Regular City Council Meeting

• Governing Body: Cambridge City Council
• Meeting Type: Regular City Council Meeting
• Date: June 01, 2026, at 05:30 PM
• Attendees Present: Councilor Ayah Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem, Councilor Timothy Flaherty, Councilor Marc McGovern, Councilor Patricia Nolan, Councilor Denise Simmons, Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor Catherine Zusy, and Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui.

The Council heard from 44 registered speakers, primarily focusing on the Tree Protection Ordinance and the FY27 Budget.

• Tree Protection (Policy Order #4):
  • Opponents: David Halperin, Paul Reculia, Alejandro Paz, James Zoll, Max Kaplan, Alex Lesman, Andrew Zhu, Brennan Waters, Owen Power, Nahid Trivedi, Dana Bollister, Ethan Frank, and Neil Miller. Common themes included concerns that stricter tree rules would act as a "hidden trade-off" to block multi-family housing and add "unnecessary bureaucracy."
  • Supporters: Wenxin Du, Noni Valentine, Hedy Siebel, Elizabeth Keating, Liz Loya, Karen Frechette, Jana Odette, Zion Sheeran, Liza Oliver, Sarah Nelson, Ed Henley, and Libby Shaw. Speakers emphasized that "trees are living systems" and mature trees provide "exponentially greater benefits" for stormwater management and heat mitigation than saplings.
• Hyatt Regency Boycott (Policy Order #1): Natalia Janisvi and Tomas Checo (representing Patti Avola) described alleged worker mistreatment and retaliation at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge. William Sawyer (Local 26) urged the Council to support the boycott.
• Education Support Professionals (ESPs) and Budget: Nora Grodzins, Sarah Rosenberg, Josia de Chiara, and Molly Brooks advocated for a living wage for paraprofessionals and clerks, noting that many take home less than $1,300 bi-weekly.
• Zero Waste Master Plan: Tian Feng and Amy Waltz supported the plan's composting mandates, while Jalen Bernard expressed concern over the costs of the program.

The Council considered a resolution expressing support for Hyatt Regency Cambridge workers and endorsing a boycott of the hotel.

• Action: Adopted.
• Discussion: Councilor McGovern noted that workers were allegedly written up for waving to picketers during their breaks. Councilor Nolan stated, "The fight to unionize is the only way this entire country built up a middle class."
• Vote: Adopted by voice vote (Unanimous).

The Council voted on the Fiscal Year 2027 budget and associated loan orders.

• General Fund Budget: Adopted in the amount of $1,018,105,440.
  • Vote: 8-0-1 (Councilor Al-Zubi recorded as "Present").
• Water Fund Budget: Adopted in the amount of $15,104,062.
  • Vote: 9-0.
• Public Investment Fund Budget: Adopted in the amount of $45,173,083.
  • Vote: 9-0.

Loan Orders (Items 3-14):

1. Item 3 (Mass Ave Design/Construction): $10,000,000. Adopted 9-0.
2. Item 4 (Streets and Sidewalks): $13,000,000. Adopted 9-0.
3. Item 5 (Enterprise Resource System): $12,000,000. Adopted 8-1 (Al-Zubi No).
4. Item 6 (Gold Star Mothers Park): $14,000,000. Adopted 9-0.
5. Item 7 (Municipal Facilities Improvement): $28,500,000. Adopted 9-0.
6. Item 8 (School Building Upgrades): $12,795,000. Adopted 9-0.
7. Item 9 (Baldwin Neighborhood Infrastructure): $8,375,000. Adopted 9-0.
8. Item 10 (Flooding and Heat Protection): $500,000. Adopted 9-0.
9. Item 11 (Combined Sewer Overflow Control): $7,500,000. Adopted 9-0.
10. Item 12 (Harvard Square Sewer/Stormwater): $1,000,000. Adopted 9-0.
11. Item 13 (Ozone Generators): $310,000. Adopted 9-0.
12. Item 14 (Waterworks Construction): $2,000,000. Adopted 9-0.

The Council discussed a request for the City Manager to develop recommendations for updating the Tree Protection Ordinance.

• Action: Adopted as amended.
• Amendments: Councilor McGovern introduced an amendment requiring that recommendations "do not negatively impact housing development." This amendment passed 8-1 (Zusy No).
• Discussion: Councilor Zusy noted that excavations near lot lines are killing mature trees. Councilor Flaherty cited The Lorax, stating, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better."
• Vote on Policy Order as Amended: 9-0.

The Council moved to formally disapprove the further use of SoundThinking’s acoustic gunshot detection technology (ShotSpotter) pursuant to the Surveillance Technology Ordinance 2.128.060.

• Action: Adopted.
• Discussion: Councilor Flaherty raised a point of order, arguing that the Council had not met the "conditions precedent" required by the ordinance, such as an examination of the annual surveillance report.
• Vote: 5-2-2 (Yes: Al-Zubi, McGovern, Nolan, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Siddiqui; No: Flaherty, Simmons; Present: Azeem, Zusy).

The Council debated and adopted the 2027 Rules of the Cambridge City Council.

• Key Change: Rule 17A was amended to establish that regular meetings "shall continue until either the conclusion of all business on the agenda or until the meeting recesses at 10:00 PM, whichever occurs sooner."
• Discussion: Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler argued that meetings lasting until 1:00 AM or 2:00 AM are "deeply disrespectful to city staff." A proposal to automatically continue meetings on Thursdays was struck due to logistical concerns from the City Clerk.
• Vote: Adopted 9-0.

• Cambridge Redevelopment Authority (CRA): The Council reappointed Conrad Crawford to the CRA Board of Directors for a five-year term. Vote: 9-0.
• Zero Waste Master Plan: The supplemental agenda item (CMA 2026-170) regarding ordinance changes for the Zero Waste Master Plan was placed on the table for future consideration. Vote: 9-0.
• Fire Department Transfer: The Council approved a transfer of $500,000 to the Fire Department Travel and Training account to cover unanticipated medical claims and injury leave. Vote: 9-0.