:36suspend the rules to take up the uh

3:26:39second communication from other city

3:26:41officers which I submitted and a motion

3:26:43by councelor Nolan

3:26:46>> to suspend the rules. All those in favor

3:26:47say I. I. Those against say no. The eyes

3:26:50have it. That communication from other

3:26:53cities officers is before us.

3:26:56Uh I just wanted to briefly say that uh

3:26:58we know permitting is a big area of city

3:27:01service delivery but isn't always the

3:27:03most straightforward process for

3:27:05[snorts] people looking to do business

3:27:06in Cambridge. Um I think I can speak for

3:27:09many of us when I say that the summer

3:27:11update we received on the residential

3:27:14development permitting process was

3:27:16>> [snorts]

3:27:16>> uh really important and I'm uh grateful

3:27:19that staffs put in a lot of hard work

3:27:21that went into that. But while we've

3:27:23made real progress on the residential

3:27:26side, we have a lot of work left to do

3:27:28when it comes to small business and

3:27:29commercial permitting. And that's what

3:27:32this policy order speaks to. And I want

3:27:34to thank my colleagues u councelor

3:27:38Nolan and Vice Mayor Ze who joined in

3:27:40co-sponsoring this. I'm also excited to

3:27:43move this work forward um because some

3:27:46of it's already started through our

3:27:47participation in the Bloomberg Harvard

3:27:49City Leadership Initiative, which is

3:27:52more of what my communication speaks to.

3:27:54And for brief context, earlier this

3:27:56year, I was invited to join a class of

3:27:5846 mayors representing cities across 15

3:28:01countries as part of the program's 10th

3:28:04cohort. And each participating cities

3:28:06asked to identify a specific problem to

3:28:08focus on. and we selected small business

3:28:11permitting as one of our core

3:28:12challenges. And so in the past few

3:28:15weeks, we put together a core team along

3:28:17with a larger cross departmental team to

3:28:20work on the issue. And over the next

3:28:22eight months, we'll be receiving

3:28:24programming, support, coaching, and

3:28:26resources to support this work from

3:28:28Bloomberg. Uh and it's all aimed at

3:28:31taking a datadriven structured approach

3:28:33to improving and streamlining the

3:28:35permitting and licensing process for

3:28:38small businesses. So, this policy order

3:28:40just helps us ensure that the effort

3:28:43continues in a coordinated way across

3:28:45city departments and um we're looking

3:28:48forward to the progress we can all make

3:28:50together on this. So, I'll yield to my

3:28:53co-sponsors uh councelor Nolan and then

3:28:57councelor Zuzie. Yeah, I want to thank

3:28:59you both for the um communication uh

3:29:02from Bloomberg which really lays out the

3:29:04importance of this and also so many of

3:29:06us who do read the news at this level.

3:29:10There's lots of other news going on, but

3:29:11the permitting is such a key part of

3:29:15cities across the country seeking to

3:29:18accelerate the building of buildings,

3:29:20but also make it make it easier to build

3:29:22without obvious you and we can do this

3:29:23without sacrificing the safety that had

3:29:25led to many of the restrictions that are

3:29:28in place now. So I think it's a really

3:29:31[clears throat]

3:29:32overdue and and and really really

3:29:34important work that will be done both on

3:29:36the residential side and now on the

3:29:37commercial side to do everything we can

3:29:39to ensure that we talk the talk of what

3:29:44we believe government can be which is a

3:29:47a place where people turn to for really

3:29:50efficient

3:29:51[clears throat] and um effective ways to

3:29:55address the the issues that we face. So,

3:29:57I'm really excited about this and look

3:29:58forward to doing anything I can to to

3:30:00move this forward. So, and thank you for

3:30:02your leadership on this and totally

3:30:04jazzed about the Bloomberg city's uh

3:30:05focusing on this for the city.

3:30:08>> Thank you, Councelor. Councelor Zusi,

3:30:10>> again, kudos to you. I just also feel

3:30:13like this is essential to our commercial

3:30:15viability.

3:30:16So, um I'm thrilled that you'll be

3:30:19working on this as a project and um uh I

3:30:23look forward that definitely we'll have

3:30:24progress. Thank you.

3:30:26Great.

3:30:28I think um that anyone who everyone

3:30:31who's wanted to speak has spoken. So

3:30:34we'll go ahead and do a roll call on

3:30:37adopting the order and placing the

3:30:39communication on file. All those in

3:30:41favor say I.

3:30:42>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:30:44it. Policy number nine is adopted and

3:30:47the communication from other city

3:30:48officers number two is placed on file.

3:30:51We'll move on to policy rule number 10.

3:30:52This is at the city council support

3:30:54protecting and strengthening section 106

3:30:56of the National Historic Preservation

3:30:58Act. This was filed by councelor Zusi

3:31:00and myself and it was pulled by

3:31:02councelor Nolan. Councelor Zusi, would

3:31:04you like to say anything?

3:31:06>> Yeah, I'll just I'll just say a few

3:31:08things. Um, again, there are over 600

3:31:11public, private, nonprofit, and tribal

3:31:14governments, over 5 million Americans

3:31:17overall that are challenging the Trump

3:31:20administration's

3:31:22um efforts to um weaken section 106 of

3:31:26the National Historic Preservation Act.

3:31:29So, I hope you'll join me uh join us uh

3:31:34tonight in uh supporting this. Um, we

3:31:39can't have the Trump administration

3:31:42trampling

3:31:43on our historic resources, demolishing

3:31:46the East Wing, building a ballroom,

3:31:49planning to paint the Eisenhower

3:31:51Executive Office Building, planning to

3:31:53build this 250 foot arch near Arlington

3:31:57Cemetery, and and now threatening to

3:31:59tear down the Kennedy Center, which may

3:32:02go bankrupt tomorrow. So, um, we need to

3:32:05say no. I hope you'll support this.

3:32:08Thank you,

3:32:09>> councelor Nolan.

3:32:12>> Thank you. Yes, I did pull it partly to

3:32:13be added, but also it it is just yet

3:32:17another one of these completely shocking

3:32:19ways that so much of what we hold dear

3:32:22is being shredded and and this section

3:32:25which I really appreciate councelor

3:32:27Zuzie and um the mayor for bringing this

3:32:30forward because I hadn't realized there

3:32:31was that specific section that was being

3:32:33eviscerated be I had known about many of

3:32:36the um areas that make the news but

3:32:38there's so many other places across the

3:32:40country because this goes at natural

3:32:42parks as well as buildings any historic

3:32:45and the complete disregard for the

3:32:48tribal communities that have worked

3:32:49really hard to preserve some of their

3:32:51spaces is I you know it's we we have to

3:32:55keep being shocked because otherwise it

3:32:57means we're just accepting what happens

3:32:59and so that's how I see this that we

3:33:00have to keep being shocked even though

3:33:02we are certainly aware that a council

3:33:04resolution from Cambridge Mass to this

3:33:06is not likely to have a huge impact and

3:33:08yet it's really important we stand up so

3:33:10thank you And [snorts] councelor Nolan,

3:33:12you wanted to be added. Okay. So on the

3:33:14motion by councelor Nolan to be added to

3:33:16policy order number 10. All those in

3:33:17favor say I. I. Those against say no.

3:33:21The eyes have it. Councelor Nolan is

3:33:23added. We'll go ahead and adopt the

3:33:26policy order number 10 as amended. And

3:33:29on a voice vote, all those in favor say

3:33:31I. I. Those against say no. The eyes

3:33:34have it. The

3:33:37policy number 10 as amended is adopted.

3:33:40We're going on to policy order number

3:33:4111. This is that the city solicitor

3:33:44engage the services of a suitable law

3:33:46firm in consultation with the city's

3:33:48chief people officer and with approval

3:33:50of the city solicitor to negotiate an

3:33:52employment contract with Paula M. Crane

3:33:55on behalf of the city council. This was

3:33:57followed by myself, councelor McGovern,

3:33:58councelor Simmons, and councelor Zusi. I

3:34:01want to start by thanking everyone

3:34:02involved in the search process processes

3:34:07um city staff my colleagues uh who

3:34:09sponsored the order and really the

3:34:12entire body for following along from

3:34:14what has been a long journey. Um we went

3:34:17through two search processes and I think

3:34:20um you know the order kind of speaks to

3:34:24uh that. Uh but I think throughout it

3:34:27all clerk Paula Crane has been um

3:34:30steadfast in her role as acting uh

3:34:32interim clerk uh not just once but three

3:34:35times since 2019. And we know that the

3:34:38clerk's office does uh a lot of work not

3:34:42only in this chamber but in interfacing

3:34:44with the public every single day.

3:34:46and clerk crane has uh ensured that

3:34:50we've experienced no interruptions

3:34:52through transitions, vacancies and

3:34:54departures of past clerks and especially

3:34:56during the recent transition to our new

3:34:58agenda management software um as well

3:35:01and that could have been disruptive uh

3:35:03without her uh being involved. So, um,

3:35:07you know, I think there's, um, a lot of

3:35:10dedication that's come from, uh, clerk,

3:35:14uh, Crane, and I think, um, our

3:35:17recommendation would be to extend this

3:35:20next step toward formalizing her role

3:35:22and moving forward with contract

3:35:24negotiations. Uh, so with that, um, if

3:35:28my colleagues would like to say a few

3:35:30words, they're welcome to.

3:35:33>> Councelor Flity. Yes, I'd like to be

3:35:36added uh as a sponsor. And I'd also like

3:35:39to say that we're a very lucky body to

3:35:44have uh Paula Crane as our clerk. And

3:35:49um

3:35:50I probably, you know, as a newer member

3:35:53here, didn't realize how lucky we all

3:35:56were. Uh but it it became very apparent

3:35:59to me at our inauguration when she

3:36:02paraphrased

3:36:04uh the remarks by John F. Kennedy when

3:36:07he was elected president of the United

3:36:09States uh and he made an address to the

3:36:12House of Representatives shortly after

3:36:14he was elected, the city on a hill

3:36:17address. And she paraphrased that in her

3:36:19opening remarks in our inauguration. And

3:36:22I was I I was so impressed and astounded

3:36:26by the depth of her understanding and

3:36:29the semnity with which she handled that

3:36:32entire process. And from that moment

3:36:35forward, watching her work ethic,

3:36:38watching her commitment to each one of

3:36:40us individually, to this body

3:36:42collectively, to the city of Cambridge,

3:36:45to her job, uh we are so fortunate to

3:36:48have her as our interim clerk and to to

3:36:53have the opportunity to have her as our

3:36:55permanent clerk, I think, is a gift to

3:36:57all of us. and uh I I'd like to be added

3:37:01as a co-sponsor and I I enthusiastically

3:37:06support this uh policy order and I just

3:37:09I just want to say thank you for all

3:37:10that she's done for me and for all of us

3:37:13uh and for the city of Cambridge as a

3:37:15clerk. So that's all I have. Thank you

3:37:17very much Paula.

3:37:19>> We have councelor Nolan and then I'll go

3:37:21to councelor Simmons.

3:37:22I uh fully support this if it makes

3:37:26sense to add just to show how strongly I

3:37:28support it. I I think what I also want

3:37:31to do is appreciate the transparency

3:37:33that is evidenced here that we're being

3:37:36very clear and open about the fact that

3:37:38there were searches. I also want to

3:37:39thank the if I'm reading this, the the

3:37:42four folks on this were the ones who

3:37:44served on the committee. that's a a

3:37:46challenging thing to do and especially

3:37:47when you go through it and you

3:37:48acknowledge that um it it ended up being

3:37:51much longer than you initially

3:37:53anticipated. Um so I I I want to thank

3:37:58people for that transparency because I

3:38:00think it's the way that we uh hopefully

3:38:02improve trust in in local government to

3:38:05acknowledge this and and also thank of

3:38:08course interm clerk crane for agreeing

3:38:10to step up. I know we're a really fun

3:38:13but also feisty and sometimes pretty

3:38:15challenging bunch to work with and uh

3:38:18I'm really glad that that has been

3:38:19something that that we will be uh seeing

3:38:23together and working together in the

3:38:24future because I know that that you make

3:38:26us better for how we how we conduct

3:38:28business here. Thanks so much.

3:38:30>> We'll go to councelor Simmons and then

3:38:32councelor Alzubi.

3:38:33>> Uh thank you madam mayor. uh through you

3:38:35to the my colleagues. Uh as you we we

3:38:38offer this respectfully and with full

3:38:40enthusiasm and and support. Uh two

3:38:43things I want to say very quickly. I

3:38:44want to first thank uh Clerk Crane for

3:38:47doing this job. She stands on the

3:38:49shoulders of brilliant women uh and and

3:38:52men Margaret Drury, Donna Lopez, Anthony

3:38:55Wilson just to name a few. Uh just stood

3:38:58stood up to do a job that we don't do

3:39:01and is very difficult and and Mrs.

3:39:03Leblanc her as well. Um,

3:39:07this is not an easy job. It's the clerk.

3:39:09The clerk does marriages, deaths,

3:39:12marriages, deaths. There's something

3:39:13else I'm missing. Births, births,

3:39:15marriages, deaths. Um, keeps the record

3:39:18of the city and the record of the city

3:39:20is extraordinary. It's wonderful that we

3:39:23hired an archavist just to start to

3:39:24collect some of the information that we

3:39:27have. But one of the things, I mean, I

3:39:29don't know how Paula does it. I think

3:39:30she's unflapable. I've never seen her

3:39:32angry. She might go home and, you know,

3:39:35say a few curse words, but, you know,

3:39:37we're no easy group to work with, for

3:39:39sure. And so, I I am very grateful that

3:39:41she has stood in the gap to do this job,

3:39:45stood stands up to do this job, knowing

3:39:48she has she she's doing this when she

3:39:51has a a sister that needs her support

3:39:53and she's been there to do that and to

3:39:56make sure that we get our job done and

3:39:57get our job done right. And that's no

3:40:00easy task. I want to first say thank

3:40:02you. Thank you for wanting to do it. Um

3:40:05I I might have to get you therapy, but I

3:40:07do thank you for wanting to do it. I

3:40:09also want to acknowledge Naomi Stefen

3:40:11who has guided us through three search

3:40:14processes. Um it's not easy to to do

3:40:20this process of hiring someone the you

3:40:23know receiving the applications making

3:40:24the appointments arranging for the

3:40:26interviews arranging for follow-up

3:40:28interviews and then you know we did our

3:40:30very best and and I I I cheered the the

3:40:33first one Mayor Sadiki the second one

3:40:36and we put all our best efforts in and

3:40:38you know why it failed because we had

3:40:40the best person all the time. So, I

3:40:43wholeheartedly

3:40:44um support uh Clerk Crane. Um I hope we

3:40:49don't make your job any more challenging

3:40:51than it needs to be and I hope that we

3:40:53can get a nine zero vote on this. I

3:40:55yield the floor.

3:40:56>> We'll go to councelor Alubi and then

3:40:58councelor McGovern.

3:40:59>> Thank you, Madame Mayor. I I would love

3:41:01to be added as a co-sponsor as well. I

3:41:04definitely have not had the privilege to

3:41:06get to know Clerk Crane as well as

3:41:08everybody else, but if there is

3:41:10something that really has stuck out to

3:41:12me in the nine months I've been in this

3:41:14work is your kindness and your grounded

3:41:17reassurance. Um, you're always around

3:41:19ready to help folks and I know that

3:41:21there's so much more on your plate

3:41:22outside of all of that. So, I want to

3:41:25acknowledge that and thank you for being

3:41:26that grounded presence in this space and

3:41:28to thank you as well to you Naomi

3:41:31because I know these processes aren't

3:41:32easy and I honestly couldn't have said

3:41:34it better than councelor Simmons. So,

3:41:36thank you. I'll yield.

3:41:38>> We'll go to councelor McGovern.

3:41:40>> Thank you, [clears throat] Madam Mayor.

3:41:41Through you. Um,

3:41:44you know, I know that when we when we

3:41:46are hiring for certain positions, it's

3:41:48our due diligence to do these national

3:41:50searches and, you know, but sometimes

3:41:52the best person is sitting right under

3:41:54your nose and I think that that is uh

3:41:57the case in in in this situation. Um, I

3:42:01always tell this this story about and

3:42:02this goes to councelor Flarity's point

3:42:04of the dedication. And I've told this a

3:42:07million times, but it just such

3:42:08exemplifies, I think, who you are and

3:42:10what you do for this job is I remember

3:42:13we all a couple years ago all got an

3:42:15email on a Friday from a gentleman who

3:42:18said, "I'm getting married tomorrow.

3:42:22I forgot to pick up my marriage

3:42:23certificate. My fiance's going to kill

3:42:26me. What do I do?" And this was like

3:42:284:00. You know, we closed at 12:00. and

3:42:30you drove in, opened city hall, met him

3:42:34here, did the paperwork, and made sure

3:42:36that he had his marriage certificate so

3:42:38he could get married. Hopefully, he's

3:42:40still married. Um, but that I, you know,

3:42:43I don't know. I mean, you get I don't

3:42:45want to disparrage any other larger

3:42:46cities, but like I don't know. Do you

3:42:48get that do you get that level of

3:42:50service in New York, Boston, Chicago,

3:42:54you know, other places around? I don't

3:42:55know. Maybe, probably not. So just um

3:42:59again I I want to echo the thanks for

3:43:00everybody for you stepping up and being

3:43:02willing to do this um and taking this on

3:43:05given you know other things um but uh we

3:43:10couldn't you know we couldn't ask for a

3:43:12better person and so I appreciate you as

3:43:14always and looking forward to having you

3:43:17around for a little bit longer.

3:43:19Councelor Zuzie.

3:43:23>> Welcome, Clerk Crane. And I hope you

3:43:27like the job.

3:43:28>> Thank you,

3:43:30Councelor Serena Wheeler and then Vice

3:43:32Mayor Zim.

3:43:33>> Thanks. Similarly, it'll be brief, but

3:43:35yeah, thank you for uh stepping up.

3:43:36Looking forward to continuing to work

3:43:38with you. There's some parts of this

3:43:39position that are very public, including

3:43:41these council meetings and the weddings

3:43:42and some that are more behind the

3:43:44scenes, including the archiving and all

3:43:45of the the certificates that go out. But

3:43:47thank you for for doing all of it and

3:43:49looking forward to continuing to have

3:43:50you around. Yel back.

3:43:52>> Voice Vice Mayor Azim.

3:43:55>> Um well I'm very excited about this. I

3:43:57was not part of the search process so I

3:43:58didn't know all the candidates although

3:44:00I've been part of prior search

3:44:01processes. Um and I was going to say I

3:44:04was almost nervous to ask Paula if she

3:44:06was going to apply because I was like

3:44:08we'd be more lucky to have her than the

3:44:10other way around. Um, you know, it's a

3:44:12very hard job both dealing with us and

3:44:14our last minute policy orders and

3:44:15everything else, but also so much of the

3:44:17job is being the front door to the

3:44:19public. Um, and it's something that, you

3:44:22know, I at least I know and I forget

3:44:24about from time to time just because

3:44:25we're so focused on the work that we do

3:44:27in this room. Uh, but you know, I think,

3:44:29uh, it was really helpful the other time

3:44:31when, uh, Paul was helping me get all of

3:44:34my marriage certificates signed and

3:44:35handed in, made sure that they were here

3:44:37and when I needed them. Um, and every

3:44:39day

3:44:41uh was really really helpful. And so I'm

3:44:43very excited. I feel like uh it's just

3:44:45an honor for you to be able to uh do

3:44:47this job and honestly just uh very

3:44:49excited that you were excited enough to

3:44:50do it more than uh anything else. So

3:44:53thank you.

3:44:54>> I wanted to just acknowledge um Melissa

3:44:57and Megan as well who are in the

3:44:59audience. Well, we're getting there to

3:45:00your topics, but they were all they were

3:45:04both on the search committee along with

3:45:05Matt Nelson and um

3:45:07>> Weslesca and Matt um I think that was

3:45:11all of everyone and of course Naomi who

3:45:15helped with so much with both processes.

3:45:18So, shout out another shout out to Naomi

3:45:20as well. So, um with that uh we'll go

3:45:23ahead and add the entire council to the

3:45:26PO. Um all those in favor say I.

3:45:28>> I. I those against say no. The eyes's

3:45:31have it. So now we have an amended PO.

3:45:33Um and we will go ahead and um start the

3:45:36um employment contract process um and

3:45:39vote on the policy order as amended for

3:45:42number 11. All those in favor say I. I.

3:45:46Those against say no. The eyes have it.

3:45:47Policy order number 11

3:45:50>> as amended is adopted. We go to policy

3:45:54order number 12. This is that the city

3:45:56council urge the Healey Driscoll

3:45:58administration and the Massachusetts

3:46:00General Court to prioritize the hiring

3:46:02of additional DTA case workers to ensure

3:46:05those eligible for SNAP are able to

3:46:07receive and maintain benefits and taking

3:46:10other steps needed to end the SNAP

3:46:12access crisis. This was filed by myself,

3:46:14Councelor Alubi, Councelor McGovern, and

3:46:17Vice Mayor Azim. I'll know councelor

3:46:20Nolan you pulled it. I'll go to you.

3:46:23Yeah, as I said, I I pulled it to be to

3:46:26thank all of you for working on this.

3:46:27This is so critical. We heard earlier in

3:46:29the meeting about the the need for

3:46:31exactly this type of action at the state

3:46:34level in order to address the severe

3:46:36need in the community. So, I pulled it

3:46:37to add my name to it in order to ensure

3:46:40that the weight of that whatever that

3:46:42matters is is there.

3:46:43>> No, absolutely. Yeah. what's happening

3:46:45is, I'll just say, really unacceptable.

3:46:48And I think we can't control every

3:46:50decision made at the federal uh level,

3:46:53but we can control how we respond. And I

3:46:55think that's what we're doing um at the

3:46:57city level, but we also need the state

3:46:59uh to act. And so the purpose of this

3:47:01policy order is to call our state

3:47:04partners to action. So we'll go ahead

3:47:07and add councelor Nolan to the policy

3:47:09order on a voice vote. All those in

3:47:11favor say I.

3:47:12>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:47:14it. Councelor Nolan is adopted. We'll go

3:47:17ahead and adopt the policy or order as

3:47:20amended.

3:47:21All those in favor say I.

3:47:23>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:47:25it. Policy number 12 is adopted.

3:47:28>> We go to the calendar.

3:47:32We have two items under unfinished

3:47:34business. So go to number one, which is

3:47:37Cambridge Street Active Youth Zoning

3:47:39Petition. This was passed to a second

3:47:40reading as amended by substitution in

3:47:43the council meeting on August 3rd.

3:47:46Councelor McGovern.

3:47:47>> Uh thank you, Madam Mayor. I um given

3:47:49the hour and the amount of time we've

3:47:51spent on uh on this petition and the

3:47:54next one, I don't think there's much

3:47:55more to say. Um I don't know if anyone

3:47:57else has anything to say, but if not, I

3:47:59would like to move adoption.

3:48:02>> Councelor

3:48:03>> as amended. McGovern

3:48:06uh moves to uh ordain the Cambridge

3:48:09Street Active Youth Zoning Petition as

3:48:11amended. And we'll go ahead and do a

3:48:13roll call.

3:48:14>> Councelor El Zubie.

3:48:16>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zim.

3:48:18>> Yes.

3:48:18>> Yes. Councelor Flareity.

3:48:20>> Yes.

3:48:20>> Yes. Council McGovern.

3:48:21>> Yes.

3:48:22>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

3:48:23>> Yes.

3:48:24>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

3:48:25>> Yes.

3:48:25>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:48:27>> Yes.

3:48:28>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

3:48:29>> Yes.

3:48:29>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki.

3:48:31>> Yes.

3:48:31>> Yes. and you have nine members recorded

3:48:32in the affirmative.

3:48:34>> The Cambridge Street active use zoning

3:48:36petition as amended is ordained. We'll

3:48:39go to number two with which is the

3:48:41Massachusetts Avenue active use zoning

3:48:42petition. This was also passed to a

3:48:44second reading on August 3rd and is

3:48:47eligible to be ordained. Council

3:48:49McGovern.

3:48:49>> Um Madame Mayor, uh same thing. Um I

3:48:53don't think there's much more to say. I

3:48:54would like to move to ordain the

3:48:56Massachusetts Avenue zoning petition

3:48:59>> as a

3:49:00>> as Yeah.

3:49:01>> Yes.

3:49:02>> So, we'll go ahead and do a roll call on

3:49:05that motion.

3:49:06>> Councelor Alzie,

3:49:07>> yes. Vice Mayor Razim,

3:49:09>> yes. Councelor Flareity,

3:49:10>> yes.

3:49:11>> Yes. Councelor McGovern,

3:49:12>> yes.

3:49:13>> Yes. Councelor Nolan,

3:49:14>> yes.

3:49:15>> Yes. Councelor Simmons,

3:49:16>> yes.

3:49:16>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler,

3:49:18>> yes.

3:49:19>> Yes. Councelor Zusi,

3:49:20>> yes.

3:49:20>> Yes. Mayor Sadiki,

3:49:21>> yes.

3:49:22>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

3:49:23in the affirmative.

3:49:25>> Massachusetts Avenue active use zon in

3:49:27petition has been as amended has been

3:49:30ordained.

3:49:31>> Okay,

3:49:32>> madame mayor.

3:49:32>> Yes, council.

3:49:33>> Now our favorite thing just to be sure,

3:49:34I'd like to move suspension of the rules

3:49:36to move reconsideration hoping the same

3:49:38cannot revail prevail on the the

3:49:40previous two votes.

3:49:41>> So on suspension we'll do a rule uh do a

3:49:44voice vote. All those in favor say I. I.

3:49:47Those against say no. And then on the

3:49:50reconsideration, we'll do a um a roll

3:49:53call.

3:49:55So a no vote, we'll close the matter.

3:50:00Just give me one second.

3:50:03Councelor El Zubie,

3:50:04>> no. Vice Mayor Razim,

3:50:09>> no. Council Flity,

3:50:11>> no.

3:50:11>> No. Councelor McGovern,

3:50:12>> no.

3:50:13>> No. Councelor Nolan,

3:50:14>> no. Councelor Simmons,

3:50:16>> no. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:50:18>> No.

3:50:18>> No. Councelor Zusi,

3:50:20>> no.

3:50:20>> No. Mayor Sadiki,

3:50:21>> no.

3:50:22>> No. And you have nine members recorded

3:50:23in the negative.

3:50:25>> Okay. So, we've disposed of

3:50:28reconsideration.

3:50:30We move on to applications and

3:50:33petitions. Pleasure of the city council.

3:50:36>> Councelor Nolan moves that we adopt all

3:50:38four applications. We'll go ahead and do

3:50:41a roll call.

3:50:43>> Councelor Alzubi.

3:50:45>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zim. Yes.

3:50:46>> Yes. Councelor Flareity.

3:50:48>> Yes.

3:50:48>> Yes. Councelor McGovern.

3:50:50>> Yes.

3:50:50>> Yes. Councelor Nolan.

3:50:51>> Yes.

3:50:52>> Yes. Councelor Simmons.

3:50:53>> Yes. Councelor Sabrina Wheeler.

3:50:55>> Yes.

3:50:56>> Yes. Councelor Zusi.

3:50:57>> Yes.

3:50:58>> Yes. Mayor Sadik.

3:50:59>> Yes.

3:50:59>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

3:51:01in the affirmative.

3:51:02>> All applications and petitions. All four

3:51:04of them have been adopted.

3:51:06We go on to communications. There are 52

3:51:08communications. Councelor

3:51:11>> Sam Simmons makes a motion to place all

3:51:13communications on file. All those in

3:51:16favor say I. I. Those against say no.

3:51:19The eyes have it. Those 52

3:51:21communications are placed on file. We

3:51:23have eight resolutions. Pleasure of the

3:51:26city council.

3:51:29>> Move adoption. Making

3:51:30>> I know that I think councelor Zusi did

3:51:33you want to withdraw one?

3:51:34>> Yeah, we need to re um we need to

3:51:37withdraw number eight because we did a

3:51:40policy order. And hearing none from no

3:51:43one else, we'll go ahead and

3:51:46uh adopt the balance of the resolutions

3:51:48on a motion by councelor McGovern,

3:51:50making them unanimous upon adoption.

3:51:54All those in favor say I.

3:51:56>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:51:57it. The balance of the resolutions been

3:52:00adopted, making them unanimous upon

3:52:02adoption. We're at number eight, which

3:52:05was honoring the blessed sacrament drill

3:52:07team and color guard. Uh we're we have a

3:52:11motion to withdraw from councelor Zusi

3:52:14to withdraw the resolution because we it

3:52:18came in as a policy order so we don't

3:52:20need it before us. Um on the motion to

3:52:23withdraw. All those in favor say I.

3:52:25>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:52:27it. That number eight has been taken

3:52:30care of. We'll go on to committee

3:52:33reports. We have five committee reports.

3:52:35Pleasure of the city council.

3:52:36>> Move to accept the reports and place on

3:52:38file. Councelor Simmons moves to accept

3:52:40the five reports and place them on file.

3:52:43All those in favor say I. I.

3:52:45>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:52:48it. Those committee reports have been

3:52:51accepted and placed on file. We do have

3:52:54one set of round tail roundt minutes

3:52:57from August 6th. We'll go ahead on a

3:53:00motion by councelor Nolan to adopt these

3:53:04to place these uh minutes uh on file.

3:53:08Accept the reports on file. Will all

3:53:11those in favor say I.

3:53:12>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:53:14it. Those minutes uh have been the

3:53:18reports been accepted and placed on

3:53:19file. We now move on to communications

3:53:22and reports from other city officers.

3:53:24We've actually disposed of two of them

3:53:28and so pleasure of the

3:53:32>> file like to pull number five.

3:53:33>> Councelor Nolan will pull number five.

3:53:36>> Anyone else on others?

3:53:38>> Place on file.

3:53:39>> Hearing none. We'll go ahead and place

3:53:42the balance um on file. And all those in

3:53:46favor say I. I.

3:53:48>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:53:50it. The balance has been placed on file.

3:53:53We have we'll go to number five which is

3:53:56a communication from councelors Nolan

3:53:58Alubi regarding a proposed schedule for

3:54:00budget related finance committee

3:54:02hearings. Councelor Nolan you have the

3:54:04floor.

3:54:04>> Thank you Mayor Sadiki. Yes. Uh

3:54:06councelor Aubi and I um are submitting

3:54:08this and I pulled it just to remind all

3:54:10of all of us that we are starting the uh

3:54:14budget process for the next fiscal year

3:54:16even though we're just barely started

3:54:18this one. And the the key date that we

3:54:20mentioned at the beginning of the

3:54:21meeting, the tax rate hearing, which

3:54:23will be presented at our next regular

3:54:25meeting on the 28th. Last year,

3:54:27[clears throat] if you remember, that

3:54:28was uh one that the community didn't

3:54:30have as as much notice about. So, this

3:54:32this time we're making sure that the

3:54:33community does have notice about.

3:54:35However, there's also several um while

3:54:37they're not specifically finance

3:54:39committee meetings, there will be

3:54:40several joint roundt meetings that I

3:54:42know the office of mayor Sadiki is

3:54:44working on that are important for us to

3:54:46ensure that we have in place this fall

3:54:49so that we are in a in a really good

3:54:51position to develop the budget together

3:54:53with the city per the charter changes

3:54:55that uh specify many of these earlier in

3:54:58um understanding and input into the

3:55:00budget process. So you have the memo

3:55:02before you that there will be several

3:55:04meetings in October, November. We also

3:55:07still have to determine the finance

3:55:08committee meeting to discuss city

3:55:10council budget priorities. Our

3:55:11expectation for that is we will of

3:55:13course be building on the work that we

3:55:14did already. We're not going to bring in

3:55:16radical changes since that would not be

3:55:18good governance. It would not be good

3:55:19fiscal uh practice either, but it will

3:55:21allow us to just review where we are

3:55:23with our budget priorities. And then

3:55:25there'll be a number of meetings over

3:55:27from January through June the adoption

3:55:30of the budget. So, I just wanted to make

3:55:31sure we all had that on our calendars

3:55:33that they're pretty important meetings

3:55:35coming up in the fall. And I don't know

3:55:36if anyone else wants has questions or

3:55:38comments or wants to add to it.

3:55:41>> Anyone would like to add? Hearing none,

3:55:44we'll go ahead on a voice void on a

3:55:47motion by councelor Nolan to place

3:55:49communication from other city officers

3:55:51number five on file. All those in favor

3:55:53say I. I. Those against say no. The eyes

3:55:56have it. Number five has been placed on

3:55:58file. We now move on to late resolutions

3:56:01and late policy orders. We do have a few

3:56:03items so that require suspension of the

3:56:05rules on a motion by councelor Flity to

3:56:09suspend the rules to bring forward these

3:56:11late items. All those in favor say I. I.

3:56:14Those against say no. The eyes have it.

3:56:17We are in suspension. We have two late

3:56:20resolutions. Uh this is a there's a late

3:56:22resolution for leukemia awareness month

3:56:252026 and there's a resolution for the

3:56:27ring alumni association's 128th annual

3:56:30reunion dinner.

3:56:32Would like my colleagues who sponsor

3:56:34these say anything?

3:56:37>> Just briefly madame mayor uh this the

3:56:40annual reunion is this is coming upon us

3:56:43and we will not have enough another

3:56:44meeting before it. So I was bringing

3:56:46that forward. Uh as you know the ring

3:56:50the ring alumni association has been

3:56:53celebrating acknowledging and lifting up

3:56:55their memberships which is members me

3:56:58those that attended ring and they've

3:57:00added Cambridge ring well Cambridge high

3:57:03and Latin as well. They'll be

3:57:05acknowledging a number of different

3:57:06people with a person of the year award

3:57:10and a number of other things. And I

3:57:12thought it was important a number of us,

3:57:14not all but a number of us did attend

3:57:16Cambridge public schools. Uh and so I

3:57:19thought it was important that we

3:57:20acknowledge them and uh and the work

3:57:22that their folks that have come through

3:57:25the two schools or the three schools

3:57:26Cambridge Latin, Cambridge High and

3:57:28Latin and Cambridge and Latin be

3:57:31appropriately acknowledged. I yield the

3:57:33floor on that. And then in terms of

3:57:35leukemia, leukemia is an uh is a disease

3:57:39that touches many people. My daughter

3:57:41died three years ago from it. Um, we

3:57:44know I'm not going to call out people

3:57:46because they may not want to be

3:57:47acknowledged in this way. We have people

3:57:48that that are very close to us whose

3:57:51family is suffering from this horrific

3:57:54disease. And so if we can just

3:57:57acknowledge that by lighting the hall as

3:58:01we've done in the past in red, I think

3:58:03that we go a long way in making people

3:58:06feel noticed and seen as they go through

3:58:09this horrific disease. I yield the

3:58:11floor. Thank you, Councelor Simmons, for

3:58:14bringing both forward. We'll go ahead

3:58:17and uh do a voice for it on adopting

3:58:20both of the late resolutions. All those

3:58:22in favor say I. I.

3:58:24>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:58:26it. Those two late resolutions are

3:58:29adopted and they're unanimous upon

3:58:32adoption. We have this late policy order

3:58:35uh as well that the city manager

3:58:37requested to direct the appropriate city

3:58:39staff to illuminate city hall in teal on

3:58:42Sunday September 20th or on another date

3:58:45in September most suitable for city

3:58:47staff in observance of ovarian cancer

3:58:49awareness month. This was filed by

3:58:51councelor flity. Councelor Simmons.

3:58:53Councelor Flity.

3:58:56>> I yield.

3:58:58>> So, this was a request by a a company

3:59:01that's located here in Cambridge,

3:59:03Kendall Square, and there are a new

3:59:05company, and it's a it's an important

3:59:07issue. It touches every family uh many

3:59:10close to us, and I just ask that it be

3:59:12adopted.

3:59:15>> Councelor Simmons.

3:59:16>> No, I I yield.

3:59:17>> You yield? Yeah.

3:59:20>> Thank you. Thank you for um bringing

3:59:22that forward. [snorts] We'll go ahead on

3:59:24a voice vote on a motion by councelor

3:59:27Flity to adopt the policy order. All

3:59:29those in favor say I. I.

3:59:30>> I. Those against say no. The eyes have

3:59:33it.

3:59:34>> We're done with our late

3:59:36late uh policy order and resolutions.

3:59:40We'll go ahead on a motion by Vice Mayor

3:59:43to adjourn. All those in favor say I. I.

3:59:46Those against say no. The eyes have it.

3:59:48>> We are adjourned. Good night everyone.

3:59:50It's 9:30. Not bad.