City Council - Regular Meeting

January 12th, the regular meeting of the Cambridge City Council to order. The first order of business is a roll call of members present. Interim Clerk Crane, please.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Present. Present. Vice Mayor Azeem? Present. Present. Councilor Flaherty?

Present.

Present. Councilor McGovern? Absent. Councilor Nolan? Present. Present. Councilor Simmons? absent. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Present. Present. Councilor Zusy? Present. Mayor Siddiqui? Present. You have two members recorded as absent and seven recorded as present.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance and pause for a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, Per Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, adopted by Massachusetts General Court and approved by the Governor, the City is authorized to use remote participation at meetings of the Cambridge City Council. In addition to having members of the council participate remotely, we've set up Zoom teleconference for public comment. You can also view the meeting via the city's open portal. or on the city's cable channel 22. To speak during public comment, you have to sign up at www.cambridgema.gov slash public comment.

You can also email written comments for the record to the city clerk at cityclerk at cambridgema.gov. We welcome your participation and you can sign up until 6 p.m. Please note that the City of Cambridge audio and video records this meeting and makes it available to the public for future viewing. In addition, third parties may also be audio and video recording this meeting. I wanted to also announce that as of January 26th, 2026, the city will transition from the current agenda management software to one meeting as its official agenda management system. As part of our ongoing effort to improve transparency, accessibility, and public engagement, we are pleased to to release a new public comment feature which will be available to the public starting January 14th, 2026 at 12 noon for the upcoming January 26th, 2026 City Council meeting.

One meeting introduces an enhanced public comment system that allows residents to submit communications directly through the portal for eligible meetings and agenda items. Submitted comments become part of the public record. and are accessible in accordance with open meeting law requirements. This new platform provides a more streamlined, user-friendly experience while continuing the city's commitment to public participation. Instructions will be posted on the existing City Council and City Clerk webpages and included with all City Council Committee and Planning Board calendar events. For questions, please contact the City Clerk's office, cityclerk at cambridgema.gov. We'll now move on to public comment. Public comment may be made in accordance with Massachusetts General Law's Chapter 30A, Section 20G, and City Council's Rules 23D and 37. Once you've finished speaking, the next speaker will be called. Individuals are not permitted to allocate the remainder of their time to other speakers.

We ask that you state your name and address for the record and the item on the agenda that you're speaking on. We have about 33 speakers who have signed up and per our rules each speaker will have two minutes. We'll now go to the speakers.

Naomi? Madam Clerk, if you can call them, I'm having a computer issue right this minute.

Would you like me to call?

Yes, I should be in shortly, but if you can call them for now.

Absolutely. So the first speaker is Henry Wardus. I don't see Henry.

Yeah, no, I'm here.

You're on Zoom? Go ahead.

Yes, sorry, I had to change. Henry Werdes, 106 Berkshire Street, one block away from Cambridge Street I am speaking on behalf of Our Revolution Cambridge about the proposed Cambridge Street rezoning. This proposal should be allowed to expire. I am referring to the impact of this rezoning on our neighborhood and city. Of course, it will permit the construction of many new buildings along Cambridge Street. There's no doubt about that. The issue, however, is who will live in these new units and who will be forced out of the city because their current homes will be torn down. People making less than 50% of the area median income are the most burdened by housing costs.

That's about 35% of Cambridge households. None of these people will be able to move into new units. None. New buildings with nine or fewer units will be 100% market rate. Buildings with 10 or more units will be 80% market rate. and people below 50% of the AMI who most need housing won't be eligible because they don't have vouchers. because at this time there are no available vouchers. Given the high cost of land and construction in Cambridge, households need to have incomes in the range of $200,000 to afford new market-rate housing. Our new neighbors will be the people making over $200,000.

Because the low and moderate income people who now live in these units won't be able to afford here, the net result will be displacement and gentrification. Please don't pass this. Let it expire. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Lee Farris, followed by Richard Krushnick, then Susan Markowitz. Lee? Lee has not joined us. We will go to Richard Kresnik, followed by Susan Markowitz. Richard, you have two minutes. Please go ahead. Mr. Krushnink, if you can press the button, you'll see a green light.

This is unfortunate because I was going to begin by reinforcing Lee's remarks. She was going to speak to the fact that the four plus two with inclusionary It does not apply to Cambridge Street or Mass Ave. It does not apply to BA zoning. So if this passes as is, that means that developers will basically just do nothing other then build six-story buildings on Cambridge Street with nine units and no inclusionary. Of course, first they will have to tear down Two and three stories of existing naturally affordable housing with ground floor retail. And so the result would be a net loss, a significant net loss of affordable units.

I know that none of you want this to happen and that this was an oversight that I think all of the counselors and many of us in the community missed. and this gap cannot be fixed by an amendment and so it can only be fixed by letting the petition expire and then also we would like to see A very brief community process of no more than two months which would include notifying residents near the street by mail, and Flyering, and then holding at least one Zoom meeting and one in-person meeting. That would be an adequate community process so that the community no longer would feel blindsided by this activity. In the letter I sent you this morning,

I suggested a number of tweaks that I thought would improve the petition or its replacement. I hope you read it and I hope you find some of the tweaks reasonable or attractive. Thank you

Thank you. Our next speaker is Susan Markowitz, followed by Shelly Ryman, then Marilee Meyer. Susan, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hello? No. Do I press something?

You can just bring the mic down.

You just move the mic down and make sure the green light is on, please.

This one, okay, got it. Susan Markowitz, 20 Oak Street. I request that you allow this current petition to expire, basically for two reasons. One, I don't feel like there's been a democratic community process, and two, concerns about its content and questions. An approved petition should be filed after a legitimate community process. This petition does not really represent the earlier Cambridge Street study with consensus that six stories in height would meet the goals of more housing. In contrast, on October 30th, just before Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, you announced a new plan without community input or discussion, radically different than what had previously been agreed upon. Beyond the lack of democratic process, there are several content issues that need to be discussed. Labs, for instance. I do not want to live next door to a lab when I don't know what it's being produced.

I think project review at least for three stories high and above is needed. Building Heights, please show us the evidence that six stories high all along Cambridge Street will not produce enough housing. Safety. The Cambridge Fire Department chief claims that the equipment available does not exceed 60 feet and beyond that, Fire personnel will be subject to greater danger. Have you looked into this? Project review. The zoning should require that whatever specifications require binding project review for commercial buildings should apply as well to residential buildings. First floor small independent retail. That is the backbone of neighborhood connectivity. And sadly, they're going to be displaced with large retail. What is going to be done about that? In conclusion, this petition is wrong. There has not been enough input. It is not what we want. It can and must be improved.

What about a two-month process that notifies all people living near Cambridge Street, provides written material before an oral presentation with facts defending the petition goals, flyers along Cambridge Street notifying people, and a meeting time for in-person and virtual discussion.

This would suffice. Please email the remainder of your comment. Our next speaker is Shelly Ryman, followed by Marilee Meyer, then Jen Monteverde. Shelly, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, thank you very much. Shelly Rehman, 201 Franklin Street, Cambridge. That's Central Square. I have seen Central Square become all banks. Our beloved bookstore and 10,000 Villages is gone. Harvard Square is long gone. Inman Square is now the only place I can go to like together here, the hardware store, some of the small restaurants, Christina's, a little spice place. Those are precious. Retail Outlets. And if they lose their spaces and we just get what Central has now, Target and CVS, it'll be devastating. As other speakers have said, the process is really flawed. There has not been community input. There hasn't been a chance for residents and businesses to to reply to get their voices heard.

I was on Cambridge Street earlier today up at the little coffee houses and all those businesses will be in trouble if they have to succumbed to this up-zoning. The open space is another problem. It'll give too little open space with too little value. Five-foot rear setbacks and No Side Setbacks, which is in the proposal, provides almost inaccessible rear weed patches that aren't useful to building We need open space. We need green space. We need setbacks and and oxygen to breathe. Cambridge is a wonderful place and we do need more housing, fewer labs, more housing, more social housing. and low-income housing would really serve our community well. And I really hope to see it. I've been here since 1971 and I don't want to give up on this wonderful city.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Marilee Meyer, followed by Jim Monteverde, then Young Kim. Marilee, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, Marilyn Meyers and Dana Street. There are two related issues. Now we have new members for the Mid-Cambridge neighborhood conservation districts. The original first step to diminishing reservation and guidelines now setting the groundwork for streamlined development. As of right, runs rampant with little or no design review. The goal is to make building easier, ignoring size, height, and shape presented. We have more casual expertise, experience, preservation orientation in an effort to do developers bidding. I hope I'm wrong, but we can't lose sight of historic architecture and context. This foundational change. That's the new upzoning petitions and the public process again loses to pro-development developers at the expense of those who live here.

The Mass Ave petition was sloppy with gross omissions of both the zoning text and maps for luxury housing. And please allow Cambridge Street to address its shortcomings by letting upzoning expire for a better city plan. We need to address labs, street trees, Miniscule fire safety projects smaller than 20,000 square feet need review. We have no nexus study addressing inclusionary or affordable housing itself. We need to protect small businesses against evictions. Is any of Cambridge Street in a C1 district? Do zoning tools align with affordable housing goals?

Expiring petition is not a relitigation, but an opportunity to address innate flaws with a new counsel and keep ego at, quote, wanting to own this out of the final product. Please let this expire for a better cohesive result. Thank you.

Thank you. We're going to go back to Lee Farris, then we will go to Jim Monteverde, followed by Young Kim. Lee, two minutes. Please go ahead.

Thanks. Can you hear me? Okay, Lee Farris, Norfolk Street, speaking for the Cambridge Residence Alliance. I ask counselors to let the petition expire. Why? I have recently learned that the existing Cambridge Street petition would result in mostly six-floor residential buildings with no inclusionary units as well as no active ground floor. When the multifamily zoning was passed last year, the requirement for the 4 plus 2 amendment that mandated inclusionary in buildings over four floors Turns out it was only for C1 zone, not the BA zone like Cambridge Street is. As council has heard, developers have said construction costs go up 30% starting with the seventh floor.

That is why mostly sixth floor residential buildings with no inclusionary units and no active ground floor will result from this petition as currently written. Many counselors have said that the inclusionary units are a key reason why they support the petition, but now it appears there will be very few. I'm also concerned with the displacement that will result from this petition. Unlike North Mass Ave, most of Cambridge Street already is three or four floors tall with naturally occurring affordable housing over retail. CDD has not produced any numbers for how many units will be lost causing displacement. CDD has also not shown the total number of units that would be created and has only shown the net new units. That means we can't see the amount of displacement on Cambridge Street that will result.

These problems cannot be addressed in the current petition, so I ask counselors to let it expire. and then I hope to see a robust community process taking no more than two months take place and then we can have the petition that we all deserve. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jim Monteverde, followed by Yong Kim, then Louise Venden. Jim, two minutes.

Good evening. I'm Jim Monteverde from 12 Oak Street in Inman Square. I ask that you let the Cambridge Street zoning proposal expire. and require that it be revised with the benefit of a robust open and public review process. The Cambridge Street Study identified a building height of six stories along the street and in Inman Square. Not the eight stories as proposed. This height change should be vetted in a public review process like the Cambridge Street study underwent and based on professional recommendations. The proposed lax design review thresholds and process in the current proposal should be revised to require a project review special permit of all new buildings on Cambridge Street to maintain and enhance its unique character and cohesiveness. Likewise, the zoning proposal needs improvement to allow existing retail uses to continue

in any new construction to maintain the retail character and vibrancy of the street. Please let the proposed zoning proposal expire so that it can be improved through a public review and comment. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Young Kim, followed by Louise Venden, then Helen Walker. Young, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Can you hear me okay? Yeah. Young Kim, 17 Norris Street, speaking again in second reading of the Cambridge Street zoning petition on both zoning principle and procedural grounds. Before further zoning, including Cambridge Street and Central Square, Council should require consolidated citywide review of housing growth since AHO, across AHO, Multifamily zoning and the Mass Avenue corridor together, not one petition at a time, piecemeal-wise, The just released Affordable Housing Annual Update shows why this is necessary. The fiscal 24 update reported about 340 affordable units added, but those were not fully reflected in the multifamily housing analysis.

The fiscal 25 update released more than six months after the close of the fiscal year, just last week, shows only about 90 units added. in fiscal 25, while the corridor petitions were being debated. And that sharp drop has not been addressed in the zoning review. Why did it go up by 340 one year and then drop down to 90 the next year. I'm not a housing expert, so I cannot explain. Maybe you can. That is the zoning principle problem. Council should not continue corridor by corridor of zoning without first examining cumulative Citywide Impacts.

Procedurally, I have documented defects in both the Mass Avenue final election and the Cambridge Street petition in four written communications in tonight's agenda and to the city clerk at the closing moment of December 22 meeting.

But I have not heard anything about the- Young Kim, your time has expired. If you can please email us the remainder of your comments. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Louise Venden followed by Helen Walker, then Gertrude Goodman. Louise? Louise, if you can unmute yourself, you have the floor, two minutes.

Can you hear me?

We can, please go ahead.

Okay, very good. Louise Vanden, 10 Rogers Street. I urge you to take a no vote on this ambitious zoning change until the city has evaluated the impacts of the ambitious zoning changes made over the past seven years. These zoning changes were aimed at increasing supply of rental and ownership housing in order to lower rental rates and sales prices. Have they achieved those goals? Dramatic changes like those adopted often have unintended consequences for neighborhoods, the environment and city finances. Measuring the results of these policies is critical to ensuring that zoning changes result in building housing Residents need and can afford. Many questions must be asked before further zoning changes are made and the following data should be evaluated in order to support this upzoning proposal and inform modification to ordinances like multifamily housing that have already been adopted.

Councilors should request data and evaluation of building permits issued between 2020 and 2025 for residential units including net units added by affordable housing overlay, inclusionary zoning, and market rate categories, and proposed rental and sales prices of these units. Recent data on residential permits show 67 units permitted in 2025, 565 in 2024, and 109 in 2023. Why are there such wide variances? Certificates of occupancy granted during the same period for permitted projects by affordable and market rate units showing those units that have been built should be evaluated. Also reach out to affordable and market rate housing developers experienced in building here to understand their challenges and the ways the city might support building housing to fit our needs.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Helen Walker, followed by Gertrude Goodman. Helen, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Can you hear me?

We can. Please go ahead.

Helen Walker, 43 Linnian Street. Thank you for the chance to speak about the Cambridge Street Zoning Petition. The Cambridge Street Petition suffers from content-specific inattention, just as the Mass Ave. Petition suffered from procedural inattention. With the Mass Ave petition, Council was told the text was not in the agenda packet, so Council amended a single typo and re-voted. Actually, there was a text with many edits in an undisclosed location no one knew about. Yet this text no one voted on appeared as the record version under final actions. With Cambridge Street, there was already a consultative planning process and a record document that agreed on maximum mixed-use residential heights of six stories, with step backs after five stories, a sure sign that even six was considered a bit too high with measures outlined to address parking and loading. All this then vanished into thin air. and where are the amendments the community keeps requesting?

Inclusionary units required at over four stories. Project review at a lower threshold. All projects over four stories. Protection for existing ground floor business, preferential treatment for small business, open space comparable to all other residential districts, at least 15%, mostly green and at grade, limits on new labs near housing. Please let the current zoning petition expire. Begin a brief, truly consultative process to consider the outstanding issues and create a new zoning petition the community can support. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Gertrude Goodman, followed by Jerry Puccillo, then Neil Rohr. Gertrude, two minutes.

Please go ahead. Yes, my name is Trudy Goodman. I live at 1221 Cambridge Street in Cambridge, the Amman Square, cast two apartments. I want to ask you to... Not passed through this particular piece of ordinance or whatever you would like to call it. There needs to be a review of what's going on for what needs to happen for people in Inman Square. I live in a 15 story high rise that's on the corner of Prospect and Cambridge Street that is rapidly disintegrating into the earth. Most of you people know what HRI is. You know that they're not taking care of my building. You know they're not taking care of other buildings. Before you start thinking about allowing people to put eight-story and six-story We are somewhere between 11 and 20 percent AMI. and almost everyone in my building works, including people who are severely disabled. I've been in that building for 33 years.

The reality is we need housing. and the city is not helping us to attain that housing and inclusionary will not really help us to do that either. If you want to build in Inman Square, you need to do it reasonably and listen to the people who live in Inman Square. People in my building have a very good relationship with the people in Inman Square. because some of those people are actually from there. And when rent control went out, they were stuck getting into Section 8. So the realities are that please, this needs to be set aside. Let it just... Go away and start again. And when you do start that again, start thinking about people who really need housing here. People who are born here who do not have the access that other people have at $200,000. who might just be making $22,000.

We need your help.

Those people do not. Thank you. Our next speaker is Jerry Puccillo, followed by Neil Rohr, then David Halperin. Jerry?

Good evening. My name is Jerry Pacello, and I'm consultant to the Foundation for Civic Leadership, which owns the building at 4345 Mount Auburn Street. I'm speaking tonight on behalf of Ian Simmons, the president of the foundation, who wanted to be here but had a longstanding family commitment and is unable to make it. I'm here tonight to reaffirm that FCL respectfully opposes the landmarking designation of 43 to 45 Mount Auburn Street and to encourage you to vote against it. For over two decades, the building has served as low-cost, welcoming civic space for Cambridge residents, organizations, and students. From the day we purchased the property, we have viewed it as a long-term civic development, a place meant to adapt and grow so it can continue to serve future generations in Cambridge.

Because the building sits within the Harvard Square Conservation District, any significant changes already require a certificate of appropriateness. In our view, the existing process provides a strong and appropriate balance between preservation and progress. We've appreciated our interactions with the CHC staff during the landmarking study and their report provides excellent guidelines that we intend to build upon. We are eager to continue working closely with the CHC staff in the city. However, adding a landmark designation would create unnecessary hurdles for a small nonprofit seeking to carry out responsible improvements. It could also limit our ability to consider future uses that advance the broader city goals around housing density and transit. The building's historic significance does not meet the threshold typically seen in Cambridge landmark designations.

In fact, its greatest value lies in civic activity it supports today. Not in any exceptional historic or architectural features. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Neil Rohr, followed by David Halperin, then Phyllis Brethels. Neil, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Can you hear me now?

We can. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. My name is Neil Rohrer. I live at 655 Concord Avenue, and I'm here to speak on regarding Charter Right Number 2. First, I'd like to congratulate Mayor Siddiqui and Vice Mayor Azeem on their appointments as Mayor and Vice Mayor. Very proud that we have them in leadership. I want to thank the co-sponsors, Councilor Azeem, Nolan, and Zusy. And I hope and expect this... will receive a nine to nothing vote. Now, in the order Somerville is referred to, I think it's an excellent example. People I speak to there, say that in transit areas it has cut down on difficulty finding on-street parking and cut down somewhat on traffic. We really need this in Cambridge.

I think people are on both sides of the issue of too much building. Zoning changes are too much for the city. Do support limiting uh the competition for for parking and and decreasing uh traffic so i i would hope you would Pass this unanimously and move forward on it. The purpose of this parking permit restriction is to limit the impacts from new housing developments to on-street parking permit Parking capacity and traffic congestion. You might also want to add guest permits to the parking permits. I live in an area, the Quadrangle, which is going to see a lot of new housing built by HealthPeak over the next years and we need to get this in place so that there isn't an even worse situation of parking and traffic.

Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker, speaker number 15, is David Halperin, followed by Phyllis Brethels, then James Zoll. David, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Good evening, David Halperin, 14 Valentine Street, Unit 3. I'd like to express my support for the Cambridge Street zoning. First of all, I'd just like to correct for the record that any development under this really would require inclusionary. In addition to other bonuses and requirements, inclusionary kicks in for any building that has more than 10,000 square feet of gross floor area. A building that is six stories and nine units, it would still not be feasible under 10,000 square feet of floor area. So we will continue to get inclusionary this way. We need all the tools in our toolbox to tackle the housing crisis, continuing with the status quo. We have seen for years and years and years, Cambridge has underbuilt.

and you know we have the AHO for 100% affordable housing and that is wonderful and you know I could not support that more but we're only going to get so many low-income housing tax credit grants and you know we're falling behind on our affordable housing goals. So we need to get inclusionary working. We need to get social housing working. Just we need every tool in the toolbox. Additionally, I want to live in a vibrant city. One of the things I like about Cambridge is the density and the benefits that come with that and bringing more people to the retail and people are worried that this is going to cause you know a huge amount of redevelopment but as we've seen so far from previous upzonings that you know like you're going The economics of that are not actually that good. It's better to make it possible from my perspective than to continue to limit to six.

You know, you can already build six. We're not seeing that much redevelopment on Cambridge Street. Please ordain this petition. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Phyllis Bretholz, followed by James Zald and Mark Truant. Phyllis, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Phyllis Berthold, 65 Antrim Street. Dear Councillors, having spoken before on the issue of upzoning on Cambridge Street, even repeating similar sentiments eloquently expressed by other residents, I am hoping third time is a charm and will result in a different outcome. First let me be clear that I support more housing in Cambridge, especially for middle and low income residents, which is a priority. However, the proposal as it now stands is different from the Cambridge Street proposal of 2023-24. Any future public hearings should include not only the voices of residents, but those of business owners along the length of Cambridge Street with a real effort to reach out to and solicit their voices. Here are some of my concerns.

Zoning for residential buildings should require the same binding special project review that is currently required for non-residential buildings above 20,000 square feet. This would mean paying special attention to good urban design review, things I've learned from Dennis Carlone, that speaks to issues such as open space, traffic, noise, parking, quality of life issues. We need more open space for the front and back sides of buildings. Rooftops and balconies accessible only to those living in the buildings do not qualify as open space. Residents should have the right to review proposed zoning for labs as of right. Building heights should be limited to 60 feet. With the ground floor reserved for retail, the construction of higher buildings will be more expensive and out of reach of one of the goals of the city as a basis for rezoning, which is the construction of more affordable housing. Thank you so much.

This is not a full list of my concerns but I will include them in a longer written message. I appreciate your consideration. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is James Zoll, followed by Mark Truant, then Alan Sedoon. James, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Thank you. This is James All, 203 Pemberton Street. I'd like to thank the returning councilors and welcome the new councilors to continuing the work on the years-long plan to alleviate the consequences of our decades-long housing shortage. The Cambridge Street zoning proposal you're now considering will continue the work of removing existing barriers to more housing that's more affordable to more of our neighbors. Since the early days of this effort, starting with the affordable housing overlay, it has become increasingly clear that zoning reform is making possible housing constructions that could not and did not happen previously. Although the multifamily zoning amendments which use the same approach, have been in effect for less than a year, so nothing has been built yet. We're seeing proposals and plans for lots that now have homes for zero to eight households.

to provide housing for 30 to 70 households with some including small retail spaces that may help local businesses. The unpopularity of the economic and social harms that our formerly draconian zoning code has helped create is evident in the results of the last few city elections, especially in the fate of last year's repeal slate. Despite this, we're hearing calls for further barriers to housing and demands for special conditions for special neighborhoods of the city. The exclusionary foundations of our prior zoning policies are being exposed yet again. Ignoring the benefits that zoning reform has brought and can continue to bring to a majority of a city, in which two-thirds of residents are renting their homes and many cannot afford our still increasing rents, let alone multimillion-dollar purchase prices,

Please proceed to pass this proposal this evening. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Mark Truant, followed by Alan Sadoon, then Erica Yuan. Mark, you have two minutes.

Hello, this is Mark Truant, 32 Warren Street in Cambridge. I've been a resident of Cambridge for 40 years. And actually, I own property on Warren Street that is in this BA zone that's and I would like to say that I second all the really great comments that my fellow citizens have made. asking to let this expire because I don't feel, even though it would be a very good I feel like I keep coming up here having to thank you for filling my bank account and making me a wealthier person.

But as Gertrude so well put, it's just not going to create the kind of housing that we all want. My grandfather emigrated from Italy in 1925. The fascists in northern Italy, Mussolini and the fascists had come into power there. I would just say that the way you're trying to provide affordable housing is not my grandfather's socialism. We can't follow the way our federal government is working. We can't just break things. Yes, things need to be changed. They need to be improved. We all agree. Let's work together and do it the right way. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Alan Sadoon, followed by Erica Yuen, then Alexander Lessman. Alan, two minutes. Alan, if you can turn the mic on.

Sorry. Thank you. Hi, everybody. My name is Alan Sadoon. I live at 237 Elm Street, number one, right off of Cambridge Street. I'm speaking in support of the Cambridge Street zoning. My grandfather also came here in the 1930s fleeing Mussolini. And one of the things he said that was so wonderful about coming here to America was that you don't need to show your papers. You can live wherever you want. You can go wherever you want. and that was one of the things that marked a free country for him. And I didn't really have a huge point with that, I just thought it was funny. What I wanted to say is I've lived in Inman Square for six years. I've worked in Inman Square for six years. The second apartment that I lived in in Inman Square was one of those naturally occurring affordable housing places. It was a small three-unit building. The landlord kicked us out because she was going to renovate. She renovated. It turned into an Airbnb. It's no longer housing that's available to the community.

What housing is coming online to replace that? What housing is allowing people to come in and continue to live in Inman Square? What housing is coming in to allow people to continue to live in Cambridge Street as the old housing stock gets taken offline? I'm not seeing a lot of pathways for that. We need as much housing as we can get. And the Cambridge Street zoning is a good tool that's on the table to get us a lot of housing in the corridor areas, which are less sensitive. I think that we should support this Cambridge Street zoning and pass it. I've heard a lot of people saying we need to stop, slow down, redo, refile, get it right. I have not heard a lot of clarity about what getting it right means other than just doing less of it. and if you want to do less of it I mean go ahead but I might as well do less of it right now. I think we should do more of it right now. I think that the more housing that we can put on the table the more people will have the freedom to live in a great city and move about and live their lives. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is speaker number 20, Erika Yuen, followed by Alexander Lessman, then Denise Gilson. Erika, two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, good evening. I'm here to urge everyone to pass the Cambridge Street upzoning. I have lived in Cambridge for 11 years but recently had to move out due to increasing rent costs. and so I want to support the Cambridge Street upzoning because like Alan said we need more housing to come online. especially in the corridors and squares. This proposal came from a lot of community engagement with Broad State Corridor support. and we are currently behind our 2030 goals of more housing. Despite housing affordability being the top issue in the city's annual survey, we are behind these housing production goals and rezoning our corridors will help us meet both total housing production and affordable housing goals through inclusionary zoning.

This zoning also will allow more more and so forth. and more residents will sustain local small businesses to keep these corridors vibrant. So thank you. I want to urge you to pass this upzoning proposal. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Alexander Lessman, followed by Denise Gilson, then Itamar Turner-Troring. Alexander, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hello, I'm Alex Lessman. I've been a resident of Cambridge now for 16 years, which is my entire adult life. We obviously talk a lot about housing. Housing is expensive in Cambridge because people want to live in Cambridge. because there are good high paying jobs here and there is insufficient housing. It is that simple. The tendency of new construction to be high cost is a consequence of the reality that housing costs are high, not the other way around. Building new housing is the only solution to this problem. As long as the Cambridge economy does well and Cambridge remains a desirable place to live, high-income residents will continue to out-compete lower-income residents for the available housing stock. And the only solution to that problem is building new housing. Building housing obviously brings challenges. A lot of people are concerned about transportation, about and so forth.

And the clear solution to that problem is to build housing densely and to build it on major corridors and near transit centers. Cambridge is to build more housing and the solution to this problem is more housing which I think most people agree but a lot of people say not here or not in this way but if we want to build more housing. Where should we build it if not on corridors and near public transit? That is the obvious place to build it. That is the best place to build it. And I think we need to pass this upzoning to enable Cambridge to grow and allow the housing supply problems. Sorry, I kind of trailed out. I think we should pass it. and it's really the only solution to Cambridge housing. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Denise Gilson, followed by Itamar Turner Traring, then Mark Keebler. And for those waiting, we are at speaker number 22. Denise, you have the floor, two minutes. Please go ahead.

Good evening. Denise Gilson, the Executive Director for the Harvard Square Business Association. First of all, we send congratulations to Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Azeem, and all the counselors on their respective elections and re-election. I'm speaking tonight on PO 2026-02 and thank Councilor Simmons and Councilor Flaherty for supporting this council order. which requests the city manager immediately convene and staff a standing coordination group which includes the Cambridge Office for Tourism, relevant city departments, representatives of the city's business associations to support regular communication, advanced planning, and alignment of tourism promotion This also asks that the City Manager direct the City Solicitor and the Community Development Department to review and report back to the Council

on the legal parameters related to city funding and the tourism destination marketing district restrictions, as well as oversight and accountability related to the operation of the visitor information kiosk and related governance expectations. On behalf of the business associations, directors, officers and members, We sincerely ask this council for their full support and thank you for your consideration.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Itamar Turner-Troring, followed by Mark Keebler, then Beryl Lipton. Itamar, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi, my name is Itamar Turner Troring. I'm here to speak in support of upzoning Cambridge Street as well as the area that's closer to Union Square. We need more housing for multiple reasons. People have talked about affordability and even if you don't believe that more housing will make things more affordable, inclusionary units which will be built will make a difference, and 20% of 15 units is more than 20% of 10 units. If you build taller buildings, you will have more included units. But beyond that, We have bigger trends outside of our particular city and state. So there's a recent survey where they talk to people across the United States who are trans, non-binary, and just in general, LGBTQ.

43% of transgender non-binary people have considered moving to different states, 25% of all LGBTQ people, 9% of transgender non-binary people have actually moved to different states, 5% of All LGBTQ peoples. There's a lot of people. I've talked to people who are doing everything they can to move to different countries. So if you're moving inside the United States, Massachusetts is actually a pretty attractive place to live in. except it's really really expensive to live here and also we just don't have enough houses like we don't have enough physical units and so we just need more physical housing for people who would really benefit significantly from moving here and we have the This is one of many ways we should be doing this. More broadly, climate change is going to be pushing more people to move north. In general, I think we need to build the societal capacity to build housing at scale.

And part of that means just learning by doing and we just Our state does not know how to build housing. We need to build more. And the inclusionary units that we will get will also make sure that some of it is affordable. Not the only solution, but it is part of the solution. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Mark Keebler, followed by Beryl Lipton, then Dana Bullister. Mark, two minutes. If you can turn on the mic.

Nice. Thank you. Good evening, councillors. My name is Mark Keebler and I live at 52 Porter Street. I'd like to welcome the returning city councillors and new councillors Al-Zubi and Flaherty. I'd like to thank you for your time and all the work that you've put into these zoning proposals. I'm also here tonight to support the Cambridge Street rezoning, and I would like to emphasize why I believe that this ordinance represents good policy. Cambridge has spent years engaging residents through Envision Cambridge, and our Cambridge Street planning processes. This ordinance is the city following through on these commitments. So it's focusing growth where it makes sense along major corridors, along centers of transit, workplaces and neighborhood businesses. So this The proposal doesn't treat height as just a giveaway. It is height tied directly to public benefits, active ground floor uses, better street design. Inclusionary Housing.

So this means new development has to contribute to the daily life of the people who live and spend time on Cambridge Street. So more walkability, more support for local businesses, and more vibrancy. So I live in East Cambridge, a few blocks off of Cambridge Street, and I care deeply about its character, and I believe that this ordinance enhances it. It means that I get more neighbors and more families who have the chance to stay in Cambridge and, frankly, the chance for me to stay here with greater peace of mind. And for this particular proposal, that means more support for local businesses and a more sustainable lifestyle as people have the opportunity for car-free living. I will say that this council has done incredible work on housing in recent years. On Friday, an article in the Cambridge City Day announced that Cambridge rental market is cooling, seeing a year-to-year increase at 1.7%.

I think that we've done a lot recently to go and improve the supply of housing. I feel like we shouldn't drop the momentum now. I'd like to urge you to go and support this rezoning and move it forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Beryl Lipton, followed by Dana Bullister, then Debbie Shapiro. Beryl, two minutes.

Thank you so much for your time. I apologize for not being there in person. I had other personal obligations that kept me. I support allowing the current Cambridge Street proposal to expire. I want to make it clear that I do not believe that no building or development should happen on Cambridge Street. In fact, I very much support the creation of more housing, particularly affordable and deeply affordable housing and since it's been alluded to, I would support specific housing for refugees, people on vouchers and the most vulnerable in our community and abroad. I appreciate that this Cambridge Street is the corridor in our community and that we should be finding ways of improving our processes and structures to facilitate the creation of new housing while respecting those who live, work and play in the area. Many of my neighbors have expressed legitimate concerns about the neighborhood and the actual creation of actual affordable housing and the details and very disappointed in those so-called Cambridge residents and engineers who have tried to paint these concerned public participants as being anti-housing development or pro-status quo.

they and we have common sense and we also have community interests in mind and a detail-oriented perspective and to me personally the attempts to misrepresent who those who appreciate nuance reflect very poorly on those who have been making them At the risk of oversharing yet again in a public meeting, I had the privilege of being raised by an immigrant parent and I have known that a critical eye and an insistence on excellence often comes from a place of deep love and a belief in one's abilities and I believe that that is what is motivating a lot of these concerns and public comments. I encourage the council to facilitate creative and realistic thinking about this city's goals and the ways that the Cambridge Street community can contribute and be proud of what our community is and will be. I also want to note that I've submitted a comprehensive public records request for information including projections and communications with developers to the city I was given an estimate of $637 for records that would help the public better understand the various data and gaps that informed this proposal.

I would encourage the council to dig into the available information ask hard questions about what is and isn't possible and support the public access officer and his discretion to waive the associated fees on this and frankly other public records that would help the Cambridge public participate and be better informed about the processes and policies under consideration. Please be transparent and proactive in communicating the hows and whys of this and other petitions.

Our next speaker is Dana Bollister, followed by Debbie Shapiro, then Andrew Xu. Dana, two minutes.

Good evening, everyone, and long time no see. To the Cambridge City Council, I was a renter near Cambridge Street and now rent in Central Square. I am speaking in strong support of the Cambridge Street Zoning Petition currently before you. I hope to give a voice to the unequivocal sentiment of the great majority of recent voters to implement one of the most important and empirically effective means for enabling affordability, which is focusing development on corridors and squares. This proposal is the results of years of community process and planning. It reflects extensive engagement led by the Community Development Department and culminated in a unanimous informed and positive recommendation from the planning board on October 21st. Tonight, I'm calling for you to do well by our people, do well by renters like myself, and to do well by process.

The single most important priority of our Council should reflect the single most important priority of our residents, which is addressing our severe housing crisis. virtually all agree that we need to enable badly needed homes for our people in those places that can support it most, which is along major corridors, near transit, and close to local businesses. This very ordinance is an opportunity for our new council to demonstrate whether it is content to talk the talk about this or whether it's willing to walk the walk on this crucial priority. because Cambridge Street is exactly such a corridor. More housing along these corridors allow residents to live near T-stops and therefore have the option not to own a car, thereby adding our needed density without congesting our streets. I can speak with personal experience here, having lived near Cambridge Street without needing to own a car.

This type of housing is incredibly important, and I strongly urge you to vote to ordain the Cambridge Street zoning petition. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Debbie Shapiro, followed by Andrew Xu, then Neil Miller. Debbie, you have two minutes. Please go ahead. Debbie, if you can unmute yourself, you have the floor.

Unmute, there I am, okay?

Yep, go ahead.

Okay, hi, I'm Debbie Shapiro. I live at 404A Broadway. I'm on the corner of Goodman Road. I've lived here for almost 40 years, and I want to comment on the... Restricting eligibility for on-street resident parking permit ordinance. I think it's a great idea. It's a very creative way to deal with the looming parking issues that are coming as development increases. I'd like to propose that this restricted eligibility be extended to Broadway, along the side streets of Broadway, where parking is being eliminated to create bike lanes. So right now the parking spots are already about 88% filled during the day and that's before 60% of the spots go away in favor of the bike lanes. At the same time, there are four multi-unit developments in progress, three on Ellery Street and one at Broadway and Goodman Road.

That's about 170 new apartments within a two-block area, none with designated parking. Consider that many of these units will likely have more than one resident and potentially more than one car. That's going to create an unsustainable parking situation. Broadway is no more than three quarters of a mile from a T-stop. I know that the designated zones are considered half a mile, but this is no more than three quarters of a mile, and it's even closer to the Mass Ave. bus line. So the restriction on new permits can help head off what I see as a predictable parking disaster in this section of mid-Cambridge, and I urge you to include Broadway in this ordinance. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Andrew Zhu, followed by Neil Miller, then Dan Totten. Andrew, two minutes.

Good afternoon, City Council. My name is Andrew Tso, and I live in 292 Prospect Street near Inman Square and in the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood. I speak today to ask this council to support the updates to Cambridge Street zoning. On April 4, 2024, I went out of my apartment and visited the pharmacist, picked up gloves at the hardware store, and got an ice cream cone before returning to my apartment. All of those were within a five-minute walk of my apartment. As someone who grew up in suburban Pennsylvania, where the nearest grocery store was at least a minimum 15 minute drive away, the ability to do this to myself was astounding. It is this locality, the fact that residences and businesses are intermingled and co-located together, that drove me to live here and start my life here in Cambridge. And this is why I support the zoning change, so that not only will more people be able to live in this great city to live the life that I get to now, but so that all of the local shops and restaurants in Cambridge Street can continue to flourish and grow. Every time when I walk down Cambridge Street, I notice many empty storefronts. And suppose why that is. Unlike Central, Harvard, and Porter, Cambridge Street does not have the public transport to bring in customers from across the region.

And since bike lanes on Cambridge Street have been delayed, they will struggle to bring in customers from across the city. Therefore, it stands to reason that the best way to support local businesses in Wellington, Harrington and East Cambridge is to create a larger local customer base to incentivize more Wellington, Harrington and East Cambridge residents. Denying that will only kneecap our future economic and community development, and failing to combat rising rents and cost of living by not increasing housing stock would only exacerbate those issues. There are many people who wish to live here, people who wish to continue living here, who want to live in our communities, use our local businesses, and live the life that they wanted. This is why I and this council must support the zoning changes to Cambridge Street, because it is what is right for our neighborhoods, what is right for our businesses, and what is right for our city. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Neil Miller, followed by Dan Totten, then Donald Summerfield. Neil, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hi. Happy New Year's. Congratulations to all of the especially new city councilors and everyone. I am a renter at in Central Square. I'm calling in support of the Cambridge Street zoning plan that is before you. First, I just wanted to talk about people. It's easy to get lost in complicated zoning disputes, debates, but we all know people that have tried to stay in Cambridge and haven't been able to. I'm thinking about a good friend of my wife who went to high school in the area, grew up in the Boston area, is an artist and was living on, I think, Antrim Street. just off of Inman Square. Really loved living in the neighborhood and it was great that she was nearby after a breakup.

Wasn't able to find a place that she could afford to live on her own in Inman Square. were in Cambridge, so she had to move out of state. She moved to Providence and now commutes like an hour and a half into Boston for work each day. I think we owe it to our residents so that more of our friends, more of our family, more of the people that we love are able to stay in the city. Second, I want to echo what others have said about inclusionary zoning more than I think around 40% of inclusionary zoning tenants receive Section 8 vouchers passing this policy will create more homes for people that have second aid I also want to talk about the details of this policy. The highest heights are right next to Lechmere and for the auto tow lot district on Webster and Windsor.

I think we as a city need to allow those places to grow and evolve. I don't think we should lock in auto uses near Inman Square and Union Square. So I hope you pass this petition. Thank you. Have a good night.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Dan Totten, followed by Donald Summerfield and Zion Shuring. Dan, two minutes.

Hi, my name is Dan Totten. I live at 54 Bishop Allen Drive. I want to wish you all a happy new year, congratulate the two counselors on their And I want to speak about policy order number three. For six years, I was a city employee who worked out of this building each day. I think many of us like to consider this to be the people's house. and I have major concerns about further turning it into a site of surveillance and control. We need to maintain a welcoming atmosphere so that the most vulnerable residents feel comfortable coming in, seeking support and participating in civic life. In recent years, significant security measures have already been implemented. There's a cop at the front door, cameras everywhere, and staff wear badges around their necks. There's nothing wrong with reviewing these and other existing measures. My issue is with the last ordered clause, which asks for recommended improvements and a proposed implementation timeline. It comes across as a blank check, inviting the city manager to do whatever he wants on a rapid timeline without any public input.

The order vaguely mentions access controls, security personnel, and modernized security technology, but provides zero specificity. Metal detectors, bag searches, more police, were left to speculate. And where does it stop? If City Hall needs metal detectors, what about the City Hall Annex? What about our schools where city employees also work? Are city counselors somehow more deserving of protection than librarians, teachers, or DPW workers who also interact with the public daily? The truth is that numerous studies have shown that metal detectors are nothing more than security theater that provide an illusion of building security while having a significant chilling effect on the welcoming atmosphere of the building. This order cites five incidents over 48 years across hundreds of cities. I think this is cherry-picked data that is being used to justify a predetermined conclusion.

I think that this order treats violence as something that enters City Hall from the outside rather than examining how City Hall itself perpetuates violence through policing, displacement, and fiscal austerity. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Donald Summerfield, followed by Zion Shearing, then James Williamson. Donald?

Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Azeem, City Councilors, public, my name is Don Zinfeld. and I'd like to ask any one of the councillors, vice mayor or mayor to suspend the vote to allow me to speak. That's not on the agenda.

So, per the rules, if there's not an item on the agenda, someone must make a motion to allow for public comment on an item that's not before us. I'll entertain emotion by my body. On a motion by Councilor Al-Zubi to allow Donald Summerfield to speak to an agenda item that's not before us, we'll have to do a roll call. Discussion? Yes, we can, just hold tight if you can. So that's the motion before us. Councilor Simmons, would you like to speak to the motion?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm always eager to allow for Public comment on items that are not before us. However, what's unfortunate is about when that happens, there may have been someone that wanted to speak to or support or speak against that particular item. and we have cut that off because it's not on the agenda. So as much as I respect Mr. Somerville a great deal, as much as I would like to say yes, speak on something that's not in the agenda, I'm going to have to vote. No, and the reason being is because it could be a topic that's very important to other people. No notice of that, so they will have been denied that opportunity. I yield the floor.

The pleasure of the City Council. Other colleagues would like to speak on this?

Madam Mayor? Yes, Councilor McGovern. I'll say the same. I typically don't vote to do this because I think we don't want to set a precedent where, I mean, if we have the rule, then it's the rule for everyone, and it's really hard. Where do we draw it? I've known Mr. Summerfield for a long time.

We are in session and we're listening to a counselor. We will get back to you momentarily.

Counselor McGovern. Yeah, I just do think it's something we need to think about that if there's a... If we want to change the rule, we can. But I typically don't vote for this because again, I think it sets up an expectation where How do I draw the line? How does the council draw the line on who gets to do this and who doesn't? And then what's the point of the rule? People are always free to email us on any subject in which they want to email us on. And if they want something to be put on the agenda, and it's something that you know that that can feel free to talk to a counselor who who can do that but I think we have to be careful in terms of consistency that's all.

Thank you. Yes, Naomi? Madam Mayor, Mr. Somerville is letting us know that his speech is related to the item. It's regarding affordable housing.

Oh, that's fine. So if it's a... We have a number of items on... Housing. So if it's specific, it needs to be pointed out what item on the agenda it's on specifically. So we have to take a motion. We have a... There's a motion before us to allow you to speak on an item that's not before us. And so we have to dispose of that motion first. Okay? And... It's okay. We'll figure it out. We just have to take a roll call and then we'll get to you. So there's a motion before us on suspending the rolls to allow... Our speaker to talk to an agenda item not before us so we've heard from some of my colleagues we should just go with proceeding with the vote and wherever it lands it lands.

Yes, Councilor Al-Zubi.

Before we do roll call, I just want to reaffirm the fact that I do think what he wants to address is on the agenda and maybe giving him an opportunity to clarify what exactly he wants to address when it comes to affordable housing would be worthwhile.

So I think we started the conversation saying it was not on the agenda. And so that's why I entertained that motion. So I would go ahead and let's please do the roll call and see what happens. Thank you.

Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Present. Nolan, Yes, Councilor Simmons, No, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, No, No. Councilor Zusy? Present. Present. Mayor Siddiqui?

Yes.

Yes. And you have three members recorded in the affirmative, three recorded in the negative, and three recorded as present.

So the motion fails. Further public comment will not be allowed on an item that is not before us.

Is there anyone else who signed up for public comment? Yes, our next speaker is Zion Shearing, followed by James Williamson, Heather Hoffman, then our final speaker will be Jack Mulhern.

If Mr. Summerfield could relate his affordable housing comments to the Cambridge Street upzoning that is on the agenda, he then could speak, in which case... We could give him that opportunity, right? We voted no on letting him speak on something. Yes, yes, I mean, I can refer his comments to Katie.

Again, I want to just be clear. We don't want to make this difficult, but The conversation started with this is not on the agenda. So in the future, for any public speakers, we need to make sure that the and so that's a really key part of this and so if you're referencing the calendar item I will allow that public comment but that was not made clear to anyone in the room. Yes, Councilor Simmons.

Thank you Madam Chair and I understand because we I understand where you're so I think you're going with this and where I would be certainly standing in the front of the line of saying this is The problem now is that we took a vote on that it was not before us and now I feel like we're sort of manipulating and modifying to make it fit to say, you know, and thank you to my My colleague, because everyone here wants to support public comment. And so I would rather, I would respectfully ask that we respect the vote taken. And as my colleague has mentioned, Most of us have office hours. Everyone can write. There's more than ample opportunity to bring something up that is not on the agenda. My fear is if it veers off, we've opened the door. So where's the vote? has been taken. I would let the vote stand. I would move the agenda forward. I yield the floor.

I appreciate the comment, Councilor Simmons. As chair, I'll rule and allow it. Two minutes. Please state your comment.

I'd like to comment on the Cambridge Street zoning. I'm neither for or against it, but I'm for more housing. Members of the public, staff, city councilors, Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Azeem, My name is Don Simfield. I'm lucky to have affordable housing at that and frequently pass by someone on the street that doesn't have shelter. A sidewalk or a bank lobby doesn't count. It's especially hard for that nine-year-old woman I see sometimes on the subway. When there was a hearing for the affordable housing overlay, a person was against it as the building might shadow his tomato plants. The person in need of housing might disagree on more tomatoes or a house. It's a very ugly situation. People are at risk, especially those with psychiatric issues.

I pass by people everywhere hearing voices. A warming center is a start, but we need more housing. I think the city should open the gym at the Cambridge Wrensden Latin School as an overflow warming center in very inclement weather. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Zion Shearing, followed by James Williamson, then Heather Hoffman. Zion, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Zion Sharon, 401 Washington. I want to welcome the new counselors. I've shared this story before, but given that there's new counselors, I think it's important I share it again. This summer, my mom ended her fight against cancer. Watching someone you love's health slip so quickly is something I would not want anyone to have to live through. My mom stayed strong and never complained, but there were changes. One of the biggest ones was her decision to go out. The question changed from what activity to how accessible it was. Something as simple as, for me, as simple as getting into a car could take her 15 minutes and need help and assistance. When Cambridge did away with parking minimums years ago, residents with accessibility issues or restrictions were overlooked. The zoning changes amplify this overlook. I know that it could be argued that zoning changes can be passed and we can fix this oversight later.

I ask what message this sends. Will it make it so that older residents and disabled residents feel unwelcomed in the city? I believe Cambridge cares about inclusion. I would expect the council's actions to reflect that. I would ask the council to reinstate some version of handicap parking or loading zones for developments. I know that for some people they may not think that it applies to them. I would argue that everyone should care regardless if it directly affects them or not. However, I'd also like to point out, like in my mom's situation, she was 49 when she got diagnosed out of the blue. It can affect anyone. Not to mention, these zoning changes would have benefits for everyone. I just walked by Norfolk on my way here. It's a one-way, there was a package delivery, and there were six cars honking because they were waiting. Having those loading zones or space for those Uber Eats deliveries would also benefit everyone. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is James Williamson, followed by Heather Hoffman, then Jack Mulhern. James, two minutes. Please go ahead.

Can you hear me?

Thank you.

James Williamson, Churchill Ave in North Cambridge. I want to speak to the landmark petition for the Stinkney House. Or is it Stickney? They're sticking it to us. To me, having lived here for over 50 years, and I think there are people who You'd have to be over 95 years old to have been born before the addition to the house in question was added in 1928. That addition, some of you may remember taking the bus when the number one bus went down Bow Street. That's maybe my first experience. That brick addition is a beautiful part of how this building has evolved. It's unique.

It gives a distinctive character that matters a lot. and is being ignored in this landmark designation petition in order to try to persuade the owner that it's going to be okay. We're going to let you do more or less what you want I'm actually reminded of, that edition doesn't matter, the addition to the White House, the East Wing, was basically built out in, I think, 1942. That's at least 15 years after this addition was built by an architect who had worked with McKean, Meade, and White. So how do you feel about the tearing down of the addition to the White House? Doesn't matter? Not important? There's an important ballroom being built there, arguably. So it doesn't matter. I think the landmark petition is deeply flawed. I think you should reject it as it's currently formulated.

Thank you, James. If you can send us the remainder of your comments. Our next speaker is Heather Hoffman, followed by Jack Mulhern. Heather, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Hello, Heather Hoffman, 213 Hurley Street. First, I want to adopt everything Dan Toppin said. I work in public buildings. They really vary in their welcomeness. I prefer the ones that welcome me. With respect to the... the repeat back padding about all the litigation we're involved with and also the absolute convincing assurance that we will be Patrick Barrett's lawsuit and inclusionary zoning will continue in all of its glory. I say talk about that and then talk about what happens if This lawsuit goes the way the absolutely Cambridge will win Montero, Stamper, and Wong suits went.

With respect to the City Council I have some suggestions for things that you should take up. Government Ops should have the law department evaluate the new charter. Tons of people don't even know we have one. what changes need to be made, including in, for example, the inauguration. And also looking at deadlines in ordinances, such as for inclusionary zoning to be reviewed. You should also be looking at all of the ramifications of all of this new zoning and looking at making it so that pedestrians can get around with all the construction. So that's for neighborhood and long-term planning and transportation. For finance, how about taking a look at what it's going to cost us in taxes?

And finally, Cambridge Street Zoning, let it expire. I sent you a letter, which I almost never do. Please heed it. Thank you.

Our final speaker is Jack Mulhern. Jack, you have two minutes. Please go ahead.

Thank you, John Christopher Mulhern, 116 Norfolk Street, Cambridge. Not to be redundant, because I think Dana and Mark over there, my fellow citizens, expressed quite eloquently my same position about supporting Cambridge Street Housing Initiative or ordinance. I'm not an expert in that field by any means. But I did have one right there in my house growing up in Sherborne as a child. My dad was commissioner of real property and general counsel for the Boston Redevelopment Authority and an expert in this particular field of endeavor. So I thought Dana and Mark were most eloquent so I really don't have to reiterate all their very strong points so I just am up here to urge the council to proceed forward.

as my dad's best friend in law school who eventually became a mayor himself, Kevin White used to say, we're not going to have blue ribbon panels and talk about this stuff ad infinitum. We're just going to get things done. As I've mentioned before, that's what Lyndon Johnson said when he assumed the presidency after Jack Kennedy. We're going to move forward on some of these things because Obviously, to everyone here in the council, there's a direct need for affordable housing in Cambridge. It's just not going to materialize out of the ether. So I applaud this council and the previous ones for all their hard work and vigilance and due diligence on all this. It's funny how some of the citizens all use the pronoun we. Not everyone has the same position on almost any issue. And lastly, just as a personal mention, as my dear mom used to always say, Jackie, don't just stare at the frosting. There's lots of layers to the cake with everything in life, including this particular issue. So I'm very proud of this current council and the former ones.

and I wish everyone a happy new year and let's hope it does become one because we could all use one. Thank you, Council.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. That is all that we're signed up to speak.

Thank you, Naomi. So that concludes public comment on a motion by Vice Mayor Azeem. To close public comment, we will call the roll.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Public comment is now closed. We move on to the submission of the record. There are none. There are no reconsiderations. So we will move on to the city manager's agenda. There are five city manager agenda items. Pleasure of the city council.

Simmons. Madam Chair. Councilor Simmons. Number two and number five, please.

Councilor Simmons, poll number two and number five.

Mayor Siddiqui.

Nolan. Number four. Councilor Nolan polls number four. Councilor Al-Zubi and then Vice Mayor Azeem.

Mayor Siddiqui, I'd like to poll number one.

Al-Zubi, polls number one. Vice Mayor Zubi? Every item is before us, so we will go ahead to city manager agenda item number one, a communication transmitted from Ian Huang, city manager, relative to a federal update, including an update on relevant court cases. City manager?

Thank you so much, Mayor Siddiqui, and welcome to our new counselors. Good to see you all. Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor, and Councilors, this is the first meeting of our term and so we wanted to ensure that we had an updated picture of the litigation that we are involved in as a city for our two new city councilors. Please feel free to reach out to City Solicitor Bayer. We're happy to set up time to review and answer any questions about any of these cases that are of special interest to the city. And certainly we welcome any questions tonight as well. We don't have any significant updates on the legal side today. The most significant, at least in terms of the ongoing cases, the most significant ongoing case remains the lawsuit that Cambridge is a part of regarding HUD Continuum of Care funding. We expect a clearer picture in the coming weeks and we will communicate as soon as we have a more definitive ruling from the court.

Similarly, there has not been substantive action on the federal budget bills which need to pass before the January 30th deadline. There has been one small glimmer of good news. which is that both the House and the Senate have passed budgets that have largely held constant critical scientific research funding, which under the President's initial proposal would have gone down by over 20% or almost $50 billion. So while much of the damage from the cuts and reinstatements of grants over the last year can't be fully fixed, and while it's still not entirely clear how priorities and research funding directives may change, At least the overall level of research funding has been largely protected. We will continue to monitor progress in the federal budget and we expect to have a clearer picture by our next council meeting on January 26. That will be only five days before the January 30th expiration of the last federal budget extension.

And so we'll make sure that there's a federal update on the agenda for the next council meeting in two weeks. I also wanted to touch on the shooting and death of Renee Good in Minneapolis during an ICE action last Wednesday. The lack of appropriate policy and procedure among federal agents, the callous and knee-jerk response of federal leadership, and the surging of enforcement actions are ultimately making everyone in our community and across the country less safe and all of this is incredibly disturbing. There have been a number of actions at the city and state level that we've seen over the last couple of days The City of St. Paul has issued a cease and desist letter to the Department of Homeland Security to stop the use of city-owned parking lots and property for federal civil immigration actions.

and similarly the city of Minneapolis has issued an executive order to the same effect and asked the city to provide a more standardized signage template for private property owners who wish to mark their properties off limits to immigration actions. Also this evening, so just a couple of hours ago, state and city officials in Illinois and Minnesota have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration claiming that the mass deployment of immigration agents and the absence of congressional authorization violates the Constitution and infringes on states' rights. These lawsuits are seeking significant limits on the current practices of federal agents. We can discuss more with the City Council as we better understand the lawsuits that have been filed. We just started reviewing them since they were only filed in court around 5pm today.

And as we have with many other litigation options, we'll be in close coordination with neighboring cities, the state administration, and the state attorney general's office as we determine potential next steps, potential legal steps. Over the last year, we have worked very closely with the City Council to strengthen our Welcoming Cities Ordinance. We've held Education and Know Your Rights sessions. We've supported greater legal support for immigrants. Just a couple of days ago, we were putting out a call for volunteer lawyers to work with DeNovo, who we've partnered with. And we've also shifted mixed-status households with federal housing vouchers to municipal housing vouchers. And so I'm very appreciative of the work that has happened with this city council and across so many city departments and partners. And as we enter 2026, we'll continue to look for ways for us to stand up for our values and to take actions to protect our community. So happy to take questions and thank you all very much.

Thank you, City Manager. Councilman Zubi?

Yeah, through you, Mayor. I have a handful of questions regarding different cases, but wanted to jump into the City of Chelsea v. Trump case related to immigration. If we're seeing that the city of Chelsea and Somerville were denied their injunctive relief in this case, how are we documenting for future eminent or irreparable harm? Just in preparation for possible further setbacks from the federal administration because it seems clear that we're going to need stronger evidence.

Sure, through you Mayor Siddiqui. I think I will defer to the city solicitor and assistant city solicitor and I think there's a lot of similarities in the Chelsea and Somerville case I believe and the other sanctuary cities cases. that we've listed, but happy for them to provide an overview and looking forward to discussion.

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor. So Somerville and Chelsea filed a case really early on after the Sanctuary Jurisdiction Executive Order was issued. And then a little time after that, other jurisdictions, starting with the lead plaintiff being San Francisco, filed a similar case over on the West Coast. And we did not initially join the case, but then the San Francisco case was amended and we joined as an additional plaintiff when the case was amended, when the complaint was amended. and what the basis of the harm was for that case to show that were being harmed and the other counties and cities involved are being harmed was the

The Sanctuary Jurisdiction Executive Orders talk about eliminating funding for sanctuary jurisdictions and so we worked with Thank you very much. You know, finance had started working on making sure they had a clear picture of what our city federal funding looked like. But that really forced us to kick it into high gear and do... A really thorough analysis of where, make sure we captured every department and all the federal funding. And that was what we submitted along with the other plaintiffs to show that this

Thank you very much. are facing this possibility of our federal funding being cut off because of our sanctuary policies. There is uncertainty. It's put into some turmoil of how are we going to make up, if we even can make up for a loss of funding? Where would we cut funding? The difficulty in planning with that type of uncertainty is harm that's happening to the city presently. So that was the argument that we made to the court and that the court found that we were showing sufficient harm for the court to issue an order. Chelsea and Somerville, unfortunately, they did not get a preliminary order in their favor, although their case is not over yet.

and some of it may be because we were in different jurisdictions. Some of it may be that they filed so early. that they hadn't had the full amount of time to really think about how are we going to demonstrate this harm? What are the actual impacts that we're undergoing at this time? So we are continuing to work closely with all city departments and particularly finance on the federal funding picture. And additionally, As things develop, if there are other types of federal actions that are impacting the city, to be able to articulate that harm as well.

Councilor Al-Zubi? Yes, thank you for sharing a little bit more on that. On the King County versus Turner case related to housing and homelessness, how much do we have on the dollar amount for the continuum of care funding that we've secured?

Thank you through you, Madam Mayor. So I can speak generally in that we receive around six million in continuum of care funds. And so the King County case has An injunction in place that is ensuring that we get that $6 million. And then in our new additional continuum of care case that we've brought along with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. That's for the next fiscal year funding, and I think that's also around $6 million.

Through you Mayor Siddiqui, I think this has been one of the challenges with the Federal Administration, where they're going after the funding in a lot of different angles, and then we're ending up in court on a number of different actions. King County was about the initial grant conditions that were being shared which largely if they were implemented would have meant that HUD could disqualify us from I think both existing and future grants and so that that case I think we essentially have an injunction on The case that I was referencing that we're currently in the middle of litigating is regarding Hudd, having changed the Continuum of Care grant program, essentially moving the

existing 90% protected funding year over year for permanent supportive housing to 30% and then trying to move the other 70% of funding into New programs in an accelerated timeframe that I think really was not plausible to develop new programs in. Our court case on that front with a number of other cities and states is arguing a number of things including the fact that and a number of other things. So I think The total amount is $6.4 million. How that actually shakes out depends a little bit on how the court fully rules, whether there's a full injunction. I think one of the challenges that we are also facing from a legal perspective is the courts have a clear mechanism to stop actions from taking place.

But I think it's not super easy for courts to order the federal government to do things proactively. And so as much as We ultimately are arguing in court that the existing program should stay in place and this coming year should look like last year. I think there's this challenge where the court is not necessarily does not necessarily, is not necessarily used to saying, well federal government, what you did is not legal, but what you must do now is do this program in this certain way. And so you could imagine HUD saying, for instance, well, okay, if we can't reduce the 90% to 30%, what if we reduced 90% to... 40% or 50% or 60% and I think that's where we're waiting to see how the court is going to roll.

Zubi. Yeah, through you, Madam Mayor. You mentioned a little bit about the conditions that HUD was trying to impose. Were there specifics to what they were trying to set those conditions on, whether it's things like DEI or otherwise?

Is this silly-sensory?

Thank you, through you, Madam Mayor. Yes, they had, and I don't have them all at the tip of my fingers, but they had conditions about cooperating with immigration actions, prohibiting DEI initiatives, prohibiting programs or using funds for... gender ideology in the federal government's words. And an issue why we felt that we needed to take some action is we would argue that Funds that are used to fight homelessness and that are being used to provide permanent supportive housing are not being used for immigration enforcement or gender ideology or Thank you.

Thank you. are broader and differ from our interpretations and so the potential enforcement if we interpret conditions differently than the federal government is a reason that we Zubi.

Yeah, one last question before I yield to any of the other counselors, specifically on the State Council of Church's Rollins case related to SNAP. Do we have an idea on whether our food banks or other funding partners, organizations can absorb The difference is if SNAP is ultimately cut, or do we have any contingency plans in place? We saw a test of that this past fall. And ideally, we'd want to be proactive about potential future

Can you repeat the question through you Mayor Siddiqui?

Yes, I'm happy to. Related to the Rhode Island State Council of Churches via Rollins case, are we prepared for possible setbacks if they decide to attack this again? In other words, Can we absorb some of the differences if SNAP is cut again? Because that's what we saw happen this past November and I'd want to make sure that we are taking steps to be proactive in case that were to happen again.

Three Merce Siddiqui. The challenge in terms of being able to commit to fully funding any potential deficit in the SNAP funding is just the scale of the funding. The other challenge is the uncertainty of some of the policy rollout that's been played. So I think there's both a scale challenge and an uncertainty challenge. So I think if you go back to that period when the government was shut down and all of this was happening, There was both a challenge where the total monthly amount that is going out in federal benefits for SNAP is I think about $2 million a month. within just the city of Cambridge for about 10,000 people who are on SNAP benefits. I have to check that number, but I think that sounds about right from the conversations that we're having.

and that's something incredibly difficult for us to absorb at the municipal level the second challenge that we had was How we respond when a lot of this is getting tied up in court cases and we had a short horizon where people were going to be up against that monthly time period where their SNAP benefit was supposed to be loaded. But it wasn't clear whether the federal government was going to reopen at any point in time. It could have been a period of days, weeks, or months when people would be without SNAP benefits and making those decisions was incredibly difficult if you think about us needing to make much firmer and concrete commitments to what we're going to provide out. Where we ended up landing is saying, even with that uncertainty, even with that scale challenge,

As a city, we didn't feel like doing nothing was something that we could stomach, and so I'm really grateful for this council, for the quick action that we were able to take, for the partners that we had with the Cambridge Community Foundation and There's an incredible amount of work on the ground with CEOC, the Cambridge Public Schools, the Housing Authority, Our senior organizations, Somerville, Cambridge Elder Services, I think we would be in that similar situation where we may be navigating a lot of policy uncertainty. and then to the extent that there does come some resolution of a firm cut, I think we would be in conversation with the council and with our community about how much We could think about backfilling.

I mean, I think that's ultimately a number of conversations that we are going to have as we come up against the FY27 budget because there are Other programs that we are concerned about and federal funding that will disappear. And in many ways, I think these court cases have allowed us to maintain the status quo for longer That seems to be where the HUD continuum of care sort of funding stream is going to go in court, but we don't have certainty how long that would last. So even if we got... For instance, funding for FY27, I think it is very likely that we may end up in the same conversation as we come into fiscal year 28.

Councilor Al-Zubi?

Yeah, through you, Madam Mayor. Yeah, I appreciate the update on that. And I think it's really important for us moving forward to really consider a robust contingency plan, considering that the federal administration isn't too thoughtful about the most vulnerable residents. I yield.

PLEASURE OF THE CITY COUNCIL. ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BODY? COUNCILOR NOLAN?

THANK YOU. THROUGH YOU, MAYOR SIDDIKI, TO THE CITY MANAGER, THANKS FOR THIS UPDATE AND THANKS TO COUNCILOR AZZUBI FOR QUESTIONS. at the beginning you mentioned that the steps that many of the other cities are taking we have done an extraordinary amount of work here to ensure that we do everything we possibly can to within obviously our legal authority to I don't think for instance If there is anything in that initial round you are hearing from other cities That we can add on to and ensure that we do everything we possibly can to keep our residents safe I think would be really important for you to work with the mayor to ensure that the council then weighs in on on any of that and I think my only question on on these

I really hope that the city has heard that we are trying very much to do everything we can and that the law department is already way over worked and I hope that there's some folks within the city who are coming through to help us because it's clearly a strain on us psychologically and probably financially in terms of the work that I know I have certainly bugged the solicitor for a number of other things. So I'm just putting out there that if we need additional support for that, I hope that we get it because this is critically important for us to do in defending our funding and also defending our residents.

Thank you, Councilor Nolan.

Flaherty. Yes, through you, Madam Mayor, to the City Manager and to the City Solicitor, I'm noting the Vasquez Perdomo case. I think I pronounced that correctly. It's on page 10 of the summary. This is the case that, in my view, is I note that the city of Boston has filed an amicus brief and I also understand and recognize how overworked the city solicitor's office is, but this is such, in my view, such an incredibly important constitutional case where the plaintiffs did seek and receive a temporary restraining order enjoining ICE from conducting stops, unlawful stops, based on racial profiling.

rather than individualized reasonable suspicion of unlawful presence in the country. And the application of this precedent is remarkable. I mean this is one of those cases that stands out to me as one that seriously is an attack on our Constitutional Practice, and our liberty rights and protections that have been around since the founding of this country and really is an attack on the Fourth Amendment. and I note also in the status report that Justice Kavanaugh in the Supreme Court has said that, or has indicated in his concurring opinion, if the case eventually reaches the Supreme Court, then the Supreme Court will likely reverse any permanent injunctive relief

Similar to the temporary relief that the district court previously ordered. It's remarkable in my view, and I know how overworked The City Solicitor's Office is, but in my mind, this is one of those cases that can create such a dangerous precedent for application throughout our country, in this state, in this city. to individuals being racially profiled in many of our neighborhoods. So to the extent that there is any available elbow grease and the city solicitor's office, I would ask that if you have it, maybe you can spend it and file or join in an amicus brief

Joining with the city of Boston because I really do think that this is one of those cases that is so remarkable and the response by the Supreme Court just at this stage of litigation is so remarkable. that it requires, in my view, a strong sort of argument on our point. So that's all I just ask. Thank you.

City Manager?

Siddiqui. Thank you, Councillor Flaherty, for your remarks and I think couldn't agree more as this case was working its way through the court system. Over last summer, we were organizing across a number of different cities and that put out A press statement to the same effect. Essentially, this was during a time where, especially in many of our gateway communities, Chelsea, Lynn, they were experiencing this kind of action. A significant ICE enforcement that was really targeted on individuals, not with any record or targeting, but sort of just sweeping up people who looked a certain way, were in a certain place. We had put out a press statement essentially arguing that this was unconstitutional. And so we were very dismayed as well when the Supreme Court essentially disposed of the preliminary injunction on the shadow docket.

I think one thing that may be helpful, and this has been learning for me over the last year, but if city solicitor Bayer could maybe talk us through the process of amicus briefs. I think we've certainly participated as a plaintiff when there's a clear harm in our case, but I think sometimes we're invited sometimes there's a desire to get a number of amicus briefs but I think just talking through the process might be useful.

Yes, thank you. And through you, Madam Mayor, to Councilor Flaherty, point well taken on the importance of this case. And then I was just before the meeting tonight starting to read the new complaint that was filed today by Minnesota, St. Paul, and Minneapolis with many of the same issues alleged in that complaint happening right now on the ground in those cities. So we've been working with a few partners looking at cases where we might be able to join in and support the case through a brief. We've been in close connection with a number of other sanctuary jurisdiction cities here in the state. and across the country through some of our municipal lawyers bar associations. We've been working with the Public Rights Project, which has been taking the lead in much of this litigation on behalf of municipalities.

and then there's some other groups as well from even back during the first Trump presidency when the city participated in some amicus briefs where we've had people who We worked with then who've reached back out when new briefs have come up and asked if the city is interested in joining. And then there have also been some issues where we haven't heard that anyone is in the process of working on a brief. But we've initiated briefs, and we've partnered with some law firms So it's been a little bit of both working our networks and taking initiative and primarily partnering with others who've done the lion's share of the writing of these briefs. and where I discuss any possible opportunities with the city manager before we sign on.

We keep the council updated, sometimes through an additional email just to let you know if something that happened right away or through this Every other week, litigation tracker update. And always happy to hear from the council if you're aware of a particular case and issue and want us to look at that and see about taking some more action.

Flaherty. Thank you very much for that. And I should know for the record that I know exactly how much work it is to draft an amicus brief to the United States Supreme Court. It's overwhelming work. And I congratulate you for your efforts. And I congratulate you for seeking partners at large firms here in Boston. Pro Bono Activities, maybe Harvard Law School or Boston College Law School. My alma mater might be willing to work on this as well. and maybe we can work on developing networks to assist in these efforts. But this is the one. This case really is the one. This is the federal government and the United States Supreme Court saying, in effect, that racial profiling is okay. I think we can all agree that it's not, and if we have a chance to fight on this one, maybe we should pick this fight. So, listen, thank you so much, and I appreciate it, Madam Mayor.

Any further comments from my colleagues? Thank you to my colleagues who spoke on this and certainly I'll follow up with city manager's office based on To see if there's anything else we can do. But thank you for all the updates and the efforts around this. So on a motion by Councillor Azzubi to place City Manager Agenda Item 1 on file, we'll do a roll call.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

City Manager Agenda Item 1 is placed on file. We'll go to City Manager Agenda Item 2. This is a communication transmitted from Ian Huang, City Manager, relative to the appointment of the following members to the Police Review and Advisory Board. Simmons, Poldes.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Through you, the City Manager, first of all, I want to thank you for this Missive on our police review and advisory board. Just a few things. So just to relieve you, it's not a criticism. As many of you know that the Police Review and Advisory Board was established in 1984 and one reason why I raise that is because in the description of the Police Review and Advisory Board doesn't speak to that and I think it's an important I just wanted to make a recommendation Small item that talks a little historical backdrop to tell people, Here's this police review advisory board. We're appointing people to it. And then they can sort of refer back to why these people are being appointed. And then they look at their credentials. Let's talk a little bit about the credentials.

There was a time when we would get who recommended members, and you would give us their resume. Now you give us a little bit of a synopsis, and not that I take any issue with that, but I don't really get a sense of... I know who they are in regards to being appointed to the Police Review Advisory Board, maybe, because we don't quite have the history of why we have it. But I think it would be important As long as the resume is not as long as the Encyclopedia Britannica, get a little bit more information about each member. And then lastly, because having been around and know a little bit about the formation of the Police Review and Advisory Board, I did take note of all the expertise that the people

and what I'm looking for is a little bit more balance in terms of just the ordinary citizen that might also be interested to have an option to serve but they don't have Say trauma-informed experience or a professional with decades of experience of human services. I feel that we're moving, and it's not... It's not a bad thing, but it's almost exclusively toward highly educated, highly involved people with years of experience. And I'm looking for some folks that may not have as much experience. have as much experience but would be able to give their times, their talents, and their intellect to the board if invited. So I'm looking for us through our community engagement efforts to, and I know we have the, whatever you call them,

and the community engagement team that go out and knock on doors and let people know what we're doing about various and sundry things. that we really go and look, let's go to Ridge Towers, let's go to Newtown Court, let's go to Potman Gardens, let's go to Linwood Court. I am certain if there were people that knew that these opportunities were available, may not have 10, 15 years in human services, but have a lot of basic neighborhood knowledge, basic knowledge in areas that would just be as important to have present on the police review and advisory board. So I just wanted to mention that. I wanted us to look a little bit broader. I'm looking for a little bit more balance. I call it breed what we need. We talk about community engagement on all levels. So let's be more cognizant about who we bring on so it's not Very skewed in one direction.

And the last thing I'll say that, because if you do get someone who has a lot of what I call learned knowledge, a community knowledge, Sitting in a group of highly educated people, they may not come back because they'll feel, oh, I don't have the BA, I don't have the five years of experience in social services or crime prevention. So I just want us to be a little bit more cognizant so that we have a broad representation on our boards and commissions. Thank you, Madam Chair. I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councilor Simmons. Any comment from city staff before we go to Councilor Nolan?

Through you Mayor Siddiqui and good evening Councillors. I would just want to start by introducing myself. My name is Carolina Almonte. I serve as the Executive Secretary for the Police Review Advisory Board and I also oversee the Human Rights Commission and the Commission on Immigrant Rights and Citizenship. And thank you. Simmons for the questions and I'm happy just to touch base on the new proposed appointments and apologize for not including their resumes but I Myself and the other three board members worked really hard to make sure that the pool of applicants was really representative of our community, which is pretty difficult because we pulled that off in December when everyone's enjoying And really what we looked at is what is the vision of the board now that it's under new leadership and we look specifically for people that can help us with more community engagement, which is a big focal point right now.

as well as being committed to training which I'm trying to make consistent and across the board as we work closely with the Cambridge Police Department. So we felt that the two Applicants that we wanted to move forward with appointments really are committed to that and fully understand the mission of PRAB. One is a longtime Cambridge resident and the other is newer to Cambridge but had what we found to be a pretty interesting experience. and it's difficult to find because we really were looking for candidates who could find that kind of really neutrality in the space, which we understand is difficult, but we're really excited about these two applicants.

Simmons. Thank you, Madam Chair, through you again to Ms. Alamonte. I'm glad I thought a lot about sitting from that perch, having people's names, because I never knew who was here. And even when I knew you, I didn't know you. So this is very helpful. I applaud the work that you do. I know you work overtime all the time and every time to try to make sure you have representation. And we tend to look for people that look like us or act like us or come from where we come from. And so all I'm suggesting is in addition to the work that you already do, which I know is a lot and great, is how do we kind of do a grid to say who's not here? You know, what type of person do we not have? and how that might round out the board and really grow out our community engagement. So again, this is not at all a slight to the work that you do. It's just how do we utilize other ways to get people that don't typically serve on these boards and commissions.

So again, I... No criticism at all to the work that you do. just looking at opportunities and options to have a broader representation of people from other neighborhoods that we don't. Because I suspect if we were to do a grid, we would see that we were trending in a certain direction. and not in the other direction that really speaks to diversity and breadth and depth. Madam Chair, I yield the floor.

Thank you. I have Councilor Nolan.

Thank you. Through you, Mayor Siddiqui, and to the staff, I want to 100% build on what Councilor Simmons just said. This is a... Review Advisory Board that works with the police department on training and through the city and also is critically important when we are Looking into complaints that are filed and it is critically important as Councilor Simmons says there's lots of different ways to define diversity but These resumes in some ways are really, really impressive and yet, as has been said, if you are someone who has very different life experience, and who is much what I'm interested in making sure that the residents here are very much willing to look askance at any official report and make sure that they approach it from the perspective of Simmons mentioned, one person out of five who

may not feel that they can even speak up because they are intimidated by the education of others. I think it's critically important we consciously, intentionally address that and make sure that the board includes people who are going to provide Thank you. Thank you. I'm very glad Councilor Simmons raised it and I fully support her request that we look seriously at how it is that we are providing I have no reason to oppose these necessarily, but I would much prefer that we had assurance that some members of the board were in a completely different

I have a very specific question which is the ordinance that created the PRAB was requires quarterly reports. The last one that I remember getting is from 2022. That's the last one on the website. And it's supposed to be provided not only to the city administration, but to the city council. Do we have a full report from the last 10 years of all the cases that have been adjudicated? And if not, how quickly can we get that?

Yeah, through you, Mayor Siddiqui, thank you for the question. So, yes, that is something that we will absolutely continue since we've been in this new transition. That's just on my to-do to kind of bring back. I think getting these appointments, especially since three is quorum, so having two vacancies has been tough. But that's absolutely something we will continue doing and are aware is required by the ordinance. Nolan.

Thanks. Yeah, and again, look, there was all this talk about what's in ordinances and what isn't filed, and this is something that's really critically important that we do. We care enough about it that we send it. We supposedly are getting all these kudos across the country, and I, for one, have no knowledge whatsoever about whether we deserve any of those kudos because I have no idea of how it's actually viewed by the general person on the street, partly because we don't get those reports. So I recognize, and I should have said through you, Mayor, I recognize that directors is new and I'm glad you're working at it. But on the other hand, if this is literally several years before, it's not speaks to you. It speaks to the fact that we have not gotten what is Not just legally required, but actually almost morally required to make sure that we're moving forward. And the last time I checked, one of the concerns, having talked to several people who did file complaints honestly, was that they were not sustained and they felt totally not listened to by the PRAB. partly because I think they felt that the people were predisposed to just defend everything.

That's obviously something we don't ever want to see. In other areas of government. So I really hope that moving forward we can we can ensure that that folks are getting referring and also I look forward to getting that report I think would be helpful to have the like the last ten years just laid out because the data is already there So, thank you mayor

Councilman Nolan yields. The vote before us today is to vote to approve these and place the matter on file. The issue of what the actual ordinance says I think we can take up at a later point, but do folks have questions about the specific appointments? I'll go to City Manager with seeing no hands up.

Just a quick update. I think we can look up when the last quarterly update was. I think we might be missing the most recent one, but there have been quarterly updates to the City Council. I think in the last term so so we did start those up again and all the meetings are ultimately public meetings and so there is a lot of documentation in terms of What has been on the agenda and the decisions that have come before PRAB. But certainly I think your points are well taken and there's good work to do.

I see no further commentary from my colleagues. I'll entertain a motion to approve the appointments and place the matter on file. On a motion by Councilor Simmons, we will do a roll call.

Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor McGovern. Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Simmons. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, it's all nine members voting yes.

The two appointments are approved and the communication is placed on file. We'll move to city manager agenda item number three. The communication transmitted from Ian Huang, city manager, relative to the appointment of the following members to the mid-Cambridge neighborhood community Conservation District Commission, Vice Mayor Azeem, you have the floor.

Thank you. Just a brief comment. I know we now have not less new, but newly appointed powers to review appointments by the city managers to different boards and things like that. I just wanted to say that the only people I know on this are people given in public comment disagreeing with different housing initiatives that the city council has done and I think that's fine. I think that as a democracy, there's a lot of different opinions. I know that in the past, some people have brought up concerns if someone has a different opinion than they do and has given public comment. I just wanted to say I think that's fine. The only people I know here have very different politics than mine. But it's a democracy. We need all sorts of different voices represented. So happy to vote for this, but just wanted to acknowledge that.

Thank you, Vice Mayor Azeem. Any comments from my colleagues on these appointments? Hearing none, on a motion by Vice Mayor Azeem to approve the appointments and place the communication on file, we'll do a roll call.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty? Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern? Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

The appointments are approved and City Manager Agenda Item 3 is placed on file. We'll move to City Manager Agenda Item 4. The communication transmitted from Ian Huang, City Manager, relative to the final landmark designation report for the Nathaniel Stickney House at 45 Mont Auburn Street. Councilor Nolan, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor Siddiqui. This is relative to a recommendation for a final landmark designation report, and it was, as usual, a report that has lots of data and information on it which I always learn something about the history of whatever it is in Cambridge not just usually the building but I'm also excited about the plans for 45 Mount Auburn Street. The owner is dedicated and committed to having a center That will enhance the city, that will benefit the square, and that will preserve the building. As noted, it's part of the Harvard Square Conservation District, so there's lots of...

I wanted to say that history is important and for me to landmark seems something that I cannot support. Because this is a project that is desperately overdue, I think, in the square. I toured the building. I'm sure all of us have. It was graciously offered to everyone to say, come in and see the building. There is work that needs to be done. And what I also want to say to the Historic Commission is what was interesting to me is in the recommendation it even said This is a building. It can be moved. The additions can be taken down. It can be reoriented. So I don't understand why landmarking is necessary given that all of those conditions are already approved in the recommendation.

So I will say I will be voting against this for those reasons. I really appreciate the report, and I appreciate also, and the reason I feel very comfortable in that is the Harvard Square Conservation District already has some, and the owner itself has said it's going to continue to be A nonprofit center. It's going to be used for the benefit of the community. It is clearly going to bring into the square exactly what we need in terms of civic engagement. So I'm very happy. I would love for this to be done as soon as possible and it is for that reason that I would not support the landmarking recommendation of the commission.

Thank you, Councilor Nolan. I have Councilor Al-Zubi, and then Vice Mayor Azeem, and then Councilor Simmons.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Through you, I'd like for there to be some more time to hear more from the organizers and folks who've been directly involved, as well as process the report before the vote. So I want to make a motion to try to write.

So Councilor Al-Zubi exercises her charter right. We will move to the next item on the city manager's agenda. We don't need a vote on that. We are going to city manager agenda item number five. This is transmitting communication from Yi-An Huang, city manager. relative to the appropriation of $100,000 received from the Mass Broadband Institute to the Grant Fund Library Other Ordinary Maintenance Account Funds will be used to help support local digital navigators and provide devices to residents in need including the distribution of up to 190 laptops and hotspots to qualifying residents in need. Simmons, and supporting the work of digital navigators serving individuals at the Cambridge Library and Cambridge Public Schools. Councilor Simmons, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I see that we have Director McCauley on the screen, so I would like to give the floor to her to talk us through a little bit about how she sees this appropriation. How it's going to work. And then I have some questions after I hear from her. So I yield to Director McCauley.

Thank you so much. And through you, Mayor Siddiqui. It's great to be here tonight to talk about our digital equity program and this grant. One of the things that I've observed, I've been here for nine years in Cambridge directing the library, is that our commitment The city's commitment to equity, innovation, and creative collaborations is quite special. And so one of the things I wanted to mention to start off is that the city's digital equity initiative is providing access to technology and learning opportunities. So it's both, it's the access to technology and the skills building opportunities. and that this has been a collaborative.

And I think that's one of the special things about this grant through the Mass Broadband Institute is that it really has been and then this is helping to continue that. and it's not only a collaboration with some wonderful non-profits including CCTV and Justice Start and it's also been and many others this digital equity collaboration has also been with four city departments, the Cambridge Public School District, Human Services, IT, and the library. And so our digital navigators, they connect residents with a wide array

This includes identifying and assessing individuals' digital needs and tech learning, assisting residents in signing up with low-cost internet providers, troubleshooting connectivity issues and helping to connect residents with those devices that they so desperately need. This includes low-cost computers, Free Devices, a combination of the two, hotspots or related equipment. So for example, since June of 2024, Our wonderful digital navigator at the library, Dana, has served 788 patrons, distributed over 100 devices, and co-taught a 12-week Microsoft Office Workshop with another digital navigator.

And I wanted to invite our assistant director, Jason Yee, to share a little bit more specifically about the grant. Thanks, Jason.

Thank you, Maria. This is Jason Yee. So through you, Madam Mayor, to you, Councilor Simmons, this specific grant comes from the Mass Broadband Institute so they had a program through which the city participated and worked with a consultant to create a digital equity studied report and at the end of that report and they looked at data for Cambridge residents specifically in terms of what their digital equity needs were. At the end of that study period, we were invited to apply for this grant which was for up to $100,000 to implement some of the specific recommendations from that study. So we did apply for that grant and were awarded it.

The two specific recommendations from the study that were part of our grant application were Extending the digital navigators for the public library and the public schools. The other source of funding for those navigators was ARPA money. That funding is going to run out in March. So part of this hundred thousand dollars will cover the Salaries for those two positions from March through the end of this regional digital navigator program in June. and the remainder of the $100,000 is set for refurbished or new

Laptops and hotspots with up to a year of internet service prepaid on them. The digital navigator pilot has been distributing devices that were coming in from a different grant funding stream unfortunately that grant funding has ended so now we're looking to use this new grant to be able to restart distribution of Simmons,

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Through you, Mr. Yee, and Director McCauley, thank you for that information, particularly when you talked about digital equity needs. So through you, Madam Chair, to the City Manager, I'm very pleased to see this program. and how it's going to lend opportunity to the people that are locked out of the information portal because they don't either have or understand how to take advantage of of Technology. That being said, I just want to bring you back to a couple of months ago when we talked about having seniors, seniors who have said that they had hard time participating in engaging with us in the council because they did not have access to technology. And the response back was that we couldn't afford it. And so I'm hoping that, because when I heard the list of organizations, departments, if you will, that we're working with, CCTV, DHSP, Justice Start, I didn't hear Council on Aging. and maybe it was oversight, maybe didn't think about it.

But the point I'm trying to make here, if this is an opportunity where senior citizens in particular, although they're not named here expressly, have an opportunity to be able to participate, use the digital technology that seems to be low cost or no cost through this grant and then be trained to be able to participate in council meetings, I think that would be huge because they themselves have said even sent it to us by mail. We don't want to come because it's too late in the evening. And you and I, Mr. City Manager, talked about, and I will be talking about this with the Vice Mayor when we have a meeting through government ops, is how do we make public comment More accessible to people. Well, this is an opportunity that I hope will not miss our senior citizens, particularly those that live in the 11 senior citizen buildings. They have community rooms, have a lot of staff infrastructure that could help them if that opportunity were to come and meet them at their door. So I'm very pleased with this grant of money.

I'm hoping, and I don't know if I addressed my concerns, needs, wants, and desires to Director McCauley, Mr. Yee, or to you, Mr. City Manager, or all of you to say, As you're dispersing these funds in this program, this program that we look toward making sure that our senior citizens that live in buildings that want to participate and cannot because they do not have digital access, we will look with an eye toward, yes, we can make that happen in those buildings.

City Manager?

You shook your head, so does that mean I'm happy and can wait?

Oh yeah, through you, Mayor Siddiqui, I think absolutely. You know, I think one of the big challenges I certainly hear from seniors, in addition to, you know, to some of the challenges with accessing city council meetings. I mean, more and more we're seeing so much of life move away from mail, away from phones. If you want to pay your credit card, nowadays you cannot actually call in many cases. If you have a bill you need to pay, there's not a number that you can call. And oftentimes more and more when you do call that number, they will say, you must go online to pay your bill. And so I think the work that this grant is supporting is incredibly important. And certainly for seniors that are looking for assistance, we're excited to make sure that they know this is a resource. Simmons, that they can access it. And a lot of the distribution of devices, laptops, hotspots, I think what you are saying, Councilor Simmons, absolutely

It's an opportunity for people who don't want to come in the evening to be able to sign on from their homes just like everybody else is able to. And for us to also provide the digital navigators who can help people get set up, be trained. Find the a little bit difficult to find link on our website. We're working on that one too so that they actually can then navigate to public comment and speak and have their voices be heard. So I think you're right on.

Councillor Simmons.

Thank you Madam Chair, through you the City Manager. I'm gonna hold you to that because I think it's important What I'm not clear, maybe this is a question to Mr. Yee or Director McCauley, are we asking, particularly for senior citizens to go to the library, or are we sending those navigators to them where they are? because I ask that for two reasons. One, you have critical mass of seniors in the building, particularly if it's inclement weather, if it's mobility issues, if we can send those digital navigators to them, That would be a big step in the right direction.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. We do both. So we do service in our libraries, and I think that's important because We have seven libraries that are open many hours of the week, I think over 330 hours per week. and so that's a wonderful service to people because a lot of times people know where their neighborhood library is and so they support there and we also send people out, for example, our digital navigators, and we will do that through this program. Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Director McCauley. I believe Jason Yu is at the Central Square Library. Is he not?

I have not been there in a few years, but yes, I did. I was. Come back.

What I'm going with it is because 237 Franklin is adjacent to the 45 Pearl Street. I think that'd be a great place to even because when we talked about this earlier, 150 Erie and 237 Franklin were two buildings that were reasonably interested in doing that kind of thing. So we're going to do a pilot using a portion of these digital navigators to access to give access to our seniors. That may be a good place to start. Sorry you're not there anymore, Jason, but wherever you are, I hope you're doing well. With that, Madam Chair, I yield the floor.

Councilor Simmons yields. We'll go to Councilor Al-Zubi.

Yes, through you Madam Mayor, just want to note that I strongly support this appropriation and we've seen clearly that material conditions have major impacts on educational outcomes and we know right now especially in the age that we're in that basic digital access shouldn't be a luxury. I just have one question What is our outreach and application process to proactively connect with people and families in an equitable way going to look like?

Dr. Mercalli?

Thank you so much through you, Madam Mayor. Jason, I'm going to hand that over to you. And just one of the mentions, in addition to the library's digital navigators, we also have partners, with CHA and HRI. And they also have navigators that focus on seniors. So it's a team approach. And Jason, I don't know if you have any other details that you want to share about the program. Thanks.

Sure, so this is the library and the public schools have their specific navigators, but they're part of a larger cohort of seven navigators throughout organizations in the city. So Justice Start, Cambridge Housing Authority, HRI, have navigators that have been focusing on their target audiences, so folks that live in HRI buildings or CHA buildings. The Navigator with the schools is primarily working with families and youth. There are navigators at CCTV and these navigators are working across different locations so right now There are Navigator services available either through appointment or as drop-in

and there are specific classes that people can take they can also sign up for just like a 30-minute time slot with you know they have some specific problem that they need to work on getting solved We do have those at the Central Square branch as well on a regular basis and we're really working to make sure that we're getting the word out through the library, through the schools, through CCTV. Additionally, making sure that we are using the connections we already have in the library with are ESOL programs with our social worker. So they're getting the word out to the folks that they're working with who are, you know, Learning a new language or taking one of our citizenship prep courses or helping to access services through our social worker.

We also have our librarian for older adults here at the main library who does a lot of proactive outreach and work with seniors who are living in the city. So really relying on the fact that this broad spread of organizations all has an ability to reach certain segments of our residents. and, you know, helping to amplify each other's messages and hopefully hit as many folks as we can.

Councilor Al-Zubi?

Yeah, I just want to say thank you for this work that you all are doing. And I would really encourage, similar to what Councilor Simmons brought up on meeting people where they're at as much as you can in this work, especially considering Zusy,

Thank you, Chair Siddiqui. Anyway, I also am thrilled that you have received this award for A hundred thousand dollars to continue your services and I also am a fan of Jason Yee from the Central Square Library so it's great to see you up there on the big screen and thank you for applying for this grant I presume and then receiving it and administering it. I had submitted a policy order in April 25 with Councilors Sobrinho-Wheeler, Nolan, and Azeem asking for an update overall about the city's digital access programs and I had made the mistake, it was an early policy order, I didn't ask for a report back. So we never got a report back. So I may be resubmitting this policy order asking for a report back because what I don't understand is Are you part of the solution?

I mean, from the research we did, again, back in April 25, MIT, Google, Boston Properties in the city of Cambridge, working with the Cambridge Housing Authority had established free Wi-Fi A free Wi-Fi network at Newtown Court in Washington Elms. And then with ARPA funds, working with the CHA, we were providing internet to folks Frank J. Manning Apartments, Washington Elms, and the Newtown Court Apartments. And then the CHA also had a computer training program for senior residents at several CHA properties, including Manning, offering free Chromebooks funded by Google. So what I'm eager to understand better and perhaps at a different time are the city's broader efforts. What I'm eager to understand is how

The good work that you're doing fits in with other efforts because I agree with my fellow colleagues that Thank you. I yield.

Any further questions about this appropriation? Comments? Hearing none, on a motion by Councilor Simmons to do a roll call on the appropriation and place the communication on file. Roll call, please. Councilor Al-Zubi.

Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty? Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern?

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

The appropriation is approved and we have placed city manager agenda item number five. on file. We are now on to policy orders. Pleasure of the City Council.

Madam Chair.

Councillor Simmons.

I'd like to pull one through four, please.

Sorry, say that again.

One through four.

Simmons is pulling one, two, three, and four. Pleasure of the... Number five, please. Councilor Zusy pulls number five. Seeing no one else, we will go ahead and do a roll call on policy order number six.

Councilor Al-Zubi.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor McGovern? Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Policy number six is adopted. We'll go to policy number one. This is that the city manager is requested to direct the appropriate city departments, including the Department of Transportation, to evaluate and install a series of speed pumps along Fairweather Street With particular attention to the stretch between Walnut Street and Field Street. This was filed by Councillor Simmons, Councillor Flaherty, and Councillor McGovern. Councillor Simmons, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. First of all, I want to acknowledge and thank my colleagues, Councilor Flaherty and Councilor McGovern, for signing on to this policy order. We have done a wonderful job in and worked really hard to pedestrianize our neighborhoods, particularly on the Fairweather Street area. But there still remain some concerns about safety. And if you, as you pay, turn your attention to the first two whereases, which is residents along Fairweather Street particularly near the intersection with Walnut Street and Field Street and adjacent to St. Peter's Field and New Park have raised long-standing concerns about vehicles accelerating and traveling at excessive speeds. And it goes further on to say Fairweather Street experiences conditions that heighten pedestrian risk, including parked vehicles on both sides of the street, limited sight lines at intersections, and the frequent use of children and families and elderly citizens Access in the nearby parks.

And so this policy order is asking, as it says in the order that the city manager include or speak with the Department of Transportation. and other appropriate city departments to evaluate the situation and it should say with a view toward installing speed humps. I don't know why they call them humps instead of bumps, but anyway. along Fairweather Street. Again, I wanted to acknowledge and thank my colleagues for signing on to see because they as well have the same concerns about people saying, we don't feel that it's safe. Can someone from the city come and look at this with the view toward mitigating the traffic? And this is what this seeks to do. So with that, I'm gonna yield the floor I ask my colleagues, Councilor Flaherty and Councilor McGovern, to speak to this. I yield.

Councilor Flaherty? Well, I'd like to second that. Yes, Madam Mayor, through you, I'd like to second everything that Councilor Simmons says about this. There are a lot of children in the neighborhood. It is a needed improvement, and I think safety concerns Nolan.

Thank you. I think this is important for us to look at across the city. I do wonder if this I know that the transportation department and DPW have been working to install speed humps across the entire city. So I don't know how this fits in with the priorities or how those others were determined or whether this has been talked about. It's certainly, I think, the reason this is highlighted is this is quite near a park, near Danahy Park and St. Peter's Field where a lot of There's a lot more traffic than maybe on an average street, but so many of these conditions probably apply to every single residential street across the city. I'm happy to support this and yet I also want to make sure that we're working in conjunction with the city to ensure that it is done in a way that it's evaluated and then installed along with the priorities that are set by

I'll just mention that we do have the fall 2025 installations that happened and those were based on and you know feedback from prior requests really from residents and even the City Council. So that was an initial pilot that happened just in this fall and moving forward new locations will be evaluated using both kind of community submitted traffic calming requests and other criteria so I think That you proposing this to me makes, I think it fits and I think it is a good call out to see what happens after this pilot and what the timeline is. Councilor Simmons?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you for that. First of all, let me just acknowledge my colleague, Councilor Nolan, and his support and your added information relative to what we're looking at. Maybe this will help. Maybe bring this to the top of the list as they're looking at it. So I'm hoping that my colleagues will support it. Again, I don't know if Councilor McGovern wants to speak to it, but it's really what we know we want to do, particularly because this is in the area of St. Peter's Field in New Park. We want to make sure our families can fully utilize the amenities of our parks by getting there safely. whether their child is supervised or not. So again, I'm hoping that this goes forward. It speaks to what we've already said implicitly and explicitly that we want to be able to have pedestrian Isar City to the degree that people can travel safely. Are you on the floor?

I do not see further hands up so we can go ahead and adopt the order and do a roll call.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor Zusy, Mayor Siddiqui, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Policy order number one passes. We'll move to policy order number two. This is that the city manager is requested to direct the city solicitor and the community development department to review and report back to the council on legal parameters related to city funding and tourism destination marketing district restrictions and oversight and accountability related to the operation of the visitor Information Kiosk, and related governance expectations, including alignment with city priorities. This is followed by Councilor Simmons and Councilor Flaherty. Councilor Simmons, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. First of all, let me just acknowledge and thank my colleague, Councilor Flaherty, for supporting this policy order. We just recently, I think it was December, but I don't know. It seems like forever ago. We had a presentation from the Office of Tourism. It was a very extensive 75 slide presentation. Lots of information, hard to sort through it all. But it still left a lot of questions, Madam Mayor. So I want to take a moment just to explain the intent behind this policy order because I think it's important to be clear about what we're trying to do here. At the December Economic Development Committee hearing we heard strong appreciation for the work of the Office of Tourism and I stand very clear that I I was here on the ground floor when the Office of Tourism was established and the role that it plays in supporting Cambridge's local economy. What we also heard from councils and stakeholders alike was a shared sense that our tourism efforts could benefit from clearer coordination.

More consistent communication and a more structured way of aligning goals across city departments, business associations, commercial districts, and our tourism partners. Cambridge is facing real economic pressures. You don't have to go very far to see what's going on in our city. And in some ways I feel like when it comes to Tourism, and Economic Development, we are beginning to lose ground, particularly in our commercial areas. Increasing foot traffic and supporting neighborhood businesses matters more than ever. Tourism promotion is one important tool in that effort, but it works best when everyone's involved in operating with shared expectation and regular challenge channels for collaboration. So this policy order is intended to help create that structure. It calls for standing coordination group, clearer information sharing, a better understanding of existing legal constraints,

and regularly pointing back to the council so that we can see what's working, what's challenging, and where justice might be helpful. So for me, the goal is about alignment, not enforcement, Collaboration, not confrontation. By strengthening how we work together, we can strengthen the impact of the work that's already happening and ultimately better support the local businesses and neighborhoods that make Cambridge such a vibrant place. With that, I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councilor Simmons. We will go to Councilor Zusy.

Thank you, Chair Siddiqui. I think there's some concerns about the kiosk, but I just wanted to, again, The meeting we had December 16th of the Economic Development Committee was really a great meeting and we talked about the need for the Department of Tourism to produce an annual report, that business association should be invited to join the board. We talked about, I suggested that the business association should received grants from the Office of Tourism from their TDMD funds. And it was clear that there needed to be greater transparency, better communication, and more collaboration between city business associations and the Department of Tourism. So I feel as though

They've been a mysterious organization because they haven't been producing annual reports, but I was really impressed with Candace Belieu. I don't know how to pronounce her name, but Belieu, L-I-E-U, Belieu. Her work and I feel as though they're joining the Michelin Guide is going to reap great benefits for the community. I think she's heading in the right direction. I do feel that the construction that is happening at what was the pit I feel like Culture House is doing... I had written earlier to Deputy City Manager Watkins about when finally

It will no longer be a pit, but when the Harvard kiosk area will be completed, and I guess we hope that work will be done in November of 26. So I think that's going to be a huge game changer for the kiosk. And I think it'll make all the difference there. I think part of the challenge with the kiosk is not only the construction but that its mission is there's a It's unclear. What was great about out-of-town news was that going there and seeing newspapers from all over the world and magazines from all over the world was really a transcendent experience. Cambridge is the home of so many thought leaders and I think we think big in this city and I feel like the out-of-town news

Business at the kiosk sort of was a statement of Cambridge thinking big. and I was surprised when I visited the kiosk this weekend to find again yeah there was an art show featuring Boston artists it was nice artwork but I felt like it should the artwork Whatever happens in the kiosk should either be local, it should have either a Cambridge focus or else it should be sort of transport us to other places and make us think more broadly. So I hope as part of this exploration that we'll be thinking more about what the mission of the kiosk should be. I know there's been some concern about apparently it has to be quiet in the kiosk or quiet around the kiosk, which is I think an issue because It is sort of the commons for Harvard Square. It's the center for Harvard Square.

So it seems like there should be able to be some noise and activity there. So again, I think we need to rethink the mission and the culture. I think we're heading in the right direction and we will especially be there once construction is completed in the surrounding area. So thanks to DPW for overseeing all of that work, working with the MBTA, and I look forward to its final completion. Thank you. I yield. Anyone who hasn't spoken yet on this order?

Councilor Nolan. Thank you, Mayor Siddiqui. I'll be brief. I can certainly support this. I do appreciate that we need to build on the work that was done on this issue. and this asks for a report so that we can all coordinate and understand it is something that I think the more that we can get the reports and information the better for all of us and the coordination I'm glad to see the business associations in here and I think It may well be also, and I'm sure this was the intent of this order, to include the institutions as well because so much of our tourism, frankly, to this city comes because of Harvard and MIT. and to a lesser extent Leslie because it's a smaller institution but they are clearly involved in how it is that tourism dollars end up in our city. There's been certainly a decline over the last few years and there's a concerted effort by some people to to not have us be a tourist destination and we have to counter that. So I can support and look forward to this being a report so that we can work together on understanding how it is that all the entities can

can help strengthen the city and I will note that the kiosk is one part of it but we also hopefully very soon will have some pedestrianization of Harvard Square which will dramatically increase the I thank the livability and tourism dollars spent there. Thank you. Mayor Siddiqui, I yield.

Anyone who hasn't spoken? Simmons. Through you too, my colleague.

Susi. Thank you. You brought up two points that I didn't, so I appreciate you bringing them up, one being Culture House in particular, and I know the City Manager is here. I have to tell you, I'm a bit perplexed how we got Culture House. I know it went out to bid. They were the one that won the bid. But I think they're out of their depth. They come from Somerville. They think about Somerville. And I think that's why you see... You can come to the table, Mr. City Manager. I'd love to hear from you on this. I'm just perplexed because nothing, not to cast any aspersions on Culture House, but there are some organizations, they probably do wonderful work, but they really don't get Cambridge. And because they don't get Cambridge, they program outside of Cambridge. I don't know why, Mr. City Manager, you can walk slowly if you'd like, I just don't understand why we even had a process when we had organizations that were local that could have done the work. It's almost like a slap in the face.

But now you've got them, and so would someone go and talk to them? and say, you know, you've contracted with Cambridge to do something in Cambridge. Boston's a lovely place. They can do their own marketing. Somerville's their own place. They can do their own marketing, but you have to... You watch a movie from 1955 and you'll see the out-of-town ticket agency. It has a history, it has a culture, it is an icon, it is a landmark, and I am just perplexed.

So, City Manager, I think this order calls for convening a coordination group. It calls for reviewing the legal parameters, the oversight accountability. Within that, there's questions about Culture House and the kiosk, so if you can, you know, provide a comment, and if you need more time, we'll obviously do this.

If he needs more time, I'll certainly be in your office tomorrow.

Please go ahead. Through you Mayor Siddiqui, I think there's some intersection between parts of this policy order regarding the broader TDMD work and the Harvard Square kiosk. I'd probably... Simmons. I'd probably argue that those are somewhat distinct issues. I think to Councilor Simmons' I mean, we ran a very transparent, open, and legal process for the procurement of the Harvard Square kiosk. This was the second time we ran the procurement. There were a number of bidders and and I think some of the bids were just not actually responding to ultimately what was in the RFP and that made it really difficult to choose certain folks that were excited about being part of the Harvard score kiosk and programming it.

I think they're actually just legal restrictions in terms of when we run an RFP, we put out a set of criteria for folks and the bids actually have to meet those. has ultimately put together a really strong bid. I think they've been doing good work. I'd maybe defer to Assistant City Manager Peters just to talk a little bit more concretely about some of the work they've done. But I know there may be some disagreement in the community. I think that does happen in a community as diverse and vibrant as ours. But also I think it's a little, it does feel a little peculiar that in this chamber we're sort of criticizing one of these vendors. I mean, I'm happy to maybe have some of these conversations. I know we've talked about this a little bit, Simmons, but happy to have some of these conversations in the right setting.

Councillor Simmons. I'm going to save us some time. Rather than have Deputy City Manager Peters extol the virtues of Culture House. We'll put this on the table for now. You and I will have a conversation about this. And what this report is asking you I would ask my colleagues to read that RFP because some of the problems that we have are because of it. So I will yield the floor. You know, you can relax. We can take this up at another time.

So we have the order before us. I don't think anyone else would like to speak to the order. So we'll go ahead and do a roll call on adopting policy order number two.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes, Councilor Simmons. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Policy Order No. 2 is adopted. We are going to Policy Order No. 3, that the City Manager is requested to conduct a comprehensive review of existing safety and security measures at Cambridge City Hall. Michelle included an assessment of physical access controls, visitor screening practices, on-site security staffing and training, emergency response and evacuation protocols, and the use of security technologies such as surveillance systems and alarm monitoring. This was filed by Councilor Simmons and Councilor Flaherty. Councilor Simmons, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. Briefly, I think the policy order really speaks for itself. It talks about the need. As someone who's worked in City Hall for a number of years and watched how things have just gotten a little bit more dangerous, and as you read through the policy order, it speaks specifically to some of the concerns Spent a lot of time in this building. I talked to a lot of people that work here. And the area of comfort is beginning to wane because what we've seen happen just as recently at Boston City Hall and I want to be very clear. I'm not trying to make City Hall less welcoming. In fact, I work very hard personally and I think the City Council in general works very hard to make sure It's welcoming. We host so many different programs and opportunities because we want people to come into the hall.

I did see that there is, let me take a step back, I want to again acknowledge my colleague for signing on to this policy order. I see that there is a amendment being offered. I love the opportunity and Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler is not here. Rather than take it up in his absence, I'm just going to exercise my charter and we'll come back to it.

Simmons, Exercises or Charter Aid, and Policy Order Number 3. We will move to Policy Order Number 4. That the City Council go on record acknowledging 2026 as a Centennial Celebration of Negro History Week and recognizing its enduring Simmons, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I offer this policy order as it says that this is a century ago in February of 1926 when racial segregation, political disenfranchisement, racial violence were legally sanctioned and socially entrenched. Negro History Week was adopted by Carter G. Woodson. I'm not a child of the South per se, but my mother is. And she would tell me the stories about how signs would be put up saying, She told me stories about having to ride on the back of the bus. And these are very vivid in her memory. But there are other good things that happened in the African-American community at the time. The point I'm trying to make here is this is an opportunity for us as a city as we're looking at the 2026 centennial celebration of our city.

also looking at the contributions of the individuals and how we got where we are and how we tell the story. on whose back and whose sweat and labor not only built this city, but had extraordinary contributions that have been erased Marginalize. So I'm hoping my colleagues, and again, thank you, Councilor Flaherty, all of us will lean in and lift this up and find ways together and individually to lift up the whole idea of 100 years of Negro History Week now, as we know, as Black History Month. And so I offer this with a sense of exuberance and excitement to telling the story of those whose stories have not been told. With that, I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councilor Simmons. Councilor Flaherty.

Through you, Madam Mayor, and I'd like to congratulate Councilor Simmons for drafting this policy order and it's my pleasure to second it. Someone that we all know very well in this council and who's legendary in the city of Cambridge, Marvin Gilmore, who is now 101 years old. is a young man here in the city who has done more for the city than any of us in combination and collectively probably will ever do. He's the grandson of slaves. He's a World War II combat veteran who was highly decorated for his honor and his courage when he stormed the beaches in Normandy. And after that campaign, he was denied access by white servicemen on a vessel returning to the States. And he came back, as he likes to say, in a tugboat. When he arrived here in Cambridge,

He sought a loan, and he was denied. And he told that man, maybe someday you'll work for me. He then went on to found the first black-owned bank in the eastern region of the United States of America. and throughout his life has achieved incredible things in equity, in housing, in empowerment, and if in a very small way this policy order somehow in some way recognizes his achievements in life that I think would all be very pleased to celebrate that and go along with Councilor Simmons' policy order because Marvin Gilmore, in my estimation, is a hero.

Thank you, Councilor Flaherty. Councilor Nolan?

Thank you. Yes, I think this is a really important element to add to the way that the city celebrates The History. I will say that Fugitive Pedagogy, which is a book written by Jarvis Givens on Carter Woodson and the art of black teaching, is a really great read if you haven't read it. and he might be local, might be a really great person to have over. I heard him speak at a Breakthrough Greater Boston event and also have read his book and have recommended it to several others and it's specifically about Carter Woodson's impact on black education in this country starting The title of the book, Fugitive Pedagogy, is specifically referencing the fact that it often had to be taught in a way that would not disrupt or They didn't get the teachers in trouble but they were definitely using Carter Woodson's work in a way that provided an education for their students that would otherwise not have been provided.

Happy to support this and happy to look forward to the city celebrating this as one of the many ways that we're celebrating the 250th.

Thank you, Councilwoman. Anyone else would like to speak on this? Thank you, Councillor Simmons, for bringing this forward. We'll go ahead and adopt the order on a roll call.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Policy number four passes. We can go to policy number five, that the city manager is requested to work with relevant departments to prepare for a council discussion on best future uses for city-owned properties. and the processes for redevelopment. This was filed by Councilor Nolan, myself and Councilor Zusy. It was pulled by Councilor Zusy, but I'll go to the main sponsor first, Councilor Nolan, and then Councilor Zusy.

Great, thank you Mayor Siddiqui and thank you for co-sponsoring this. This came about partly because as we know, as it's laid out in the policy order, we have had the discussion about all the properties that we own Right around here in Central Square, and yet we have over the last 10 years bought a number of other properties, and it's really important that for any of the planning we do, we do it in a comprehensive manner. Coordinated Fashion instead of one-off so this policy order suggests that we have a Excuse me. A roundtable. There's not a date in this, but I do hope this happens relatively quickly. I know that DCM, the deputy city manager Watkins, did see this policy order and understood the intent. Because as we move forward in the next years, we know that there's going to be a variety of properties we have to figure out what to

How to Use, and the intent of this, and I really hope that we support this very strongly, is to ensure that the council and the community are involved. There was some concern, which all of us have heard about, particularly on one property, the 135, the Sherman Street, and which had been known as the Bella Circle property about people wondering oh my gosh that's already under construction and we didn't know about it and the council didn't know and there was some confusion about wait is this already dedicated for one particular use and and I know I had reached out to the city and made sure that no this is not yet it may be the best use is We really want to make sure that whatever is decided on all of these properties is done again in a coordinated fashion for planning across the city, but also done with the council as representatives of the community involved so that So that we can all work together moving forward. So that's the intent of this. I don't have to go into detail about all the various properties, but there's a lot of them and we really do have to decide how it is that we're going to use them. So that's it.

Mayor Siddiqui, thank you again, and thank you to Councilor Zusy for the sponsoring.

I will go to Councilor Zusy and then I will go to Councilor Al-Zubi. I just have to use the restroom so Vice Mayor Azeem will take the floor and facilitate. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair Siddiqui and Chair Azeem. Two and one. Nolan, thank you for drafting this policy order and inviting me to be a co-sponsor. I have a question through you, Chair Burhan, really for the Deputy City Manager, which is I know the City Council has requested an inventory of city properties several times, I think, but have we ever actually received it? So through you, Chair Burhan, to the Deputy City Manager.

Through you, Chair. I know we provided to some. I'm not sure we provided at all. So I think as part of this report, we can provide that as well. And I think, you know, as part of the doing a roundtable, we can certainly provide that in a more formal way.

Excellent, and thank you. Yeah, I think it'll be really great to see that, and I support this policy order. I do get a little worried because I think when the council becomes involved, things become very political. And along with housing, a healthy community needs parks, arts and cultural spaces, parking, and places for the DPW to park its equipment. and we can't forget that so housing is important but we really to have a functional city we really have to have places for all these other things as well so I look forward to hearing back about the list of properties and I look forward Zubi to this broader discussion. Thank you.

I yield.

Yeah, I just wanted to hop in and note that I also strongly support this. So I appreciate my colleagues putting this on the floor. And in fact, would love to be able to co-sponsor it. And I'd like to note that, especially right now, public land belongs to all of us. and it should remain in public hands and hopefully also serve the public good and from my perspective we need to focus on the use of city-owned properties to create permanently affordable housing as an example. and I look forward to this roundtable and hopefully working with community organizations and members, city staff, counselors to develop concrete proposals for affordability.

Al-Zubi has been asked to be added. We can go ahead and do a roll call.

Al-Zubi? Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty?

Yes.

Yes. Councilor McGovern? Absent. Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor Zusy, Mayor Siddiqui, and you have eight members recorded in the affirmative and one recorded as absent.

Do I have any other hands up? Would anyone else like to comment on this? Hearing none, Councilor Flaherty? Are you looking like you want to say something? Are you good?

Just looking like it. He doesn't want to say a thing.

Okay.

No, I just wanted you to say my name. That's all. Thank you very much.

Thank you. So we'll go ahead and do a roll call on adopting the amended policy order. Councilor Al-Zubi?

Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty? McGovern, Nolan, Simmons, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Zusy, Mayor Siddiqui, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Policy order number six, excuse me, five is adopted. We are finished with the city manager's agenda. We'll move on to the calendar. There are two This was a policy order saying that the City Manager works with the Government Operations and Civic Unity Committee to hold hearings to discuss new ideas to honor and remember individuals such as a communal memorial garden, wall, or path, The criteria for eligibility, a committee structure with diverse representation of the city residents, and a means for courting and maintaining our current and future memorials. Charite was exercised by Mayor Simmons in Council December 22nd. Simmons. I will go to you, Councilor Simmons.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So I would like to take this off as is the rule because the Charter right can only stay to the next meeting to move this forward. And as it is written in the policy order, this is a conversation that we've been having for a very long time around memorials. One started primarily looking at people that had served in the service or died under extraordinary circumstances or gave a lot to civic life. But it's grown. It's grown in... In a way that we in some ways cannot control it, we have memorials on one block will have four different signs with four different people, all very important. but it's not a method or practice that we can sustain. And so the idea behind this policy order is to work with the city manager and two of the subcommittees. The city council say, is there another way that we can do it so that we can be honoring

So that we can honor those that need to be honored, but not in such a way where we sort of run out of city-owned real estate to place them up. And so that's what this policy order seeks to do. Let's look at it. Let's have some conversations. Let's take it out to the community and come back with a recommendation on how we want to do that. With that, I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councillor Simmons. Any other commentary on this? I think it's very important and I know there's been a lot of thought and work already, so look forward to the discussion in government ops. So we can go ahead and do a roll call on adopting the order.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Calendar item number one passes. We'll go to the calendar item number two which was a policy order around restricting eligibility for on-street resident parking permits in new transit-oriented developments. That was filed by Councilor Zusy, Councilor Azeem, and Councilor Nolan. And the charter right was exercised by Mayor Simmons and Council in our December meeting. I'll go to Councilor Simmons. Do you?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So I exercise my charter right, and I'm still in the same place. On the third whereas, it says the city seeks to encourage the use of public transit. and I think public transit is important, but it's not been reliable. And I know we've also talked about maintaining, sustaining or adopting an idea where we pay for Free Transit to get our folks around the city. It's a notable cause. I just worry that we lay so much on unpredictable and so on, and so forth. that in part depends on a system that is not tremendously reliable for various and sundry reasons too long to go into, it gives me pause. And so for us now to be taken up, it probably will pass.

And I will vote for this only because it says that we are to get some information back so that we have some policy choices so we can make some decisions. So with that, I will vote in favor. But I just wanted to say, and I would like to hear from my colleagues, Councilor Zusy, Vice Mayor Azeem, or Councilor Nolan, or maybe not because the hour is moving along. But I just wanted for my colleagues to understand I'm not trying to be obstructionist. I just have real concerns over depending on a Mote of transportation or transportation operation that has been less than reliable. I yield the floor.

Simmons, Azeem, and then Councilor Nolan.

Thank you, Chair Siddiqui. This policy order was inspired because there's extraordinary parking scarcity in many areas. I'm sure many of you have received letters from people around Ellery Street. They're concerned there are going to be many large developments around Ellery Street and off of Broadway where there already is incredible parking scarcity. Most of those developments are within a half mile from the Harvard Square T. So those would be properties where residents would not receive parking permits. So the idea is that those living in these transit-oriented developments that are within a half mile of MBTA stations Simmons would be encouraged to use the MBTA. It's only going to get better, Councilor Simmons.

you know the the buses are supposed to be getting better in the next five years and I think the the red line is really getting much much better our concern is that If the residents in these transit-oriented developments are given parking permits, that will just add to what my friend calls parking misery in many, many neighborhoods. So we want to continue to support investment in mass transit and demand better mass transit and encourage those who can use it to use sustainable transportation. Apparently this is working in Somerville and those that are choice limited Individuals with disabilities and residents of affordable housing units are sometimes provided with exemptions. So they might get a permit.

So there is a possibility to get a permit if you really need one in one of these transit oriented developments. But I think we're adding a lot of density to the city. and I know that's something most of the city, I think the whole council supports in one way or another, but we can't have all of those residents have cars too because especially if there's no parking minimum so we really this will help to encourage residents again in these new transit-oriented developments so close to MBTA stations to use mass transit and other and walk and bike and get around other ways with car shares and other mechanisms. So that's why I think it's a great idea. I'm looking forward to hearing your comments and I yield. Thank you. We'll go to Vice Mayor Azeem and then Councilor Nolan.

Thank you. Currently, I think we're entering into a tragedy of the common sort of situation where in a new development, someone might say, hey, I don't need to build parking without making it easy for people to take the bus or the train. because I can just use street parking and then they're actually taking advantage of something without providing something which is off-site parking. I think that's a problem and it's going to make it harder for people who are already in the city and do need that parking to actually use it. I think that's the issue that we were trying to solve. Now, an issue that we come across is that under general, Massachusetts general law, under housing development rules, we have to be fair in how we Thank you. Thank you.

bring a car we need you to provide a parking spot for them right because it's unfair for them to use you know on street parking when you're not building parking for them and you're expecting them to you're saying to us like hey we expect them to take the T but actually you're trying to take advantage of the public realm and make it harder for everyone else to park and drive I think that that is what our expectation is. I think in general, I share a lot of, you know, Councilor Simmons concerns that the MBTA is not up to snuff and is not improving rapidly enough. and I think of this as a way to properly align the incentives such that if someone is not providing parking it's because they want people and expect that people can get around on transit not because they're taking advantage of our generous parking permit system and making it harder for everyone else to PARK.

Councilor Nolan? Thank you. Just as a reminder, this is asking for what our legal options are, which we don't yet know. I think we've asked it in various forms here, and yet we haven't quite gotten the full formal legal I know that the city solicitor is aware of this request because the fact is we did say there's no minimum parking. So it means that that anybody who builds in the city has no requirements whatsoever to build any kind of parking. That does have an impact. I mean I voted for that. I had first talked about it. I think it makes sense for us moving forward as a city and yet there have been real serious Thank you.

probably 90% or 95% and then there's others areas of the city including that where I live where it's more like 70% so it's going to be You could add 30% more cars and you'd still get a utilization that meant people could find it. So I think it's really important that we own that, we acknowledge it, and again, I hope we do pass this because I think we do need to know what are our legal options. of course all of us if we had a magic wand would tomorrow make the MBTA and public transit completely reliable, affordable, frequent, no problems whatsoever you know I've over the last couple weeks been on the red line and it was amazingly fast and I've been on it when it was not so amazingly fast and I've waited for a bus that was supposed to come that took a lot longer than it should have and also got a bus right away. So we're in a situation where as a city,

The more that we can solve this and work together we have a whole bunch of other ways in which we as a city are working with public transit to try to improve that and we also hopefully will be doing our own form of transit as we move forward with the with the study of how it is that we improve transportation across the city. So I do fully support it and acknowledge that the reason this is brought forward and thanks Councilor Zusy for taking the lead on this is because We need to figure out what our options are and then once we know what those are, we can't do anything until we know what we can do legally.

We will go ahead to Councilor McGovern and then Councilor Flaherty.

Thank you, Madam Mayor, through you. I do support this as well. I won't ask to be added just for speed. I do really support this and I do think that this has to be part of a broader picture as we start to deal with Parking Issues in the City, and Residential Stickers. I think we need to take a look at the fact that my wife and I could register eight cars at our house because it's four per person, I think is something we need to take another look at as well. So I do appreciate this order and I will be supporting it. Thank you.

Councilor Flaherty. Thank you and through you Madam Mayor. This is an essential order. The elimination of minimum parking requirements requires this and it requires a legal opinion. We're living in an alternate reality if we think that persons who either rent or purchase a unit in a transit-oriented Thank you very much. Obtaining a parking permit from the City of Cambridge. It's just, we're kidding ourselves. And that will lead to further difficulties for residents in those development areas obtaining parking. So I think there will be. I wish the city solicitor all the goodwill.

There will be a challenge to this, whatever. and policy we enact. So I fully support this.

Thank you, Councilor Flaherty. I think we've heard from who wants to be heard on this, and so we can go ahead and adopt the order. Who's motion? On a motion by Councilor Zusy.

Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Council Flaherty.

Yes.

Yes. Council McGovern. Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons. Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Calendar item number two is adopted. We have now a zoning petition on the table. This is the Cambridge Street zoning petition. It was passed to a second reading as amended in Council December 8th. It's eligible to be ordained. It was tabled at our last December 22nd meeting. The petition expires January 28th. We have one more meeting which is January 26th where we can adopt this or let it expire. What is the pleasure of the City Council?

Leave on the table.

Vice Mayor Azeem has stated that he'd like to leave this on the table. Councilor Nolan has stated that she'd like to leave this on the table. Anyone else? We will go ahead and we don't have to take any motion, but I don't see a motion to take it off the table. We need five votes to take it off the table. So we'll leave it on the table and we'll talk about this on January 26th. We're done with the calendar, so we'll move on to applications and petitions. on a motion by Councilor Simmons to adopt applications and petitions one and two. We'll do a roll call, please.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor McGovern? Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

The two applications and petitions are adopted. We now move on to communications. There are 139 communications.

Move to place on file, Madam Mayor.

On a motion by Councilor McGovern to place all communications on file, we'll do a roll call.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes, Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

The 139 communications are placed on file. We now move on to resolutions. There's one resolution. Would anyone like to pull it? Hearing none.

Move adoption, making unanimous upon adoption.

on a motion by Councilor McGovern. We will do a roll call on adopting the resolution and making it unanimous upon adoption, please.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty. Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern. Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons. Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

The resolution is adopted. We move on to committee reports. There's one committee report from Government Ops, Pleasure of the City Council. And if you're making a motion, just speak into the mic. Accept the report and place on file. Councilor Nolan moves to accept the report and place it on file. I will do a roll call on that. Thank you.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

The committee report is accepted and placed on file. We have no roundtable minutes. We'll go on to communication. Communications and reports from other city officers. Pleasure of the City Council. On a motion by Councilor Simmons to place all four communications on file, we'll do a roll call, please. Councilor Al-Zubi?

Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty?

Yes.

Yes. Councilor McGovern? Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor Zusy, Mayor Siddiqui, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

All four communications and reports from other city officers are adopted. We will now move on to any late resolutions. Clerk, are there any late resolutions?

One late resolution, Madam Mayor.

We have one late resolution, so we'll need to entertain a motion to suspend the rules to bring it forward. On a motion by Councilor McGovern to suspend the rules to bring our late resolution forward, we'll do a roll call.

Al-Zubi, yes, yes, Vice Mayor Azeem, yes, yes, Councilor Flaherty, yes, yes, Councilor McGovern, yes, yes, Councilor Nolan, yes, Councilor Simmons, absent. Siddiqui, and you have eight members recorded in the affirmative and one recorded as absent.

We are in suspension, so we'll go to the resolution on the death of Robert S. Horvath, Jr. Councilor McGovern.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I was really sad to read today about the passing of Bob Hurlbut. I was talking to him a month ago or so. The resolution goes into quite a lot of detail about his many, many, many, many, many contributions to the city of Cambridge. He's a kid of Cambridge, born here, raised here. But the list of things that he accomplished in his 92 years in this city is spectacular. Beyond all of that, what I'm really going to, I think, miss the most is his kindness, his smile, his guidance.

um just a genuinely nice wonderful person um and you know I you know obviously at 92 you know he He retired a little while ago, but not completely. I think, Madam Mayor, I think you were there. We were at the Rotary Club meeting with the high school kids. you know he was there and helping to organize that even you know even as recently as as this past year so just a remarkable remarkable person and it's a big loss for for the city and I know others probably want to be added as well. I read it just today and wanted to get this in quickly, but I know a lot of us knew him and he touched a lot of us and influenced a lot of our lives. This will be unanimous upon adoption anyway, but just a big loss for the city and my condolences to his family.

Thank you for bringing it forward, Councilor McGovern. We'll go to Councilor Zusy and then Councilor Nolan.

I just wanted to say I'm thankful to Councilor McGovern for drafting this excellent resolution honoring Bob. I was lucky enough to know him too from the Cambridge Club, which he was a member of for many, many years. But he, again, was the first executive director of the Cambridge Community Foundation. And he launched Cambridge Volunteers, which continues to go strong today under Laurie Rothstein's leadership. which is another very very important institution and I feel like these two institutions really helped to define Cambridge in a very very Nolan.

Thank you. Yes, and thank you. We missed by a few minutes, I think. I actually submitted with Mayor Siddiqui a resolution that was very similar, and we're told, oh, Councilor McGovern already has it in. Many of us. I read about it. There was actually the obituary appeared in the Boston Globe over the weekend. It's the first time I heard about it. I reached out to a few people and said, oh my gosh, I didn't know. And they actually hadn't known either. I think... Having this happen right around the holidays meant that it took a little while for news to filter out and then Cambridge Day had a lovely article about him today as The resolution points out he was the first executive director of the Cambridge Community Foundation. He'd been a teacher. But like many others, my interactions with him were also... He was incredibly gracious and knowledgeable and always pushing for... for more to be done for the city that he loved and lived in for so long. It's a real loss to the community and yet it was a real treasure that he was able to do all that.

He was also helped create the the coalition of nonprofits in the city in addition to Cambridge Volunteer. So I'm not sure if that was mentioned in this. I would have asked to be added, but if it's going to be Since I know Mayor Siddiqui and I had put it in, but if it's going to be unanimous on adoption, that's fine if it's very clear. But again, thanks to everyone in the community who he touched, and lucky us for having had him.

Thank you to those who spoke and certainly our condolences to the family and we lived an amazing life. So yes, go ahead Councillor McGovern.

She did ask me earlier that she wanted to be added. It's going to be unanimous upon adoption in the order. That's fine if she's not here.

Just one more thing. Yes, Councilor Nolan? There was also, just so folks know, there will be a celebration of his life on April 11th that was announced, so there hasn't yet been one, but I'm sure it'll be a community event.

We'll go ahead and on Councilor McGovern's motion to adopt the resolution, making it unanimous upon adoption. We'll do a roll call, please.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty.

Yes. And may God have mercy on his soul.

Yes, Councilor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Simmons. Councilor Simmons is absent. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler.

Yes.

Yes. Zusy, Mayor Siddiqui, and you have eight members recorded in the affirmative and one recorded as absent.

The late resolution is adopted. I will need to entertain a motion to suspend the rules to go back to Communication and reports from other city officers, number two, because we actually have to accept the reading reports to the current legislative term and place those communications on file. So on a motion by Councilor Nolan to suspend the rules, we'll do a roll call.

Councilor Al-Zubi? Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? Yes. Yes. Councilor Flaherty? Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern? Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

And so now we'll go ahead and do an additional needed roll call on the rating reports and bringing them forward.

Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Council Flaherty. Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern? Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Those pending and waiting reports are brought forward. We will go ahead. There's no late resolution, late policy orders. We'll go to announcements. Announcements from the body. Councilor Simmons.

Thank you. It's the chair. So a couple of things. As many of you know that this week, well, not this weekend, excuse me, next weekend will be the MLK weekend. They'll be helping hands 365, I hope I'm saying that right, They'll be launching their program over at the Central Square Church. There'll be a lot of activities here in the hall and the senior center. I think they're still using the YWCA. Also, there'll be a program at St. Paul AME on that same day from 11 to 1 45. I would recommend that you come. The Millennium Gospel Choir is the most incredible gospel choir in the Boston area, so please come. If you don't like gospel music, you should still come. But the most important thing is, we just adopted an order around the... 100 Years of Negro History Week.

This is a time for reflection, redemption, and restoration. And so I'm hoping that we will launch this whole process by attending any number of these. And these are just Cambridge. If you go to our website, it will mention a number of other commemorations that you can go to. And if you're so interested, there are a lot of things happening across excuse me, the Metro Boston area as well. But let's stay in Cambridge and take part in what's happening here in our own city and town. Thank you, I yield the floor.

Thank you, Councillor Simmons. And then I'll just add that Wednesday, January 14th, 6 to 7.30 at the main library, There's the 51st year of the Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Day Lecture Series. So definitely come to that. We'll be hearing from Dr. Brandon. Terry, who's done a lot of really important work. And then specifically Monday's Commemoration is from 11 to 2, as you see on the flyer that's been passed around. And the 16th Annual Cambridge MLK Service and Learning that was mentioned, it's from 2 to 5. and it'll be at a different number of locations so definitely join. It's really important. We'll go to Councilor Zusy.

Yeah, two other events for those of you that are interested in our combined sewer overflows and There's a virtual meeting on Thursday, January 15th at 6 p.m. with the MWRA, the City of Cambridge, and Somerville, so that will be important. And then we don't have council on Monday, but on Tuesday between 5 and 7 at the War Memorial, there'll be Girls' Sports Night, another great event.

Thank you, Councilor Zusy. Councilor Flaherty.

Yes, I've got an announcement. Thank you, Madam Mayor. And on January 31st at 5 p.m., there will be a basketball game between the Cambridge Police Department, defenders, versus defenders, the Cambridge Warriors. This is at the War Memorial Gym at January 31st at 5 p.m. The program that we'll be playing, the Cambridge Police Department, are the, as I mentioned, the Cambridge Warriors, which is a special needs team. They are the undefeated gold medalist Cambridge Warriors, and they'll be representing Massachusetts at the Special Olympic Games which I believe is in, it might be in Minnesota this year, I'm not 100% sure, but tickets are $10 a person or $5 for people under 15 years of age.

This is a mandatory attendance for all members of the Cambridge City Council, most especially Councilor Al-Zubi, who, as I know for the record, is an outstanding basketball coach, and we're looking forward to having her in my company at this game. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Flaherty. You're making me think we should have a team. Us versus the school committee.

Can we go as cheerleaders?

Yay!

I have some thoughts on who could be the point guard. We'll get to that later.

We also have thoughts on who can be the shooting guard.

Any other announcements from the body on anything else? Hearing none, we'll go ahead on a motion by Councilor Simmons to adjourn. We'll do a roll call.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. And you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

Good night, everyone. We're adjourned.

You know?