2026-10-20 - Continued City Council Meeting

00:49A quorum of the city council being

00:51present, I call today's continuation of

00:53the October 19th, 2026 regular meeting

00:56of the Cambridge City Council to order.

00:58The first order of business is a roll

01:00call of members present.

01:01>> Councilor El-Zoubi.

01:03>> Present. Vice Mayor Azeem. Present.

01:05Count Councilor Flaherty.

01:10>> [clears throat]

01:10>> Councilor Flaherty.

01:14Absent. Councilor McGovern.

01:15>> Present.

01:16>> Present. Councilor Nolan. Present.

01:18Councilor Simmons.

01:19>> Present.

01:20>> Present. Councilor Sabrina Wheeler.

01:21>> Present.

01:22>> Present. Councilor Zöe Zee.

01:24Absent. Mayor Siddiqui.

01:26>> Present.

01:26>> Present. You have seven members recorded

01:28as present and two recorded as absent.

01:30>> Per chapter two of the acts of the 2025

01:32adopted by Massachusetts General Court

01:34and approved by the governor, the city

01:36is authorized to use remote

01:37participation at meetings of the

01:39Cambridge City Council. You can also

01:40view the meeting meeting via the city's

01:42open meeting portal or on the city's

01:44cable channel 22.

01:46Please note that the city of Cambridge

01:47audio and video records this meeting and

01:50makes it available for the public for

01:51future viewing. In addition, third

01:53parties may also be audio and video

01:55recording this meeting. We will resume

01:57the meeting where we left off last

01:58evening last evening.

02:00We have one submission of the record,

02:02minutes of the special city council

02:04meeting on the city managers 2026

02:07performance review process held on June

02:0823rd, 2026.

02:11On a motion by Councillor Nolan to

02:14accept the report and place on file.

02:17All those in favor say I. I. Those

02:19against say no. The eyes have it.

02:22That submission of the record has been

02:24placed on file.

02:26We move on to the city managers agenda.

02:30Okay, Councillor Flaherty is here.

02:32>> Councillor Flaherty.

02:34>> Present.

02:34>> Present.

02:36We now move on to the balance of the

02:39city managers agenda items. We will go

02:42to

02:44city manager agenda item number four.

02:46This is a communication transmitted from

02:48Ion Wong, city manager, relative to a

02:50police review and advisory board

02:52quarterly report for the third quarter

02:54of 2026. Councillor Zuby, you pulled

02:56this?

02:57>> Yes, thank you. Through you, Madam

02:58Mayor. I will be chairing a Public

03:00Safety Committee hearing on the Police

03:02Review and Advisory Board on November

03:0410th from 12:00 to 2:00 p.m. So, just

03:07wanted to use this opportunity to add

03:09that to the meeting. So, I'll move a

03:11motion to refer this report to the

03:12Public Safety Committee's hearing on

03:14November 10th.

03:15>> Councillor Zuby will be moving city

03:17manager agenda item number four

03:20to the Public Safety uh meeting that's

03:23happening on November 10th. So, we'll go

03:26ahead and do a roll call on that motion.

03:31Laurel Zuby.

03:32>> Yes.

03:32>> Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem.

03:34>> Yes.

03:34>> Yes. Councillor Flaherty.

03:36>> Yes.

03:37>> Yes. Councillor McGovern. Yes.

03:39Councillor Nolan. Yes. Councillor

03:41Simmons.

03:42>> Yes.

03:42>> Yes. Councillor Sabrina Wheeler.

03:44>> Yes.

03:44>> Yes. Councillor Zuse.

03:46Absent. Mayor Siddiqui.

03:48>> Yes.

03:49>> Yes. And you have eight members recorded

03:50in the affirmative and one recorded as

03:51absent.

03:52>> We now move on to city manager agenda

03:54item number five. This is a

03:56communication transmitted from Ian Wang,

03:57city manager, relative to a green jobs

03:59report. Councilor Nolan, you pulled this

04:01first?

04:03>> Thank you, uh Mayor Siddiqui. Yes, I

04:04pulled it cuz I think it's an incredibly

04:06important part of the work that we're

04:08doing citywide to help our residents uh

04:11transition to good paying, high paying

04:14jobs that also

04:16help our uh city and the state and

04:19frankly, you know, the nation to move

04:20forward. So, I just love to hear uh an

04:22update um for all of us from the staff

04:24on exactly how we're measuring progress,

04:26how many residents have been involved in

04:29the job training programs, and what the

04:31smart goals are for us moving forward to

04:33ensure that this investment, which is

04:35quite high, we have I think a full-time

04:37person working on this, to hear uh

04:40what the measurable and deliverable

04:42results will be.

04:51>> Thank you so much.

04:52Okay.

04:54All right.

04:56Give that a little wait.

04:58Little bit of physics there.

04:59Um through you, Madam Mayor. Um

05:01thank you so much for um this

05:03opportunity to talk about the green jobs

05:06report and the work that's behind the

05:07report. Um I'm Sue Walsham, the deputy

05:10director for adult and family services

05:12for the Department of Human Service

05:13Programs, and the work is centered

05:15within our Office of Workforce

05:16Development.

05:17And so, we are fortunate to have

05:20resources that we've dedicated to

05:23um both raise awareness about what green

05:25jobs are,

05:27the pathways in order to access them, um

05:30and deep and intentional outreach to

05:32residents who we think can benefit from

05:34these opportunities.

05:36Um we have uh

05:38heard loud and clear uh from Councilor

05:40Nolan that the ability to outline very

05:45clear

05:46smart goals within a broad initiative

05:49like this helps us to focus our work and

05:51our intentionality and that's what we

05:53have tried to do.

05:54Um, we were fortunate to hire

05:57Rebecca, who I will uh ask to introduce

05:59herself. Um, and

06:02what

06:04we [snorts] have tried to support

06:05Rebecca in doing

06:07is

06:08a three-pronged approach

06:11to achieving the goals of this

06:12initiative.

06:13And I would say the cornerstone of that

06:16is individualized case management,

06:19which is something that no other

06:20municipality is offering at this time

06:23to its residents.

06:24Um,

06:25Rebecca.

06:27>> Good morning, counselors. Thank you so

06:29much for pulling this um this report. Uh

06:31something I'm very, very excited about.

06:33Thank you for your questions. Um and so

06:35to answer uh Counselor Nolan's

06:36questions, uh actually smart goals are

06:38how I usually frame my work. Um so that

06:41was actually very um

06:42it just worked out perfectly. Uh so just

06:45for some context, I was hired 15 months

06:48ago and I always knew that the first

06:49year was just going to be, you know, me

06:50learning, onboarding

06:52um with the bulk of the the um hiring

06:55and the placing into uh training

06:57programs happening in the second year,

06:58which is what we're doing right now.

07:00Um and so to answer your questions, I

07:02have framed everything um all of my work

07:05in smart goals that I submitted in the

07:07green jobs report.

07:09Um so as of right now so I'll just go

07:11ahead and read uh some of those some of

07:13those goals. So

07:14in FY 26, we knew that we wanted to

07:17um actually sorry, give me 1 second. So

07:20part of my job is I really break it up

07:22into two different uh pieces. Half of it

07:24is me going out into community and

07:26connecting with residents, educating

07:28them on different green jobs pathways,

07:30um and then the other half is doing

07:32one-on-one consultations with uh

07:34Cambridge residents to um

07:36really go deeper on, you know,

07:38comprehensive assessment on what green

07:40jobs they might be best suited for. Um

07:42and it also helped connect uh residents

07:44to different green training programs,

07:45anything from, you know, electrician

07:47pre-apprenticeships, uh, to HVAC

07:49programs. Um, and then I always tell

07:51folks, you know,

07:53you really can get a green job in an

07:55office, outdoors, laboratories.

07:58Um, and I do know that the focus is on

07:59the trades, um,

08:02so for, uh, client support, um, I

08:04provided individual green career

08:06counseling to 23 residents. 38% were low

08:09income, 50% women, 70 75% were people of

08:13color.

08:14Um, I did support uh two residents to

08:16enter into a green training program or

08:18fellowship.

08:19Uh, one of them was actually in a blue

08:21job, which we now know are like ocean

08:22jobs.

08:24Um,

08:24I also helped uh one resident secure a

08:26green job in HVAC uh and home energy

08:28audit sales.

08:30Um,

08:31and I uh planned and executed the city's

08:33first-ever green jobs career fair with

08:35at least 87 attendees.

08:38Um, I'm not sure if you wanted me to

08:40read all of them. Okay, yep.

08:43>> Councilor Nolan.

08:45>> Thanks. I think, um, I'm really excited

08:47to see this move forward. I think as we

08:50go along, the question is how can we,

08:51obviously, increase and work towards

08:54getting these great jobs, many of which

08:56cannot be outsourced, we have to

08:57remember. We are in an era when, between

08:59AI and so many other,

09:01um, ways that our workforce is being

09:03disrupted, and particularly for people

09:06in the trades and supporting the unions

09:08who have these programs, it's critically

09:10important. I also want to give a

09:10shout-out, which you do in your report,

09:12to Just A Start, which has a solar

09:13training program, which is uh, been, I

09:16think, pretty successful at bringing in

09:18and bringing these opportunities to

09:20people in Cambridge. We say we we care

09:22so much about making those connections,

09:24and this is, I think, one of the most

09:26important ways we can. So, I appreciate

09:28and look forward to the next iteration

09:30so that we have stronger, um, goals and

09:33even more people involved in this,

09:34because again, I think it's the only way

09:36for us to uh, walk the talk of making

09:39sure that we're ensuring that residents

09:42in the city understand the incredible

09:44opportunities what is laid out here in

09:45terms of electricians and HVAC that the

09:48growth there is really high, whereas it

09:49is declining in so many other areas that

09:51it's critically important if we care

09:53about economic security, if we care

09:54about economic opportunity and moving

09:57people into livable wage jobs. This is

09:59the way to go. So I I won't take any

10:01more time and and my questions are done.

10:03>> Okay.

10:04We're going to go to Councillor Simmons

10:06and then Councillor Zucchi.

10:09>> Uh thank you through the chair to

10:12I can't see the young lady's last name.

10:14And how do you pronounce it?

10:16>> Thank you. You pronounce it Arellano.

10:18>> I Arellano.

10:20>> You got it.

10:20>> Ms. Arellano, thank you for being here.

10:22Um

10:24The report was very interesting.

10:26You know,

10:27green jobs is an initiative the city

10:29took on back to 2008 and as I was

10:31reading through you the report some of

10:33the difficulties it seems that you

10:34struggle with now are are still present.

10:38One of them but you which is not listed

10:40in the report was a one of the

10:42impediments we found

10:44years ago when we we launched it was

10:46that if a

10:48um

10:49applicant didn't have a vehicle or a or

10:51driver's license and I was curious if

10:54that's still the the cause case and do

10:57we do enough supports to get people

11:00across the finish line because you're

11:01going to go through this training and

11:03and you don't have a driver's license

11:04because of any number of things. Missed

11:07child support payments and they took it

11:08away.

11:09I I can't even begin to measure all the

11:13not measure but outline all the

11:14impediments but it it seems to me if

11:18we don't

11:20when we do intake figure that out very

11:23early on they'll get to the end of the

11:25training and not be able to take a job

11:26because they don't have a one of the

11:28major requisites which is a driver's

11:30license.

11:31The other questions I had and I'll just

11:34go through them and you get through as

11:35to as many as you can and those that you

11:37can't, if you can send it to the council

11:38by email, that would be good.

11:41You talk a lot about the outreach events

11:43and so I'm curious about what happens at

11:45outreach events and what share of the

11:47attendees become counseling clients?

11:50What are the typical starting wages and

11:52employers for HVAC clerical and energy

11:55audit roles?

11:58This is critical. How many residents in

11:59training programs have completed them or

12:02hired been hired?

12:04And can the green jobs list be shared

12:06with the council? And then the last two

12:08that I stuck on was to what degree maybe

12:11this will be important because I I

12:13believe in breed but you need

12:15are you going to the high school working

12:17at with RSTA starting at that level

12:20because if people are not sort of

12:22flocking to the program, one captive

12:25audience is the high school.

12:28They have a

12:29a long-standing vocational program and

12:32what I have found is that we don't link

12:35up with the trades as well as we could

12:38as early as we should to gain the

12:40interest that we need to play

12:43young people into these these

12:45jobs. I mean there was a time when the

12:48high school was very college bound but

12:50they've really pivoted and so here's a

12:52really ripe opportunity to establish a

12:56long-standing ongoing maybe even a

12:58summer program around green jobs that

13:00would engage more people so that as they

13:03come through their the high school by

13:05the time they get to their senior year,

13:07they're not just choosing college to say

13:09hey, maybe I will go into this industry,

13:12this is the money that it pays, this is

13:14what I need etc. and so forth. So

13:16starting at the end, you know, what is

13:18your contact with RSTA?

13:20Can the green jobs list be shared with

13:22the council? You know, how many

13:25residents are in the training program

13:26that have completed them are hiring

13:29being hired because if you're bringing

13:30in you had a pretty high number of

13:33people that are coming in and and less

13:35than 10% get across the finish line

13:39that's no different than what we were

13:40doing in 2008. So what are we doing

13:41wrong?

13:44Through you Madam Mayor.

13:47>> Councilor Simmons, you make my heart

13:48sing.

13:50Well, I

13:51I'm not singing cuz I don't I don't sing

13:53well.

13:53>> it's um

13:55and I we should acknowledge that

13:57Councilor Simmons, former mayor, had

14:00absolutely spearheaded a green jobs

14:03initiative many years ago and I would

14:07say that the industry and the need has

14:09accelerated since that time. Green jobs

14:11has become more of a thing.

14:14But the impediments that prevent our

14:15residents from accessing those

14:17opportunities are the same.

14:20Um transportation,

14:22driver's license, and so those social

14:25supports

14:27they are still the challenge that are

14:28preventing our residents from accessing

14:30them and ironically

14:32and terribly

14:34um Rebecca just had an incident where

14:37she had worked um and on intake thought

14:40this individual had a vehicle

14:42got him into the trade the pre the

14:45pre-trade program. Turns out he did not

14:47have a vehicle and so after months of

14:49work now we're going to catch that young

14:52man and see what kind of repair can we

14:54do and what can we do with the union to

14:57try to um

14:59both have better communication and

15:00better intake on both our sides. So long

15:03answer to your amazing questions of yes,

15:06those barriers still exist and we are

15:08still fighting against them. They're

15:09child care, they're transportation. Um

15:11and we are working with Wistar.

15:14Um and we are partnering with them and

15:16Justice That to try to access funding

15:18for a pre-electrical training program.

15:22>> Thank you.

15:23>> Councilor Simmons, we we can come back.

15:26>> I I think that's we can come back, but I

15:28can give you these questions as well.

15:30Most important is, you know, how can the

15:31council help, you know,

15:34making those contacts because here's a

15:36great program that's being really

15:38underutilized and

15:39we we we can do better. Just we have to

15:41figure out a plan how to do that. I

15:43yield.

15:43>> Councilor Zusey.

15:45>> Yeah, thank you very much, Mayor

15:46Siddiqui, and I apologize for being a

15:49few minutes late. Um

15:51this Thank you for the green jobs

15:53report. It seems like very important

15:55work and we need to be funneling

15:58Cambridge residents into these programs.

16:01Again, I was impressed with

16:04I realize you're building the potential

16:06of the program, but I was also impressed

16:08with

16:09the lack of results that only two

16:12Cambridge residents It sounds like we we

16:14we got two Cambridge residents

16:17jobs or prepared them for jobs and that

16:20they've gotten jobs. So, some of my

16:23questions were So, in the scale HVAC

16:28program,

16:31how many total seats were available in

16:33that cohort? We got two residents in and

16:36what steps can the city take to increase

16:38the number of residents enrolled in

16:41future scale HVAC cohorts?

16:50>> Through you, Madam Mayor, we believe it

16:51was about 12 slots. It could have been

16:52up to 15 and that's a regional program

16:54open to

16:56residents of any city and town

16:59in our Metro North region.

17:01>> Okay, and then with

17:03Skill Seek program, which also sounds

17:06wonderful,

17:07how many Cambridge residents were

17:10referred to that program and

17:11participated in in it and do we know

17:15their outcomes.

17:19>> Thank you for that question, counselor.

17:21So, for Skill-Seek,

17:23um I know

17:24as far as number of residents referred,

17:26I tell everybody about it. So, I I I

17:29pass out flyers. I always I sing Apries'

17:32praises, who runs Skill-Seek. Um I know

17:35I referred at least two different

17:37clients who did apply. Um one of them

17:40did get in.

17:41Um and I actually just had uh another

17:44client uh apply and be accepted to

17:46Scales HVAC program, as well.

17:49And also, just to answer your question a

17:51little bit more thoroughly, um yes, um

17:53as I mentioned before, I always knew

17:54that the first year was going to be

17:55light on numbers. Um but to give you a

17:57little bit of of a sneak peek, um

18:00as of right now, in in the first uh

18:02fiscal year, um I've gotten so far 10

18:04people into different uh green jobs,

18:07fellowships, or training programs. So,

18:09definitely um going to see that the the

18:11numbers be much different next year.

18:13>> Councilor Zucca.

18:14>> Yeah, thank you so much. That's so

18:16reassuring to hear. That's what we need

18:18to hear. Cuz it sounds as though you're

18:20doing um tremendous work, tremendous

18:22outreach. And I guess what we want to

18:24see are results.

18:26Um and uh these do these are jobs of the

18:29future. And it's a little

18:30counterintuitive because um you know,

18:33everybody knows the

18:35um the Trump administration is not

18:37supporting green jobs. And yet, um there

18:40will be a greater need for them. And

18:42we're seeing more and more electric

18:44vehicles all over town. So, clearly,

18:46we're moving in that direction, even

18:47though

18:48there are headwinds. My last question is

18:51just um

18:52it is uh is training for green jobs

18:55typically more arduous than the same job

18:57that's not green? For example, a green

18:59electrician versus an electrician. Can

19:02those employed easily switch to a green

19:04version of their job?

19:08>> Yes, do you, Madam Mayor? Um actually,

19:10most green jobs are just traditional

19:12jobs that are being greened up.

19:14So, unless it's a specific like an HVAC

19:18occupation, you're being trained as an

19:21electrician and there are elements of

19:23that curriculum that are just green.

19:26So, most jobs will be greened up, but

19:29they're traditional jobs.

19:30>> Okay. And and finally, and this is my

19:32last question. Can you and maybe you

19:34spoke to this if you did, don't bother,

19:37but can you talk a little bit more about

19:39how Cyril's

19:42how Justice Served is going to be

19:44partnering with Rista?

19:46>> [snorts]

19:49>> Sure, I'll take the first part of that

19:51and then I think Rebecca can add on to

19:53that.

19:54Um

19:55As Councillor Nolan mentioned, Justice

19:57Served had run a solar panel program

19:59with advice both from Rebecca and from

20:02the Mass Clean Energy Center. They were

20:04advised to walk away from that program

20:06and to move towards a pre-electrical.

20:09And part of that is the impediment of

20:12you can pump a bunch of installers into

20:14the system, but in order to install, you

20:16need a licensed electrician. And so, we

20:19needed to shift and that's what they're

20:20doing. Rista will be working on

20:22curriculum and trying to get young

20:25adults, graduates of Rista, into

20:28the training program that we hope we can

20:30develop.

20:32>> Yes, and to add to that,

20:34I have been working with Rista, with

20:36CRLS, and with the CRLS Extension School

20:40to get myself in there to you know,

20:42present the idea of green jobs to more

20:44youth and also to to answer your

20:46previous question as well.

20:50I always say that the trades are

20:52currently being rebranded right now

20:54because they are the front line to fight

20:56back against climate change and that's

20:58the that's what I'm I'm telling the

20:59youth. That's what I'm telling really

21:00anybody who will listen is that you

21:02know,

21:03a lot of folks and especially young

21:04folks have valid climate anxiety and

21:06these jobs are not only really really

21:09well paying AI proof but they're really

21:11good ways to fight back against climate

21:13change.

21:14>> Excellent. Thank you so much for your

21:17work and I'll look forward to your

21:18report next year.

21:20Any follow-up questions?

21:23Yes, we have we haven't heard from

21:24Counselor Zena Wheeler and then we'll go

21:26back.

21:26>> Thanks Madam Mayor. Through you, thanks

21:27for this report which was helpful to

21:29read.

21:30I had a question [clears throat] about

21:31stipends for Cambridge residents and

21:33which of these programs provide them. I

21:34know uh all of them have spots for

21:36Cambridge residents and are open

21:38but if you are you know a person in

21:41Cambridge who has to pay rent, has a

21:43family, has child care, cannot afford to

21:45leave your job to do a program without

21:48you know any funding

21:50and needing a salary, which of these

21:52programs provide stipends do you know

21:54and how much are those stipends?

21:57>> Great question. So I know that most of

21:59the actually I think all of the the

22:01programs I promote that are green jobs

22:03are I they're they're earn and learn so

22:05you get paid a a stipend to attend and

22:08complete it. Most of them are also

22:10offered nights and weekends so that

22:11gives people some flexibility yes they

22:13have to work a full-time job and then do

22:14a training afterwards

22:16and to also answer that question and

22:18Counselor Simmons' earlier question,

22:20there is a fantastic new loan program

22:22that I'm trying to tell everybody about

22:23and that's actually the best way you can

22:24help out as well. It's called the

22:26Climate Careers Fund. It's a new loan

22:29program set up by the state of

22:30Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Clean

22:32Energy Center and Social Finance. It's a

22:34loan program I think they pay anywhere

22:36from 10 to 20,000 dollars for a learner

22:38to make it through a green training

22:40program. It's a 0% interest loan. They

22:43don't have to pay back until they're

22:44making at least 47,000 dollars a year.

22:47When they pay it back that money goes

22:48back into the fund to help the next

22:50learner. And so

22:52that fund is specifically to help folks

22:54get through life's obstacles, rent,

22:57utilities, buying their first car, day

23:00care, that's what that fund is for.

23:02>> Counselor Zena you have a

23:03>> Thank you, that's helpful. Do you have

23:04any data on the the stipends um and

23:08specifically would really interested to

23:09see that. I think

23:11one of the things we hear as a barrier

23:13for folks of even a the loan program

23:15which sounds like a a great resource.

23:17I'm glad that exists and we'll we'll

23:18tell folks about that, but if you're

23:19looking to make the leap to a new career

23:20or to become an HVAC technician, to

23:22become a a green buildings person and

23:24and don't know what the future of that

23:26industry is going to look like,

23:27especially now with all this uncertainty

23:28about, you know, what what are interest

23:30rates going to be, what are tariffs

23:31going to be, can I afford to switch, is

23:34is this actually going to make sense?

23:35You know, taking on thousands of dollars

23:37of debt is can be a a scary possibility

23:40and and so stipends are really an

23:42opportunity for folks and I bring it up

23:44partly because um

23:46one of the things I've been working on

23:47is a jobs training trust which

23:49Somerville and Boston have, Cambridge

23:51does not yet have and a number of the

23:53the organizations listed in the green

23:54jobs report get funding from the jobs

23:57training trust in Somerville or Boston

23:58including Justice United, including

24:00Franklin Cummings Tech, including Bunker

24:01Hill Community College and one of the

24:03things they're able to use it for are

24:04stipends for uh specifically for

24:07residents and and having that

24:08opportunity for folks, you know, what

24:10not just um

24:11you know, even a a nominal stipend, but

24:13hey, this actually will replace the

24:15income. I'm going to I'm would like to

24:17leave my current job. I cannot afford to

24:18do so. I cannot afford to do so even if

24:20I'm only getting $200 a month. Like I

24:22really need to be able to pay rent. I

24:23need to be able to pay for our kids

24:24child care. If we can can make up that,

24:26I think it becomes

24:27a much more attractive opportunity to

24:29get folks into the green jobs training

24:31and uh so hopefully can continue to look

24:34at that and um would love to, you know,

24:36read any info you have on stipends, but

24:37thank you again for this report. You go

24:38back.

24:40>> Before I go back to Councilor Simmons,

24:42anyone who hasn't spoken on this?

24:44Councilor Simmons?

24:45>> Uh thank you to the chair to Miss

24:47Ayanna. Just a curiosity.

24:51I know one of the

24:53focused areas of focus groups that

24:55you're looking to are are people of

24:57color. I'm just wondering to what degree

24:59are you interfacing with groups that

25:00represent or have access to

25:03uh young men in particular, but women of

25:05color?

25:09>> I love that question. Um so, I always do

25:12my work with uh leading with an a lens

25:14of equity.

25:15Um I understand, you know, coming from

25:17an environmental justice community

25:18myself, how important um it is to reach

25:21uh different black and brown uh

25:23populations.

25:24Um and so, like for example, I made a

25:28strategic decision to begin my outreach

25:30at the um

25:31Cambridge Housing Authority uh

25:33development. So, I'm trying to present

25:34to every single community room possible.

25:37I'm talking to different um

25:39uh folks that I'm connected to in in the

25:41black and brown communities in

25:42Cambridge, and I'm asking them like, I

25:44will present in a hair salon. I will

25:46present at a church. Like, I'm trying to

25:48find as many third spaces that uh really

25:50where most of Cambridge black and brown

25:53populations live, work, and play.

25:56>> Councilor Simmons?

25:57>> Thank you. Through you, Madam Chair, to

25:59Ms. Arriano. Uh I guess the last thing

26:01is, have you thought about or do you

26:03have I I know you have these

26:05counselors, and I'm not quite sure what

26:07they do, but I always find that people

26:10respond to people who look like them,

26:12speak their language, hang out in the

26:14same places. And so,

26:15if you haven't, one thing I would

26:17strongly recommend is you get a core of

26:20almost like a community engagement team.

26:22If you look at the community engagement

26:24team, they're they're people that speak

26:26Haitian Creole, speak Cape Verdean,

26:29speak Portuguese, speak the language of

26:31the people that they're trying to reach.

26:32And so, if if we want to increase our

26:36output

26:37or

26:38in terms of getting people to come in,

26:41it would be really important to get

26:43people that look like them. You know, I

26:45I live in the Port. When I have meetings

26:47and talk to them,

26:49energy even if even though it's a job,

26:51it doesn't come it doesn't rise to the

26:54level of interest.

26:55It's not that people don't care. I think

26:57they just don't know enough about it and

27:00there's no one that looks like them

27:01that's talking and say, "Oh, you should

27:02try this. Do you know in 5 years you

27:05could be making $80,000?"

27:07Because I think the idea the

27:10climate

27:11something loan

27:13where it's interesting it's a loan which

27:16means, "Oh, I have to borrow this money

27:19and what happens if it doesn't work?"

27:20So, I I think one thing that you really

27:23should try

27:24and I would love to hear if if you

27:26actually do this how that works is

27:28finding ambassadors. Young people,

27:31you know, to talk to other young people

27:33about I think this is really a cool

27:34thing to do and can you imagine driving

27:36a Mercedes or a big truck or whatever

27:38turns young people on these days, I

27:40really don't know. But, I just think one

27:44way to drop draw people in is to use

27:46people to it not use but enlist people

27:50who have similar backgrounds to talk to

27:52them. I yield.

27:54>> Well, thank you so much for

27:56the update.

27:58I want to thank Deputy City Manager

27:59Watkins in particular because

28:03our off my office has been working on

28:04the pre electrical program with Justice

28:08Starr with you all and hopefully we'll

28:10get some good news on

28:12you know, the this grant that I had been

28:15applied for but thank you for all your

28:17work.

28:18So, hearing none, we'll go ahead and on

28:21a motion by Counselor Simmons to place

28:23city manager agenda item number five on

28:26file. We'll do a roll call.

28:28>> Counselor El Zubi.

28:29>> Yes.

28:30>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zeen.

28:32Yes. Counselor Flaherty.

28:37Counselor Flaherty.

28:40Absent. Counselor McGovern.

28:42>> Yes.

28:42>> Yes. Counselor Nolan. Yes. Counselor

28:45Simmons.

28:45>> Yes.

28:46>> Yes. Counselor Sabrina Wheeler.

28:48>> Yes.

28:48>> Yes. Counselor Zuse.

28:50>> Yes.

28:50>> Yes, Mayor Siddiqui

28:51>> Yes.

28:52>> Yes, and you have eight members are

28:53called in the affirmative and one

28:54recorded as absent.

28:55>> Well, before we move on to city manager

28:57agenda item

28:5812, just a time check. It's 9:28. We

29:01need to be out of this room by 11:00

29:03because we have a

29:04committee hearing 11:30 that we need to

29:06prepare for. So, just I want to be

29:08mindful of time. So, city manager agenda

29:11item number 12. This is a communication

29:13from Leon Wang, city manager,

29:16policy 26-81

29:18and

29:18awaiting report 26-55

29:21regarding multi-family housing

29:22communications. Counselor Zucca, you

29:24have the floor.

29:25>> Yeah, thank you, Mayor Siddiqui. Um, so,

29:28I'm really grateful for your responding

29:32to my two policy orders, one submitted

29:35in April, another in August.

29:38And um, it's uh,

29:40great to see the city dashboard which is

29:43looks like it may have been inspired by

29:46my office's tracker. They look very

29:48similar. If anybody's compared the two,

29:51you'll see

29:52that the dashboard includes 245

29:55properties while the tracker includes

29:58154, 129 confirmed projects. There are

30:03There are differences and I just wanted

30:05to explain them a little bit.

30:07Um, the dashboard

30:09uh, includes projects that aren't

30:11multi-family housing ordinance related.

30:14Not all multi-family housing projects

30:17are listed, only ones where the number

30:19of units changes.

30:21Um, some projects predate the passage of

30:23the multi-family housing ordinance.

30:26Uh,

30:27and it and it seems like it it's very

30:30similar to the

30:32um, the housing start the housing starts

30:35da- data board or database.

30:38Um,

30:39uh, the tracker lists more impacts. Like

30:43we list things like parking help uh how,

30:46you know, whether projects will include

30:48parking,

30:49uh how trees have been impacted, and we

30:51also include uh renderings of projects,

30:54pictures of the existing projects, and

30:57um the projects that are being proposed.

31:00So, one of my questions is oh oh, the

31:03the big difference is also the dashboard

31:05includes

31:07projects that where permits have been

31:10applied for,

31:12um but have not been granted. While the

31:14tracker only lists projects Well, we

31:17list projects on our watch list um that

31:21that are also in that sort of um

31:23limbo state that we've heard about but

31:25haven't advanced forward

31:28in

31:29um haven't advanced forward yet. So, a a

31:32question is

31:34if you're going to list if the dashboard

31:36is going to list projects that have been

31:39applied for,

31:41um shouldn't those information about

31:44those projects be available to the

31:47public?

31:48Uh

31:49and and I understand why you're

31:52including those projects because the

31:54city attorney um

31:56shared with us that this as of this

31:58summer

32:00now that any developer who has applied

32:02for a permit um will

32:05will not be impacted by revisions to

32:09zoning.

32:10So, I understand why projects that have

32:12been applied for and are included in the

32:15dashboard, but shouldn't the public have

32:19access to information about these

32:20projects if they're on the new

32:22dashboard?

32:26>> Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor.

32:29>> [clears throat]

32:30>> So, we spend a lot of time thinking

32:33carefully about which projects to

32:35include. So, we are including anything

32:37that has started an official city

32:39process, which includes projects that

32:42applied for a building permit.

32:44Um we are simultaneously working with IT

32:49and Inspectional Services to make those

32:51building permits available to the public

32:54um during that application phase. It

32:57takes a decent amount of work on the

32:59back end, and we're working with OpenGov

33:02on that currently. So, I don't have an

33:05updated timeline, but I think that

33:07should be happening relatively soon.

33:09And once it does, the dashboard will

33:12link directly to that specific record

33:15for those permits.

33:17>> Councilor Zuzy.

33:18>> So, that will include um projects that

33:21have been applied for but not permitted

33:23yet? And also, please answer, will you

33:26be including more information about

33:28impacts on the dashboard?

33:32>> So, it will include projects that have

33:35been applied that have applied for a

33:37permit but it hasn't been issued yet.

33:39So, those are in the dashboard. Those

33:41records will

33:42ultimately become public. Um as far as

33:46impacts, we're including

33:49the information that is readily

33:52accessible through the records that we

33:56have. So, an important thing for us in

33:59setting up this dashboard was that this

34:01is sustainable long-term,

34:03and this is something that can be

34:05relatively automated, uh so that we're

34:09just pulling from records um and

34:11information that exists elsewhere in the

34:13system.

34:14So, we're not physically going every

34:17file and pulling out some of the

34:21specifics that aren't easy to pull

34:22directly from the permitting records. Um

34:25we can look at ways to set that up if

34:28there is specific information that

34:30people think would be really important.

34:33We can then work to get that into say

34:35the permit application or other places

34:38that we're pulling from.

34:39>> Councilor Zucchi.

34:41>> Yeah, under understood and I realize I'm

34:42about out of time. Are the tracker is

34:44also automated but it's really important

34:47that we document the impact so it'll be

34:50good for the people look at the tracker,

34:51too. Thank you.

34:53>> We will go to Councilor McGovern.

34:59>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Through you.

35:00Thank you for this.

35:03I haven't been able to dig too deep into

35:05the

35:09how's the neighbors guide although on

35:11our you know, first

35:13first quick look it looks like there's a

35:15lot of information there and hopefully

35:16that will answer

35:18a lot of people's questions.

35:21Two questions. One is

35:25how are we going to be promoting

35:27all of this information to make sure

35:29people know that it's that it exists.

35:31I'm sure counselors will be promoting it

35:33in their

35:34newsletters and whatever but

35:37what's the outreach going to be would be

35:38my first question.

35:41>> Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor. We

35:43are working with our communications team

35:45now on that outreach. So we're working

35:47on a press release

35:49as well as you know, pushing this out

35:50through our social media and any other

35:52opportunities we have to

35:55publicize that this information's

35:57available. So we appreciate counselors

35:58including it in their newsletters as

36:00well.

36:01>> I mean I think this is such a

36:04you know, a citywide issue and such a

36:05big issue that's on people's minds so I

36:07don't think we can underestimate

36:09you know, even a mailing or something,

36:12you know, I just don't think we can

36:13underestimate uh

36:15uh

36:16you know, that the interest.

36:18Um and then my last question

36:20um you know, one of the things that we

36:22we've often talked about is is the

36:25uh Uh it's one thing to sort of lay out

36:27what the permitting process is, but a

36:29lot of times

36:32what we've heard frustration from

36:33developers as well as business owners

36:35and

36:36residents is that often there is

36:38inconsistency

36:40between departments. So, the fire

36:42department will say one thing, ISD will

36:43say another thing, CDD will say a third

36:45thing, and then sometimes even within

36:47departments

36:49um there's a lot of room for

36:50interpretation. So, one inspector will

36:52say, "Yeah, you know, no, you got to do

36:54A, B, and C." And somebody else will

36:55say, "No, no, no,

36:56it's D, E, and F."

36:58So, [snorts] what are we doing to align

37:01what is being, you know, the information

37:03that's going out to people because it

37:05cost people money, it cost people time,

37:07and I'm an incredible amount of

37:09frustration when you get told, you know,

37:11four different things from four

37:12different people.

37:15>> Thank you, through you, Madam Mayor. Um

37:18Anderson, this is a larger issue, and

37:21this is something we've been focusing on

37:23and continuing to focus on. So, we did a

37:27sort of full effort looking at the

37:29residential permitting process and how

37:31we can improve that. We're now working

37:34with Bloomberg Harvard on a

37:37very intense effort looking at the

37:39process for small businesses and seeing

37:43where we can improve that process as

37:45well.

37:46Uh we're also doing more regular

37:49coordination amongst staff and

37:50departments. So, we have very regular

37:52meetings that are happening with the

37:55sort of front-line permitting staff um

37:58on coordinating on every project that's

38:00coming through.

38:02We also, as part of this effort in our

38:04communication

38:05for we're

38:08having um our community engagement

38:09manager, Marliese West Oweda, act as a

38:13liaison to the community. So, our goal

38:16there is, at least in this period right

38:18now where things are fairly intense and

38:20we're getting a lot of questions.

38:22There's a lot of confusion.

38:24Having questions and concerns funneled

38:27through her,

38:28and her coordinate with all the

38:30different departmental staff, so that we

38:32are trying to get the full picture and

38:35give um

38:37uh a consistent message

38:40to community members, but it's something

38:41we're continuing to work on and improve

38:43on.

38:47City manager?

38:48>> Um I think um I think I would just note

38:51um absolutely we're doing a lot of work

38:53on coordinating that. Um also a lot of

38:55that is educating folks and and making

38:58sure that

38:59permitting materials are are accurate

39:02when they come in, and and I think

39:04there's a whole set of work that we're

39:06doing to ensure that that coordination

39:08and communication is going really well.

39:10Um and I just wanted to also say um I

39:13think on the dashboard um I do

39:16appreciate I think there's been a lot of

39:17effort from Councilmember Zucca from

39:20folks in the community to put more

39:21information out. I think that is both

39:23the policy orders and the push to have

39:26the city create more materials and more

39:28information that's more transparent. And

39:30I just wanted to shout out Scott for

39:32building the dashboard. Um I think

39:34there's been a lot of work that went

39:35into this. Um and I I think just another

39:38interesting bit to share is that Scott's

39:42mostly been like programming this

39:43dashboard, um but I think as we've seen

39:46how quickly the community can pull

39:48information together off of our amazing

39:50open data portal. Uh I think it's also

39:53been a learning opportunity for us in

39:56terms of how AI can actually generate

39:58more information more quickly, and

39:59that's actually helped us think about

40:01how we can start providing those tools

40:03more internally. So lots more to talk

40:05about on that, but I think really

40:06appreciate this work and and the push

40:08from the council.

40:10>> Well, thank you. I just I I want to

40:11I know my time's up. I do want to uh

40:13thank you, and also just to publicly

40:15thank

40:16CDD, ISD, DPW because I know that um

40:21you've been spending and I think this

40:22will be helpful. You've been spending a

40:23lot of time with residents, time that

40:26you have other things a lot of things

40:28that you can do and hopefully this

40:30information will help alleviate some of

40:32that so people can get their answers

40:34online.

40:34>> Who hasn't spoken who'd like to speak on

40:37this? Councilor Nolan.

40:39>> I will be super brief. Thank you. Thank

40:41you and I can't wait for all building

40:43permit applications to be online and

40:45available as soon as possible.

40:51>> Anyone else who hasn't spoken before I

40:53go back to Councilor Zucsy for another

40:55question?

40:56Go ahead, Councilor Zucsy.

40:58>> I actually don't have a question. I just

40:59have a few comments.

41:02Um I just wanted to again I appreciate

41:05your response and um I think the sooner

41:08we can give residents and developers,

41:12everyone consistent answers

41:15uh

41:16the better everything will be but I

41:18think it's really important that we get

41:20permit that permit information is posted

41:22promptly because that's been a problem

41:25cuz often there's a delay

41:27um for when permit information is

41:29posted.

41:31ISD really needs more inspectors so that

41:34they can better monitor projects. We

41:37need to extend the record hour rooms and

41:40um

41:41give greater record access.

41:43Um I

41:46look forward uh thank you for delivering

41:48the guide which again will be useful to

41:50everyone.

41:52I think again with additional permitting

41:53information it's really important that

41:56there be like one point of contact that

41:59can take projects uh through all the

42:02stages and I think a pre-project

42:05meeting and a meeting at the permitting

42:08stage and stamp drawings so that

42:12we can know that each department is

42:14looking at the same set of drawings. All

42:16these things will create clarity and

42:19also prevent the city from being

42:21snookered.

42:22Uh like by bad actor developers

42:26presenting different drawings to

42:27different departments for approvals. So

42:30I realize you're we're making

42:31incremental progress um but anyway I the

42:34sooner we have greater clarity

42:37uh the better we'll be. Thank you.

42:41>> Anyone else on the dashboard?

42:44Hearing no one else, we'll go ahead and

42:46do a roll call on placing city manager

42:49agenda item 4 12 on file.

42:53>> Councilor Alzubi.

42:54>> Yes.

42:54>> Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem.

42:59Vice Mayor Azeem.

43:01>> Yes.

43:01>> Yes. Councilor O'Flaherty.

43:04Absent. Councilor McGovern.

43:06Absent. Councilor Nolan.

43:07>> Yes.

43:08>> Yes. Councilor Simmons.

43:09>> Yes.

43:10>> Yes. Councilor Sabrina Wheeler.

43:11>> Yes.

43:11>> Yes. Councilor Zuse.

43:13>> Yes.

43:13>> Yes. Mayor Siddiqui. [clears throat]

43:14>> Yes.

43:15>> Yes. And you have seven members recorded

43:16in the affirmative and two recorded as

43:18absent.

43:19>> We are this Oh.

43:22A

43:22Councilor

43:23>> Councilor McGovern is a yes.

43:24>> wants to be

43:25recorded as yes. So we have eight

43:27members recorded in the affirmative and

43:29one recorded as absent.

43:31>> City manager agenda item number 12 is

43:33placed on file. We move on to policy

43:34orders and resolutions, pleasure of the

43:36city council.

43:38>> Madam Mayor.

43:39>> We will go to Councilor McGovern,

43:41Councilor Alzubi,

43:43Councilor Nolan.

43:45>> Councilor McGovern.

43:46>> Uh number two, please.

43:48>> Number two, Councilor McGovern pulls

43:49number two.

43:51Councilor Alzubi.

43:52>> Madam Mayor, I'd like to pull seven and

43:53eight.

43:55>> Councilor Alzubi pulls seven and eight.

43:58>> [snorts]

43:58>> Councilor Nolan.

43:59>> Uh four and six.

44:02>> Councilor Nolan pulls four

44:05and six.

44:07Councilor Simmons.

44:09>> Number one.

44:11number one

44:14and then Councilor Simmons pulls number

44:18one

44:19>> Okay.

44:20>> and I've got Councilor Zuse

44:21>> Yeah, I'm sorry. I would also like

44:26uh 11 and 12.

44:29>> [snorts]

44:30>> Councilor Zuse will pull

44:3311 and 12

44:36Okay, so we will have pulled um items

44:42policy order number one, two

44:45four, six, seven, eight

44:5011 and 12 and we'll go ahead and do a

44:53roll call on the balance of the policy

44:55orders.

44:56>> Councilor Elzubi

44:57>> Yes.

44:58>> Yes, Vice Mayor Zeem

44:59>> Yes.

44:59>> Yes, Councilor O'Flaherty

45:01absent, Councilor McGovern Yes,

45:03Councilor Nolan Yes, Councilor Simmons

45:06Yes, Councilor Sabrina Wheeler

45:08>> Yes.

45:08>> Yes, Councilor Zuse

45:10>> Yes.

45:10>> Yes, Mayor Siddiqui

45:11>> Yes.

45:12>> Yes, and you have eight members recorded

45:13in the affirmative and one recorded as

45:15absent.

45:16>> The balance is adopted. We are on to

45:18policy order number one that the city

45:20manager is requested to direct the

45:22Department of Transportation to evaluate

45:24traffic and safety conditions at the

45:25intersection of Western Avenue and

45:27Kenard Street and explore the

45:29feasibility of installing a traffic

45:30signal or implementing other appropriate

45:33traffic calming or safety measures. This

45:35is filed by Councilor Simmons and

45:36Councilor O'Flaherty. Councilor Simmons,

45:38you have the floor.

45:39>> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Through my

45:41Through you to my colleagues, I

45:43a couple of things. First, it's

45:45co-written with uh Councilor O'Flaherty.

45:47He's on his way, stuck in crazy traffic.

45:51Uh I want to speak briefly in support of

45:53this policy order.

45:55You see, residents that are living near

45:56Western Avenue and Kenard Streets have

45:58consistently raised serious safety

46:00alarms. They're reporting frequent near

46:03misses, expressing deep anxiety over the

46:05potential for a catastrophic collision.

46:08As all of us are represents

46:11representatives of this community, it's

46:12our core duty to listen when residents

46:14point out an active public hazard. I

46:17also want to just emphasize

46:20a critical point to reassure my

46:21colleagues who might have reservation.

46:24This order does not mandate an immediate

46:26installation of a traffic signal, nor

46:27does it finalize a specific engineering

46:31measure today.

46:32It does simply request that our

46:33Department of Transportation conduct a

46:36rigorous professional assessment of the

46:37traffic conditions at this intersection

46:40and report the data-driven findings back

46:42to this voting body. So, voting for this

46:45order is not an immediate approval of

46:46any infrastructure changes. Rather, it's

46:48a vote to gather the necessary facts so

46:50that we can make a safe and informed

46:52decision for the neighborhood. So, I do

46:54urge my colleagues

46:56to support this measure and I'm

46:58certainly interested in hearing any

46:59feedback that my councils my colleagues

47:01have that they want to add. I yield the

47:03floor.

47:04>> I will go to Counselor McGovern and then

47:06Counselor Zucca.

47:08>> Thank you, Madam Mayor, through you.

47:10If it's okay with Counselor Simmons, I'd

47:11like to to be added. It's a couple

47:13blocks from my house and also um

47:16I had reached out last year, maybe a

47:18little longer, to the traffic department

47:20about a uh

47:22one of those blinking yellow pedestrian

47:24signals in front of the Speers

47:26Funeral Home. Um

47:29at a request of the Speers family and

47:31and other folks in in the neighborhood.

47:32There were some issues with that

47:35particular crosswalk in that particular

47:36location, but hopefully um

47:39you know,

47:40a few you know, 100 yd down or so,

47:42things will be

47:43will be a little different. So,

47:46if it's okay with Counselor Simmons, I'd

47:47like to be added to this order.

47:49>> I can go ahead and do that at the end.

47:51Yeah, Counselor Zucca.

47:53>> I also have been hearing from neighbors

47:56that there's a need for traffic calming

47:58on Western Ave and it's difficult

48:00crossing Western Ave.

48:02But I I do want to remind everyone that

48:05this is not one of our top 10 dangerous

48:08intersections.

48:10And apparently intersections on Western

48:12Ave rank in the hundreds of 300

48:16intersec- intersections that are need

48:18attention.

48:19Um and the places that are noted as

48:22needing attention are at Putnam Ave,

48:24Green Street, Howard Street, and

48:26Blackstone Street. So, I will support

48:28this policy order, but I I do um depend

48:32on I think we all depend on the

48:33transportation department to really

48:35prioritize the most dangerous

48:37intersections. And I'm just thinking

48:40about, you know, I know

48:41Albany Street and Mass Ave is our most

48:44dangerous and I've been [clears throat]

48:45working for almost a year with counselor

48:48Sabrina Wheeler and my incredible aid

48:51Natalie on improving the intersection at

48:54Museum Way, which is more complicated

48:56because it's Museum Way and the Charles

48:59River Dam Road. There's some other

49:01intersections that like are are really

49:04uh

49:05death wish intersections that I really

49:07think we must attend to, put our most

49:10attention to.

49:12Thank you.

49:14>> Madam Mayor.

49:14>> Yes, Counselor Al-Zubaydi.

49:16>> I would also like to be added as a

49:17co-sponsor to this as just someone who

49:19recognizes that there are usually a lot

49:21of cars that are driving pretty quickly

49:23and I recognize and appreciate Counselor

49:24Simmons and Councilor Flaherty's

49:26intentionality with trying to get this

49:27addressed.

49:28>> I'll yield.

49:31>> Anyone else before we go ahead and do a

49:32roll call on adding Counselor

49:35uh McGovern and Counselor uh Al-Zubaydi?

49:38Hearing none, we'll go ahead and do a

49:39roll call.

49:39>> Counselor Al-Zubaydi.

49:41>> Yes.

49:41>> Yes, Vice Mayor Azeem.

49:43>> Yes, Councilor Flaherty.

49:44>> Yes.

49:45>> Yes, Councilor McGovern.

49:46>> Yes.

49:47>> Yes, Councilor Nolan.

49:48>> Yes, Councilor Simmons.

49:52>> Uh

49:52>> Yes.

49:53>> Yes. Counselor Sabrina Wheeler?

49:55>> Yes.

49:55>> Yes. Counselor Zuse?

49:57>> Yes.

49:57>> Yes. Mayor Siddiqui?

49:58>> Yes.

49:59>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

50:00in the affirmative. The order has been

50:03amended.

50:04Well, Council Councillor Flaherty, is

50:06there anything you wanted to say on the

50:08policy order number one before we adopt

50:10as amended?

50:12>> No, not if it's being amended.

50:14>> Can't hear him.

50:15>> Okay. Um just speak into the mic.

50:17>> Sure. No.

50:18>> So, we'll go ahead and do a roll call on

50:21adopting the order number one as

50:23amended.

50:24Councillor Al-Zubaydi?

50:25>> Yes.

50:26>> Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Councillor

50:28Flaherty?

50:29>> Yes.

50:29>> Yes. Councillor McGovern? Yes.

50:31Councillor Nolan?

50:32>> Yes.

50:33>> Yes. Councillor Simmons?

50:34>> Yes.

50:35>> Yes. Councillor Sabrina Wheeler?

50:36>> Yes.

50:37>> Yes. Councillor Zuse?

50:38>> Yes.

50:39>> Yes. Mayor Siddiqui?

50:40>> Yes.

50:40>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

50:42in the affirmative. Policy order number

50:43one as amended is adopted. We'll go on

50:45to policy order number two. This is that

50:47the city manager is requested to review

50:49and reconsider the Harvard Square kiosk

50:51operating and stewardship model. This

50:53was filed by Councillor McGovern,

50:54myself, Councillor Simmons,

50:56and we will go ahead to Councillor

50:59McGovern.

51:00>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Through you, um

51:03we heard a we heard a

51:04a few comments last night from

51:07uh

51:08artists and and and folks in

51:10uh

51:11in support of the kiosk

51:13um and Culture House. And I just I just

51:16want to say that that right off the top

51:18that um my concern about

51:21uh

51:22the kiosk and the activity of the kiosk

51:24is is not um about Culture House. Um

51:28Culture House is doing what they do, and

51:30they do a very good job at at what they

51:32do.

51:33Um I just don't believe that

51:38that's the location for what they do. Um

51:41the kiosk is the most prominent location

51:44in Harvard Square.

51:45Um

51:47the the the uh still call it the pit

51:49even though it's not going to be a pit

51:50anymore

51:52um is going to be finished soon and I

51:54think that

51:56uh my issue was really with what the

51:58original RFP allowed in that space and

52:02um

52:03it you know, it allowed that space to

52:07the kind of the res- the constraints

52:10uh on what they can do in that space in

52:12terms of the level of noise, the level

52:14of activity um that you know, that

52:17central location needs to be something

52:19that's incredibly exciting, incredibly

52:22inviting

52:24um not necessarily just a space where

52:27people may come you know, for one event

52:29one day and then maybe a few months

52:31later come back for another event. Um it

52:33really needs to be something that is

52:35incredibly vibrant and um

52:39and attracts people, you know, all day

52:41long and and multiple times. Um so, this

52:45order is to ask the city to um

52:49reconsider um

52:52you know, what the usage is in that

52:54space

52:55uh

52:56and to, you know, issue another RFP if

52:59if if if required um

53:02uh and make sure that that that that

53:04incredibly important central space in

53:06Harvard Square

53:07uh is used in a way that um more more

53:10more to what it was back in the day when

53:12it was the Out of Town News as a place

53:13that you know, you could find hundreds

53:15of people at a time um in in that space.

53:18So, that's the point of this. I just

53:20wanted to say that, you know, this isn't

53:22um

53:23I wanted to make sure people knew that

53:24I'm you know, this isn't about Culture

53:26House specifically. Um I think they're

53:28you know, their hands were tied a little

53:30bit based on what the city um

53:34said could be allowed in that space. So,

53:36um hopefully this will pass and we can

53:38take another look. It's been a year. Um

53:41hopefully we could take another look and

53:42figure out a way to make that space more

53:43vibrant. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

53:45>> Councilor Connolly also had to

53:47co-sponsor this and I left your name off

53:49um my mistake. We have a few hands.

53:51Councilor Simmons, I have Councilor

53:53Nolan, and Councilor Sabrina Wheeler,

53:55and then Councilor Zussy.

53:56>> Uh thank you, Madam Chair. Through you

53:58to my colleagues. Uh first of all, I

54:00want to thank Councilor McGovern for

54:01taking a lead on this important uh

54:05policy order. I'm not going to repeat

54:07what he said. I certainly do concur. The

54:10only thing I would want to add that was

54:11also in this policy order is that being

54:14the being the name that was on the

54:16building um

54:18back to being on the building. You know,

54:21you can't you can barely watch a movie

54:22about Cambridge and not see a picture of

54:25the Out of Town Ticket Agency what it

54:27was formerly was called um

54:29there. And so, two things. One, it's

54:32important to honor acknowledge that

54:34history. So, let's put that sign back.

54:37Uh the second piece is the activities of

54:41the kiosk has always been one or should

54:43have been one that was robust and

54:45engages people. And again, as you said

54:48Councilor McGovern to coin a vernacular

54:50term, not to put any shade on uh Culture

54:53House,

54:54it's just it's not doing what we

54:56normally do or what we've seen happen

55:00with even when it was in its early

55:01stages of redevelopment through the

55:04efforts of the HSBA and other

55:06organizations. It was just a robust full

55:09of activity. It was a place that you

55:10wanted to go to beyond the pit that you

55:14know, I'm sorry I didn't have a chance

55:15to do that, Mark, but I'm going to live

55:17vicariously through you. Um

55:20So, I'm I'm hoping that this policy

55:22order passes. I thank my colleagues all

55:24that signed on. And lastly, just wanted

55:26to drive home the whole idea of

55:29restoring some of its historical

55:30historical integrity. I yield the floor.

55:33>> We will go to Councilor Nolan.

55:36>> Thank you. I'm happy to see this. Can we

55:40just quickly, is there any sense of when

55:41this construction will be open? This

55:43project started in 2017.

55:46The city budget of FY2021-2022

55:50had operating had funds allocated on

55:53bond proceeds to finish the kiosk and

55:55the construction. That was uh 4-5 years

55:58ago. I I know lots of complications

56:01happened, but it's just unbelievably

56:03frustrating for this central part of our

56:05city to continue to be under

56:07construction. And I know it's MBTA and

56:10tile fell down, but I just it'll be

56:12really helpful for us all to know how

56:13solid is the date that it was supposed

56:15to be 2022, then 23, then 24, then 25.

56:18Now we're even hearing 27. So, if

56:21through you, Mayor, we could just get a

56:22quick answer from the city on what we

56:24know.

56:27>> If you can briefly share.

56:29>> Yeah.

56:29>> And we can get back with that

56:30information, too.

56:32>> Uh through you, uh Mayor, I think um one

56:35option would be, and I think we should

56:37include some updates on the construction

56:38in the response. So, even without

56:40amending the order, we can do that. I

56:42would say you are correct. This has been

56:44an extremely complicated process that

56:46started, you know, with the building

56:48during COVID. There's been a substantial

56:50number of delays.

56:51Um we have worked very closely with the

56:53MBTA, but the challenges around the

56:55station are quite significant both in

56:57terms of structural analysis with the

57:00MBTA, the waterproofing with the MBTA.

57:03Um and so, there have been substantial

57:05delays associated with the complexity of

57:08construction around the you know, that

57:10tunnel, and particularly waterproofing.

57:13You may recall that, you know, during

57:15construction, there were a number of

57:16incidents that happened in the tunnel.

57:18Um and so, the MBTA became obviously

57:21much more concerned about the

57:22construction in and around the tunnel.

57:24So, we've made good progress with them,

57:26the contractor. We've met with them

57:28recently and been very clear about they

57:30need to fully staff this project, make

57:33progress, um and a lot of the work is

57:36weather dependent, but they are working

57:38on the waterproofing, working on the

57:40brick plaza area. We believe that a

57:42substantial

57:43portion of the plaza will be completed

57:45this year. Um there will still

57:47construction that will be going into

57:48next year around the roads and

57:50particularly the northern tip of the

57:52plaza and then depending on um some of

57:55the waterproofing areas, but we will see

57:57substantial areas of the plaza being

57:59reopened this fall.

58:01>> Councilor Nolan.

58:02It Thanks. It's would just be good to

58:04know if we had any kind of solid date

58:06and I can't wait for that and also to

58:08further our looking into um

58:10pedestrianization of other streets in

58:12Harvard Square because it's part of it,

58:13but this is about the kiosk and I agree

58:15with Councilor McGovern this may not

58:16necessarily be about Culture House per

58:18se, but it's the wrong model for what's

58:20going there now. It's not working. So, I

58:22really hope that we can bring something

58:24that is much more vibrant and extends

58:26into the city.

58:27We have Councilor Zarena Wilson next and

58:29then Councilor Zussy.

58:31>> Thanks, uh Madam Mayor. I'm happy to do

58:32a review. I think it's always good to uh

58:35look at things after they're started,

58:36what's working, what's not. Um I do have

58:38a couple questions about the policy

58:40order that I want to check in with the

58:41the co-sponsors about. So, in the

58:42interest of time I'm going to exercise

58:43my charter right.

58:45>> Councilor Zarena Wilson exercises his

58:47charter right. We move on to policy

58:50order number four. That the city manager

58:52is requested to work with the election

58:53commission communication staff and other

58:55relevant departments to encourage

58:57residents to utilize their early voting

58:58sites or vote by mail and to prioritize

59:00communication of the need for voters to

59:02plan for enough time to vote given the

59:04complexity of the ballots. This was

59:06filed by Councilor Nolan, Councilor

59:08Zussy, myself, Councilor Simmons.

59:09Councilor Nolan, you have the floor.

59:11>> Thank you, Mayor Siddiqui, and thank you

59:13all for sponsoring. I think we know

59:15people are already voting. It's a really

59:16complex election because there are nine

59:19ballot questions statewide and in most

59:21of Cambridge there's an additional 10th

59:23question. People show up at the polls.

59:25Uh not every poll worker has a a poll

59:27pad that we're using. It just we've

59:28heard we heard in our um response to

59:30this policy order several poll workers

59:33urged us to pass this. And I think the

59:34the idea simply is for all of us and for

59:36the city to do everything it can to get

59:39the word out that early voting makes a

59:41lot of sense particularly in this

59:42election because what we

59:44uh treasure and honor is the ability of

59:46people to vote. And if you show up and

59:48it ends up being a half hour hour line,

59:50that's terrific because it means there's

59:52lots of people wanting to vote. But it

59:54also means for some people becomes a

59:55hardship in order to vote. So, one to

59:57get the word out that early voting makes

59:59a lot of sense and two ensure that

1:00:01people know in that communication, "Hey,

1:00:04if you haven't read through that 50-page

1:00:06document that for information for voters

1:00:08that was sent to you, it's going to take

1:00:09more time at the voting. So, be prepared

1:00:11to it's not going to be a quick in and

1:00:12out." So, thank you all for co-sponsors.

1:00:14Please, city, do everything we can to

1:00:16publish this.

1:00:17>> Councilor Zusey.

1:00:19>> I just wanted to add on to Councilor

1:00:22Nolan's comments. I think we've been

1:00:23hearing back from poll workers who are

1:00:26concerned about the lack of internal

1:00:28communication.

1:00:30Um and there's a real

1:00:33uh concern about not having enough poll

1:00:35pads for this election. And I'm

1:00:37wondering if there aren't enough poll

1:00:38pads, maybe we shouldn't be using poll

1:00:40pads. They're like a new technology that

1:00:42we're including anyway, but I think it's

1:00:45very very important that the election

1:00:47commission

1:00:48uh listen to the feedback of the poll

1:00:50workers. Um

1:00:53uh

1:00:54And um I of course I support this policy

1:00:56order. Thank you.

1:00:59>> Hearing no one else

1:01:00>> [clears throat]

1:01:00>> on policy order number four, we'll go

1:01:02ahead and do a roll call on adopting the

1:01:05order.

1:01:07Councilor

1:01:08Councilor Zusey.

1:01:09>> Yes.

1:01:10>> Yes. Vice Mayor Zeen.

1:01:11>> Yes.

1:01:11>> Yes. Councilor O'Flaherty.

1:01:13>> Yes.

1:01:13>> Yes. Councilor McGovern. Yes. Councilor

1:01:16Nolan.

1:01:16>> Yes.

1:01:17>> Yes. Councilor Simmons.

1:01:18>> Yes.

1:01:18>> Yes. Councilor Sabrina Wheeler.

1:01:20>> Yes.

1:01:20>> Yes. Councilor Zusey.

1:01:22>> Yes.

1:01:22>> Yes. Mayor Siddiqui.

1:01:23>> Yes.

1:01:24>> Yes, and you have nine members are

1:01:25recorded in the affirmative.

1:01:26>> Order number four is adopted. We go on

1:01:28to five to number six, excuse me. This

1:01:30is for a fair free MBTA route one

1:01:34developed jointly with the city of

1:01:35Boston. This was followed by Councilor

1:01:36Al-Zubidy, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor

1:01:39Serena Wheeler, and Councilor McGovern,

1:01:40and pulled by Councilor Nolan. I'll go

1:01:43to the

1:01:44chief sponsor, Councilor Al-Zubidy,

1:01:47unless she yields, and then I can go to

1:01:49Councilor Nolan.

1:01:50>> Yeah, sure. Thank you. Through you,

1:01:51Madam Mayor. Thank you to my

1:01:53co-sponsors, and also want to thank

1:01:55Livable Streets Alliance for their

1:01:56support and work on this. As we know,

1:01:58the one bus runs down Mass Ave from

1:02:00Harvard Square to Nubian Station. It

1:02:02carries more than 10,000 riders on an

1:02:05average weekday, and it's one of the

1:02:07slowest routes that the MBTA runs. In

1:02:102024, the council asked the manager to

1:02:12work toward a fair free route one, and

1:02:14we had a working group, too, back in

1:02:162022. The answer we got at that time was

1:02:18at least 1 million to 1.3 million a year

1:02:21for our share, um, in collaboration with

1:02:24Boston, and to come back later in the

1:02:26budget cycle. I know back at that time

1:02:28there was a major barrier with the state

1:02:30level, which I don't want to lose sight

1:02:31of, but right now, Boston's fair free

1:02:35program is funded through December 31st,

1:02:38and Boston is working out with the MBTA

1:02:41what comes after that. So, if we want

1:02:43the one in that conversation, we have to

1:02:45say so this fall so we can go in with

1:02:47Boston City Council on making this

1:02:50happen. Let me be clear, this order does

1:02:52not spend anything. It's just asking the

1:02:54manager to get the MBTA's boarding data

1:02:57so that we know our actual updated

1:02:58share, to ask whether the T has the

1:03:00buses and operators, to check against

1:03:02federal fair equity rules, and to talk

1:03:05with Boston just in time for the fiscal

1:03:07year 2028 budget. In the city's 2025

1:03:09resident survey, public transit was the

1:03:12second most important thing behind

1:03:14housing. 55% called transportation

1:03:17extremely important and only 27% rated

1:03:20our city's performance as excellent. So,

1:03:24I hope this can pass. It's asking for

1:03:25more information and I'll yield.

1:03:28>> Councillor Nolan.

1:03:29>> Thank you. No, I agree totally. This is

1:03:31exactly what we should do. I've

1:03:32supported in the past. I can't wait for

1:03:34our extended work on hopefully even

1:03:37more, the citywide fair free reliable

1:03:41frequent shuttle. So, I pulled it in

1:03:42order to be asked to be added. I think

1:03:44it's a really really important element

1:03:46of our transportation plan and we need

1:03:48to be doing more to make public transit

1:03:50the mode of choice for many many more

1:03:52people in Cambridge.

1:03:54>> Councillor Nolan yields. We'll go to

1:03:56Councillor McGovern and then Councillor

1:03:58Zuse.

1:03:59>> Uh thank you, Madam Mayor. Through you,

1:04:01uh really quickly, thank you to

1:04:02Councillor Al-Zubidy for putting this in

1:04:04and

1:04:06being the lead sponsor. Um

1:04:08I know you're probably sick of me

1:04:09talking about the conference I went to

1:04:11um couple last month in the in in the

1:04:13Netherlands, but um you know, the

1:04:16central question of that urban mobility

1:04:18conference was

1:04:20what kind of city do you want to be? And

1:04:22you know, if we want to be a city that

1:04:25truly embraces multiple modes of

1:04:27transportation, works to you know,

1:04:30provide people with um access to various

1:04:33types of transportation to

1:04:35um really connect communities,

1:04:38connect within communities, then

1:04:41that takes time and it takes investment.

1:04:44And so, these are the kinds of things

1:04:46that are part of that investment to make

1:04:49uh taking public transportation more

1:04:51reliable, less expensive, um and get

1:04:54more people um you know, using public

1:04:57transportation. The best We always hear

1:04:58like, you know, traffic traffic traffic

1:05:00and we don't want to move away from

1:05:01cars. The

1:05:03best thing we can do to alleviate

1:05:05traffic is to get more people on the bus

1:05:08or more people on bikes and get fewer

1:05:10cars on the road, but you can only do

1:05:12that

1:05:13if

1:05:14the other services you're providing are

1:05:16reliable and accessible. So, um very

1:05:19happy to be part of this and and I hope

1:05:20we can uh continue. Thank you.

1:05:23>> Councilor Zizi.

1:05:24Uh I just wanted to say I was coming

1:05:26back from the airport um Sunday and I

1:05:29was so happy for the Silver Line because

1:05:31since the Silver Line is free, uh um

1:05:35everybody uses the Silver Line or many,

1:05:37many people do leaving the airport which

1:05:39was like such a good idea, right? To

1:05:41make it free. So, I I support the idea

1:05:44of fare-free transit and I love that

1:05:46Senator Markey and Representative

1:05:48Pressley are supporting greater federal

1:05:51support for this.

1:05:52I also appreciate that Route 1 is

1:05:54heavily used, but I wonder

1:05:57if it's the route that we should be

1:05:58focused on.

1:06:00Um uh

1:06:01a apparently uh according to the city

1:06:04transportation data, 15% of lower-income

1:06:09workers are coming from Boston and 8%

1:06:12from Somerville, but many of them live

1:06:13in Waltham, Malden, Everett, Chelsea,

1:06:16Lynn, and Randolph.

1:06:18And um I wonder if what we really

1:06:20shouldn't be focused on is the MBTA's

1:06:24like figuring out the bunching issue.

1:06:26Actually, uh Steve Kaiser, who sadly we

1:06:29lost recently, was really concerned

1:06:30about the bunching issue because that's

1:06:32a very

1:06:33um if if we could just solve that,

1:06:36uh we would have better public

1:06:38transportation. That would and and

1:06:40dramatically improve the route.

1:06:43I question whether we've got the money

1:06:45uh 1 to 1.3 million to pay for this just

1:06:48now

1:06:49and whether there might be might be a

1:06:51more effective way to subsidize or

1:06:53underwrite the public transportation

1:06:55costs of low-income workers. MIT has an

1:06:59interesting model where they only pay

1:07:01for the rides that workers um take. And

1:07:05um I'm wondering if we're still paying I

1:07:07know we're uh paying half a million for

1:07:09CRLS kids who may or may not be using

1:07:13the MBTA benefit. Um so I again I

1:07:17support this in in theory, but I'm not

1:07:19sure if it's

1:07:20actually going to solve the problem or

1:07:23is the best way to solve the problem. I

1:07:25even though Route 1 is a very popular

1:07:28route, the MBTA is underfunded

1:07:31and I don't know there may be some other

1:07:33way that we can better support

1:07:35low-income workers.

1:07:37Thank you.

1:07:39>> Would anyone like to speak who hasn't

1:07:40spoken on this?

1:07:42I'll just say briefly that

1:07:44you know, I support the order. Uh my

1:07:46second term, my office established the

1:07:48Fair Free Working Group with CDD and uh

1:07:51there was a lot of um

1:07:53good data that we reviewed,

1:07:55recommendations were made, and the

1:07:57strongest recommendation was around

1:07:59Route 1 um for many of the reasons that

1:08:02have been stated. We had a lot of

1:08:04conversation with the MBTA

1:08:07um and Boston. We were working together

1:08:09to make this a reality. Uh but there are

1:08:13a lot of um obstacles and so I'm hopeful

1:08:16here

1:08:17uh because I do think it's important and

1:08:19um

1:08:20with the caveat that uh

1:08:22it's it's going to you know, this

1:08:24renewed effort um

1:08:25I'm I'm hoping it it works, but uh it

1:08:29was quite challenging uh to to um

1:08:33you know, to make that happen. But um

1:08:35I'm hopeful and so that's why I'll

1:08:36support um the policy order.

1:08:39We have Councilor Nolan who likes would

1:08:41like to be added. So we'll do a roll

1:08:43call on that.

1:08:44>> Councilor ElZoubi.

1:08:45>> Yes.

1:08:46>> Yes. Vice Mayor Wu.

1:08:47>> Yes.

1:08:47>> Yes. Councilor Flaherty.

1:08:49>> Yes.

1:08:49>> Yes. Councilor McGovern. Yes. Councilor

1:08:52Nolan.

1:08:53>> Yes.

1:08:53>> Yes. Councilor Simmons.

1:08:54>> Yes.

1:08:55>> Yes. Councilor Sabrina Wheeler.

1:08:56>> Yes.

1:08:57>> Yes. Councilor Wu.

1:08:59>> Yes.

1:08:59>> Yes. Mayor Siddiqui.

1:09:01>> Yes.

1:09:01>> Yes. And you have nine members recorded

1:09:02in the affirmative.

1:09:04>> The policy order has been amended.

1:09:07Hearing from no one else, we'll go ahead

1:09:09and do a roll call on adopting policy

1:09:11order number six as amended.

1:09:13>> Councillor Al-Zubaydi?

1:09:14>> Yes.

1:09:14>> Yes, Vice Mayor Azeem?

1:09:15>> Yes.

1:09:16>> Yes, Councillor O'Flaherty?

1:09:17>> Yes.

1:09:18>> Yes, Councillor McGovern?

1:09:19>> Yes.

1:09:19>> Yes, Councillor Nolan?

1:09:21>> Yes.

1:09:21>> Yes, Councillor Simmons?

1:09:22>> Yes.

1:09:23>> Yes, Councillor Sabrina Wheeler?

1:09:25>> Yes.

1:09:25>> Yes, Councillor Zuse?

1:09:28>> Yes.

1:09:29>> Yes, Mayor Siddiqui?

1:09:30>> Yes.

1:09:31>> Yes, and you have nine members recorded

1:09:32in the affirmative.

1:09:33>> Policy order six as amended is adopted.

1:09:35We move on to policy order number seven.

1:09:38This is a city council divestment order

1:09:40from companies complicit in the

1:09:42genocide, apartheid, and occupation of

1:09:44Palestinians. This was filed by

1:09:46Councillor Al-Zubaydi and Councillor

1:09:48Sabrina Wheeler.

1:09:49>> Mayor Siddiqui?

1:09:50>> I Yes. I will go to I have Councillor

1:09:54Al-Zubaydi first, and then I saw Vice

1:09:56Mayor, and then I'll go to Councillor

1:09:58Nolan. I wanted to say before we start

1:10:00discussion on this,

1:10:02I mentioned rules of courtesy yesterday.

1:10:05This is the time that the council will

1:10:07debate, and it's our time, and this is

1:10:09what we do.

1:10:10And so, I would really ask the audience

1:10:13to respect order.

1:10:16And as I said, order matters because we

1:10:18do want this place to be welcoming for

1:10:21everyone, and we may have vigorous

1:10:24disagreements on this issue,

1:10:27and it's our job to do that with each

1:10:29other respectfully. And so,

1:10:31just want to be mindful of that as we go

1:10:33into discussion. So, I have Councillor

1:10:35Al-Zubaydi.

1:10:37>> Thank you. Sorry, Madam Mayor. I want to

1:10:39thank Councillor Sabrina Wheeler for

1:10:41co-sponsoring this with me, Cambridge

1:10:42for Palestine, and everyone who came out

1:10:44last night and today.

1:10:46This specific item is a divestment

1:10:48policy order regarding the retirement

1:10:50board and trust. The The divestment PO

1:10:53is about our city's money. It names the

1:10:55harms done by the state of Israel and

1:10:57the companies. The other post-employment

1:10:59benefits trust has $3 million in GE

1:11:02Aerospace, one of these complicit

1:11:04companies, and it's already flagged as a

1:11:06concentration risk anyways. The city

1:11:08pension fund includes $2.6 million

1:11:10invested in Palantir, a data analytics

1:11:13and AI firm enabling Israeli military

1:11:15targeting operations and immigration and

1:11:18customs enforcements, ISIS surveillance,

1:11:21and deportation infrastructure. In

1:11:23addition to that, $18.2 million invested

1:11:25in weapons manufacturers such as Elbit

1:11:27Systems, military contractors such as

1:11:30Lockheed Martin, and other companies

1:11:32identified by the American Friends

1:11:33Service Committee divestment short list

1:11:35as having severe and consistent

1:11:39involvement directly contributing to the

1:11:41genocide, apartheid, and occupation of

1:11:44Palestinians. So, in other words, it

1:11:46asks the Cambridge Retirement Board and

1:11:48the trustee of a retiree health trust to

1:11:50move out of companies the American

1:11:52Friends Service Committee has found

1:11:54directly involved in what I just stated

1:11:57as perpetuated by the state of Israel.

1:11:59This focuses on the most egregious human

1:12:01rights abuses in Palestine, and it's

1:12:02about 1% of our pension fund. It also

1:12:05asks the city manager to add that

1:12:06standard to our investment policy and

1:12:08report back to us. Also, for my

1:12:10colleagues who might raise legal

1:12:11concerns to excuse their vote, this

1:12:13order is on solid legal ground. State

1:12:14law gives pension decisions to the

1:12:16retirement board, and the city

1:12:17investments are the manager's call. So,

1:12:19every line in this order is a request.

1:12:21It doesn't spend money, and it doesn't

1:12:22bind anyone. When Northampton passed a

1:12:24measure like this and was sued, the

1:12:26court dismissed it. Two major arguments

1:12:28I've received as I've talked to lots of

1:12:30people. First, the claim that {quote}

1:12:31foreign affairs have no place in local

1:12:33government. Foreign affairs are

1:12:35inextricably linked with domestic

1:12:36affairs. If you can't tell by the

1:12:38hundreds of people that spoke, they do

1:12:40care about what happens at the local

1:12:41level. Also, Cambridge has precedent and

1:12:43done this before. We stood against

1:12:45apartheid South Africa and Polaroid. In

1:12:472021, led by Councillor Nolan, this

1:12:49council voted unanimously to keep city

1:12:51funds out of fossil fuels and private

1:12:53prisons. Take this. The climate crisis

1:12:56is a global problem, but that doesn't

1:12:57mean we are powerless to act on it

1:12:59locally. In fact, we recognize that

1:13:01local action is necessary to address a

1:13:03global issue. So, why should we treat

1:13:05global injustice any differently? If

1:13:07injustice is happening in Palestine,

1:13:09that doesn't mean our response has to be

1:13:11limited to Palestine itself. We can and

1:13:13should act locally because global

1:13:15injustices are connected to the

1:13:17political, economic, and social systems

1:13:19that we participate in here. Where our

1:13:22workers' retirement money goes is our

1:13:23business, and where we invest our money

1:13:25in operations should speak to our

1:13:27residents' values, and that is a right

1:13:29that we have. I also want to address the

1:13:30second major argument opposing this,

1:13:33which is why are you singling out

1:13:34Israel? Or or why are you making them

1:13:35look bad? I'm not making them look bad.

1:13:38I am speaking the truth. If the truth

1:13:42makes someone, {quote} {unquote}, look

1:13:43bad, then we must interrogate why we are

1:13:46protecting perpetrators of harm for

1:13:48comfort. The truth is uncomfortable. We

1:13:51have to be willing to name who's

1:13:52responsible for injustice, just as we

1:13:54shouldn't avoid naming the Cornell 7

1:13:56because doing so would, {quote}

1:13:58{unquote}, single them out or make them,

1:14:00{quote} {unquote}, look bad. We

1:14:01shouldn't avoid naming Israel when

1:14:03discussing the genocide in Palestine

1:14:05simply because it makes Israel, {quote}

1:14:07{unquote}, look bad. If our concern is

1:14:09justice and accountability, then

1:14:11protecting the reputation of those being

1:14:13accused cannot be more important than

1:14:15honestly confronting the harm being

1:14:17done. Naming responsibility is not the

1:14:19same as unfairly targeting someone. It

1:14:21is holding a people and institutions

1:14:23account It's holding institutions,

1:14:24specifically, accountable for their

1:14:26actions.

1:14:27And as for sing the singling out piece,

1:14:30the standard baseline for Israel has

1:14:32been impunity. So, I can understand why

1:14:34it might feel like this singles out

1:14:35Israel, but in reality, it does the bare

1:14:36minimum. In fact, historically, Israel

1:14:38has been the exception. The United

1:14:40States has put sanctions on countries

1:14:42like China, Syria, Iran, and Russia, but

1:14:45gives blank checks to Israel. If our

1:14:48federal government and state government

1:14:49won't act, we should. Our residents

1:14:52deserve to know their savings are not

1:14:54invested in the weapons used against

1:14:56families in Gaza.

1:14:58Yes, there might be legal concerns.

1:15:00However, that should never stop us from

1:15:02doing the right thing. After all,

1:15:05the law once allowed for the enslavement

1:15:07of black people at the local level

1:15:10through slave codes.

1:15:12Through slave codes at the local level.

1:15:14Morality and legality haven't ever

1:15:16really been friends. The law is a sharp,

1:15:18sharp weapon. We can do what we can do

1:15:21better, and we should do better. So, I

1:15:23hope we can pass this one. I yield.

1:15:26>> Councillor Al-Zubidy yields. So, I have

1:15:29a bunch of people who'd like to talk, so

1:15:30I'm going to try to take everyone in the

1:15:32order.

1:15:33Um I'd I'd Councillor Sabrina Wheeler,

1:15:35Vice Mayor is um

1:15:37Azeem, Councillor Nolan, Councillor

1:15:40Simmons,

1:15:41Councillor McGovern, Councillor Zuse,

1:15:43and then Councillor Farity. Save the

1:15:44best for last. No. Um just kidding. Go

1:15:47Let's go to go to Councillor Sabrina

1:15:49Wheeler.

1:15:50>> Thanks uh Madam Mayor, through you. Um

1:15:52I'm going to read from parts of a policy

1:15:53order from 1980 that was introduced by

1:15:56City Councillor David Sullivan, who I

1:15:57know a number of us know from his work

1:15:59on affordable housing and voting rights

1:16:01issues in Cambridge.

1:16:03Um

1:16:04quote, both in order to avoid Sorry, let

1:16:06me start with another part. Quote, the

1:16:08government of South Africa continues to

1:16:10engage in the racist policy of

1:16:11apartheid, the practice of which is

1:16:13abhorrent to every principle of human

1:16:14rights. And both in order to avoid

1:16:17participation in injustice, and in order

1:16:19to take some small action to begin to

1:16:21end it. It is therefore essential for

1:16:23the city of Cambridge to examine all its

1:16:25investments with a view toward

1:16:27redirecting them with consistent with

1:16:29these ends.

1:16:30Therefore, be it

1:16:32quote, uh the city government to refrain

1:16:34from investing monies in banks and other

1:16:36financial institutions doing business in

1:16:38or with the Republic of in Africa.

1:16:41And I read that because most of that

1:16:42policy over there

1:16:43could apply here in 2026 with only the

1:16:45name of the country changed.

1:16:47In one sense, it's sad that we're having

1:16:49the same conversation almost half a

1:16:50century later, but I think the lesson

1:16:52here is not about Cambridge doing

1:16:53something in isolation or taking action

1:16:56that isn't going to have a real impact.

1:16:58And that's because in 1980, after

1:16:59Cambridge voted to divest from companies

1:17:01upholding apartheid in South Africa, 2

1:17:03years later, Massachusetts divested its

1:17:05pensions from companies doing business

1:17:07with apartheid South Africa.

1:17:08>> [snorts]

1:17:09>> And then

1:17:106 years after that, in 1986, the US

1:17:12Congress passed federal sanctions on

1:17:14South African government for upholding

1:17:15apartheid. And then in the early 1990s,

1:17:18apartheid ended in South Africa and the

1:17:20country transitioned to being a state

1:17:22with equal rights for all its people.

1:17:25This policy is before us today in 2026

1:17:28just as a similar one

1:17:30was before city councilors here in 1980

1:17:33just as Cambridge residents were here

1:17:34almost 50 years ago on both sides of

1:17:37this arguing about whether the city

1:17:38council should spend its time talking

1:17:40about

1:17:41something that, you know, involved a

1:17:42country far away, talking about whether

1:17:44the violence and discrimination in

1:17:45apartheid was worth it. We have an

1:17:47opportunity today just like our

1:17:49counterparts did in 1980. Quote, "Both

1:17:52in order to avoid participation in

1:17:53injustice and to take small small action

1:17:56to begin to end it." And I hope we can

1:17:57do that today. Yield back.

1:18:00>> We will go to the vice mayor and then

1:18:02Councillor Nolan.

1:18:04>> Uh thank you.

1:18:06Um

1:18:08I found public comment yesterday quite

1:18:10informing. Usually, I feel like public

1:18:13comment is just a reiteration of what we

1:18:14already know from people who already

1:18:16know it. But I found it actually deeply

1:18:18moving even more than I expected.

1:18:21Especially the constant through line of

1:18:22very concrete examples of anti-Semitism

1:18:24in our city, which I do believe is more

1:18:27rampant now than I did even before and

1:18:29that we do need to do much more.

1:18:31I've said before that I don't think we

1:18:33should get involved in foreign policy

1:18:35and I do still think that. Um it just do

1:18:38not believe that we should have engaged

1:18:40in foreign policy for this whole time

1:18:41and then draw the line right now at this

1:18:43moment on the topic of Israel and

1:18:45Palestine.

1:18:46That doesn't sit right by me. And so

1:18:49perhaps something we can revisit in the

1:18:50future, but here we are today.

1:18:53You know, I tend not to talk too much

1:18:55about foreign policy, but I would did

1:18:57want to talk about a particular piece

1:18:59that I found deeply informative in my

1:19:01own politics. Which was a piece by

1:19:03Andrew Miller in Foreign Affairs, who is

1:19:05deputy secretary of state for Israel and

1:19:07Palestine affairs in the Biden

1:19:08administration. One of the most

1:19:10pro-Israel administrations that I think

1:19:12Democrats reasonably expect to have.

1:19:16And I quote, "But the Gaza war also made

1:19:18clear that maintaining this type of

1:19:20bilateral relationship comes with steep

1:19:22costs.

1:19:24With few exceptions, most notably the

1:19:26ceasefire that went into effect in early

1:19:282025, Washington has struggled without

1:19:31success to shape Israel's conduct of the

1:19:33war.

1:19:34That failure is not an anomaly.

1:19:36It is rooted in the nature of the

1:19:38US-Israeli relationship.

1:19:40Although the United States and the

1:19:42United Kingdom may have a special

1:19:44relationship, the United States and

1:19:46Israel have an exceptional relationship.

1:19:49Israel receives treatment that no other

1:19:51ally or partner enjoys.

1:19:53When one country buys US weapons, the

1:19:56sales are subject to a bevy of US laws,

1:19:59Israel has never been truly compelled to

1:20:00comply.

1:20:02Other partners refer from displaying

1:20:04over preferences for one American

1:20:06political party.

1:20:07Israel leaders do so and face no

1:20:09consequences.

1:20:11And Washington does not typically defend

1:20:13another country's policies that are

1:20:14contrary to its own.

1:20:16Nor does it back mild of criticism of

1:20:18them in international organizations. But

1:20:21this is standard practice when dealing

1:20:22with Israel.

1:20:24Many have said today that we should not

1:20:26single out Israel. I strongly agree.

1:20:29I do not think that Israel is a single

1:20:30worst country on earth.

1:20:32I do not believe in a call for the

1:20:34destruction of Israel. I do not have an

1:20:36innate desire to be critical of Israel.

1:20:38In fact, I would rather be talking about

1:20:40more or less anything else at this

1:20:42moment.

1:20:43Um and I believe that Israelis should be

1:20:45able to live in peace.

1:20:47And Israelis will also be the first to

1:20:48say that they have a complicated

1:20:49neighborhood.

1:20:51I think the question I struggle with is

1:20:53that if it is so complicated, why should

1:20:55we be involved?

1:20:57I am uh

1:20:59not believing that Israel is handling

1:21:00itself so exceptionally that it deserves

1:21:02special treatment more so than any other

1:21:04country.

1:21:05You know, Senator Jon Ossoff quoted

1:21:07President Ronald Reagan earlier last

1:21:09year or this year. Uh temporarily saying

1:21:12that President Reagan temporarily

1:21:14suspended or delayed specific weapons

1:21:16deliveries to Israel on multiple

1:21:18occasions during his presidency in

1:21:20response to military actions that the

1:21:22United States disagrees with.

1:21:24To me, this fits into a line of American

1:21:26tradition where I would rather not be

1:21:28here and if Israel changes its actions,

1:21:31I would be happy to say that, you know,

1:21:32we don't need to be doing this.

1:21:34Um but I do not think that is the

1:21:36current case.

1:21:37You know, I do also feel that this is a

1:21:39very sensitive topic and I go back to

1:21:41the the public comment we had yesterday

1:21:43that I found was deeply moving and I do

1:21:45believe leaves place for better

1:21:46language. You know, we only have 40

1:21:48minutes until we have to be out of this

1:21:49room and still a deep and long agenda

1:21:51ahead of us. I am hoping that we can

1:21:53have a special meeting where we can work

1:21:55on language and pass something. But for

1:21:58today, I will exercise my charter right.

1:22:00Thank you.

1:22:01>> So, the vice mayor exercised um

1:22:05his charter right, so we will end

1:22:06debate. We will go on to policy order

1:22:09number eight. This is that the city

1:22:10manager is requested to direct the city

1:22:12solicitor to provide the ordinance

1:22:14committee before it's hearing with an

1:22:16option on the proposed ordinance under

1:22:18Mass. General Law chapter 30B and

1:22:21applicable federal law

1:22:23to boycott companies complicit in

1:22:25Israel's apartheid, genocide, and

1:22:27illegal occupation of Palestine. This

1:22:29was followed by Councillor Al-Zubi,

1:22:31Councillor Sabrina Wheeler, Councillor

1:22:32Al-Zubi

1:22:34and then I'll go to Councillor Sabrina

1:22:35Wheeler and Councillor Nolan.

1:22:36>> Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor. The

1:22:38second item refers to the procurement

1:22:40process and specifically new contracts,

1:22:42not existing

1:22:44not not the existing ones. So, these are

1:22:46the companies again based off of AFSC

1:22:48that sustain Israel's apartheid,

1:22:50genocide, and illegal occupation of

1:22:52Palestine,

1:22:54including multiple contracts of which I

1:22:55won't list because they're already in

1:22:57the PO, who supplies central

1:22:58infrastructure using the illegal Israeli

1:23:01settlements and prisons, and also

1:23:03provide facial recognition, tracking,

1:23:05and surveillance under their subsidiary

1:23:08Vigilant Solutions to ICE.

1:23:10So, it proposes that the city not enter

1:23:13into contracts for goods and services

1:23:14with these complicit companies through

1:23:16AFSC and that there is an exception

1:23:18clause where there is absolutely no

1:23:20alternative.

1:23:22I would like to clarify that the policy

1:23:24order here isn't adopting anything but

1:23:26an order for a committee discussion. At

1:23:29first, I was going to plan to move a

1:23:30motion to refer it to the Ordinance

1:23:31Committee, but after discussion with the

1:23:33city solicitor, that is actually what is

1:23:35already in the PO, so it's not even

1:23:37necessary to do the extra vote. So, I

1:23:39hope that we can adjust adopt this PO

1:23:41because it's calling for an Ordinance

1:23:43Committee hearing already.

1:23:45It also asked the city solicitor for an

1:23:47opinion under Charter 30B before the

1:23:48hearing, so legal-related questions, if

1:23:51you're very concerned, can be answered

1:23:52by our law department at a public

1:23:53hearing.

1:23:55That's what the committee process is

1:23:56for. I think having that feedback is

1:23:58very fair, but again, like I shared, I

1:24:00hold the perspective that I do not want

1:24:02us to allow legal considerations to stop

1:24:04us from doing the moral thing. This is

1:24:06the worst atrocity of our lifetime, and

1:24:09we are invested in it. At the end of the

1:24:11day, I don't want blood on my hands, and

1:24:13neither should any of us. I'll yield.

1:24:17Councillor Sabrina Wheeler, Councillor

1:24:19Nolan, and then Councillor Simmons.

1:24:20>> Thanks, uh Mayor. As one of the

1:24:23co-chairs of the Ordinance Committee, I

1:24:24just wanted to talk for a moment about

1:24:25how it fits into the context of other

1:24:27ordinances we discuss and uh sort of

1:24:29address the critique that it's not a

1:24:30practical city issue or that it's just

1:24:32symbolic.

1:24:33Uh because the truth is that all the

1:24:35ordinances that we talk about, that we

1:24:37pass, have both a practical component

1:24:39and a symbolic component. The practical

1:24:41component of this ordinance is

1:24:42redirecting city funds, and those are

1:24:44real dollars and real investments in

1:24:46city contracts, and the symbolic

1:24:47component

1:24:49component is condemning violence and

1:24:50genocide. That That part, that there's

1:24:53both a practical component and a

1:24:54symbolic component is true of every

1:24:56ordinance we pass. As one example, when

1:24:58the City Council passed a fossil fuel

1:24:59free ordinance, we knew that it wasn't

1:25:01going to end climate change by itself.

1:25:03Climate change is a global issue, and a

1:25:05city with 100,000 people isn't going to

1:25:07be able to solve it on its own. So, why

1:25:08did we pass that ordinance? Part of it

1:25:10was a practical reason, because reducing

1:25:12fossil fuels in new buildings would have

1:25:14a small but real impact in Cambridge and

1:25:16beyond. But a big part of it was also

1:25:18symbolic. The City Council wanted to

1:25:20show that Cambridge was serious about

1:25:22climate change, that Cambridge trusted

1:25:24the science and the facts and the

1:25:25international consensus, that Cambridge

1:25:28should be an example for the rest of the

1:25:29world in addressing this crisis.

1:25:32When the City Council passed an

1:25:33affordable housing overlay, we knew that

1:25:34it wasn't going to end the housing

1:25:35crisis by itself. And there were a lot

1:25:37of people at the time, and actually

1:25:38still, who said, you know, the housing

1:25:40crisis is a regional issue and it's a

1:25:41national issue, and Cambridge is not

1:25:43going to be able to solve it on its own.

1:25:44We cannot have housing for everybody in

1:25:46Cambridge. And this was so divisive. Why

1:25:48do something that was just so divisive

1:25:50here when we weren't going to be able to

1:25:51solve this crisis?

1:25:52We passed the affordable housing overlay

1:25:54because we knew it mattered. It was a

1:25:56small thing in the grand scheme of

1:25:57things, but we knew it would make a

1:25:59difference. And part of it was also

1:26:01symbolic. We wanted to show that

1:26:02Cambridge could lead on the housing

1:26:04crisis and inspire our neighbors like

1:26:05Somerville and Belmont and Arlington to

1:26:08do more.

1:26:09Like other ordinances, getting the

1:26:10details on this right is important.

1:26:12There have been multiple conversations

1:26:13already with the city manager and the

1:26:15law department at lot implementation,

1:26:17and we'll have more conversations about

1:26:18it in the ordinance committee.

1:26:20As was mentioned before, the only vote

1:26:21today is to send this on to the

1:26:22ordinance committee like we do for all

1:26:24ordinances for further discussion and I

1:26:26look forward to further conversation

1:26:27there and hope we can do that today.

1:26:29Yield back.

1:26:30>> Councilor Nolan, then Councilor Simmons,

1:26:31and then Councilor Flaherty.

1:26:34>> Thanks. This is really hard.

1:26:36And if the intent is to ensure city

1:26:38funds do not fund terror or war crimes

1:26:41or equally horrific acts, then the

1:26:43process must be just and fair and

1:26:46include all problematic companies.

1:26:49As written, the policy orders are not

1:26:51fair or equitable or just. They single

1:26:54out one country

1:26:55instead of asking for a review of all

1:26:57funds that might be tied to any and all

1:26:59companies in which we are invested that

1:27:01are tied to any and all countries or

1:27:03organizations tied to terror or war

1:27:04crimes.

1:27:05What about our own government's actions?

1:27:07China's brutal repression, Russia's

1:27:09targeting civilians, South Sudan's

1:27:10massacres. We could go on and on and on.

1:27:12Which companies that we're invested in

1:27:14are tied to those directly or indirectly

1:27:17and I deserve divestment. I can support

1:27:20divestment, not this language.

1:27:22And given that my colleague already

1:27:25exercised his charter right on the first

1:27:26one, I think these are inex-

1:27:28inextricably tied and I think we need to

1:27:31have the conversation together.

1:27:33Um and come to a place where we can

1:27:36divest and not do further harm, which I

1:27:38think the language currently written

1:27:39does. So, I will exercise my charter

1:27:41right on this one.

1:27:42>> Councilor Nolan exercises her charter

1:27:44right. So, for the folks who are

1:27:46wondering what happens next, um there's

1:27:48a few options I just wanted to explain.

1:27:51Um we have our next regular city council

1:27:54meeting scheduled for November 2nd,

1:27:56which is a long ways away.

1:27:59As um mayor, I have the um authority

1:28:03to call a special meeting um and I think

1:28:06given the the importance of this, uh

1:28:09you know, to

1:28:11the suggestion earlier, we can call a

1:28:13special meeting. Um I think we'll

1:28:16you know

1:28:18I think I may need to I'll probably have

1:28:19to submit a late order. And so um

1:28:24we can we can do that, but that's for

1:28:26the folks. We will if there is a special

1:28:28meeting, we will notice it um and go

1:28:32from there. So, but Charter right ends

1:28:34discussion.

1:28:35>> Madam Mayor.

1:28:36>> Yes, Councillor Simmons.

1:28:37>> Uh thank you.

1:28:38Through you and to you. I think that's

1:28:40Thank you for your leadership on this. I

1:28:42think that's an extraordinary idea. I

1:28:43think it's something that we really

1:28:44should take time

1:28:46um to really talk through. So, I

1:28:47certainly I don't I know you don't need

1:28:49a motion to do that, but I certainly

1:28:51support the idea of having a special

1:28:53meeting so we can really thoroughly take

1:28:55up both policy orders. I yield.

1:28:58>> So, we move on from policy order number

1:29:01uh seven and eight and we'll go to

1:29:04policy order number 11. This is that the

1:29:06MWRA we can

1:29:09We need some decorum.

1:29:13That the MWRA

1:29:16folks

1:29:17we have to get through our meeting.

1:29:19Thank you.

1:29:20That the MWRA reconsider plans to

1:29:23construct a 10 million gallon CSO

1:29:26storage tank

1:29:28beneath Magazine Beach. This was filed

1:29:30by Councillor Zuse, Councillor Nolan,

1:29:32myself, Vice Mayor Azeem.

1:29:35Councillor Zuse.

1:29:42Right now it's about 10:30, so we have a

1:29:45half an hour to get through this.

1:29:48So, Councillor Zuse, I'll go to you.

1:29:51>> Uh

1:29:53I I guess I really didn't need to pull

1:29:55this. I I just uh this policy order

1:29:59uh

1:30:00I think you're all going to support it.

1:30:02I hope you will. This is something the

1:30:04city uh the city manager wrote a letter

1:30:06in support

1:30:08of uh asking the MWRA to reconsider its

1:30:12plans for Magazine Beach as I think all

1:30:14of you know.

1:30:16Since the 1990s, the the city has

1:30:19invested over 12 million or the city and

1:30:22the state have invested over 12 million

1:30:24dollars into actually revitalizing this

1:30:26once very

1:30:28derelict

1:30:29park along the Charles River. It's a

1:30:3117-acre park, our second largest park,

1:30:34and it's been it is an extraordinary

1:30:43>> Can you close? We're going to pause

1:30:45momentarily.

1:30:56Yeah, we've we're pausing.

1:31:22Please continue.

1:31:23>> Okay, back to Magazine Beach. This park

1:31:25is an extraordinary resource for the

1:31:27community

1:31:29that again, it was the community that

1:31:32has led

1:31:34efforts to revitalize this park. First,

1:31:37the Friends of Magazine Beach Park, and

1:31:39then

1:31:41the Cambridgeport Neighborhood

1:31:42Association. We had a Magazine Beach

1:31:43Committee, and then we spun off a

1:31:46Magazine Beach Partners, and I think

1:31:47many or I think you all know that I've

1:31:49been leading this effort since 20

1:31:5210. But, this park is an extraordinary

1:31:54amenity and a much-needed public

1:31:56resource for

1:31:58the city.

1:32:01We, all the Charles River Conservancy,

1:32:03the Watershed Association, the City

1:32:05Magazine Beach Partners, the CNA, we all

1:32:08support the need for better stormwater

1:32:11management and and investment in CSO

1:32:15infrastructure.

1:32:16But our

1:32:18we thought when the city first presented

1:32:21this project to us in the MWRA did, we

1:32:24understood that there was some

1:32:25flexibility about

1:32:27this 10 million gallon tank that was

1:32:29proposed for the park. We were told that

1:32:32it wouldn't need to be fenced off, that

1:32:34there wouldn't need to be a head house

1:32:37on top of the project, that we might be

1:32:40able to move it around, maybe closer to

1:32:42the Cottage Farm plant. We weren't

1:32:44imagining that

1:32:46the state would turn the 8.3 acres of

1:32:50the park into a construction site for 6

1:32:53to 8 years with 35 trucks removing soil

1:32:58um, a day for 6 to 8 years. Um, we

1:33:03weren't we

1:33:04weren't understanding the full impacts

1:33:06of what it it was being proposed. So,

1:33:08we're asking the MWRA

1:33:11to sort of come back and to rethink what

1:33:14is being proposed for the site. Maybe

1:33:17they can move it to Goose Meadow, which

1:33:19would be much less disruptive. Maybe the

1:33:22tank doesn't have to be 10 million

1:33:24gallons, maybe it could be 5 million

1:33:26gallons. Um, I think there are many

1:33:28things that can be re-considered, but we

1:33:31certainly after um,

1:33:34advocating for improvements to this

1:33:36public amenity since the 1990s and

1:33:39investing so much time and energy

1:33:42into improving the park, we don't want

1:33:45to forfeit it to and and turn into have

1:33:48the area turned into a

1:33:50construction site and have the soccer

1:33:53field fenced off forever. So, that is

1:33:56what this policy order

1:33:58asks for and um

1:34:00and I've and and DCR doesn't want this

1:34:02to happen either. So, I hope you all

1:34:04will support um me in this and um

1:34:09>> Thank you, counselor.

1:34:10We'll go to counselor McGovern and then

1:34:12counselor Simmons.

1:34:13>> Uh thank you, Madam Mayor. Uh thank you

1:34:14to counselor Zizi for this. Um

1:34:17I was actually the president of the

1:34:18Central Division Little League and

1:34:20worked with DCR to when that baseball

1:34:22field went in and and and the loss of

1:34:23that space would would really be

1:34:25detrimental to the children of of the

1:34:26Cambridge Port neighborhood. Um this

1:34:28might I don't want to speak for my

1:34:29colleagues, but this might be one of

1:34:31those policy orders that we all should

1:34:33co-sponsor to send a message that uh

1:34:36you know, we are all on board uh with

1:34:37this position.

1:34:40So, I would like to be added, but I

1:34:42don't want to speak for anybody else.

1:34:43>> Yes, counselor Simmons.

1:34:45>> Uh thank you, Madam Mayor, through you

1:34:47to uh my colleagues. First of all, I

1:34:49want to just uh acknowledge counselor

1:34:50Zizi.

1:34:51Thank you for doing this. When I saw it

1:34:54and read it, I was appalled. I know,

1:34:56first of all, you've done a lot of work

1:34:57around Magazine Beach, but it is as you

1:35:00say in

1:35:01as it said in in the the in our booklet,

1:35:04this is an important amenity and to cost

1:35:07so much and take an amenity from that

1:35:11area of the neighborhood is stunning to

1:35:14me. So, I I mean, I I'm very clear about

1:35:16what this order does and does not do.

1:35:18The order does not stop progress on

1:35:20environmental goals and it doesn't

1:35:22reject the MR MWR A's waste

1:35:25need to manage waste water. It asked the

1:35:28city manager and the city manager has

1:35:29been very clear that this is not

1:35:31something that that uh should happen.

1:35:34So, I fully stand in support of it. Uh

1:35:36I would love to be uh

1:35:39added as a co-sponsor. I hope it pass

1:35:42because I think we should start sending

1:35:43a strong message. No, absolutely not. I

1:35:46yield the floor.

1:35:48>> We will go to counselor Ferrity.

1:35:50>> And very quickly through you, Madam

1:35:51Mayor, I want join in this and be added

1:35:53as well. And uh and I want to state for

1:35:56the record that I applaud the city

1:35:58manager's objection to the MWRA when

1:36:01they reversed course at the most recent

1:36:04uh meeting. And uh I was shocked by it.

1:36:08And uh this is

1:36:10you know, if we're going to have a fight

1:36:11with someone,

1:36:12this is the fight we should have. All

1:36:14right? This is the fight maybe all of us

1:36:16can join in and fight to preserve a

1:36:20public park in the city of Cambridge

1:36:22that is essential for the people who

1:36:23live here.

1:36:24So, I yield.

1:36:27>> Anyone else who hasn't spoken on this?

1:36:30Yes, Councilor Nolan.

1:36:31>> Just very quickly, if the city manager

1:36:33could explain he sent a letter and it

1:36:35would just be good just with 1 minute of

1:36:37it on the record. It was incredibly

1:36:38powerful and important. So, to let

1:36:40people know it's not just the council

1:36:41doing this. It was I think a shock to

1:36:43the city to understand this. I don't

1:36:45know if you want to emphasize anything,

1:36:47DCM Watkins or CM Huang.

1:36:51>> He did do a nice job writing his letter.

1:36:53>> City manager?

1:36:54>> Through you, Mayor Siddiqui. I think

1:36:57we've been working very closely

1:36:58obviously with the MWRA on the CSO. I

1:37:02think it was a big surprise.

1:37:04Not necessarily that there was a plan

1:37:06for a stormwater tank. But it had not

1:37:08been shared with us that the idea would

1:37:10be for a permanent fencing off. I think

1:37:13in particular, you know, the city has

1:37:15had a number of these projects, maybe

1:37:16not at this full scale. But where we've

1:37:19been able to from an engineering

1:37:21perspective satisfy the stormwater

1:37:24requirements that are needed, but also

1:37:26preserve public space. So, there's a

1:37:28number of parks including the space in

1:37:30front of the library where we've been

1:37:32able to preserve public space. And you

1:37:34have this kind of infrastructure. And

1:37:36when the project's completed, it goes

1:37:38back to being space for our community.

1:37:41So, I think we we are all certainly on

1:37:44the same page. This is a really

1:37:45important project. But also one that we

1:37:48need to do right. Uh And the proposal

1:37:50that was shared was both surprising

1:37:53and and one that we're certainly in

1:37:54opposition to.

1:37:55I'll just defer to Deputy City Manager

1:37:58Watkins

1:37:59and and I think for anything that I've

1:38:01missed.

1:38:02>> Sure, through you Mayor Siddiqui. I

1:38:03mean, I think the city manager hit the

1:38:05key points, which is that we have always

1:38:07co-located these facilities quite well.

1:38:09We have a number of them under public

1:38:11streets and public parks. Once they are

1:38:13constructed, no one knows they're there.

1:38:15They're the hidden infrastructure that

1:38:17protects our city. And so, we've been

1:38:19having conversations with the MWRA for,

1:38:21you know, this is going on close to 5

1:38:23years about the plan.

1:38:25And I would say, you know, the engineers

1:38:27that are working on the details, they

1:38:28had never been shared this idea of it

1:38:31being fenced off. And so, we have been

1:38:33very clear with the

1:38:34MWRA staff

1:38:36both in conversation and through the

1:38:38formal letters saying that this is not a

1:38:40viable proposal. It is not going to be

1:38:42supported by the city. It's not going to

1:38:44be supported by the state legislature.

1:38:46And it's not going to be supported by

1:38:47DCR. And so, you know, part of the part,

1:38:50you know, the the objective of the draft

1:38:52plan is it is a draft plan. And then

1:38:55people provide feedback. And I think

1:38:57we've all been have provided very clear

1:38:59feedback that this is not a viable

1:39:00option that we do need to reduce CSOs

1:39:03and improve storm water management, but

1:39:06we're not doing that through the loss of

1:39:08a critical park. And so, I think it is

1:39:10really helpful for the city council to

1:39:12also be very clear on that message.

1:39:16>> Councilor Nolan?

1:39:19So, we'll go ahead and add a few folks

1:39:21who'd like to be added. Councilor

1:39:23McGovern, Councilor Simmons, and

1:39:24Councilor Flaherty on adding them to

1:39:26policy order number 11.

1:39:29Yes. Oh, you wanted to speak? And you

1:39:31got

1:39:31>> Motion to add everyone.

1:39:32>> Yeah, motion to add everyone. All those

1:39:34in favor say I. I. Those against say no.

1:39:37The eyes have it.

1:39:38Policy order 11 has been amended with

1:39:42all the council. We'll go ahead and do a

1:39:44roll call on adopting policy order

1:39:45number 11 as amended. Counselor

1:39:47Al-Zoubi? Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem?

1:39:52Yes. Counselor Flaherty? Yes. Yes.

1:39:54Counselor McGovern? Yes. Counselor

1:39:56Nolan? Yes. Counselor Simmons? Yes. Yes.

1:39:59Counselor Sabrina Wheeler? Yes. Yes.

1:40:01Counselor Zusey? Yes. Yes. Mayor

1:40:03Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine

1:40:04members recorded in the affirmative.

1:40:06Policy order number 11 as amended is

1:40:08adopted. We're going to policy order

1:40:09number 12. This is reaffirming the city

1:40:11council's commitment to high-quality

1:40:13health care for all residents and its

1:40:15strong [clears throat] support of House

1:40:16Bill

1:40:171405 and Senate Bill 860, an act

1:40:20establishing Medicare for all in

1:40:21Massachusetts. This was filed by

1:40:23Counselor Al-Zoubi, Counselor Sabrina

1:40:24Wheeler, Counselor Nolan, and myself.

1:40:26I will go to Counselor Al-Zoubi first

1:40:28and then Counselor

1:40:29Zusey who pulled.

1:40:31>> Thank you, three, Madam Mayor. Thank you

1:40:32to my colleagues for co-sponsoring this.

1:40:34In 2014, this council voted 8-0 to

1:40:36support Medicare for all. The bills

1:40:38didn't actually pass before formal

1:40:40sessions ended on July 31st, and so need

1:40:42to be refiled in January. And this

1:40:44essentially would renew our support for

1:40:45the next session. As we know, health

1:40:47care is a human right. It is also a line

1:40:49in our budget. This year, we set aside

1:40:51around $120 million for health insurance

1:40:54for city and school employees and

1:40:55retirees, and it comes up in every

1:40:57contract negotiation. If we use

1:40:59MassCare's method, the city would

1:41:01actually save an estimated 69 million to

1:41:0390 million a year under the single-payer

1:41:05bill. Our workers should not have to

1:41:07trade wages for premiums at the

1:41:09bargaining table, and I hope that our

1:41:11support at the council level can be

1:41:13shared at the state.

1:41:16>> Counselor Zusey, you have the floor.

1:41:19>> Um I will support this. I just wanted um

1:41:22to share, you know, over the last

1:41:25months, I've been helping my neighbor

1:41:27Steve Kaiser who sadly passed away this

1:41:29weekend,

1:41:31who did not have health insurance.

1:41:33And uh for complicated reasons, but I it

1:41:37really uh just in trying to bring him

1:41:41support that he didn't have health

1:41:43insurance always got in the way.

1:41:45Somerville-Cambridge Elder Services was

1:41:47absolutely extraordinary. They were not

1:41:49reimbursed for services because he did

1:41:52not have health insurance.

1:41:53But every step of the way I you know, I

1:41:55took him to the doctors.

1:41:58I

1:42:00I don't know how he's going to pay that

1:42:01bill or I you know, I guess it'll be

1:42:03paid from his estate, but

1:42:06he needed tests. He couldn't pay for the

1:42:08tests. Uh

1:42:10He was at the hospital, you know, the um

1:42:14they're going to be huge costs for his

1:42:16hospital stays. Anyway, it it just um

1:42:20we've got to fix our health care system

1:42:23in America and everyone needs to have

1:42:26access to health care.

1:42:28Thank you. I yield.

1:42:31>> Would anyone else like to say anything?

1:42:34Did you want to be added or you just

1:42:35wanted to make a statement? Counselor

1:42:37Zuzi.

1:42:38You're good. Okay, so hearing no one

1:42:40else on policy order number 12, we can

1:42:42go ahead and do a voice vote on adopting

1:42:45the order. All those in favor say I. I.

1:42:48Those against say no. The eyes have it.

1:42:50Policy order number 12 is adopted.

1:42:52There are no items on the calendar.

1:42:54There's one application which was

1:42:55received from

1:42:57Marissa Collado requesting permission

1:42:59for a curb cut.

1:43:01Yes, Counselor Nolan, you'd like to pull

1:43:03this.

1:43:04>> Yeah. Yeah, I just a quick comment. This

1:43:06is something that just simply extends an

1:43:08existing curb cut. So I am going to vote

1:43:10in favor of it just to let people know

1:43:12sometimes um I'm not in favor of handing

1:43:14over curb cuts. This is one that just

1:43:16extends it which was not clear to me

1:43:17until I read the reviewed that

1:43:19application.

1:43:20>> Anyone else on this?

1:43:22On a motion by Counselor Nolan to adopt

1:43:25the application,

1:43:28all those in favor say I. I. Those

1:43:30against say no. The eyes have it.

1:43:32The application is adopted. We now move

1:43:36on to communications. There are 875

1:43:39communications.

1:43:40>> Place on file.

1:43:42And then, yes.

1:43:43>> [laughter]

1:43:44>> We'll go ahead on a motion by Councillor

1:43:47Simmons to place all communications on

1:43:50file.

1:43:51All those in favor say I.

1:43:53>> I.

1:43:53>> I, those against say no. The eyes have

1:43:55it.

1:43:56The communications are placed on file.

1:43:59We'll move on to the consent

1:44:01resolutions. Are there any that my

1:44:04colleagues would like to discuss?

1:44:07>> Move the adoption making the unanimous

1:44:09upon adoption.

1:44:11>> Councillor Simmons moves to adopt the uh

1:44:15two resolutions and making them

1:44:16unanimous upon adoption. All those in

1:44:18favor say I. I, those against say no.

1:44:21The eyes have it. The two resolutions

1:44:23are adopted. There's one committee

1:44:25report. This is from the Housing

1:44:27Committee.

1:44:28Is it a round table or not?

1:44:30>> Place on file.

1:44:31>> On a motion by Councillor Simmons to

1:44:34accept the report and place on file. All

1:44:38those in favor say I. I, those against

1:44:40say no. The eyes have it. The

1:44:43report is placed on file. We have one

1:44:46round table working meeting submission

1:44:48of the record from June 29th on a motion

1:44:51by Councillor Zucchi to

1:44:53accept this report and place on file.

1:44:56All those in favor say I. I, those

1:44:58against say no. The eyes have it. The

1:45:01minutes are

1:45:02accepted and placed on file. We have two

1:45:05communications and reports from other

1:45:06city officers on a motion by Councillor

1:45:10Flaherty to place both of these

1:45:12communications on file. All those in

1:45:14favor say I. I, those against say no.

1:45:17The eyes have it.

1:45:19Those two

1:45:20communications and reports from other

1:45:22city officers are placed on file.

1:45:25We will now move on to late resolutions.

1:45:27We do have some late resolutions and I

1:45:29have the late PO around the special

1:45:32meeting. So, we'll go ahead and do a

1:45:34roll call on sub sub

1:45:37suspension. All those in favor say I. I.

1:45:40Those against say no. The eyes have it.

1:45:42We are in suspension. We'll move on to

1:45:44the late resolution. This was the late

1:45:46resolution that was filed by Councillor

1:45:48Simmons on the passing of Madeline

1:45:52Arroyo. Arroyo? Councillor Simmons.

1:45:55>> I thank you, Madam Mayor. Madeline

1:45:56Arroyo, we often called Maddie. And we

1:46:00we went Her funeral was

1:46:03last

1:46:04Friday. But I thought it was still

1:46:06important to bring in this resolution.

1:46:09What most people don't know about

1:46:10Maddie, she worked for the city for a

1:46:11number of years in the Department of

1:46:13Human Services program, mostly in

1:46:16the North Cambridge area.

1:46:19This She was a young woman of 55.

1:46:22And

1:46:24just to have the have the fact that

1:46:25she's passed away and I'm I'm still not

1:46:28sure of all the details. I just thought

1:46:30it would be fitting to not acknowledge

1:46:33her passing so much but acknowledge her

1:46:35living.

1:46:37Particularly because not only was she

1:46:38someone who lived in Cambridge a great

1:46:40number of years but because she worked

1:46:42for the city of Cambridge for so many

1:46:43years. So, I hope my colleagues will

1:46:45feel it right and prudent to support

1:46:48this resolution and

1:46:50in acknowledging her life and

1:46:54acknowledging her passing. I yield.

1:46:57>> Would anyone else like to say anything

1:46:59on the late resolution?

1:47:02Hearing none, we'll go ahead. All those

1:47:05in favor say I. I.

1:47:07Those against say no. The resolution has

1:47:09been late resolution has been adopted.

1:47:13There is a late policy order. It's being

1:47:15printed right now.

1:47:17Conferred with the solicitor on this.

1:47:19Essentially, I we can call a special

1:47:21meeting.

1:47:23Because we've

1:47:25it's a continuation.

1:47:28I had asked about public comment. And

1:47:30it's my recommendation that given that

1:47:32we've had

1:47:34extensive public comment that we

1:47:38vote in the PO to not have public

1:47:40comment at the special meeting so we can

1:47:42get straight to the substance. And so

1:47:44that's what the PO

1:47:46basically says, but it's

1:47:48being printed so just hold on

1:47:51momentarily as it um

1:47:54gets in front of us.

1:47:55>> Madam Mayor.

1:47:57>> Yeah, we we we moved suspension on the

1:47:59late

1:48:01but we can yeah, we did both and the

1:48:02policy order. Yes, Councillor McGovern.

1:48:04>> Uh thanks. I was just while we're

1:48:05waiting for that, I know we did

1:48:06announcements

1:48:08yesterday, but just to remind folks that

1:48:11tonight at 5:30 there's a

1:48:14um

1:48:14a vigil or a

1:48:17uh at in front of the city hall

1:48:20against domestic violence. There's going

1:48:22to be a number of speakers and

1:48:24just want to make sure

1:48:25uh

1:48:26we didn't announce that yesterday so

1:48:28I'll be there. I'm sure most of us will

1:48:29be there.

1:48:31While we wait, I thought I'd put that

1:48:32out there.

1:48:33>> Madam Mayor.

1:48:33>> Yes, Councillor Simmons.

1:48:34>> On the announcement side as we close out

1:48:37October, many of you know that October

1:48:39is breast cancer

1:48:41month and there's going to be the

1:48:44Mass Breast Cancer Coalition

1:48:47has a fundraiser to raise money to

1:48:50support helping inform families around

1:48:54breast cancer as you as many of you

1:48:56probably know

1:48:58breast cancer hits the African American

1:48:59community, community of color harder

1:49:01than it hits other

1:49:03other communities. And so if you if you

1:49:05want to have a little fun, also Reverend

1:49:08Ivey Monroe is being honored. I would

1:49:11recommend that you come at Saturday

1:49:13evening and it's at Club Cafe.

1:49:15I yield.

1:49:16>> Yes, Councillor McGovern.

1:49:17>> I got one more, sorry.

1:49:19Um, this Friday, uh,

1:49:21I'm I'm going to be sponsoring along

1:49:23with the bid a pumpkin painting party in

1:49:27the new Carl Barron Plaza. So, we have

1:49:30uh, we have pumpkins, we have hot warm

1:49:32cider, donuts, sweets,

1:49:34uh, music. And so, anyone want to come

1:49:36down and paint a pumpkin,

1:49:38um, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Carl

1:49:40Barron Plaza.

1:49:42>> And Councilman Nolan, do you want to say

1:49:43anything about your meeting and shortly?

1:49:46>> Right. Right after this at, um, 11:30

1:49:48we'll be having what I think is one of

1:49:50the most substantive, significant, and,

1:49:54uh, meaningful meetings about our future

1:49:57as a city from a sustainability

1:49:58perspective and and public health and

1:50:00environmental justice, which is a

1:50:01meeting on something called 10, which is

1:50:04the

1:50:05uh,

1:50:06the the name used for thermal energy

1:50:08networks. They've been called

1:50:09geothermal, they've been called ground

1:50:10source heat exchange, there's a whole

1:50:11range. But it as we move, this is one of

1:50:13the most exciting elements that

1:50:16nationwide and in Europe they're looking

1:50:19at as as ways for cities to equitably,

1:50:22uh, excuse me, get off fossil fuels. And

1:50:24so, we'll be having and at that meeting

1:50:26there'll be a representative from

1:50:27Eversource, Vicinity Energy will be

1:50:29talking, MIT, um,

1:50:32uh,

1:50:32Heat, Black Swan Labs. So, we'll have

1:50:35very short presentations. The city will

1:50:36be presenting the results of a

1:50:38feasibility study and we'll be talking

1:50:40about next steps on that. So, I hope I

1:50:42would love to see hundreds of people at

1:50:43that meeting at 11:30, which will happen

1:50:46right after this.

1:50:47>> Councilor Zuse.

1:50:49>> Uh, I apologize cuz I was late

1:50:52yesterday, but I I wanted to make sure

1:50:54people knew about the small business

1:50:55anti-displacement program that is going

1:50:57to be held at Street Theory Collective

1:51:00today at 4:00 p.m.

1:51:02Um, and then on on Thursday,

1:51:05there will be there's a meeting about

1:51:08the reuse of the building at, uh, the

1:51:10Lowell School, which is a school of

1:51:12music at 6:00 p.m.

1:51:15And then, um, the Morse Marathon is

1:51:18Friday morning. And then, on

1:51:21next week Tuesday, I don't know exactly

1:51:23at what time, I would think 6:00, um,

1:51:25the MWRA is going to be presenting to

1:51:27the CNA and Magazine Beach partners and

1:51:29the general community about the project

1:51:32at Magazine Beach on Tuesday, October

1:51:3627th. Um,

1:51:38um,

1:51:39happy to see City Manager Watkins. Do

1:51:42you know is it at 6:00?

1:51:44Yeah, okay. I So, I will, uh,

1:51:47anyway, I'll post that to the CNA

1:51:48listserv once I know about the time.

1:51:52Thank

1:51:53Okay, so

1:51:55Shout out to my amazing Chief of Staff,

1:51:56Minji. She's

1:51:58printing printing them for you all. And

1:52:01I just sent it to Naomi. So, essentially

1:52:03it says, "Whereas the October 19th, 2026

1:52:06meeting of the regular City Council drew

1:52:08more than for 350 individuals to give

1:52:10public comment with thousands more

1:52:11submitting written comments and staff

1:52:13across city departments have worked to

1:52:15prepare for significant in-person and

1:52:17remote participation. And whereas the

1:52:19October 19th meeting was recessed at the

1:52:21conclusion of public comment just before

1:52:23midnight and reconvened at 9:00 a.m. on

1:52:25October 20th. And whereas during this

1:52:28continued session the charter right was

1:52:29exercised on POR

1:52:32195 196 postponing that those measures

1:52:36to the next regular or special meeting

1:52:38per City Council Rule 19. And whereas

1:52:41the next regular meeting of the City

1:52:42Council is November 2nd, 2026. And

1:52:45whereas prolonging this conversation

1:52:46significantly affects community as well

1:52:49as city staff. Now, therefore, be it

1:52:50that the mayor work with the City

1:52:52Council office, the City Clerk's office,

1:52:54and other city staff to call and notice

1:52:56a special meeting to take place the week

1:52:58of October 26th to continue discussion

1:53:01on

1:53:02the policy the

1:53:039 195 196. And be it further that this

1:53:07because the public had ample opportunity

1:53:09to comment on these matters on October

1:53:119th, and still has the opportunity to

1:53:13submit written communications that the

1:53:14council suspended its rules so that this

1:53:16meeting be held without public comment.

1:53:19And be it further that the city

1:53:20publicize the date, time, location of

1:53:23the special meeting along with

1:53:24instructions for watching it and for

1:53:26submitting written comments to the city

1:53:28council.

1:53:28>> Madam Mayor.

1:53:29>> Discussion? Yes, Council Simmons.

1:53:31>> Um

1:53:31I

1:53:32I had sent the text in I wanted to be

1:53:34added so if you would mind adding me as

1:53:35a co-sponsor.

1:53:37>> So, Council Simmons, we'll add you as a

1:53:38co-sponsor. All those in favor say I. I.

1:53:42Those against say no.

1:53:43Uh I have Council Al-Zoubi and then

1:53:45Council and Vice Mayor Zein.

1:53:47>> Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just want to

1:53:48note for the record, I will be a no vote

1:53:50on this because it does remove public

1:53:52comment. I'll yield.

1:53:53>> Vice Mayor.

1:53:55>> Um thank you. I know we only have a few

1:53:57minutes. Um I did just want to clarify

1:53:59that I thought that a special meeting

1:54:00would be helpful since we were time

1:54:02limited, but that should not be seen as,

1:54:05you know, I was not supportive of, you

1:54:07know, many or most of the large elements

1:54:10of the initial order and not of the

1:54:12substitute. I just think that we can

1:54:14tone it a little bit, but that is the

1:54:16extent of it. I don't want people to get

1:54:18the misimpression that all of a sudden

1:54:20like my whole speech was about how like

1:54:22I think that, you know, uh it's in the

1:54:24American tradition to limit weapons to

1:54:26Israel. And so I just wanted to say that

1:54:28stately in case there was any

1:54:29misunderstandings. Thank you.

1:54:31>> Any questions about this? Council

1:54:33McGovern.

1:54:33>> No, thank you. Um

1:54:35you know, I I I know um

1:54:38I know it's hard to to say no public

1:54:40comment, um but

1:54:42on an issue like this, I mean, if we

1:54:43have 6 more hours of public comment, we

1:54:45will be in the same situation and we'll

1:54:47never actually get to deliberation. So,

1:54:49um I'm sure we'll be receiving a lot of

1:54:51emails

1:54:52um and and and whatnot over the until

1:54:55this is uh this meeting happens.

1:54:57Um so, there'll be opportunity for

1:54:59people to be heard again. Um but I think

1:55:03that you know, I'm going to support this

1:55:05obviously.

1:55:05>> Okay. So, we'll go ahead and do a roll

1:55:09call on the order as amended.

1:55:11>> Councilor Alzubi.

1:55:13No. Vice Mayor Azeem.

1:55:15>> Yes.

1:55:15>> Yes. Councilor Flaherty.

1:55:17>> Yes.

1:55:18>> Yes. Councilor McGovern.

1:55:19>> Yes.

1:55:20>> Yes. Councilor Nolan.

1:55:21>> Yes.

1:55:22>> Yes. Councilor Simmons.

1:55:23>> Yes.

1:55:24>> Yes. Councilor Sabrina Wheeler.

1:55:25>> Yes.

1:55:26>> Yes. Councilor Suzy.

1:55:27>> Yes.

1:55:28>> Yes. Mayor Siddiqui.

1:55:29>> Yes.

1:55:29>> Yes. And you have eight members recorded

1:55:31in the affirmative and one recorded in

1:55:32the negative.

1:55:33The lay past order as amended is passed.

1:55:36We can go ahead on a motion.

1:55:39But

1:55:42>> She already took the vote from

1:55:43>> I took the vote, yeah. Um on a motion by

1:55:46Councilor McGovern to adjourn. All those

1:55:48in favor say I. I.

1:55:50Those against say no. The eyes have it.

1:55:53>> Did we accept the communications from

1:55:54other city offices?

1:55:55>> Yes, we did.

1:55:58>> We're adjourned.

1:56:00>> Sorry, I missed that.