Regular City Council Meeting

Good afternoon, everyone. A quorum of the City Council being present, I wanted to call tonight's May 4th regular meeting of the Cambridge City Council to order. First order of business is a roll call of members present.

Councilor El Zubi. Present. Vice Mayor Azeem.

Present.

Present. Councilor Flaherty. Absent. Councilor McGovern. Present. Councilor Nolan. Present. Councilor Simmons. Simmons, absent. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler.

One second. The Zoom is muted. So she can't hear us. So we'll go ahead and fix that.

Simmons.

Present.

Present. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler.

Present.

Present. Councilor Zusy. Present. Present. Mayor Siddiqui. Present. Present. You have eight members recorded as present and one recorded as absent.

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, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. 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 Meeting Portal or on the City's Cable Channel 22. To speak during public comment, you must sign up at www.cambridgema.gov.

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. Public comment may be made in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A, Section 20G, and City Council 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. I ask that you state your name and address for the record and the item on the agenda that you're speaking on. We have 37 speakers who have signed up. Each speaker will have two minutes.

We'll go ahead to public comment. Our first speaker is Louise Venden.

Louise is not in the Zoom. Our second speaker is William Hansberry.

Councilor Flaherty. Thank you.

William is not in the Zoom, our third speaker. Sorry, William's in person, go ahead.

Perfect. Thank you. My name is Will Hansberry. I'm a resident of Cambridge at 231 Norfolk Street. Speaking on policy order number two, just want to start by saying just this Friday, as counselors may have seen, President Trump announced that he'd be taking immediate action to quote-unquote take over Cuba. Now more than ever it is important that the council take the opportunity to publicly declare that this recent criminal aggression as well as the criminal aggression of the past has served no Cambridge resident or American citizen in solving the issues they face here at home. At a time when the federal government is cutting social programs in our public institutions, the blockade and resources spent to enact it have done nothing but cause suffering and pain for the Cuban people. I'd like to again urge the council to stand against this aggression as it has in the past with a policy order passed in 2021. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Tara Sandlin, followed by Abigail Walters.

Good evening. My name is Tara Sandlin. I am a Cambridge resident at 9 Roberts Road. I'm also a religious professional, and I am speaking tonight on policy order number two. I traveled to Cuba just over a month ago with Pastors for Peace to deliver aid for the Cuban people and I thought it might be beneficial to hear about just a few of my experiences while there. While I was in Cuba, the national power grid unexpectedly failed for the third time in a single month. This is in addition to scheduled blackouts and power outages that have happened because of the US blockade. But these unexpected failures are a direct consequence of the Trump administration's total fuel blockade and recent aggression. We also visited William Soler Pediatric Hospital. This used to be the flagship hospital and indeed is the flagship hospital in Cuba for children with cancer and with heart issues. Unfortunately, they have had to reduce the number of surgeries that they perform each year.

In 2019, they performed 10,000 surgeries for these children and they predict that this year they may not even reach 1,000. In addition to reducing the amount of surgeries, they've had to reduce the types. For instance, they are unable to perform living donor transplants because they cannot count on the fact that they will have enough electricity to keep two people alive at the same time. This all has an immense psychological impact on these children who understand that they have a curable illness and that they have a medical team who wants to help and has the knowledge to help, but the United States government has said that they do not deserve to live. I also visited a community health clinic where they treat 800 patients a day solely with supplies from solidarity groups like ours because they're not allowed to purchase them. Despite all of this, the Cuban people have remained resilient, working to live their lives with dignity and build a society that prioritizes human life.

They've asked us to advocate for an end to this cruel blockade, and I would ask you to reaffirm your earlier commitment by again voting yes on this resolution. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Tara. Our next speaker is Abigail Walters followed by Siobhan McDonough.

Hi, my name is Abby Walters, and I'm a researcher at Boston University who studies how policies affect children's health and development. Cambridge has a long history of standing up on matters of conscience, and tonight I'm asking the council to do so again. vote unanimously to call on the Trump administration to end the cruel blockade on Cuba Cuba. Trump's executive order to deliberately cut off oil, medicine, and basic necessities to the Cuban people. We know that these are conditions that harm children's health and development in ways that can last a lifetime. Now, Trump says he wants to take over Cuba immediately. The Cuban people deserve to know that we stand with them and refuse to accept this injustice. It's criminal. And this criminal blockade serves the interests of the billionaire class, not the working people of Cambridge or Cuba. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Siobhan McDonough, followed by Nyla Conaway.

My name is Siobhan McDonough. I live on Walden Street. I'm a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and UAW Local 2320, the National Organization of Legal Services Workers. And I am here speaking today in support of Policy Order 2. calling for an end to the blockade of Cuba. First, I'd like to thank the counselors who proposed this resolution and the organizers who have been working to put it forward. This blockade began more than 65 years ago in response to the Cuban people asserting their right to self-determination and to ownership over their country's resources and industries. In response, the US instituted this brutal blockade that causes shortages of fuel, of food, and of medical supplies that leads to disease and malnutrition among the Cuban people. This is a blockade with an explicit goal of regime change. Then and now.

That was the goal when it was first instituted and that remains the goal today explicitly advocated by the president and his administration. Trump is ramping up his threats towards Cuba, and he is ambling us towards another imperialist invasion. If we don't stand up to our bloodthirsty federal government and its client states, we are complicit in their atrocities, whether in Cuba or in Lebanon, Iran, Venezuela or Palestine. This past Friday was May Day or International Workers' Day. I know I saw some of you out there celebrating, so I would ask you to please stand in solidarity today with the oppressed people of the world, pass policy order two and end the blockade. Thank you.

Thank you. We're going to go back to Louise Vanden. Louise, you're unmuted. Go ahead. Louise, you're unmuted on our end. You need to unmute on your end.

Sorry about that. All right, good evening. Louise Vanden, 10 Rogers Street. I'm submitting a statement in support of policy order number 82, requesting that the city manager explore options commissioning a housing needs study through a qualified research institution. Shortly after moving here and getting lost many times in twisted streets with inadequate signage, I was told an old New England adage, If you don't know where you're going, you shouldn't be going there. Cambridge has adopted ambitious zoning policies and offered incentives to stimulate adding more housing especially since 2020. How do we know if these policies have created the housing needed to help young people, families, low income, Middle-income and elderly people remain a part of our robust, diverse community. The council has asked for clarification on the scope of this proposed study because the city has conducted many studies in the past, but so much has changed since then.

and the adoption of bold housing policies creates a sense of urgency to understand the inventory of existing housing, assess resident housing needs and establish measurable goals in order to, as they say, know where we're going. The study will be key to guide future housing decisions and the city should reach out to outside research firms with expertise in evaluating municipal housing needs. The study will rely upon secondary census, state and city sources, interviews with policymakers, and surveys of residents, business, nonprofit educational firms, local developers, and housing advocacy leaders to generate evidence-based analysis and recommendations, including quantifying unmet housing needs for seniors, low-income families, Young people 25 to 32 and employers small and large establishing projects

production goals by measuring the existing housing inventory against the needs of these groups, identifying new housing goals by type, size, tenure, affordability, and access to transportation, jobs, food, and Retail Stores, as well as Child Care.

Thank you, Louise. Your time has expired. You can email us the remainder of your comments. Our next speaker is Nyla Conaway, followed by Madeline Derry.

My name is Nyla Conaway. I am a Cambridge resident at 300 Western Avenue and a social worker. I'm speaking today on policy order number two, to implore Congress to end the blockade on Cuba in support of the Cuban people, their livelihoods, and truly in support of working people around the world. The US has been detrimentally impacting Cuban lives for generations through this blockade and are continuing to make threats of escalating the terror. Our voices matter more than we think in moments like this. and is our duty as residents of the city, working class people and good humans to support the people of Cuba, their sovereignty and dignity. Our city manager noted that Cambridge has shared values of safety, accessibility, inclusivity, and the ability to be forward-looking. Let our Cuban brothers and sisters shape their own futures independently and without intervention from the US.

They deserve to be able to look forward to a safe, accessible, inclusive future and more. And they're counting on us to support their ability to do so. Let Cuba live.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Madeline Derry, followed by Isabel Walcott and Marilyn Frankenstein.

Hi, my name is Madeline Deary, and I'm a Cambridge resident at 12 Inman Street, right across the street from City Hall. I'm here today to speak on policy order number two, I'm deeply proud to call Cambridge my home and to be a part of this incredible city. I've lived in Cambridge for almost 10 years now and I actually just got married in this very room just over a month ago. But the reason that I'm proud to call Cambridge my home is because of how this city council has stood on the right side of history on this very issue. I had the privilege of visiting Cuba in 2022 for Aid to the Cuban People, and what I saw there could not be ignored. When I visited in the wake of COVID, it was heartbreaking to see that a country that had the scientific prowess to develop five different COVID vaccines could not administer them due to the US blockade on syringes. Power outages are considered the norm and people go hungry every day due to the US blockade. And despite their struggles, the only thing the Cuban people asked us was that we go home and spread awareness of the US blockade and do what we can to help overcome it.

This is an incredible first step, and I'm hopeful that the City Council will continue to stand on the right side of history.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Isabel Walakot.

Good evening. My name is Isabel Bulacar. I'm a Cambridge resident at 71 Highland Ave and a healthcare worker here standing in solidarity with my medical colleagues in Cuba in support of policy order number two. The Cuban people are living in a state of acute crisis due to the inhumane blockade that has long been imposed by the United States and made exponentially worse by the Trump administration. Accessing and providing healthcare in this country is difficult enough. Imagine trying to do that when there is no fuel to power ventilators and NICU incubators, no syringes to administer vaccines, and little food for essential nutrients. Despite this, the Cuban people are prioritizing health care in their communities, ensuring that it is still accessible to everyone despite this cruel blockade. The people of Cambridge are shoulder to shoulder with the people of Cuba, fighting for our collective health, dignity, and liberation. Medical systems and human health must not be fodder for imperialist agendas.

I encourage the Council to vote in favor of this resolution, to send a message to other cities around the nation that we will not tolerate this attack on the health of our siblings in Cuba, and demand that there not only be no further escalation by the Trump administration but an end to the blockade once and for all. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Marilyn Frankenstein, followed by Suzanne Blier and Andrew Kim. Marilyn, go ahead.

Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you. Marilyn Frankenstein, 40-plus year resident of Cambridge, Visitor to Cuba Four Times, speaking to urge city council to support an end to the blockade against Cuba. This intensified blockade is causing an incremental genocide in Cuba. As the policy order details, the blockade has greatly hurt the Cuban people. The only threat Cuba is to the United States is that people went there and saw the amazing public healthcare institutions, institutions that result in people's average lifespan equal to ours in spite of the poverty caused Thank you for watching. They're a reflection of our humanity and can serve to inspire more humane behavior in our city. And our city can be a model for other cities across the country.

And if the blockade is dropped, we in this country can benefit greatly from the advances in medicine being made in Cuba in diabetes, lung cancer, and perhaps now Alzheimer's. Who knows what their researchers and doctors could achieve if our country let Cuba breathe?

Thank you. Our next speaker is Suzanne Blier.

Thank you, Suzanne Blais, Fuller Place. And as a recent visitor to Cuba and having a number of friends there, I also stand in solidarity with them and their critical needs. But I want to speak tonight to policy order 82. And what Louise Fendon said, I really could not have said better. But it's really important we get a qualified research group to study the actual housing inventory in need. Here is why. We know we need more affordable housing and social housing. That is a given. But we also need to know more specifically about the impacts on housing of the multifamily housing ordinance in part. and market rate developers are often out-competing residents and others for properties. Luxury developments promote too frequently the termination of leases of current tenants, forcing them out of the city. and nearly half the Kendall Square offices are empty, meaning we have many fewer employees.

Harvard, my institution, MIT and other area universities have cut way down on graduate students and increasingly staff. So this also represents a major loss of potential residents. who might want studio or one-bedroom apartments. We've become a city too often of the wealthy and the poor, and what many of us want here is also homes for middle-income families, meaning two to three bedrooms. Given these facts, it's critically important that we know exactly what our Cambridge housing needs are 11 years after Envision and post-COVID, and most importantly, post the Trump devastation of our universities and our key working CDD does not have the time to do such a study and has tended often to support market rate. creating a kind of narrative of trickle-down housing and the impacts of that. We know from Vancouver and Ottawa that often increases the price of housing, not decreasing.

Bringing in an outside group to do this study will allow for a real analysis and then allow the city, the city council and CDD to look at that and figure out where we need to go from here. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Andrew Kim, followed by Marilee Meyer and Joe Adeletta. Andrew, go ahead.

Thank you. My name is Andrew Kim. I live at 140 Dudley Street. and I'm with the Democratic Socialists of America. I would just like to speak on policy order two and Thank the Council for bringing it to the table and urge them to pass it through. I, like many of the people who have been giving public comment and many people who will give public comment, think that the United States' actions towards Cuba through its Thank you. Thank you. The United States has left the Cuban people and is cruel and vicious with no good reason, if there is ever a good reason for people to live in such conditions. and I think that Cambridge taking a public stance against this is an important first step in both bringing a wider

Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Marilee Meyer.

I'm Marilee Meyer, Tendanus G. Please support the Charter-Writed Policy Order calling for additional outside research into housing conditions, resident needs, and measurable housing goals. which should have been foundational to the original zoning bills. Unlike Build Baby Build, it would help CDD focus on its overwhelming responsibilities while getting accurate data. We have seen the consequence of stripped oversight, opening the floodgates to massive luxury housing and displacement. Hundreds of vintage houses are slated to be torn down by eager developers maxing out zoning dimensions. The impact on infrastructure, electricity, gas, sewage, solar shadows, The trees supposedly protected by the tree ordinance should have been originally included. The question is who is being served?

Is there a more efficient sustainable A less impactful solution, including repurposing old structures while adding more units. Identify appropriate lots first. The housing policies are superficial at best if they don't include these fundamental issues, context, and residential equality. With the current slowdown in building, please take this time to reexamine measurable goals. which will help the city grow thoughtfully on its small 6.8 square miles. We do not have a handle on this unbridled development. Towers do have consequences, but what are they? By the time they're identified, It will be too late. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Joe Adeletta, followed by Jana Odette.

Hi, Joe Ataleta, 68 Walker Street. I wanted to speak in support of Policy Order 82 and conducting an independent housing study. The reality is that upzoning in the HO has had profound impact already on the city, some positive, much negative. Whether you believe that it's the right choice or the wrong choice, any policy choices such as these should be supported by specific goals and measured results. I'd like to use what's currently happening on 9 Wyman Road as an example of the downside of what's currently happening and a historic cul-de-sac with plans to clear I cannot imagine this is what the council had in mind, and it's certainly not what the neighborhood wants.

I urge you to support an independent study of what housing is used and needed in the city so that we can make proper policy decisions moving forward. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jana Odette. Jana, you're unmuted, go ahead. Jana, you're unmuted, if you can go ahead. We'll go back to Jana. Our next speaker is Sana Kirsi.

Hi, my name is Sana Qureshi. I'm a Cambridge resident at 21 Sargent Street. I'm here talking about policy order number two because the US blockade on Cuba has been causing mass suffering of the Cuban people for over 60 years. Cambridge, Mass has some of the best schools and medical facilities in the entire country. It makes me very grateful to live here, but as I look around the city, I see how starkly different things are here compared to other parts of the country. Despite living in the wealthiest country on earth, most Americans do not have access to quality healthcare or education. Accessing healthcare in Cuba has also become difficult. Not because Cuba doesn't value education or healthcare, quite the opposite actually, as Cuba has one of the highest doctor-to-population ratios in the entire world. But the U.S. blockade on Cuba means hospitals are cut off from power, people's homes do not have electricity, food and medicine delivery has been paralyzed.

It has been estimated that the blockade on Cuba has cost over $170 billion in loss since its inception. meaning over five billion dollars per year. This is unjust and the U.S. has no right to do this to a sovereign nation. The federal government is waging an extremely unpopular war in Iran at the same time. It has been four months since the illegal kidnapping of Nicolas Maduro from Venezuela, and now Trump is threatening that Cuba is next. It is more important than ever for us to stand with the Cuban people and demand an end to the blockade. I am proud to live in a city that passed a similar resolution in 2021 and I'm hopeful the city will do the right thing again today and be a model for other cities to follow. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jan Dardenville followed by Liza Oliver and Jacob Augenstern.

Hi, my name is Jan Dardenville and I live at 359 Columbia Street in Cambridge. I'm a member of the Democratic Socialists of America and I'm speaking in favor of policy order number two. The US blockade of Cuba is not only an act of unacceptable imperialist aggression, but a humanitarian disaster. As you've heard from others tonight, Havana has regularly suffered electrical blackouts because the country can no longer receive oil due to the blockade. These blackouts are no mere inconvenience. For many, they are a matter of life and death. Ventilators and hospitals are failing, leading to the deaths of medically compromised individuals. Cuban doctors who have done so much globally to contribute to public health can no longer receive life-saving medicine to treat their patients, many of whom are children. Why are we doing this? The US government itself doesn't seem to know.

Marco Rubio claims it is doing all of this in order to combat the drug war, obscuring the fact that Cuba has a zero tolerance drug policy. Meanwhile, others like President Trump justify our economic warfare in the name of regime change, just as we did 65 years ago. As with Iran, it appears as though our leaders are more interested in state collapse. Nothing can justify collective punishment, nor such a brazen incursion on another nation's sovereignty. The record matters. Although our country's foreign policy has become increasingly insulated from public input, we should still voice our dissent and show solidarity with our fellow human beings in Cuba. Cambridge has the chance to put pressure on the executive to do the right thing and rescind its unconscionably cruel executive order and end the blockade on Cuba. It can also serve as a model for other cities. I stand with Cuba. I hope you will too. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Liza Oliver. Liza is not in the Zoom. We'll go to Jacob Augenstern followed by Lyann Tam.

Jacob Augenstern, 118 Elm Street. I'd like to start by thanking Madam Mayor, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor McGovern for agreeing to sign the Let Cuba Live petition. I'd also like to thank Councilors Nolan and Sobrinho-Wheeler again. for sponsoring the 2021 policy order that called for the end to the embargo on Cuba. I've lived in Cambridge for 20 years and part of the reason why my wife and I have stayed here is because of our city's commitment to international law, to human rights, to national sovereignty. And that's something that we have a long tradition of. In 1982, Cambridge was one of the first cities in the United States to divest from apartheid South Africa. We're standing on the shoulders of a long legacy of International justice motivating our city. And that's something I'd love to see continued tonight. I'm a teacher.

and I teach a unit on genocide and the UN definition of genocide. I noticed in policy order number two, if reference is international law, I'd like to read to you from article two of the convention on the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide. The third act is deliberately inflicting on a group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part. And I cannot think of a better example of this. Thank you very much. As far back as 1960, U.S. policy was to pursue regime change in Cuba through causing, and I quote, hunger and desperation. We are not a city that tolerates genocide.

support policy order number two. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Lianne Tam, followed by Sophia Merriweather and Leah Coughlin.

Hello. My name is Lianne Tam. I'm a resident at 11 St. Paul Street, and I'm a student and public health professional working at the intersection of policy and health. I'm speaking on policy order number two. I'm proud to live in Cambridge because I've seen this city stand in solidarity with people around the world facing injustice in the past. It is time for our City Council to do so again and call for an end to the US blockade on Cuba. From a public health perspective, the impacts of the blockade are tremendous. The blockade restricts access to essential medical supplies, equipment, and basic resources needed for survival. Hospitals are facing critical shortages, putting thousands of lives at risk, especially in maternal and childcare. This deliberate undermining of a healthcare system does not only create immediate crises, it produces harm that has and will continue to echo across generations. At the same time, Cambridge residents and people across the US

are seeing that instead of strengthening and expanding access to healthcare here, U.S. policy has been more interested in dismantling Cuba's healthcare system and slowly and cruelly killing an entire people. Cambridge showed leadership in 2021 by passing a similar resolution and I urge the Council to continue that leadership and stand against the U.S. blockade on Cuba. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Sophia Merriweather, followed by Leah Coughlin.

Hi, my name is Sophia Merriweather. I live in Cambridge, and I work at the Cambridge Public Library. I'm here tonight to ask the Cambridge City Council to pass policy order number two and call for an end to the embargo against Cuba. The blockade that the US government has enacted against the Cuban people is cruel, unjust, and inhumane. Preventing fuel and other necessities from getting into the country only targets the most vulnerable, the children, the elderly, and the sick. It is our duty as citizens of this country to speak out against injustice, especially that which is being done in our names. Among the core values of the City of Cambridge are equity, community health and well-being, and livability. Taking action against the embargo is in line with these values, values which are no more than nice words unless they are backed up by action.

Passing policy order number two will send a message to our government that the American people will not stand for the strangulation of the Cuban people and is the first step in demanding self-determination, humane living conditions, and economic freedom for all people. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Leah Coughlin, followed by Samantha Karais.

Good evening, Cambridge City Council. My name is Leah Coughlin. I'm a Boston resident at 330 Summit Ave, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation, who has worked in Cambridge for over 10 years and attended university here. I'm speaking today to urge the City Council to pass policy order number two that demands President Trump end the blockade of the Republic of Cuba and urges the U.S. Congress to pass legislation to finally end the 64-year-old I echo the statements of previous speakers on the impact the blockade has had on the Cuban people. We as residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts also know, to a lesser degree, what it means to be in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Through fiscal year 28, our state is slated to see almost $4 billion in cuts to federal funding for our residents, resulting in hundreds of thousands without access to affordable health care, food, and the public services they desperately rely upon to survive. I myself recently lost my job of 10 years because of federal cuts to institutions of higher education.

Our elected officials and the progressive policies they pass on behalf of their constituents have been repeatedly attacked by President Trump and his supporters in Congress. As such, we are being punished for supporting politics which reflect our closely held values and beliefs. The Cuban people are being similarly punished for their democratically elected government and their enduring support of the Cuban revolution. It should not be lost on us that as we celebrate the 250th anniversary of our own revolution, we continue to punish a country for theirs. We must stand with the Cuban people, and by passing policy order number two, we can. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Samantha Karais, followed by Hamza Shahzad and Andy Martinez.

Good evening. My name is Samantha Carias, and I am speaking on policy order number two. I stand here today in solidarity with the people of Cuba and their sovereignty. Everywhere we turn we see and hear about threats our government is making against millions of people around the world. These threats do not represent the will and heart of the American people. As an immigrant myself, I worry about my family abroad. This illegal blockade on the people of Cuba means children, the elderly, pregnant women, and the most vulnerable in society cannot receive the medical care they need because hospitals cannot function without fuel. All the resources that our government is using to wage war abroad mean there are fewer resources for us here at home. We need to solve the affordability crisis affecting millions of Americans, and to do that we need to focus our energy and money on the issues that matter most to us here at home.

I urge the City of Cambridge to pass this resolution, calling on our government to end this injustice against the Cuban people and be an example to all cities across the country. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Hamza Shahzad, followed by Andy Martinez and Doria Summerfield.

Salaam, counselors. My name is Hamza, and I'm an organizer in Cambridge, and I'm speaking on policy order number two. In 1989, the city of Cambridge passed a resolution condemning the South African apartheid. In early 2024, the city of Cambridge passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The legacy of Cambridge has always been to understand the relationship between the local and the global, which is why its citizens have used resolutions to speak up for what's right. The city of Cambridge has passed a similar resolution calling for the end of the blockade against Cuba in 2021, and I am confident that tonight, councilors will make a similar decision to stand up for what's right, as the city always has. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Andy Martinez. Andy is not in the Zoom. Our next speaker is Doria Summerfield.

Hello, my name is Doria Summerfield, and I'm a community organizer based out of Cambridge. I've been organizing here for about two years, here speaking on policy order number two. I'm also a paraprofessional working with elementary students. Lifting the blockade on Cuba is long overdue, but this newest escalation cutting off oil and energy makes the dire situation truly deadly. When I think of the children of Cuba, I see my own students, their access to education limited because their buses can't fill up with gas, a problem directly caused by our federal government. From what I've been lucky to witness, Cambridge is a city that values education at all levels, passing this resolution affirms that all children deserve a chance to learn. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Joao Paulo Ferreira followed by Charlotte Slavin and Young Kim.

Hello, my name is João Paulo Ferreira. I'm a public school teacher in Boston Public Schools, and I'm speaking in support of policy order number two. I would just like to highlight that the Boston Teachers Union has already signed and endorsed the Let Cuba Live petition, the same petition that a couple of the city councils here have also signed on to. And I want to stress that You know, teachers across the country are seeing, you know, just how much the blockade is affecting, you know, our fellow Cuban teachers, students, and schools. Just like the previous person had said, you know, where students in Cuba cannot go to school regularly. Just because there's little to no gas for those buses and the transportation. Schools have closed down due to low expected attendance as well. And we have to think, where is there a future in a country if the youth are not receiving the right to their education?

And I say this at the same time that the Trump administration is gutting or has already gutted healthcare and started funding billions of dollars to ICE. and their terror, which has led to increased healthcare costs for school districts and low student enrollment in schools. And as a response, many school districts are laying off their teachers, not just in mass, But across the country. So I bring all this to say that the Trump administration is not just a threat to Cuba and the schools there, but the schools over here as well. And to condemn the blockade is to support education everywhere. It was the Cuban people that led mass literacy campaigns eradicating literacy. It is the Cuban people who educate aspiring doctors from around the world. and their universities. So to support the Cuban people is to advance education. And for this, I urge you, city council, to please support and pass policy order number two.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Charlotte Slavin, followed by Young Kim and Lawrence Adkins.

Good evening. My name is Charlotte. I'm a community organizer in Cambridge and I'm here today to speak on policy order number two and to stand in solidarity with Cuban families devastated by the U.S. imposed economic blockade. I'm a mental health crisis clinician and a youth worker, so I'm acutely aware of the influence deteriorated material conditions have on the healthy development of young people. This economic blockade imposed by our government means that Cuban children cannot attend schools, it means that food cannot be delivered to feed families, It means that thousands of children are stuck waiting for surgeries due to the energy crisis this blockade has created This is the violence of the economic warfare our federal government has waged on Cuba and I believe we have a duty to stand against this violence.

I'm proud of the precedent Cambridge City Council has set in the past and I'm hopeful that tonight council members will do right by the families of Cuba and vote to pass the resolution. Resolution to End This Injustice. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Young Kim followed by Lawrence Adkins and Andrew King.

Young Kim, 17 Norris Street, asking council to amend policy order, charter-rided policy order. Thank you, Councilor Zusy, for introducing this policy order and Councilor Simmons for exercising the Charter right. I support the intent of housing needs study, but for it to work, two prerequisites must come first, a baseline and policy framework. First, the order calls for a clear evidence-based understanding of existing housing conditions. That requires a current reliable baseline and we do not have that yet. And we didn't have that before

CDD already holds the underlying data across zoning, permits, project tracking through the quarterly development log, and community meetings. but it remains fragmented across various data sets and web pages and has not yet been consolidated into a unified This order should be amended to direct the CDD to establish the baseline first. Second, once that baseline is established, determining residential needs and measurable housing goals is not just analysis, but it's city's policy. That policy must be anchored in City Council's long-term housing goals and priorities. If that is not defined up first,

The study was producing conclusions that are technically sound but misaligned with the city's policy direction. That framework must be defined by city council at the outset. So the amendment is straightforward. Baseline, policy, housing needs study, and then report back.

Establish the baseline. Please email us the remainder of your comments. Thank you. Our next speaker is Lawrence Atkins, followed by Andrew King and Gabriela Perez.

Lawrence Atkins, 45 Hay Street. I am here this evening to speak on Awaiting Report Number 14. The increase of $75 for a parking permit in the City of Cambridge needs to be better addressed. I was glad to have been in attendance of the TPT meeting to hear that the transparency for the explanation of these exorbitant increases aren't even there. The fact that the city engagement, there are still people in the city who don't know anything about this. and I am going to continue to put the alert out there to have them in your faces due to the fact that they are still not known and we should do a much better job. That process is not in place at this time, and it should be a much better process to inform everyone.

The additional sewer charges that have been placed on the city because the former park, york, I mean car, either movie car, and be told, has not been observed. I've witnessed streets. where cars don't even get ticketed, but the apparatus was clean in the street, zigzagged, and there's nothing done. This all needs to be better effectively done, made more responsible for the citizens of Cambridge, because this that you're doing makes absolutely no sense. and it should not occur to tell a senior citizen that they shouldn't have a series of this kind and the honor system is all we're going to depend upon to do this. and I still say even with that rationalization, it shouldn't occur at all. This is finally done. Be truthful for what you're really doing because we the taxpayers are due at least that.

Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Andrew King.

Good evening, Andrew King, 71 Chilton Street, here to support policy order number two. I traveled to Cuba in 2010 and I was very inspired by the health clinics I visited. I went to some, I don't recall the exact name, it was some sort of a national media center where they brought in educators and actors from countries throughout the global south. to record instructional videos of the Cuban literacy method in their home languages to take back to their nations to combat illiteracy there. I urge the Council to support this resolution calling on the federal government to end the decades long illegal and immoral embargo on Cuba, a policy that, as you heard tonight, has caused profound and well-documented human suffering. The escalation of restrictions under Trump's administration, particularly limits on fuel and trade, has deepened an already dire humanitarian crisis, as we've heard families facing extended power outages.

Shortages of food and life-saving medicines, hospitals struggling to maintain basic services, and the justification for these measures that Cuba represents an unusual and extraordinary threat to the United States defies all logic. Thank you very much. turning his full attention to David. And it's all the more ironic given the global reputation of Cuba for its medical internationalism. For decades, Cuban doctors, surgeons, healthcare workers providing free care in Haiti in 2010 after the earthquake. and West Africa after the outbreak of Ebola during the COVID crisis. So for more than 60 years, we know the international community has overwhelmingly called on the US to change course. There's a more constructive path steps were taken under the Obama administration.

And this is an opportunity for Cambridge to once again take its principled stand grounded in human dignity, international law, and a commitment to a more humane foreign policy. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Gabriela Perez, followed by Malin

Hello. My name is Gabby Perez. I'm an artist and organizer and the grandchild of Cuban immigrants, here to speak on policy order number two. In one of his final writings, José Mati, one of Cuba's most famous patriots, wrote this about the United States. Vivine Monstruo, y le conozco las entrañas y mi onda es la de David. I have lived in the monster and I know its entrails, my sling is David's. This unfinished letter was written at Dos Rios Camp in eastern Cuba in May 1895, where Mati died fighting the war of Cuban independence. The Cuban struggle for independence has been fought for generations and it's our duty as Americans to speak out against our government's harsh treatment of the Cuban people for over 60 years. We must support all nations' right to self-determination and dignity, especially our neighbors in the Caribbean, who are intentionally being suffocated by the embargo and whose people are the ones bearing the brunt of this cruelty. I urge the Council to stand with the global overwhelming majority against the U.S. blockade on Cuba. Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Malin Hook, followed by Joe Tashi.

Hi, good evening. My name is Malin Haque. I was born and raised in Cambridge. I'm a community organizer in Cambridge, and I'm speaking today on policy order number two. The Trump administration is threatening Cuba once again, claiming the nation is a threat to US security. Well, that is a lie. The real threat is the US blockade, a cruel 60-plus year policy of control that has nothing to do with the safety Thank you very much. Baby Formula, Insulin, All Blocked, And that's not foreign policy. We know that's just cruel punishment.

Meanwhile, polling shows that the American people, including people right here in Cambridge, they overwhelmingly want peace and dignity for our neighbors, and not more suffering. We believe in cooperation not coercion. Passing policy order number two sends a clear powerful message that Cambridge stands with the Cuban people. We reject the myth of threat and reject the cruelty of a blockade. We choose solidarity, sanctions, relief, and humanity. Sanctions, Relief, and Humanity. I want to be proud of this city. So I urge this council not to stay silent, pass this resolution, show that Cambridge says no to billionaire imperialism, and yes to peace. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Joe Tashi, followed by Raina McGregor, followed by Jacob Brown.

Hi, my name is Joe Tashi. I'm speaking on policy order number two. Thank you very much. I mean, for decades the U.S. government has created a so-called rules-based international order where the US government sets the rules and the rest of the world is expected to follow. and for decades the U.S. government has enforced this blockade on Cuba with the desire of creating maximum suffering on the island in the face of the United Nations General Assembly voting every year against the blockade. So Donald Trump These policies were created long before he came into office, long before he started his political career, and he has used them as the foundation for escalating his crimes against humanity.

This makes it very clear to me that we desperately need to turn to a new chapter in US politics where everyone here in this country and everyone across the world is treated with dignity and respect. That means opposing this genocidal blockade whose main targets are children, the elderly, and the disabled by depriving schools and hospitals and homes of the electricity they need to run. And I implore the city of Cambridge to stand on the right side of history today and vote in favor of this policy. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Raina McGregor, followed by Jacob Brown.

Good evening. My name is Renee McGregor. I'm 32 years old and was born and raised in Cambridge. I'm speaking against the matter of the council raising the permit parking fee from $25 to $75. Through my years here, I've watched many of my neighbors, friends, and family be forced to move out of the city due to rising costs of living. Raising the permit... Raina? I'm sorry.

So, I missed this the last time, but... The permit is an awaiting report, and so per our rules, unless there's a motion, residents can't speak to awaiting reports. I should have caught that earlier with the earlier speaker. So because it's on a rating report, you can't technically speak to it unless we have a suspension of the rules. So on a motion by Councilor Flaherty to suspend the rules, to allow a public speaker to talk about the item that is in a waiting report, we'll do a roll call.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Yes, Vice Mayor Azeem. Epson, Councilor Flaherty. Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern. Epson, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes. Councilor Simmons.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy.

Yes.

Yes, Mayor Siddiqui.

Yes.

Yes, and you have seven members recorded in the affirmative and two recorded as absent.

May I please continue?

Raising the permit parking fee by 300% would be inequitable. The parking in Cambridge is already scarce, and with the added bike lanes and extended sidewalks, it's become even harder for drivers like myself to find parking. Thank you for watching. At best, have every resident, regardless of age, pay a flat rate of $25. This influx of funds from the 10,000 plus seniors in the city would help said budget cuts. I'm urging the council to deny passing. Agenda item number 14. Thank you.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Jacob Brown. Jacob is not in the Zoom. Our next speaker is Zemina Hasbash. Sorry if I mispronounced your name.

Good evening. My name is Ximena Hasbach. I'm a clerical worker at Harvard University. I first came to the city of Cambridge over 10 years ago, and I'm here to speak in strong support of policy order number two. As a Latin American immigrant myself, I have been appalled by the Trump administration's aggression against people all over the world, including against the people of Cuba for the crime of asserting their own sovereignty. Cambridge is a city filled with immigrants. I myself work primarily with international students at Harvard, and I have been proud to see the city of Cambridge stand with the people of the world, for example, when You passed the ceasefire resolution in solidarity with Palestine, the resolution against South African apartheid, and the recent 2021 resolution against the blockade on Cuba. So I urge this council to stand with the people of the world once again, stand with the people of Cambridge, and pass policy order number two. Thank you.

Thank you. Joe Tasche already spoke. We will go to Heather Hoffman followed by Justin Safe. Heather, you are unmuted. We will go back to Heather and go to Justin's safe.

Good evening. Justin Saif. I'm here for the Charter Right item on Housing Needs Analysis. In support of the proposed amendments that make clear that no analysis should form the basis to call for a moratorium on housing, Cambridge has large housing shortage. And the last thing we need to do is put another roadblock in the way of building more housing in Cambridge. There are already calls associated with Supporters of this Policy Order and Charter Right item for a moratorium in which A and B's zoning districts are excluded from the multifamily

which we know in Cambridge as elsewhere has a history of Racism and Classism that we should not want the city to take a step backward and revisit. Moreover, the list of items that are included apparently at the last minute in the meeting as items that the city does not have or replete with information that the city very much does have and it's accessible if there's a need for CD to pull together a list of sources for that information that's fine but it's going to be a huge waste of time resources money attention

Thank you.

We will go back to Heather Hoffman. Heather, you're unmuted. Go ahead.

Hello, Heather Hoffman, 213 Hurley Street. I repeat my usual comment about litigation and suggest that perhaps we should find out about the employees employment discrimination suit that's been filed against the city in addition to the inclusionary zoning suit. With respect to the housing study, it is purely coincidental that I am following a Build Baby Build person who along with the other Build Baby Build folks seems to be utterly terrified at the prospect that we would actually do a study and figure out what we need before we go and solve something that we aren't sure needs solving or whether the proposed solution will solve it in other words Think first, legislate after.

With respect to supplier diversity, I was wondering if last week's policy order about worker-owned co-ops could be worked into this same consideration. With respect to Cuba, I grew up in Florida. I lived there from 1962 through 1983 and I remember the Miami Cubans versus the Tampa Cubans who had been there much longer and came to make cigars. The Miami Cubans were well known to be the oligarchs and sometimes their descendants who had been displaced by the revolution. and who had conned the US government into fighting their fight for them.

We all knew that Cuba was not a danger to us and it still isn't. Thank you.

Thank you. We're going to go back to Jana Odette and Jacob Brown. Jana, you're unmuted. Go ahead. Jana, you're unmuted on our end, if you could go ahead. We're gonna go to Jacob Brown. Jacob, go ahead.

Hi, my name is Jacob Brown. I live on Magazine Street here in Cambridge. I'm here to speak about Policy Order 2 regarding the blockade on Cuba. I believe it's crucial for the city to condemn this because it would be a repudiation of the Trump administration's belief that might makes right and that they can simply impose their view on the world by Dominating people and exerting force. We've seen this time and time again. The cuts to USAID have resulted in what seems to be the deaths of millions of people due to foreign aid and medical assistance cuts. Their foreign policy is essentially just centered around a belief that they can make the material conditions immeasurably worse for people in nations abroad, to compel them to rise up and overthrow their leaders. This is something that time again hasn't worked. It has only served to immiserate people, as it is currently immiserating the people of Cuba. Right now, fuel shortages there have caused hospitals to spiral into crisis.

Doctors are reporting that it's incredibly difficult to keep ventilators online It means that the actions are only serving to threaten the lives of the most vulnerable people in Cuba. and I believe that it's crucial for Cambridge to stand up here and everywhere really in its right to both the sanctuary city and A beacon of progressive values, one of the reasons why I do love this place. And I believe it's crucial for Cambridge to stand up, to fight back against that belief and that worldview. and show that it is not right to starve a country like this. It's not right to threaten its most vulnerable people. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. That's all who have signed up.

Thank you. That concludes public comment on a motion by Councilor Flaherty. To close public comment, we'll do a roll call.

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.

Public comment is now closed. There's no submission of the record. There are no reconsiderations. We have six city manager agenda items. Pleasure of the city council. Are there items that you would like to pull? Councilor Zusy.

Number two, please.

Number two?

Yep. Anyone else? Yes, Councilor Nolan? Number six.

Number six? Hearing no one else. Oh, go ahead. Councilor Al-Zubi?

Madam Mayor, I'd like to poll number three.

Number three? Okay. So far we've pulled number two, number three, and number six. I do not see anyone on the other items, so we can go ahead and do a roll call on city manager agenda items number one. and five, and we'll do a roll call.

Councilor Al-Zubi?

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem? 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.

Those City Manager agenda items have been adopted, placed on file. We'll go to City Manager agenda item number two. Communication transmitted from Yan Huang, City Manager. Relative to a Surveillance Technology Impact Report for the Open Architect Student Data Platform. Councilor Zusy?

Thank you, Mayor Siddiqui. Sounds like this surveillance technology that wasn't included in the report could be very useful, but I'm wondering if it's worth $44,000 annually because it seems like teachers... would already know this data. So what my questions are, what would it tell them that they wouldn't know otherwise? And would this information be available to after-school teachers and to tutors?

City Manager?

Through you, Mayor Siddiqui, I believe we have Lee McCann from the school department online to answer any questions.

Yes, thank you very much. So excellent question. This platform does provide a set of efficiencies by having all of these tools that a teacher would need in one platform. It also allows us to bring in different types of data that would not necessarily be available directly and readily at the teacher's hands, as well as providing administrators throughout the district with The ability to see and make data decisions informed with data to provide the kind of educational Equity, applying the resources that we have to the problems that we see. So we do think it's worth the $44,000. We also believe that

Over time, we may be able to reduce costs in other platforms as this becomes a mainstay of how we look at, visualize, and act on data.

Yeah, thank you so much for that. And again, through you, Mayor Siddiqui. So would after school teachers and tutors also have access to this data? It seems as though it could be useful.

We have not talked about that yet. I don't think we have a decision on that. That would be something we would talk about with the superintendent and those after-school programs, probably the OST office.

Okay, sounds great. Will I support the trial? And it'll be interesting to see how useful this technology is to our teachers and to our students. Thank you so much.

We have a few questions. I'll go to Councilor Al Zubi and then Councilor Nolan.

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, I know we have an upcoming annual surveillance report hearing on May 20th, so I'd just love to go ahead and motion to refer this to the committee for a discussion before approval.

Al-Zubi has made a motion to send this to the Public Safety Committee. We'll have a discussion. I have a few hands. So, Councilor Nolan, Councilor McGovern, and then Vice Mayor Azeem.

Thank you, Mayor Siddiqui. I am happy to have this referred. I'm asking some questions that either they can be answered here or will be referred. I don't know what the appropriate protocol is for... I'm interested in how this interfaces. We have a lot of different information systems in the public schools. We have been trying to rationalize them, streamline them, make sure that there's not disparate Zuzi also mentioned we want this to be integrated with I think that's a really important element of this. I want to understand how that will work. The other is how does the platform handle ownership of materials?

In the past there's been some concern that a student and so forth. and finally on the budget, I'd love to see more thorough understanding of how that works. It doesn't really make sense to me because the cost for any program is never just the software. If your budget for software implementation doesn't include support, training, maintenance, and oversight, then it's not a full budget. It's really important that the school department understand that and calculate that and understand how it is that will be integrated because we would be remiss in approving an appropriation that only covers the cost of the software. and knowing that we also have to include what other implications for the rest of, particularly on staff time, is for this.

And if it's not additional staff, then that means that staff will not be doing other work. So those are the questions I had and I'm not sure if it's appropriate. I think we can get them on the record.

I'll continue on to the other city councillors. Councillor McGovern.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. My only question about the amendment is, is there some time restraint on this delaying the vote tonight? Is that going to impact anything?

Through you, Madam Mayor, there's no specific time frame under the surveillance ordinance for the council to act, but so I would direct the question to the schools on if there's any specific logistical constraints, time constraints.

Thank you and through you to the committee. It's currently under a pilot. It is our plan to purchase in July. So a significant delay would put us behind a timeline. Can you repeat that?

So if this is discussed at the May 20th meeting, you're saying that that would cause you a delay?

No, May 20th would be fine. I'm sorry. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I yield.

Vice Mayor? So not everyone is on the committee. So my question was just, this will make it back to the city council, not just stay in committee?

That's, yeah. That's what's going to happen.

Thank you.

So the motion is to refer this agenda item number two to the Public Safety Committee. So we'll go ahead and do a roll call.

Councilor Al-Zubi? Yes.

Further. And then we can have further discussion. That's just. Yes, Councilor Nolan.

Yeah, I just, maybe I'm not understanding. It says we're piloting the program. Can you pilot a program that involves surveillance without the city council having approved it in advance?

Point of information, Madam Mayor.

Yes, Councilor Simmons, state your point of information.

I'm just unclear. I thought you called for a vote. If you called for a vote, I had no conversation or debate could continue, not unless the person, not to withdraw the process of the vote.

We're going to move on to referral, and then we'll come back to Councilor Nolan's question. And, Solicitor, you can share your thoughts on that.

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.

This has been referred. Councilor Nolan had a question about this pilot.

Thank you, through you, Madam Mayor. I don't have the information about whether this is being used presently through the pilot, and we can get more information from... Mr. McCann. However, the surveillance ordinance does require that the council approve even before When there isn't a purchase, but that could have been potentially how this fell through the cracks, if that's the case. If there wasn't a purchase, but potentially a free pilot, that may have been why it didn't come to the council before, but I'm not certain.

Yes, Councilor Nolan.

I don't think the surveillance technology ordinance requires a purchase. It's just any kind of something that's used. So if this is being piloted without pre-approval by the council, that strikes me as something we need to address.

To the solicitor, we can follow up and check on that. But I agree if this fell through, then we need to figure out what happened. But for now, it's going to be further discussed at the May 20th public safety meeting. So that's been referred. We'll move on to city manager agenda item number three. This is a communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, city manager, relative to a supplier diversity update. Councilor Al-Zubi?

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, I just wanted to note for this specific update that if this hasn't happened yet, I really would suggest asking a recent contractor what it was like to be onboarding to be a vendor. I don't have a particular question, more so a suggestion to ask them what could we be doing better if that hasn't been done yet, because I'd imagine there are structural challenges and listening to people who are facing barriers or went through the process would probably be helpful in our progress on this and want to thank you for the update. I'll yield.

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, I think parties and I can both partially answer your question. I think for the onboarding part of things, what we found is working in A collaboration with CDD on a lot of the vendor trainings that they offer that's a piece of where the purchasing department is able to reach out and provide information to vendors Thank you. Thank you. has already had a great impact on the number of vendors and the wider reach that the city has in making it able for vendors to do business with the city without even having to show up to drop off a live bid.

The post-survey for after the trainings that we do?

Or after they... Yeah. Or after they receive the contract.

We don't do the post-survey with vendors yet. but that's something that we can implement as we're actively beginning to implement sort of a survey with the departments who have received services from vendors in keeping with a different and many more. So if we can get both of those surveys aligned, I think that will give us information. We do get feedback from vendors not post-contract, but at a lot of the trainings that CDD holds to ask them what are your pain points with dealing with the city and I think we get consistent answers on what those pain points are and the city's been trying to address each one as we go along. Some are more complicated than others.

Councilor Al-Zubi?

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, that's definitely helpful to hear, and I appreciate you sharing that. It would be good to understand, like, what are some of those main pain points that come up. If there are, like, one to two main ones that you guys have seen, I'd be curious to hear a little bit more about that, but otherwise, can you...

Through you, Mayor, I think we are trying to resolve that. I think one pain point we find as well as vendors is getting certified. So that's why we started the partnership with the city of Boston, because they already have an easier certification process in the state. And our small business specialist, Tyrone Fells, works closely to help people and provide technical assistance. but you know there is paperwork that we we have no control over that they have to get but we do try to help them with that process and I think the other thing is demystifying the whole procurement process, especially for projects over 10K, which require more formal bid process. Liz can correct me if I'm wrong. And I think that's where we've partnered with purchasing to provide this kind of training to say, like, what should you expect? What does a bid look like?

Thank you for joining us. mute the state law requirements as well as make it easier for businesses.

Councilor Al-Zubi, set. Any other questions on this? Yes, Councilor Zusy.

I don't have a question. I just wanted to say great work. It's amazing what you've accomplished over the last year. Thank you so much.

Seeing no further comments, thank you. We'll go ahead on a motion by Councilor Al-Zubi to go ahead and place this on file. City Manager Agenda Item 3 will 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.

City Manager Agenda Item Number... 3 is placed on file. We'll move on to City Manager Agenda Item No. 6. This is a communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to appointments to the Conservation Commission effective May 4, 2026. Councilor Nolan, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mayor Siddiqui, and through you, thank you to the team, whoever put this group together. The Conservation Commission is a pretty important commission when it comes to much of the work we do. But a third of the city is basically on a form of floodplain or swamp. And this conservation commission, anytime there's a project that involves those kinds of wetlands protections is involved. I pulled it just to say I really appreciated the information about the background of both the appointment, the reappointment, and the associate members. And my question was, I was just curious, it was noted that there were 12 applicants and five were selected for interviews. So I was just curious, how is it that the city goes through the process of choosing those folks for the Interviews and then how it is that they go through to choose the people that are being recommended to the council for us to vote on tonight.

Through you, Madam Mayor, I do want to say that the Conservation Commission Director, Jen Letourneau, is online, and I'm sure Jen will be able to answer this better than I can. But we do go, I mean, once we get all of our applications in, it's similar to our other committees. We'll go through the backgrounds that they've submitted. We'll do interview questions with them and then they'll narrow it down based on that and continue to have a diverse group of people from different backgrounds. And I think we've described it in the document where You know, the folks that have been, that we're appointing all really have different backgrounds and really can add to some of the things that you've talked about, which is, you know, making sure we're protecting our wetlands and our other water bodies. I don't know if Jen is online. Jen, if you want to add to that?

Thank you, Commissioner Nargon, Jen Letourneau, Senior Engineer, Conservation Commission Director for the City. Through you to Councilor Nolan, thank you so much for pulling this. I want to just say thank you to everybody who works really hard. and the city manager's office, getting these jobs posted, making sure we get absolutely every applicant to evaluate So, Councilor Nolan, specifically to your question, so I take all of the names, I put it in a spreadsheet, and I go through the questions of do they have Conservation Commission-specific experience? Do they have Wetlands Protection Act experience? Any regulatory work experience, any environmental work or experience professionally or personally. So I go through and I read everybody's cover letter and resumes and then create this, fill in this spreadsheet and then

working with Jennifer Matthews in the city manager's office and our interview team, which included Kevin Butel, supervising landscape architect, Cara Felice, Professional Engineer, Lena Frappier, who's our project administrator here at DPW, and myself. Finalize the interviews. Refer back to Jennifer Matthews for those to get those corrected. And then, you know, tweaking the interview questions. as we go through that, highlighting who's interviewed and then going through the interview questions. Everybody was interviewed for approximately 30 minutes. We really got to know them pretty well. and then after that we met separately and made recommendations that we again went back through Jennifer Matthews to make sure we were filling the full commission.

I will add to this that in in 2024 we added associate memberships and this is the first time that we were able to have someone on board as an associate membership for one year that really got trained and in this round of interviews is now being up to become a full member so that is great for us to develop a much deeper bench of people ready for the commission.

Councilor Nolan. Thank you. I really appreciate it. And as I said, to have a chemical engineer, an active person who's gone through the Conservation Commission fundamentals, an aquatic ecologist. and a hydrologist. That's the kind of expert. This is the commission where we really need that. And yet we also have neighborhood residents who understand the city as well with those expertise. So those are my questions. They've been answered and I yield. Thank you. And thanks. I echo what was said in that I really appreciate to all of these people on this commission, it's a volunteer, one of those other very important volunteer positions and I'm grateful. Thank you, I yield.

Any other questions on this? Hearing none, on a motion by Councilor Nolan to approve the appointments and place city manager agenda item number six on file, we'll do a roll call.

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

We are done with the city manager's agenda. We'll go to policy orders and resolutions. We have three policy orders. Pleasure of the city council.

Mayor Siddiqui.

Councillor Nolan.

Number two and three.

Number two and three. Yes, Councilor McGovern, and number one. We will go to policy order number one. This is recognizing May as National Water Safety Month. This was filed by Councilor McGovern and myself. Councilor McGovern?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just wanted to bring attention to this as opposed to just passing it on a voice vote. Drowning, we're entering warmer weather, right? And they're going to be, our pools will be opening soon and Thank you very much. of unintentional injury-related death for children through the age of 14. We do a lot of programs in Cambridge, so I just wanted to bring it to folks' attention. I encourage people who have children to take a look at those programs, swimming lessons, safety lessons. and to educate themselves on water safety for their kids. So I just wanted to just highlight it a little bit as we enter this month before it gets too warm. Thank you.

Thank you. Councilor Flaherty.

And through you, Madam Mayor, I'd ask to be added as a sponsor to this. I think it's critically important that young kids learn to swim. It's a fundamental, fundamental skill. that every child should learn early on in their life. And, you know, as a person, not that it's important, but I swam my whole life and was a lifeguard myself. I've been involved in situations where it's A critically important skill to know and having spent so much time in the water and seeing young kids who want to learn Maybe you're curious, it becomes a significant safety issue. None of us need to be reminded of the tragedies that we've encountered in our region over the last couple of years. So I'd like to be added as a sponsor. I think it's critically important. Thank you. I yield.

Absolutely, and thank you, Councilor McGovern, for bringing this forward. We'll go ahead on a motion to add Councilor Flaherty as a co-sponsor to 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.

On the policy order as amended, we'll go ahead and do a roll call to adopt.

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

Policy Rule Number 1 as amended is adopted. We'll go to Policy Rule Number 2. That the City Council go on record, calling upon President Trump to immediately rescind Executive Order 14380, immediately enter meaningful negotiations with the Cuban government with the goal of ending the United States oil embargo and carry out his foreign policy agenda with respect to the wishes of the people of the United States and in accordance with international law. This was filed by Councilor Serena-Wheeler, Councilor McGovern, and Councilor Al-Zubi. This was pulled by Councilor Nolan. We will go ahead to the lead motion maker here, Councilor Serena-Wheeler.

Thanks Madam Mayor, through you, I'm excited to be introducing this and I want to thank the co-sponsors, Councilor McGovern and Councilor Al-Zubi. First, I want to speak to the connection to Cambridge on this. We have heard in public comment and I've heard many times before we have residents with deep ties to Cuba. We have residents who are Cuban-American, residents with family who are still in Cuba, residents who have friends there, folks who have visited many times and have loved ones and deep connections there. It's also tied to issues that Cambridge has worked on for a long time, including immigrant rights and human rights. Think back to the founding of the Peace Commission decades ago, which came out of the work that Cambridge residents were doing in international solidarity with El Salvador. This is an issue in another country. It is also an issue that Cambridge residents care for and has been deeply tied to the work that Cambridge residents have been doing in the city for decades. This policy order is also about the dire situation currently of the blockade preventing medicine and

desperately needed things to the folks in Cuba tied to the moment we're in where our president has threatened to invade Cuba the way he has done with Venezuela and Iran and really standing at a precipice moment and demanding that our voices weigh in on that. I also want to be clear and clarify that this policy order does not say anything about the Cuban government. Nothing about Fidel Castro, nothing about that. For any counselors who might have concerns about that, it's intentionally not about the Cuban government. It is about Thank you. Thank you. I profoundly disagree with many of the things our government has done right now and the actions that our government is taking. And I also would not want our country to be

Blockaded by China or Russia or Canada or some other country and have the damaging consequences that would do to our hospitals and to medicine and to the residents who depend on them. I also just want to address the critique preemptively that comes up any time we weigh in on things that aren't solely in Cambridge's borders. We weigh in all the time on things our state government does on state bills. When the federal government cut SNAP, we weighed in on that. We have weighed in on the Trump administration's actions on trans rights and abortion rights and immigrant rights. I actually think about the the item we passed right before this policy order number one recognizing may as national water safety month was weighing in on a national issue And we did that because it is an issue that affects Cambridge residents the same as this one does. And in my mind, this is as common sense as not National Water Safety Month is. The blockade does not make any sense. It is a damaging thing. that our national government is doing in the name of Cambridge residents.

And that's just the last piece here is in addition to the ties to the many Cambridge residents, this has been maintained for decades across both Republican administrations, Democratic administrations. That's part of the reason it's gone on so long is because Our federal government has said this is the thing that shouldn't be controversial, that everybody in the United States agrees with, and this resolution is one small thing we can do to say No, we do not all agree with this. The people in Cambridge profoundly disagree with this. This does not make any sense. This is damaging. You're not doing this in our name to maintain this blockade. So I hope we can pass this resolution and move forward with this tonight.

I have a few people. I'm going to Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Al-Zubi, and then Vice Mayor Azeem. and then this corner.

Right. Okay. Thank you. I agree. You know, this federal government actions vis-a-vis Cuba is wrong and unethical. Full stop. It's terrible. I have celebrated in past work the incredible literacy, environmental, and healthcare outcomes in Cuba, which we heard about in public comment. And that should frankly be emulated here and elsewhere. They are far ahead of us in many areas. and in fact I was on the lead sponsor on the PO reference from 2021. My son since then spent a month there, loved learning about the country. Several years ago I actually facilitated bringing people from Cuba to CRLS and set up meetings in the city about potential healthcare and medical technology related collaboration between Cuba, Cambridge, Kendall Square, Massachusetts and the US. So I am 100% in support. We should support the people of Cuba and the blockade, normalize relations with that country. And I believe all of us, all residents, including Councilors, should take a stand and support Cuba. I've signed the Let the Cuba Live partition.

and I do not believe that the City Council should deliberate or use time during regular business meetings on foreign policy issues, which I see this as. Those issues are great topics for other types of meetings, community activism, organizing, not for our regularly municipal business meetings like tonight. I believe we should be focused at our regular business meetings on matters that more closely align with our municipal goals, our needs and directly affect our residents. and unlike my colleagues, I see this as fundamentally different from the resolution that we just passed on Water Safety Month because that's about educating Cambridge residents about that critically important issue about water safety. So I will be voting present. Councillor Simmons?

Thank you to the chair, to my colleagues. While I doubt that the good intentions of my colleagues in introducing this order, it touches upon issues that the council has discussed in previous years. If the council wants to go on record in urging its congressional representatives to support pending legislation, that's fair game and is fairly standard. But policy orders like this one that seek to directly deal with foreign policy are a poor use of our time. The City Council has no role in setting or influencing U.S. foreign policy any more than the United States House of Representatives has a role in influencing curb cuts in Cambridge. We need to be respectful, not just for the lines of jurisdiction, but also people's time. The sponsors of this order doubtlessly have the best of intentions, and I doubt anyone in this meeting disagrees with the sentiment behind the order. But the energy spent in bringing this order could be better spent picking up the phone and calling Representative Clark, Representative Presley and asking them to sponsor something like this at the federal level.

And I'm sure that they'll be happy to take our phone call from any of the members of this council. And so for me, given those, my statement, I will be voting present but not voting. Thank you. I yield the floor.

We'll go to Councilor Al-Zubi and then Vice Mayor Azeem and then Councilor Flaherty.

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, I do feel like this order is pretty simple, but addresses a very important value. By calling for the rescission of the executive order and a meaningful engagement with Cuba, we advocate for a path that's rooted in dignity and international law. and we as a body have an ability to speak up when we can and I don't think that we should just switch up what we have, the legacy that we've built in the past today. And as others have noted, this council has demonstrated its courage by standing up for Cuba in the past, passing multiple policy orders that speak to advocacy for Cuba, whether it's on removing Cuba from the state sponsors of terrorism list, or supporting medical and scientific collaboration with Cuba or ending the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Also, we've established a sister city with Cuba in 2005. The embargo itself has made it difficult to maintain that relationship, but there is hope when we collectively work together to advocate for sovereignty and a stop to unwelcome foreign intervention that is meant to perpetuate so much harm to vulnerable people.

So I do think we should show solidarity with the people of Cuba. They're known for their vibrant culture and warm hospitality, and we should be clear that our values don't stop at one border or just in our city. wherever people are subjected to collective punishment, wherever entire populations are denied basic rights and self-determination, we have a responsibility to speak up. I'll yield.

We'll go to Vice Mayor Azeem.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. So for my first two terms on the city council, I kept on saying that I don't think that we should be dealing with foreign policy. I don't think it's our area of expertise. and quite frankly, I still think that. I think that these distract from the work. I think that whatever impact we think that we are having, In fact, most of the press, A, doesn't cover it, but B, if they do, it is not always in a positive light. There's a sense perhaps in other municipalities that We have a sense that we know how to run not only our own city, but also foreign policy in this big way. And it's not something that I personally feel like has a positive impact. At the same time, I've tried in my first two terms to say that we shouldn't do foreign policy, and my colleagues have not agreed. And every time I vote no on these policy orders, people feel like I disagree with them on the merits. And so I would say, since we've set up the rules this way, I will vote for this tonight.

But I think that if people want to change the way that we do things, that would be fine going... We'll go to Councillor Flaherty.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and through you, I'd like the record to reflect that I also will be voting present on this policy order and any other policy order that deals with international issues or matters of foreign policy like this. that don't directly relate to the local issues that confront our taxpayers and residents on a daily basis and other matters over which we have neither the subject matter jurisdiction or personal jurisdiction to deal with. I really hope that no one interprets this as any signal of my support or lack of support for any of the issues that are brought through by these policy orders I'm sure I've read the same papers and watched many of the same news reports that the people who spoke at public comment do. But I'm very acutely aware that I was elected to serve the residents of Cambridge

who are concerned with matters like snow removal, whether a hearn field should be turf or natural grass, whether the resident permit parking fee should be increased to $75 while we eliminate a senior exemption. and our impending increase in property taxes that look like it just might be necessary to continue to deliver the gold standard of services that this city delivers. So I move that we refer this policy order to the Government Operations Committee. for a hearing to determine whether or not this policy order or anyone like it, which does not bear directly on local issues, should be appropriately or not appropriately brought

before the council, especially in light of the fact that in that committee we're discussing our use of our time and whether or not we should be bifurcating these council hearings. So I so move.

So Councilor Flaherty has moved to send this policy order to the Government Relations Committee. We can have discussion on that. If it passes, it'll pass. But if it fails, then we'll resume discussion and vote up or down. On the policy order, I do have Councilor Zusy and Councilor McGovern who would like to speak. on the policy order itself. But right now, because there was a motion, we have to discuss that motion. So, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler.

Thanks Madam Mayor, just briefly to that motion. I think very happy to have a discussion in the Government Operations Committee or the Council about what topics to consider. We had that discussion last term about whether foreign policy or other topics should be a thing the council considers. Happy to have a discussion. It is a new council. I would just suggest that that conversation could happen separately from the policy order. I think it is a little... Self-defeating to say we shouldn't talk more about this policy order and then refer it to committee so that we can talk more about it. That committee would then get referred back to the council where we would discuss even more about it. If the goal is to not talk more about this, this is going to lead to two or three more conversations about this specific policy order. So I would suggest maybe withdraw that and You could put in a separate motion or we could craft an agenda about this topic, but not the specific policy order. Let's just try to get this policy order done tonight. I'll be back.

So if it's something new, I'll go to you, but I would suggest we vote this up or down, the motion, unless you're going to withdraw.

Well, I just wanted to refer to the suggestion that it be withdrawn. I appreciate the suggestion but I also appreciate everyone's time here and I think that that's a critical issue that we should discuss and if we're going to continue to bring these types of policy orders Maybe that's something that warrants a hearing at the Government Operations Committee so we can make a determination whether or not these things will be continually bought. Thank you very much. and I think if we've got a policy order that clearly this city council has neither subject matter jurisdiction or personal jurisdiction over this Well, it was just to come to clarity.

Sorry.

I don't want this to be just a back and forth. There's folks who want to speak on the amendment, so I'll go to those folks, and then let's just vote this motion up or down. Councilor McGovern.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll speak on the amendment, but depending on the vote, if you come back to me, that would be great. You know, I'm not going to vote in favor of referring. A couple things. I think... I would say that a couple things that I also would say that Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

We have an obligation to make statements about the values that we have to let our congressional delegation know how we feel as a council. We have done it. I think we do have that. Now, I do think that there are some times when what we are doing has a Thank you very much. I do have another comment in general, but I'll yield for this vote on referral. But I will not support referring it. I just think we should put it to bed tonight.

Zusy. Thank you, Madam Mayor. So what I wonder is, it seems like maybe What we discussed at a government relations meeting would be the broader issue. Maybe if we want to change our council rules or add something to our council rules that says that we don't discuss policy Foreign Policy Issues before the Council. It seems like maybe that could be the Subject of that meeting. I think so maybe the government relations meeting would have a broader focus because I do feel like Addressing this, I understand there's a history of the council making proclamations about issues relating to foreign affairs, but I do think it does take our time and there are a lot of things that we should be focusing on.

So I worry about the precedent of advancing this policy order, but that's what I wonder is whether we should be talking about... The broader issue of the discussion of foreign affairs at council meetings and whether that's an appropriate use of our time.

So I'll just share that I won't be supporting the referral. I know that as chair of government ops, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler has. I think several times asked the body on various rule changes and suggestions. I'd rather just vote on this tonight, and so I'm not supporting the motion. Anyone who'd like to speak on the motion before we vote? Councilor Al-Zubi.

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, I understand and recognize my colleagues saying that city councils don't control national foreign policy. but councils themselves routinely pass resolutions on global issues like we have a legacy. So I am not understanding the sentiment, this aura that we're switching this up potentially after a legacy of building that. That's actually very worrisome to me. us as representatives we represent our values and our concerns of our residents not just when it comes to snow removal but also when it comes to how people feel about what's going on abroad because they might themselves Be Cuban, or they might themselves have a tie, whether it's familial, whether it's economically, whether it's from a human rights perspective. It's not outside of our role to acknowledge or take a position on this. It's part of representing the people that you serve. I'll yield.

Councilor Nolan?

Thanks. Understand the concern about referring, which would be my preference, I think, but I'm not sure, so instead I'll exercise my charter right.

Councilor Nolan has exercised her charter right, which means this will get continued to the next meeting. We'll go ahead to policy order number three. This is that the city manager is requested to confer with relevant city staff to review city ordinances. regulating the operation of food vendors in city parks. This was followed by Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor McGovern, Vice Mayor Azeem, and myself. This was pulled by Councilor Nolan. We'll go to Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler.

Thanks, Vladimir. Through you, this policy order, I'm glad to have the support from the co-sponsors on, is about supporting local businesses, including immigrant-owned businesses and family-run businesses that are a lot of the food vendors we see in parks. around the country including here in Massachusetts. Boston, where vendors already operate in Boston Common and some of their other parks offers a range of options such as pastry, coffee, street food. It really contributes to the vibrancy and the welcomingness of those public places. and talking this over with city staff. Our current city ordinances don't allow for this in any parks across the city and it's been something the city has been thinking about for a while. This policy order, to be clear, doesn't ask for a specific change at this time. What it asks for is city staff to look at this and come back to the city council with A range of policy options to consider around allowing food vendors in public parks and spaces. Those options could then be considered holistically by the city council and its committees alongside engagement with Cambridge residents Local businesses and community organizations.

So this policy order would be a first step towards a broader discussion and I hope we can move forward with it tonight. I yield back.

Councillor Nolan, you pulled this.

Thank you. I'm totally excited about us moving forward with this and pulled it partly so that just to echo everything that Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler said to be added to it.

Councilor Al-Zubi?

I would also like to be added to it as well.

Thank you.

Anyone else? Councilor Zusy?

Yeah, I'm open to this, but I know we have a very effective food truck program, and I wonder, so I guess at the report back, I'll be curious to know, like, Boston has some really big parks, like You know, they've got Franklin Park, they've got the Common, they've got the Public Gardens. It seems like this would be for big parks, not pocket parks. I know we already have ice cream trucks at Magazine Beach. But I don't know. Anyway, so I'm open to exploring this, but I worry a little bit about trash. I worry about rats. And I wonder if our food truck program doesn't already provide for the food and vitality that you're asking for here. But again, I'm open to it, but it'll be interesting to see what the city says.

I don't see anyone else who would like to speak to it. We can go ahead and do a roll call on adding Councilor Nolan and Councilor Al-Zubi to the policy order.

Councilor Al-Zubi, yes. Vice Mayor Azeem, yes. Councilor Flaherty, yes. Yes, Councilor McGovern? Absent. Councilor Nolan? Yes. Councilor Simmons? Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler?

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Siddiqui? Yes. Yes. And you have eight members recording the affirmative and one recorded as absent.

Nolan and Councilor Al-Zubi have been added and I'll just say that this is I think really exciting and to the point around there being a food truck program I think that's been popular but Thank you for watching! Al-Zubi.

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

Policy Rule Number 3, as amended, is adopted. We'll go on to the Charter Right. This Charter Right was exercised by Councillor Simmons last meeting. From that meeting, we also had an amendment that was from Councilor Al-Zubi, which is in your packet. I know that we also have an amendment by Councilor Simmons, so we'll first go to Councilor Simmons.

I thank you, Madam Mayor. Last week, I exercised my child right in this matter because I wanted a little bit more time to think through the implications of the order. Nigel believes there is a value in having good information in front of us. Housing is one of our most urgent issues facing the city and we should always be willing to look carefully at who is being served, who is being left out, and where the gaps remain. At the same time, I want to be very clear that any study or review we authorize should inform our housing work, not slow it down. The council has already taken significant votes on housing and zoning, including the affordable housing overlay, the multifamily housing ordinance, and other recent zoning changes. Those decisions were made after long public processes and they should continue to move forward. The language I'm offering is intended to make that clear. This amendment says that the order should be understood to be as a tool for informed housing policy.

It should not be treated as a request to pause, delay, or revisit the implementation of zoning ordinances that have already been adopted. It also asks that any review or study be conducted in a way that does not delay the review, permitting, funding, or construction of housing including market rate, mixed income, inclusionary, and 100% affordable housing except where that is required by law. I think this is a reasonable clarification. It allows us to gather useful information while also making clear that Cambridge must continue moving forward on housing production. The amendment language I'm offering is as follows, and I don't know because I know Ms. Stefan is out today. So I'm just going to read its brief. That for the avoidance of doubt, this order is intended to support

informed housing policy and should not be understood as a request to endorse by the City Council to pause, delay, or revisit the implementation of duly adopted zoning ordinances, including but not limited to the affordable housing overlay. the Multifamily Housing Ordinance, and Andy recently adopted zoning amendments affecting Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge Street, and other residential districts and bid for the order that the city manager be and is hereby requested. to ensure that any review, analysis or study undertaken pursuant to this order is conducted in a manner that does not delay the acceptance, review, permitting, approval, funding, advancement or construction of any pending a future market rate mixed income inclusionary or 100% affordable housing development in the city of Cambridge except for otherwise required by law. So I'm offering that as an amendment and I will yield the floor.

So Councilor Simmons has that amendment. We can have discussion on it, and then I say we go either vote it up or down, and then we have Councilor Al-Zubi's amendment as well to handle afterwards. and it's 726 for those who want to know. Councilor Zusy.

I am open to the first ordered. The intent of the policy order I think the second-ordered... is inappropriate because who knows what we're going to learn and the whole reason to do the housing study that would build on information we already have from the updated inclusionary housing study and incentive zoning study would be to analyze what our needs are and those needs might inform They should inform policy going forward. So I think to make a commitment not to change existing policy no matter what the results yield, would be, that's crazy.

So again, I think the first order is okay. Again, the intention is not to... Thank you very much. I could not agree to that because, again, the whole goal of doing this analysis is to have new data to guide us to make best decisions for the city. Thank you. I yield.

We can go to Councilor Al-Zubi and then Councilor McGovern.

Yeah, thank you through you, Madam Mayor. For Councilor Simmons' amendment, I will be voting present because the language in the amendment, as I understand it, doesn't hold some of the nature of what our council's been working on. Like, for example... The language saying it shall not be understood as a request or endorsement by the City Council to pause, delay, or revisit the implementation of duly adopted ordinances doesn't necessarily makes sense because we just revisited Mass Ave and Cambridge Street in terms of retail, so I... I just, I don't see myself supporting this because it just doesn't hold some of the nature of what we've been working on as a council. I'll yield.

Councilor McGovern.

Thank you. Just a quick point to come through you, Madam Mayor, to Councilor Al-Zubi. We didn't revisit the retail on Mass Ave and Cambridge Street. That was purposely done separately from what we passed in December. So it was always the intent that it would be brought up after the housing was dealt with because there were some issues with how the ordinance was posted and what could be talked about and what didn't. wasn't talked about. So they were separate things. But I will support these, and I hear Councilor Zusy's point about that the intent of this I am going to vote for the study, although I have some questions, particularly around how much it's going to cost and hiring an outside vendor and whatnot. But I think we are getting... I think it's important to be clear with the public about what the intent is and is not.

And we are getting emails from people saying pass this study to stop Thank you very much. Thank you very much. This is about doing a study to gather more information. I'm fine with that. But it is not meant to put the brakes on what we're already doing unless what comes back in that study tells us we should be doing something different. So I will support both of these amendments or this amendment with both of these new orders. Thank you. Madam Mayor.

We'll go to Councilor Flaherty and then Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler and then Vice Mayor Azeem.

For you, Madam Chair, and that's why I think the amendment should be supported because it's very clear by the language in the amendment, Councilor Simmons has made it very clear that this is a parallel project, parallel to everything that's happening, and she says it in the last Thank you very much. I was going to call the question on the amendment.

So you're moving to call the question? Okay. So Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler is going to call the question, so that is non-debatable, so we have to go ahead and vote on that and then go to voting on the amendment directly. Okay.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor Zusy,

Yes.

Yes, Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, and you have nine members recorded in the affirmative.

We will go to Councilor Simmons' amendments.

No.

That should have been Councilor Simmons' amendments. No, we have to call the plan.

Oh, we did that first. Okay, sorry. Al-Zubi, present, Vice Mayor Azeem, yes, Councilor Flaherty, yes, Councilor McGovern, yes, Councilor Nolan, yes, Councilor Simmons, yes, Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy.

No.

No, Mayor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, and you have seven members recorded in the affirmative, one recorded in the negative, and one recorded as present.

The amendments have passed, so now we'll move to Councilor Lazzubi's amendment. Councilor Lazzubi?

Thank you. Through you, Madam Mayor, as I mentioned last meeting, I do think we would need to have new information and for it to be more focused. And I noted that because we have a lot of data like I brought up the neighborhood statistical profile and the Cambridge housing profile, development logs as examples, but, like, As an example on key data we're missing, we don't have much concrete data in relation to displacement. So this amendment is kind of working on proposing an assessment of what the pros and cons of this are and what key data gaps that CDD doesn't have that we could.

Thank you.

Zusy.

Well, can we put the amendment on the screen, please, for starters? Yep, I'm pulling it up right now. Okay, thank you. And I just wanted to make sure that you saw the Memo that my wonderful aide Natalie Sandoval created that sort of addresses some of your concerns, Councilor Al-Zubi. So in this memo, she documents, she assesses what sort of data we got from the inclusionary housing study in 1998 and what sort of information we got in the incentive zoning study in 2012. 15, so that was a while ago. And then she comes up with a list of the information that we don't have that would be useful for analysis. So I feel like she's done the preliminary assessment that you're proposing here.

And I wanted to add, in addition to the different categories that Natalie has outlined, mostly on page two, It seems like in assessing future housing need, again, we might want to think about SROs, cooperative housing. Rooming Houses, Housing with Common Kitchens and Bathrooms, and University Housing, along with what Natalie lists. So obviously, we'd want to do an analysis of existing data. and then we would want to assess and we would want to sort of build on what we learned from the inclusionary housing study and the updated incentive zoning study and then fill in the gaps to assess our need. And I realize maybe this should be delayed until Thank you.

Thank you. This would fill in missing gaps and could inform future policy and appropriation of funds in significant ways. Thank you. I yield.

Other comments on this amendment? Yes, Vice Mayor.

Thank you. I just wanted to thank Councilor Al-Zubi for her amendment. I think this is great. I think that my biggest fear is not that we do the study. I think that the study is a good thing to do. Thank you. This particular sort of information and it will inform and drive our decision making. And I just see this as clarifying and really strengthening that. and also that if, like I said last time, if we get that before the study results come out and all of us agree like, hey, yes, we want to listen to this, it will inform our decision making. Before we see the results, I think it holds us to a higher standard of honesty. of like we really meant it when we wanted to and even if we don't like the results, I'll say this as myself as well, you know, I will take them into account. So I think that's a good idea.

Councilor Nolan?

Thank you. Through you, Mayor Siddiqui. Yes, I agree. This is an appropriate amendment, as well as the initial plea for a housing study. And I also appreciate the memo from... Zuzi about why it is that we need this and it seems in some ways daunting there's so much information and yet we do need this is major policy across the city so we need to understand Flaherty.

So the amendment's asking for a memo that tells us the pros and cons in a memo about whether we should do the study. Is that right? Do I understand that correctly? Am I confusing myself?

I'll have Councilor Al-Zubi answer.

So the amendment itself is is asking for pros and cons of options for a housing study. I myself am actually also supportive of the underlying policy order that you're putting on the floor, Councilor Zusy. It's more so us better understanding from CDD What are going to be the pros and cons of this to some extent? Because we have also a very packed year when it comes to what CDD is working on. So this is more just an assessment from their end on The operations side as well as what current data do we not have that we could have that CDD doesn't?

Anything from you, Councilor Flaherty, on the amendment?

No, I yield, I yield.

Okay. Council Member Goodwin, was that your hand up? You're good. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler.

Happy to support this. And the underlying policy order called the question on the amendment.

So, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler has called a question, so we'll do votes. We're going to go ahead and call the question and do a vote.

Al-Zubi, yes, yes, Vice Mayor Azeem, yes, Councilor Flaherty, yes, yes, Councilor McGovern, 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.

On the underlying amendment, we'll do a roll call. No, we're doing this amendment. And then we'll get to the PO.

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

Yes.

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

We've disposed of the amendments that were before us. We have an amended policy order before us. Discussion before we move to adopt. Vice Mayor Azeem. All right. We're speedy. We want to get out of here by eight. I get the memo. So we're going to call the question and then vote to adopt the amended order.

Councilor Al-Zubi.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. 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.

will go ahead and vote on the amended policy order.

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

The policy order as amended has been adopted. We have done with the policy orders. We do not have anything under unfinished business to... Acton. So we'll move from there. We have no applications. We do have 154 communications. So on a motion by Councilor Simmons to place on file, we'll do a roll call. Councilor Al-Zubi?

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

The 154 communications have been placed on files. We'll move on to the resolutions. Pleasure of the City Council. On a motion by Councilor Flaherty to place these... Yes, Councilor McGovern.

I would like to pull just real quick for a quick comment of number three, please.

McGovern is poll number three. On resolutions one, two, and four, we'll go ahead and do a roll call on adopting the balance of the resolutions, making them unanimous upon adoption.

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

The consent resolutions have been adopted. We'll go to city council. We'll go to resolution number three, which is city council appreciation for Nathan Hofgen Harvey for his service as a social work intern. Councilor McGovern. Councilor McGovern.

Thank you. I just wanted to pull this because I know Nathan is watching at home with his grandmother and just wanted to thank him publicly for his work. He was a social worker for the year. Wilson for the first half and then luckily came to me in the second semester. and just was a great person to have around the office. I think everybody here knew him and he was a great team player and did a lot of research and a lot of help. He's going to make an absolutely exceptional social worker. Graham, good job watching at home, and Nathan, good job to you, and we're going to miss you. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Nathan. Yes, Councillor Flaherty.

Through you, Madam Chair, I'd like to chime in and offer him my congratulations. I know he's studying. with Professor Crowley at BU, who's a personal friend. She speaks the world about Nathan, and he's got a great future in front of him, and we're lucky to have him in our company, so very best to him.

Great. On a motion by Councilor McGovern to adopt the resolution making it unanimous upon adoption, we'll do a roll call.

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

Resolution number three has been adopted. We now move on to committee reports. There are two committee reports. Pleasure of the City Council.

Accept the report and place on file.

on a motion by Councilor Simmons to place both the community reports, to accept the reports and place them on file. We'll do a roll call.

Councilor Al-Zubi. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor Azeem. Yes. Councilor Flaherty. Yes. Yes. Councilor McGovern. Nolan, 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.

Those two reports are placed on file. We have no roundtable minutes. We will go to communications and reports from other city officers. One, we'll go ahead and do a roll call on placing that on file.

Al-Zubi, Vice Mayor Azeem, Councilor Flaherty, Councilor McGovern, Councilor Nolan, Councilor Simmons, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councilor Zusy, Yes, Mayor Siddiqui?

Yes.

Yes, and you have nine members recording the affirmative.

That communication and report from other city officers is placed on file. We do not have any late resolutions. We don't have any late policy orders. Announcements. I want to just make two announcements. I want to congratulate Vice Mayor Azeem on his wedding over the weekend. And I also want to wish Councilor Zusy a happy birthday. So two celebrations. So congratulations to both of you. Any other announcements? Yes, Councilor Simmons and then Councilor Nolan.

I just want to acknowledge and thank this week, May 4th to May 8th, is National Teacher Appreciation Week. I often say that, you know, the hand that rocks the cradle. kind of rules the world where educators rock the education cradle and they do have great impact on our children and by through this. I just want to acknowledge our teachers, not only in Cambridge, but across the United States that do yeoman's work. My daughter's a teacher, my aunt was a teacher, my Uncle was a teacher. I am not, but I commend those that choose us as a profession. So to all our teachers, you know, our gratitude.

Thank you, and through you to Councilor Simmons. Yes, my son's a teacher. Exciting, a CRLS grad who then ended up right now teaching. But what I wanted to make an announcement to remind people of is that starting tomorrow, at 9 a.m. in the chamber. There was the Finance Committee budget hearing schedule. We will be starting here at 9 o'clock. There's about half of the city department's budgets will be voted on and if any questions have been submitted then they will be discussed at that meeting prior to adoption. Then also this week on Wednesday, May 6th, there's just one department, which is the school department, and that budget hearing will be at 6 o'clock here in the chamber as well.

Councilor Zuzi.

I just wanted to mention that the Central Square Demonstration Project will have an open house at the Street Theory Collective at Central Square tomorrow night, 530 to 730.

I don't have any other announcements. We'll go ahead on a motion by Councilor Flaherty to adjourn. Do a roll call.

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

We're adjourned. Good night, everyone.