City Council - Regular Meeting

A quorum being present, I'll call tonight's November 3rd, 2025 regular meeting of the Cambridge City Council to order. The first order of business is to roll the members present, so I'm going to ask Clerk Irwin to please call the roll.

Councillor Azeem.

Present.

Present. Vice Mayor McGovern. Present. Present. Councillor Nolan. Present. Present. Councillor Siddiqui. Absent. Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Present. Present. Councillor Toner. Absent. Councillor Wilson. Absent. Councilor Zusy? Present. Present. Mayor Simmons? Present. Present. That's six members recorded as present and three recorded as absent.

Thank you. Please rise and join with the Pledge of Allegiance and pause for a moment of silence, remembering Sadie Warren, Mayor of Newton, who just recently passed, and Peter Anthony Emanuel of the Port Part of Cambridge. 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. Pursuant to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2025, adopted by the 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 have also set up Zoom teleconference for public comment. You may also view the city's meetings on the cable channel, channel 22. To speak during public comment, you must sign up at www.cambridgema.gov backslash public comment. You can also email written comments for the record to the city clerk at cityclerk at cambridgema.gov. We welcome your participation, and you can sign up until 6 p.m. Please note that the City of Cambridge audio and video records their meetings and makes it available to the public for future viewing. In addition, third parties may also be audio and video recording these meetings. Our first item for business this evening is public comment. Public comment may be made in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 30A, Section 20G in the City Council Rules 23D and 37. Once you have finished speaking, the next speaker will be called. Individuals are not permitted to cede their time. to other speakers. Please state your name and address for the record and the item you're speaking to. Given we have how many, three people?

Three people signed up.

Three people signed up. The allotted time to speak is three minutes. I will now turn it over to Naomi Stephan. Stephan, the floor is yours.

Councillor Wilson. Present. Present.

Our first speaker will be Surama Varanasi, followed by Tina Alou, then James Williamson. Surama, you have three minutes. If you can turn on the mic.

OK, hi. In my place for the three minutes, we'll be having our two union members from Harvard from security and commercial cleaning speak. So I'll let them introduce themselves.

Are they speaking? Together for three minutes. OK, very good.

Thank you to the Cambridge City Council for considering the resolution tonight in support of custodians and security officers like us. My name is Eugene Ivey, and I have worked at Harvard for approximately three years and some odd months. We are grateful to Mayor Simmons for speaking at the opening of bargaining, but after several weeks of unproductive sessions, we need as much support as possible to win a fair contract. And I'll pass it over to my coworker right here to speak with y'all for a minute.

Good evening, Mayor Simmons. Thanks for being here. My name is . I live in Everett. I work at Harvard University as a security guard since 2012. We are very much grateful for you being here. We definitely need your support. During the pandemic, we were called essential workers. We've been working, and then since then, we haven't had a fair wage increase. Me, as an immigrant, I came from West Africa, Gambia. I'm a United States citizen recently. I'm saying this because we are also looking for an improved protection for immigrant members. Recently, I was detained at New Jersey Airport as a United States citizen in Newark. for two hours. Basically they were asking me unnecessary questions, whether I brought in animals or fish, and asking me what do you do for work. So basically it was very terrifying for me. We are looking for your support if you could definitely support us for improved protection for immigrant members. Thank you very much.

And just for a few final words, I would just like to say that we're just looking for fair and equitable wages that reflect society at this point in time. The inflation is rising, but the cost of living is just too much right now for us to bear in doing this. This is dangerous work as... we can know from the incident that happened over the weekend at Harvard. It's not just dangerous in the labs, biomedically, but it's dangerous with the climate that we're in today. And I thank you for having us again.

Thank you for your testimony.

Thank you. Our next speaker will be Tina Alou, followed by James Williamson. Tina, you have three minutes. Please go ahead.

Good evening, my name is Tina Alou and I live at 113 and a half Pleasant Street. I'm testifying tonight on city manager agenda item two regarding a request for an appropriation of $250,000 to address food insecurity in the city. All of the food pantries in the Cambridge Food Pantry Network have seen a significant increase in numbers since January. At CEOC, we have seen our numbers go from about 150 residents coming to the pantry each week to about 300. Last week with the SNAP funding deadline approaching, we saw 355 residents. And although the administration has been forced to release SNAP funds, we have heard today that people will only be receiving half of their usual benefits, and these benefits will be delayed. This morning, Congresswoman Catherine Clark visited CEOC to hear from residents about their struggles with food insecurity. Thank you to many of you here and some of our state delegation who were able to join us. There were so many heartbreaking stories that were shared and a lot of tears were shed as people talked about the struggle to feed their children and the impact that food insecurity has on the entire family. But one thing that everyone who spoke said was how fortunate they felt to live in Cambridge, where the decision makers listened to them and care about their situations. They talked about the importance of feeling heard. But they also talked about how the city leaders don't just say that they care, but they follow through with action. This appropriation of a considerable amount of funding is a huge action of caring for our community. This funding, along with the matching amount from the Cambridge Community Foundation, will allow us to give grocery store gift cards to SNAP eligible Cambridge Public Schools families and to older adults in subsidized housing. It will also provide much needed support to our food pantries so that they can purchase additional food to meet the increased need. We're all working together to design a process to get these resources out to people as soon as possible, and I'll keep you all updated as things roll out. But for now, I want to thank the city manager and all of you for your ongoing support of our most vulnerable neighbors. This funding will help to relieve some of the distress that so many people are feeling and remind them that their community cares about them. Thank you.

Thank you for your testimony.

Councillor Siddiqui.

Present.

Present.

Our next speaker is James Williamson, followed by Heather Hoffman. James, you have three minutes. Please go ahead.

Can you hear me?

We can. Please go ahead.

Thank you. I'm going to try to bring up the agenda item. Just a second, please. Of course, the food security or insecurity situation is extremely important, and I see it's getting the attention it deserves. I want to speak to the so-called micro mobility update and mention a couple of concerns I have about that situation and I guess about the report. If you've read it, which I have, it seems like this goes, first of all, is the timing of this. was first introduced last year. I think it was Councilor Toner who asked for a legal opinion on what and how the city could regulate some of this stuff. And my first observation is it's taking an awfully long time to address what is, I think, many people agree, an extremely urgent situation. So can we speed it up a little? Is there a way for the city of Cambridge, the administration, to speed up urgently needed action about these devices? I think many people will know, have observed, if you walk around in Harvard Square these days, the electric scooters, people riding the electric scooters are just riding Willie nilly all over the place. It's just crazy. It's scary. It's dangerous. It's dangerous for all of us. And it's dangerous for them. I met somebody who had just gotten surgery for a rotator cuff injury while riding an electric scooter. And then you have the delivery people, the door dash people on the little scooters with the boxes on the back, racing down back streets the wrong way. Linear Park is now closed. Linear Park was already bad enough with just regular bicyclists, most of them, many of them. But now, even the bicyclists are complaining about the speed of... You know, the motorized devices, as they're called. So this is something I think we need a little more urgency about addressing this situation. And I'm also concerned there isn't a lot of time, but I want to point out that there seems to be a conflict here. On the one hand, regulating it and actually enforcing rules in some cases that we already have. But if you read the memo, there seem to be people who want to promote micromobility. And I think that should be carefully interrogated. Thank you. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Heather Hoffman. Heather, you have three minutes. Please go ahead.

Hello, Heather Hoffman, 213 Hurley Street. First, I would like to add my voice to the people before me have talked about the money to help address food insecurity. The situation before people started thinking that starving other people was a cool way to put pressure on others politically and was pretty awful. And it's now worked. I remind people that besides this, there are community fridges as well. If you have a little something that you aren't gonna need, take it to a community fridge because I can assure you there are people who will make use of it. With respect to our perennial, not particularly much of an update on the litigation that against the Trump administration that the city is ever so proud of. And that I think all of us support. I will remind the city that what's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander as well. And for the city and so many other residents of Cambridge to think that it is laudable and fantastic for the city to speak truth to power in the federal government, it is also vitally important for people to speak truth to the city of Cambridge. The city is not perfect and accountability is just as important for our local government as it is for the state and federal government. With respect to micro mobility, I would add to what I heard earlier that I see, I have seen people on these various motorized devices and a side note to the law department, some of us do know that there are devices that operate on electricity and not just gas power. That they're going at high speed the wrong way down the bike lanes. That's gotta be terrifying to the bike riders and I know it's terrifying to people on foot trying to get through there. And I just wonder about whether anyone proofread this report. In the middle of it, it says the special commission is holding a total of five meetings between April and November, 2025, and plans to issue its report in December, 2025. I'm pretty sure that practically all of April through November has already.

Heather, I'm sorry, your time has expired. Madam Mayor, that was all that were signed up to speak.

Okay, it's not quite six o'clock, so we'll leave public comment open. We'll move to the city manager's agenda, but we have to go, because I think, looking at the agenda.

Councilor Toner? Present.

Okay, very good. There's no submission of the record and there's no reconsiderations. So the city manager has a supplemental agenda item that he wants to bring forward. So I'm going to entertain a motion to suspend the rules to bring that forward. Let's discharge that piece first and then we can go to the regular city manager's agenda. So on a motion by Councilor Nolan to suspend the rules. Roll call, please.

Councillor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Councillor Nolan. Yes. Councillor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councillor Toner.

Yes.

Yes. Councillor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And the rules are suspended. We will now take a motion to bring forward supplemental city manager's agenda item. On bringing that forward, roll call.

Councilor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson? Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons? Yes. Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And it's on the vote of nine members, a supplemental agenda item the city manager's before us. And it reads as follows. Transmitting communication for Yi-An Huang City Manager relative to the appropriation of $138,372 funded by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services and administered by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. To the grant fund human service program salaries and wages account 33,176. And to the grant fund human service programs other ordinary maintenance account 105,196. Funds will be used to help with the heating bills during November 1st through April 30th. November 1st to 25 to April 30th of 26. City Manager, the floor is yours, or the deputy can speak, or Ms. Selmanoff, what's your preference?

Thank you, Mayor Simmons. Maybe I will just note, thank you, City Council, thank you, Mayor and City Councillors for considering this. We wanted to bring this forward since we received the contract and signed it over the weekend. Next Monday, the 10th, is a roundtable, and we wanted to make sure that we were ABLE TO HAVE ACCESS TO THIS FUNDING SO WE COULD GET IT OUT IN CASE WE NEEDED TO BECAUSE OF THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN AND SOME OF THE CHALLENGES WITH THE LOW INCOME HEATING AND ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FUNDING MORE BROADLY. IF WE DON'T ALLOCATE THE MONEY TODAY WE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NOVEMBER 17. I WILL TURN IT OVER TO ALLEN TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL CONTEXT.

Thank you. Through Madam Mayor, the contract was signed actually on Saturday, finally. And so we are now in a position to ask for appropriation of this emergency funding. And I'm here with Claudia Cruz, who many of you know, who runs our HEAP program. And right now, this funding, $5,000 of which actually is going towards client-related services. This is emergency-related funding, so it is just for people who've had their heat shut off, people who have less than an eighth, I think. Do I have that right?

Eighth of a tenth.

An eighth of a tank of oil.

Why don't you come to the table so that we don't, great. And Madam Deputy, if you could introduce her again, please.

Yeah, absolutely. This is Claudia Cruz, who for many years has run what used to be called the Low Income Heating Assistance Program. Now, the Home Energy Assistance Program. She also runs our Summer Food Program. Many of you have seen her in both contexts. This funding, and Claudia can answer any more questions, is really available. It is carryover money that the state had from the federal government. They've allocated it now to us and to the other entities across the state to allow us to take care of emergency funding. Claudia also shared with us that in addition to that, do you want to talk about the Department of Public Utilities and what they've done in terms of the shutoff?

Ms. Cruz, the floor is yours. Speak into your mic.

Oh, sorry. Thank you, Major Simmons. So all the Massachusetts agencies work with DPU to request for all utilities to stop any shutout for low discount rate clients. And so right now, there is a that no one can get shut off as long as they're on the discount rate. That was part of the work that we have done so far.

Thank you. Any further discussion before I open the floor? Then I'll open the floor to my colleagues. I'll call the members that are not present in the chamber. Councilor Azeem, do you have any questions?

I do not. Thank you.

Councilor Wilson, do you have any questions?

Not at this time. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Councilor Siddiqui, do you have any questions? No. Did I call Councilor Toner?

No.

No, thank you, Madam Mayor.

From the floor. Councilor Zusy, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Chair Simmons. Through you, this is great news. I'm glad we've got this money. I'm glad people won't have to worry about not having fuel for at least the beginning of the winter. My question is, I hadn't realized, so we've been reading in the newspaper about with the federal shutdown how SNAP benefits and fuel assistance have been at risk. But I didn't learn until recently that the feds have been paying for almost 10,000 people SNAP benefits in Cambridge. And I just wondered how broadly fuel assistance is used. And the other thing I hadn't realized is that the feds were paying like $2 million a month for SNAP benefits. With fuel assistance, so is this amount of money, $138,000, it sounds like something, but is that going to disappear in moments, or how great is the demand, and how much do we usually spend on fuel assistance over the course of a winter? Ms.

Cruz?

Thank you.

Sure. So right now, we're hoping that these funds will at least take us all the way to December, the end of December, assisting families in emergency needs. We're hoping once the government opens back up, then we get our big budget, then we can start helping everyone else that is eligible for the program.

Through you, Madam Mayor, but typically we've had over the course of a year more like a million dollars, and this is really just emergency money, and our hope is, although there's some concern about whether Congress will in fact fully fund fuel assistance going forward in the new year,

um fiscal year but i would say in the past we've had about a million dollars a year which has out which we've been able to pay fuel assistance clients council susie uh yes thank you madam mayor um anyway well i i just hope the shutdown ends sooner rather than later i'm glad we've got this money to tide us over through december and i'll I hope the government gets back to work. Thank you, I yield.

Counselor, does he use the floor? Counselor? Senator Wheeler or Counselor Nolan?

Thank you, just a quick follow-up through you, Mayor. Thanks for putting this forward because it's really important we get this in place in case there are. And for the longer term, is there any sense of, I guess we have no knowledge whatsoever what will happen with that because the much larger impact is still to be seen. determined and unknown. I've seen a lot of nods, so I just want to acknowledge that, that this is critically important, and yet there's a longer-term issue for this entire winter season that will be critically important for people, and this step being taken, as we heard this morning with the mayor and Representative Clark, you know, we're trading off things to let kids go hungry and families go hungry, and now families to be cold and without heat, which is just shocking, so...

Councilor Nolan yields the floor. Ms. Cruz, did you want to add anything before you take a vote?

I just want to say that with the little money that we have so far, we're trying our best to assist any family, and we're hoping that we can keep them warm until the big budget comes.

Thank you. Thank you. Mr. City Manager, anything else? Deputy City Manager? Pleasure, the City Council.

Madam Mayor.

Council Wilson.

Thank you. I just have one more question on whatever that I wanted to add, just in regards to just how people currently, whether people who have often received fuel assistance or any new families, who should they or how should they reach out if they are in need? Can we just share that just so that is out there for the community and for the public? Thank you.

Ms. Cruz.

Sure, thank you. So people can contact us directly. Our phone number is 617-349-6252. They can come in person too. We'll take care of them as soon as they walk to our doors. Or they can start an application on the portal on their website.

Councillor Wilson.

Thank you so much. And just to follow up, are we doing funds in terms like, how are you all staging? And I do apologize if this was stated already, but just again, for clarification, is it a first come first serve or is it more like priority, like children under six, anything like that? Can you just speak to households with family members over 60? Do you just speak to any priorities, if anything?

So right now the priority is the emergency situations. We're not looking into the, you know, household, children. It's just the need and the person. So if someone really needs heating, especially oil, we're looking at that first. Or anyone that was shut off with their gas to reinstate the service. And we know that will be okay for until April 1st. That, you know, the service will be, they will have gas or electric.

Council Wilson? Council Wilson?

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I yield. Thank you so much, Ms. Cruz, and thank you to everybody for this presentation.

Council Wilson yields the floor. It's a pleasure, City Council. Say again, please. The vote would be to approve the- To approve the appropriation and then place on file.

Yes.

Yes.

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.

and the appropriation is passed or approved by the affirmative vote of nine members, and the item is placed on file. We'll now turn to the regular agenda of the city manager. What is the pleasure of the city council? Councilor Nolan. Pleasure of the city council. Madam Mayor. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Poll number one. Pleasure of the city council.

Madam Mayor, number five, please.

Anything else? Councilor Wilson, Siddiqui, Toner, Azeem, is there anything you'd like to pull from the city manager's agenda?

No, thank you. No, thank you.

No, thank you.

No, thanks.

Thank you. So the two items that are on the consent agenda, I need a roll call on number two, which is an appropriation of 250,000 from the Federal Grant Stabilization Fund to the Grant Fund Department of Human Service Programs. And the fourth one, number four, is uh city manager relative awaiting report item 2547 regarding kendall square parking considerations so on number two and number four on number two it's going to be a roll call on the appropriation and place on file so let's do that first because it's the appropriation and then we'll do number four on the appropriation roll call council resume yes

Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Stege. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons.

Yes.

Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And the appropriation number two is passed on the affirmative vote of nine members and the matter is placed on file. We'll move now to number four on a roll call vote.

Councilor Azeem. Yes. Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councillor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And number four is placed on file by the affirmative vote of nine members. We'll come back to number one. This was pulled by Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Reads as follows. A communication transmitted from Yan Wang, City Manager, relative to a federal update, including an update on relevant court cases. Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I may have some questions, but I'll turn it over first to the City Manager and staff for the update.

Mr. City Manager, the floor is yours. Sounds good. Through you, Mayor Simmons. And I think, did we already pass item number two? Yes, we did. Oh, we did. Okay, great. Well... Thank you all very much. So I think on the federal update. Anytime. I was meaning to mostly update on some of the work we've done on SNAP benefits, but it actually feels like we've already appropriated it. We're in pretty good shape. Do you want me to walk through it quickly or are we pretty good? It's up to the pleasure of the city council.

Would you like the city manager... Would you like the city manager to speak briefly to the SNAP appropriation?

Do you want to give a brief summary? Okay, great, perfect.

So the city manager's gonna speak on something that's already been voted on.

Yes, thank you all. You're welcome. So through you, Mayor Simmons, lots of update on since last week on SNAP benefits. And I'd also like to provide a little bit of additional context on the impact of the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits. which have made many of the Affordable Care Act plans more affordable for low and middle income households. On SNAP benefits, last Monday we had discussed a potential cutoff on November 1st due to the government shutdown. At that point, the federal administration had announced that it was not going to utilize $5 billion of contingency funding and that there would be a full cutoff in SNAP benefits if the government remained closed. We had discussed last Monday and the council expressed support for putting together actions to support some of the 10,000 Cambridge residents who receive SNAP benefits. I had met quickly with the Cambridge Community Foundation, CEOC, and the Cambridge Food Pantry Network to work out potential details. And last Thursday, we announced a proposal that would appropriate $250,000 out of the Federal Stabilization Fund, which we have now done. and the Cambridge Community Foundation would contribute $250,000 from its urgent needs fund. This $500,000 of funding will go toward grocery gift cards for students in public schools, seniors and the disabled, and towards strengthening and putting more food out through our food pantry network. there's an appropriation that we've already voted on and i'm very grateful to the city council for the desire and commitment to take action in this difficult and unprecedented moment this is the first time in the snap program that there will be any cut off in funding and we are taking action there was a great event in boston on friday that just called a lot of attention to this and talked through how many cities are um are are taking action And in particular, I think we're one of the few cities that has the resources and is putting money into mitigating some of this impact. I'm also very thankful for the community, the Cambridge Community Foundation for the work that they have been doing on food security and this important partnership to provide our community during an urgent time of need when people are really struggling. Thank you as well to all the organizations that are part of the Cambridge Food Pantry Network for the work they are doing every day. We've also seen movement in the courts with multiple lawsuits filed to restore SNAP funding. Judges in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts ruled on Friday against the federal administration from different angles ordering that SNAP benefits be paid out using contingency funding and it appears from announcements that the Trump administration made this afternoon that the federal administration will pay out half of November benefits, though not exactly clear what the timeline will be on those payments. As a clarification in terms of the timing of when SNAP benefits will be delayed, benefits are actually loaded based on the last digit of beneficiary social security number, and so the payment schedules for November will fall roughly equally between today and November 14th. So depending on when those half month benefits get paid out, there may be some delay, but for some individuals, it may not be an enormous delay, at least on the timing side. I also want to recognize that while this allocation is focused on the impact of the government shutdown, it doesn't fully meet the gap even with benefits funded halfway. And the summer budget reconciliation bill includes deeper structural cuts to SNAP funding to the state. It includes work requirements that are intended to kick people off of benefits. and there's going to be continued work that we will need to engage as a city, as a community with our nonprofits to figure out how do we support people to get affordable access to healthy food? How do people stay on benefits and meet these work or volunteering requirements? And so we'll continue to stay updated on these rules as they get published and the actions that we can take to support our community. On the enhanced premium tax credits, I wanted to provide a little more context on what's happening there regarding the Affordable Care Act plans. This is what Democrats have demanded that these enhanced premium tax credits be extended as part of reopening the government. And these affect health insurance plans that are sold on the Massachusetts Health Connector for self-employed adults, low and middle income families who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but still need help affording insurance. This also includes other residents who don't get insurance from their employers. These plans are subsidized by about $1.5 billion of federal funding per year to Massachusetts, and the Commonwealth will lose about $425 million of that amount in 2026 if these tax credits aren't extended. The annual period to sign up for these health plans began on November 1st, and ends on December 23rd. And so we're just now seeing people be able to understand the impact on their premiums, the price of their health insurance for 2026, and people will have the next two months to make decisions about their future coverage in the new year. About 337,000 Massachusetts residents are going to feel this impact. And this represents primarily households earning above 400% of the federal poverty level. So that's individuals earning more than $58,000 or a family of four earning more than $120,000. A couple of examples have been published. This is pretty complicated in terms of what kind of premium increase people may be experiencing, but one of the examples was a 62-year-old couple earning $86,000 per year, and they could see their costs rise by $1,700 per month or $20,000 for the year for the same plan they have now. And so we'll see a range of impacts across income levels and circumstances, but some of these costs will be enormous in the tens of thousands of dollars. In terms of that cost, it'll end up either being in higher premiums for the same plan, or people can choose plans that have lower premiums but have higher deductibles or other out of pocket costs. There is a lot of concern that some people may decide that this is too expensive. and go uninsured which would be stressful and very risky for those households and also would likely mean higher premiums in the longer term for those who are insured since the overall risk pool will get worse as healthier households and individuals drop out of the market As part of this new bill, there were also an additional 34,000 people who are immigrants who live in Massachusetts lawfully who will lose subsidized insurance as part of this law. And so that's also something that we have a lot of concern over. And these are immigrants who are lawfully present in the state. Because the enrollment period has just opened, I expect that many people haven't fully reviewed their options or expecting bad news or maybe waiting until later to figure out their enrollment. There's also the possibility that a compromise is reached that would extend these tax credits as part of reopening the government. And so there's a lot of uncertainty right now, even though the exact numbers and plans that are available to people is posted on the health connector. But we don't know, the government is still shut down, things could change going forward. I'm happy to keep the council updated as we understand where this is going to land, but I just wanted to flag this as one of the primary issues we're facing related to the shutdown. great numbers by city in terms of how many individuals are benefiting from these subsidies. I would probably guess in Cambridge we're talking a couple thousand people.

Let's just take that piece right there. Council Sabina Wheeler, I'll start with you. Do you have any questions about what the city man just updated us on?

I think just the one piece on the SNAP benefits and the funding the city has been able to appropriate, which, you know, been a lot of concern over the past few days and been to some of the meetings about that and heard from folks directly impacted. So if we... aren't have to, you know, hopefully use all of the funds to support families with the benefits being turned back on. Is there a mechanism for those funds, the $250,000 the city has appropriated to come back to the city through free cash or other mechanisms? Or just wondering if you could speak to that a little bit. Mr. City Manager.

Through you, Mayor Simmons, I guess, are you asking Councilor Spina-Wheeler if, can you just clarify, is your question about whether, so I think the intention is the $500,000 will go out as a one-time recognizing that there's going to be an impact from the shutdown and from a delay on SNAP benefits going out for November. I think the intention is that it will be It's a one time tied to the shutdown, recognizing that there's deeper needs. And I don't think that any of the announcements has changed the underlying desire to say we need to support families more. And actually, with some of these additional cuts coming, there's no reason for us to be playing around with, well, if the government opens up, we would not do this. I think we're committed to doing this regardless.

Great, thank you. That was my question of if we expect the funds to all be utilized, and it sounds like we do. So that answers that. Thank you. I'll be right back.

Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler, would you make a motion to close public comment, please? So moved. On a motion by Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler to close public comment, roll call, please.

Councilor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes. Councilor Steeke. Yes. Yes. Yes, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councillor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councillor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councillor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

Thank you. Do any of the councillors that are online, Councillor Zane, Toner, Siddiqui, Wilson, want to ask any questions to the city manager on item number two? I do not. Councillor Siddiqui? NO, COUNCILOR ZUZI, DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? COUNCILOR NOLAN, FLOOR IS YOURS.

Thank you Mayor Simmons, just a quick follow up to ensure that we're doing everything we can to ensure that people throughout the city understand that these funds are available, that the city is allocated to CCF. The Mayor was present and presided over a meeting with Representative Clark today at the fabulous the Cambridge Economic Opportunity, and the whole idea is to make sure people in the city know that we're doing what we can, recognizing we can't fill all the gaps. But are we taking steps to make sure that in all languages that are appropriate, that we are communicating to all of our residents about this additional support that we're giving both, you mentioned the SNAP, and also if they need help or support on the upcoming healthcare change.

City Manager? Yes, through you Mayor Simmons, we will be communicating with our partners. I think a lot of the work for students, kids in the schools will be partnered with the Cambridge Public Schools. We've also reached out to the three charter schools and we'll be working with them to ensure that those public school students will not be left out of this. And then we are working on updating or creating a city webpage that will just have questions, information. Those details are still getting fully worked out, but we hope to get that up in the next day or two. And I think the intention is that the grocery gift cards will be going out late this week, so probably Friday.

Councilor Nolan? Councilor Nolan yields the floor. Mr. City Manager, I think that concludes the, I'm sorry. Councilor Zusy.

I'm sorry. Madam Chair, I do have one sort of request. It was great because there was a blast that just went out from the city talking about this money that the city will be appropriating matched by the Cambridge Community Foundation. I still think it's really important to also send out a blast to citizens that want to do something. People want to do something. I sent out a blast to my list today with links to all of the food pantries and to these, and to just encouraging people to donate and to the Cambridge Community Foundation, encouraging them to donate. So I really think that everybody wants to do something. So I think you should empower them by sharing the links and encouraging them to make contributions as well. Thank you, I yield.

Councilor Zusy yields the floor. Deputy City Manager Simonoff.

Through you, Madam Mayor, thank you very much for that. We actually have seen, I don't know if any of you saw that the Cambridge Community Center was on one of the TV stations on Saturday and indicated that they had already received a lot of contributions. There were a number of contributions that were made directly to CEOC, and I think you're right. We are trying very hard to encourage people in the city to actually donate money rather than food because it is at this point, as the food pantries, as the city manager said, we are, both the city and the Cambridge Community Foundation are providing funds for more food to the whole food pantry network. and they're able to be able to buy the food that they know their participants will want. And so while we understand the instinct to have people just bring canned goods and stuff, I think your idea about what we really want is for people to donate money rather than food, and we can certainly ensure that we can provide all those links.

Councilor Zusy. Yeah, I agree. It's more efficient to give money, right? So I got a blast from the Cambridge Community Center telling me about their program, but I haven't heard from any of the other food banks, which is why I'd love it if the city would send out a blast with links to all of the different organizations so that Again, empower residents to be part of the solution. Thank you. I yield.

Councilor Sousa yields the floor. We do want people to know about what we're doing. I think it is important for money rather than food, only because people might not send what people really need. Just recently, I had the opportunity to see the Cambridge Health Department has been going around to the different communities, showing people how to purchase. purchase healthy foods and I thought that was really great because first of all money is scarce and you can buy six cans of beefaroni but you know it's hard to get really fresh fruit for a reasonable cost so the money really provides people to make those choices rather than taking what people donate so however we do it I think it's an extraordinary idea that we make sure we're letting people know where they can be helpful and how they can be helpful and I think that will go a long way. If there's no further discussion on that, I would like to move us back to the first part of the city manager's agenda, which is the federal update. Is there any more information, Mr. City Manager, you'd like to go through with us? Hearing none, then I will entertain a motion to place on file. On a motion by Councilor Zusy to place City Manager's agenda item number one on file, Madam Clerk.

Councilor Haseem. Yes. Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Abstinence. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes. Councilor Zusy? Yes. Yes. Mayor Simmons? Yes. Yes. That's eight members voting yes, one recorded as absent.

And the matter is placed on file on the affirmative vote of eight members, one recorded as absent. We'll move now to number three. This is pulled by Councilor Nolan, reads as follows. A communication transmitted from Yanwang City Manager relative to awaiting report item number 2552 regarding the special commission on micromobility. Councilor Nolan, the floor is yours.

Thank you. I was happy to see this report. This special commission is about, as we said, micro mobility, but to be clear, the policy order that led to this also made it clear that micro mobility, just so people understand, includes the pedestrians who are on the sidewalks as well as the folks who use them. And Micro Mobility has a wide range of e-bikes, scooters, skateboards, and alternative mobility for disabled as well. It's not just one. So I was curious because what had been expected from this and what we talked about on the floor was to ensure that People in the community beyond the committees that we had already worked with the pedestrian bicycle and others were Communicated with and had a chance to understand what the work of the Commission was so was anything done on that Because it was it was not clear from the report It just said we're gonna wait and it seemed like it may be just we're waiting till the recommendations, but that was not What what I had thought would happen Commissioner McKenna

Through you, Madam Mayor. No, we have not done public outreach on behalf of the state for the Micromobility Commission. All of their meetings are open to the public, but it is very much an internal commission that is working mostly based off of the input of the members of the Commission so the report actually just as of today they had their last official meeting and they've pushed out the deadline or are in the process and pushing out the deadline a little bit to and are now likely to issue their report in January so I think that once the report comes out it would be at that point that we would kind of want probably want to have a committee hearing if that was the will of the council and and start to get the word out on what the recommendations were at that point

Councilor Nolan. Thanks.

Yeah, definitely, I think we want to get the word out. But the Micromobility Commission did accept public comment during their deliberations, right? That was the whole point of them having a bunch of these meetings. So just so you know, the intent was that we let the community know that now is the time to actually send your comments in to the Micromobility Commission before they have their final meeting. So it sounds like that got lost in the shuffle because that did not, we didn't communicate to the entire community Widely to say hey this micro mobility commission is happening. They want to hear from you Let's make sure that we get all the ideas on So what we'll have to do now is wait for the recommendations which will not have then had the benefit of perhaps people in the community who might have wanted to weigh in was part of why I put the policy order in and all of us wanted it on the table before the Recommendations came out or else who would have waited until the recommendations Commissioner any retort

Through you, I think that it's not a process that was really designed around taking a lot of public input. Again, the meetings were public, but they didn't have public comment. They didn't have really any opportunity for the public to take part in the process.

Councillor Nolan.

Yep, thanks. It's just unfortunate because we could have written it, but I look forward to the recommendations and I hope we can make sure this is such an issue that everyone in the city cares about. So, I mean- we are hearing every day practically about some e-bike or an e-scooter or somebody or this person cannot get around the city so it's a really important commission and I know the transportation department has worked really hard because it's very confusing like we can regulate e-bikes here but not there and e-scooters aren't defined and you know that's why this commission was set up so I really hope we have this conversation also when it and it would have been better before it came out to have

some sense of how does we're moving forward and I appreciate I know the staff did send in recommendations and went to a couple meetings if I if I could Madam Mayor um one thing I didn't say is that the the commission itself um just today was saying that because of all of their recommendations are just uh recommendations for the legislature to take up um they were recommending that that would be the point in time when public comment would be most useful Councilor Nolan.

Thank you. I look forward to the recommendations, and we really need this yesterday. Thanks. I yield.

Councilor Nolan yields the floor. Councilor Wilson, Azeem, Siddiqui, Toner, anyone want to be heard on this?

No, thank you.

Councilor Wilson?

Madam Mayor, briefly, please.

Please. The floor is yours.

Thank you. And through you to Commissioner Watkins, I want to just kind of emphasize and echo what Councilor Nolan kind of stated in regards to, I guess just, I wonder if it's a little bit of a disservice to, I think with the memo and given the fact that they've had all these meetings and I just wonder if the city had any other leverage of like, I don't know, communicating out to the public or, just helping and supporting that kind of relationship so that we could have had a little bit more engagement, even if it was just for more members of our community to be in tune, like what was the, what, what is the responsibility or what should it be the responsibility? Maybe even if we're thinking in hindsight around some level of engagement or acknowledgement around this, this level of work.

Commissioner, do you want to weigh in on that?

Through you, Madam Mayor, I think that Again, I think that this process of the Special Commission on Micromobility didn't have a great public outreach or community interaction as part of its design. And I think that they did that again because they're anticipating that the public portion of this will be more when the legislature takes up the recommendations. So I think it can be frustrating for people if we set the expectation that they're gonna have a real chance to be heard and then they don't have that opportunity because of the design of the process. So I think we can certainly keep in mind for the next time we're engaging with the state on something like this about whether there's maybe a chance up front to share that more of the public would like to take part in the commission or things like that. And we can certainly keep that in mind for next time.

Thank you, Council Wilson.

Any follow-up?

Thank you. Yeah, I do have some, I mean, I have a lot of thoughts here. I'm not really satisfied with the response, but I guess I understand kind of the state's shortcoming with their process, I suppose. But I just wonder in terms of our, Cambridge's responsibility to maybe supporting, I And I think just because, and I believe it was Councilor Pickett who really honed in on this level of work before her transition. And I think as a Councilor, I didn't even know that this was happening, right? That there was this commission and all of that until this report kind of got shared. So I mean, now that we are where we are, come December, can you just kind of walk us through again moving forward from December, we get these recommendations. What, how could the city be more engaged now or just raising more awareness and really thinking about how we engage around this conversation?

Commissioner? Through you, Madam Mayor. Thank you. Commissioner?

Through you, Madam Mayor. So at this point there, rather than the December deadline that I included in this memo because it was done last week, today they announced that they are looking for the recommendations to come out in January. And when that happens, that will be a set of recommendations that go to the legislature. And then as that body takes up conversations around what the next steps will be, I think there'll be an opportunity for us to make our voices heard as a city and then also make sure that the community knows about opportunities for them to have their voices heard directly as well. And then I think there's also once we have the recommendations in hand and we see kind of what the direction of the state is We can think more about you know based on the previous legal analysis What we may want to do on the city level and what we may want to wait for the state to do Because there's no guarantee that all of the recommendations will be taken up or that they'll be taken up in a timely way so I think once the report is out it'll be our chance to regroup and decide what we need to do moving forward and because I think we do all, you know, we all want more clarity on these issues because it is across the board from every user group that wants more clarity on these issues.

Council Wilson.

Thank you. And just my my final follow up here is just really around the community engagement piece. So while the state may not be doing, you know, it's fair share and I don't want to throw them completely under the bus because, again, I don't know exactly what their intent was in terms of this commission. But I do know that we are expending a lot of efforts in terms of financial efforts and just other resources to making sure that our community engagement is heightened. And especially as I think about the role of our community engagement new director, that's Mr. Price and other things. So how might we take on the work of making sure that our community is engaged and aware and brought in to the conversation. Because again, as you said, Madam Commissioner, and through you, Madam Mayor, that this is a topic that definitely hits home for so many across our community. Commissioner.

Through you, Madam Mayor, I do think that after the issuance of the report, that'll be a great opportunity for us to kind of regroup, hopefully in a committee hearing, and really decide what the next steps are, and that will certainly include significant community outreach.

Council Wilson.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. through you to the commission. I look forward to it. And please, I think for counselors, it's important that we're engaged as best we can and see how we could help to make this more robust. But definitely through the Office of Community Engagement, want to see that they're utilized to its greatest capacity during this time. Thank you, and I yield.

Council Wilson yields the floor. Does Councilor Azeem, Siddiqui, or Turner want to speak to this?

No, thank you, ma'am.

No, thank you. Council Zusy.

Thank you Madam Chair. I just wanted to share that so Commissioner McKenna and I met about this about a month ago because I was also wondering whether there should be a Transportation Committee meeting about this. And she recommended that since this is really mostly a state issue that we should meet after the state issued recommendations. So I think it would be appropriate for the Transportation Committee. whoever is chairing the Transportation Committee in January lead a meeting to discuss the recommendations and what's appropriate for Cambridge. But what I wanted to ask through you, Madam Mayor, is what were the questions that the city submitted to the state regarding micromobility? And I don't mean to put you on the spot. I'm sorry, Commissioner McKenna. I should have told you I was going to ask you that. But what are, do you have one or two or three that you can share? Through you, Madam Mayor.

There were a lot, and I don't have them in front of me. But I think, you know, there's some of the major issues that we have currently with kind of being able to do anything around micromobility is around better and consistent definition of what micromobility in its various forms are. Right now there's a certain type of e-bike that is not even contemplated in the state, in state legislation. So a lot of it is around just clarifying a lot of those issues where current laws are either contradictory or silent, coming up with a common way of talking about different types of bike facilities. and that kind of both imagine everything, the facilities that we have now and facilities that might be to come. I think one of the big things that I think is exciting that is coming out of, sounds like it will be coming out of the commission is kind of a hierarchy to think about various types of micromobility. and to do it in a way that is flexible enough to deal with the types of micro mobility that we haven't even thought of yet that are gonna be on the streets in five years. So I think those are some of the things that were common threads in the questions that we submitted to the committee.

Through you, Mayor Simmons. Just to clarify, and I think I was just looking at the policy order. I don't think that our reading of the policy order was that we were to bring members of the community to have input into the commission. I think the order was that we were requested to work with relevant departments and multi-member bodies to report back to the council and inform the community of the work of, and when the recommendations would come from the Micromobility Commission. So I think we are kind of doing that. And I do think there will be a robust period of input into the more detailed recommendations coming out of the Micromobility Commission once this hits the state legislature. And I think they'll hold multi-hour hearings where I think both on behalf of the city and as well as individual residents, there will be a lot of opportunity to comment on the actual recommendations and legislative changes that get proposed. And so we can focus maybe on watching for that legislative process and make sure that we're getting in front of the state legislature in whatever joint committee hearing happens on the Hill.

Thank you. Council Susie.

That sounds great. I'll look forward to that and thank you and I yield.

Further discussion?

Council Nolan.

Just a quick, I understand that was not what was read, but as the person who authored this with my co-authors, the commas were put there in a way to let the community know about the work of comma and inform them later in the timing. But I understand, and Commissioner McKenna explained that that was a little bit of a difference here. You know, we could have done it, we didn't do it, but we will have a chance when the legislation comes forward. So I just want to clarify that just, I understand how it could have been interpreted in one way, but definitely the intent in the writing was something a little bit different.

Are you yielding the floor? Yes. Councilor Nolan yields the floor. Vice Mayor, do you want to be heard on this? Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Pleasure of the City Council. I'm placing the matter on file roll call.

Councillor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes. Councillor Nolan. Yes. Yes. Councillor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councillor Toner.

Yes.

Yes. Councillor Wilson. Yes. Yes. Councillor Zusy. Yes. Yes. Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes. That's nine members voting yes.

And the matter is passed on the affirmative vote of nine members. I should say placed on file. That concludes the city manager's agenda. We'll now go to Paul. Oh, that was number five? We sure did, okay. The last item on the City Manager's agenda, number five, reads as follows, pulled by Councilor Zusy, reads as follows. Communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the policy order item number 2025, number 143, directing the City Manager to work with relevant departments to consider a better plan to utilize the Russell Youth and Community Center. This was pulled by Councilor Zusy. Councilor Zusy, the floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I just wanted to share how thrilled I am about this. I think we really need to make full use of our existing municipal buildings and to create community, to curb isolation, to encourage creative expression, and to get people moving. So I think it's just great for people to know that this Thursday and Friday, there will be yoga, tai chi, and portrait drawing at the Russell Youth Center. for older adults between 9 and 12. I just think that's going to be an extraordinary resource for the community. So thank you for being responsive to neighbors who were so eager for this to happen. Thank you very much. I yield.

Pleasure, City Council. Councilor Nolan.

Thanks, yes, very happy to see some, glad I worked on it. I will say it took a long time to get here. I just wanna acknowledge the community's been asking for this for about two years. And they really do, I know there's a lot of folks in the community. It is called a Russell Youth and Community Center. It's not just a youth center. And I also wanna say, even though it is for seniors, community center can also be more broadly defined. I think we have to remember that there's lots of people in the community and in particular some of those folks in the neighborhood have, they're very appreciative of this and I personally hope that it shows this is a pilot and that it can extend to more days and more years so that we spent a lot of time and energy building these incredible centers so the more we can use them Every day just like our schools. They should be open community centers as much as we can So I hope the programming works and that it becomes and one reason I had worked with these but they said like we're going to Belmont to that Center instead of this one, you know And it's right here and we want to use it. So really happy that the staff managed to work this out and and we'll see what happens and where it goes, but I certainly stand ready to see if we can fulfill those needs in the community. We recognize we have a plethora, right? We have a senior center right across the street and one in North Cambridge, but this really is one that could be better utilized. Thanks.

Councilman Dolan yields the floor. Councilor Azeem, Wilson, Siddiqui, or Toner, do you want to speak to this?

No, thank you, Madam Mayor. No, thank you.

I'm sad.

Hearing none.

Just really, Madam Mayor.

Okay. Council Wilson.

Thank you. I just wanted to just say again, as someone who used to work at the Russell Youth and Community Center, that this opportunity and resource for this population is going to be so essential. So I really, while it did take some years, just given what Councilor Nolan said, I do appreciate the efforts and really look forward to these resources coming And I know that they will be highly utilized. So looking forward to it. Not necessarily, I guess, for me, but for the population. Thank you. On that note, actually, Madam Mayor, can I ask a question?

Sure.

Is there an age restriction for who is able to actually participate in these activities that are from 9 to 12?

Yes, you have to be over 75. No, there are no age restrictions.

I don't believe so.

I have to defer to our assistant city manager of human services or Ms. Pacheco or Ms. Walsh.

This one's easy to answer. I can take that. They're here to answer anything more complicated. It is for individuals 60 years and up. That is who the Council on Aging serves across the city, and we are extremely fortunate to already have two five-day-a-week, full-day programs, and we're excited to be able to offer this.

Council Wilson.

Thank you. I yield. Thank you.

Council Wilson yields the floor. Pleasure of the Council. I'm sorry, please.

Let's place it on file.

On a motion by Councilor Zusy to place this matter on file. Roll call, please.

Councilor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Member Glover. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes. Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy.

Yes.

Yes. Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes. That's all nine members voting yes.

The city manager's agenda item number five is placed on file on the affirmative vote of nine members. That concludes the city manager's agenda. We can move now to policy order and resolution. What is the pleasure of the city council? I will pull number one. Councilor Nolan, what is your pleasure? Thank you. All right, so the first policy order for the policy order resolution list reads as follows. That the city managers requested to confer with the executive director of the Council on Aging and relevant city departments to explore the feasibility of creating a dedicated position or function focused on triaging and directing senior residents to appropriate services and support. I offered this. with Councilor Toner and inadvertently left off Councilor Zusy, who's been my colleague in working around senior issues. And so I wanted just to amend the policy order to add her as a co-sponsor. But in addition, this came out of a conversation a little bit outside of the work that Councilor Zusy and I have been doing, which we've been working on for several months based on a meeting that Councilor Zusy had gone to sponsored by Cambridge Summer for Elder Services. But in this discussion, what seniors were saying is they really needed sort of a point of contact person to kind of do some triage. The social services that we have in our senior centers north and central are extraordinary. And if anyone went to the 30-year celebration, which is quite nice, fun was had by all, great dinner, lot of interaction. It was wonderful in these current times to see our seniors being able to come out and really communicate with one another and just have a good time line dancing and what have you. But that aside, there comes a time when some of our seniors need a bit of, I will call it triage as it's spelled out in the policy order. So what we, my co-sponsors, the co-makers are asking is that we look into the opportunity of perhaps doing that, adding an additional position to help walk our senior citizens through some of the little challenges specific issues that come to them that are not necessarily social or are not social in their needs. So that is why this is being brought before you. The floor is open. Councilor Zusy, I'll yield the floor to you. And then Councilor Toner, after Councilor Zusy, if you want to speak to this, we'll give the floor to you. So Councilor Zusy, the floor is yours.

Yeah, thank you so much, Madam Mayor. Again, so we had a formal meeting of civic unity focused on elder services, and then we've had two other smaller gatherings, and we're about to have another with senior providers, because we're concerned about their needs in the growing senior population. So I think this is a great idea. The three things that we keep hearing is that we need to help elders better navigate existing services, that we need to hire geriatric psychologists and psychiatrists to do assessments, And then we need to connect seniors with each other in the community. We need to do that better. So we will be back in touch with you about more things that we think we can do to support our senior population, which is 16,000 and growing larger every day in the coming months. So thank you. I'm happy to be a co-sponsor, and I yield.

Councilor Zusy yields the floor. Councilor Toner, do you want to be heard on this?

I do not. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Council Azeem.

No, thank you.

Council Wilson. Council Siddiqui.

No, thank you, Madam Mayor.

Members on the Council Nolan.

Thank you, Mayor Simmons and Councilor Tonica, as you see it's always a really important discussion to have is how we can better serve our seniors. I am concerned given that we got an email about the fact that we are heading into financial times and every single department is being asked to actually find savings of how this fits in with our budget. And rather than having that discussion on the floor, I'll exercise my charter right so we can have that discussion before the next meeting.

Council only exercises a charter right. We will now move on to policy order and resolution number two. This is pulled by Council Sobrinho-Wheeler reads as follows. The city council go on record urging the Harvard administration to engage in good faith with the demands of workers represented by 32BJ, SEIU, including fair pay, healthcare, retirement benefits, and improved protections for immigrant members. The lead sponsor is Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. This is pulled by Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'll be brief. I've put in this resolution that I hope the Council can support in support of Harvard custodians and security officers demanding a fair contract. I think about all of us who stood in support of Harvard when it was being attacked by the Trump administration, the rally we had on Cambridge Common, and so many community members who have have stood up and rallied in support of academic freedom and in support of Harvard, despite the pushback from the federal administration. This is sort of the flip side of that. We also need Harvard to stand up for Cambridge's values, to stand up for its workers. As we heard from the security officers who spoke tonight, these can be dangerous jobs, like we saw with the explosion at the the Harvard Medical School. They're also ones that are always in person. We have a lot of jobs in Cambridge that are flexible or that are partly remote. If you are a cleaner, if you are a security officer, you cannot do those jobs from home. You are expected to be there all the time, whether there's a pandemic, whatever the weather is. What these workers are asking for is fair pay, quality, affordable health care, retirement benefits, and protections for the immigrant members, of which there are a lot. So I hope we can move forward with this resolution tonight and call on Harvard to do right by its workers. Thank you. I yield back.

Councilor Sabrina, we'll use the floor. Does anyone, does Councilor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor, the Councilman, you're right here. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Vice Mayor. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Just real quick, it's, you know, the more things change, the more they stay the same, I guess. You know, every few years when the contract runs out for security staff, we find ourselves in a position of having to step in and advocate for them with Harvard. And I just, as much as... I appreciate going to the rallies and the standouts. And I wish we didn't have to do this all the time. And I just really want to, again, say that what I say all the time, whether it's the custodial workers or the security workers or the food service workers, Harvard and MIT need to do right by these folks. And it shouldn't get to the point that the city council, who has no direct authority over these institutions, has to step in to push the universities to do what is the right thing. So I hope this works. Again, we'll keep doing it as long as we need to keep doing it. But I'd like to find a time in the near future when we don't have to. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Vice Mayor, you have the floor. Councilor Siddiqui, you want to be heard on this?

I think I'm all set.

Thank you. Councilman Nolan, do you want to be heard on this?

Thank you. I'll be brief, Mayor Simmons. Thank you. And I just want to reinforce, and for the workers here, that this is all about understanding that a university cannot operate without workers. It cannot operate without students, without faculty, without other elements. But it really also can't operate without workers. And it's really critically important that we understand that, that that's one of the pillars holding up higher education. And the policy order also puts in it unparalleled times and unprecedented times that recognizing Harvard is in a time now that it is quite challenging. And that doesn't mean that they can't also engage in good faith negotiations with their unions. But again, we recognize that this is an extremely challenging time and the request here is just don't have it disproportionately fall on the workers. And I think that's a totally appropriate stance for this council to take. We have always stood up for that. the message is that we see you and we hear you and we're also here for everybody. This council said we're here for Harvard, we're also here for Harvard workers. That's it, Mayor Simmons, I yield.

Councilor Nolan yields the floor for the discussion. Hearing none, I want a motion by Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler to adopt the order. Roll call, please.

Councilor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Councilor Siddiqui? Absent. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Now I'm here. Yes, yes. Councilor Siddiqui is a yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler? Yes. Yes. Councilor Toner? Yes. Yes. Councilor Wilson? Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy?

Yes.

Yes. Mayor Simmons?

Yes.

Yes. That's nine members voting yes.

And the policy order is adopted on the unanimous vote of nine members. We now will move to the calendar. I would just respectfully ask that we just pass over the table and we move now to applications and petitions. What is the pleasure? There's one order. Pleasure of the City Council. Well, let me just ask the people that I can't see. Councilor Azeem, Toner, Siddiqui, Wilson, do you want to speak on applications and petitions?

No. No. No, thank you.

No, thanks.

Very good. On a motion by Councilman Nolan to adopt the application, which is an application was received by Reese Brown requesting permission for a curb cut at the premises number 35 Market Street. That petition was received, approved by Inspectional Services, Traffic, Parking, Transportation, Historical, and Public Works. On the order, roll call.

Councilor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes. Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons.

Yes.

Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And the item is adopted by the affirmative vote of nine members. We now move to communications. We have 23, what is the pleasure of the City Council? On the motion by the Vice Mayor to place the 23 communications on file, roll call, please.

Councilor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sviggi.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons.

Yes.

Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

Thank you. I think the next item of business after communications are resolutions. There are two. What is the pleasure of the City Council? On a motion by Councilor Nolan to adopt the resolutions and making them unanimous upon adoption, is there any discussion? Councilor Azeem, sorry, you're here with us. Councilor Azeem, Wilson, Siddiqui, or Toner?

Anything?

Very good?

No, thank you. No.

Very good. Counselor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Counselor Nolan. Yes. Counselor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Counselor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Counselor Toner.

Yes.

Yes. Counselor Wilson. Yes. Yes. Counselor Zusy. Yes. Yes. Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes. That's nine members voting yes.

and the resolutions are adopted and made unanimous upon their adoption. We move now to community committee reports. There's one, the Economic Development and University Relations Committee held a public hearing on October 8th, 2025 with the Community Development Department, Economic Opportunity and Development Division to provide an update on the city efforts to support small businesses and commercial districts in Cambridge. It is the pleasure of the City Council.

Accept and place on file.

On the motion by Councilor Zusy to accept, report, and place on file, is there any discussion? Hearing none, roll call.

Councilor Azeem. Yes. Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson.

Yes.

Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And the committee report was accepted and placed on file by the affirmative vote of nine members. We'll move now to communications and reports from other city officers. There's just one. The communication was received from Paula Crane, interim city clerk, transmitting an update regarding legislative activity. What is the pleasure of the city council? On a motion by council, no one to place on file. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, roll call.

Councilor Azeem. Yes. Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy.

Yes.

Yes, Mayor Simmons.

Yes.

Yes, that's nine members voting yes.

And the matter is approved by a deferment of vote of nine members. We move now to late resolutions. Am I clear, Ms. Irwin, on late resolutions?

There are three late resolutions from Mayor Simmons.

We're going to suspend the rules to take up late resolutions on suspension. Roll call.

Councillor Azeem.

Yes.

Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Councillor Nolan. Yes. Councillor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councillor Toner.

Yes.

Yes. Councillor Wilson. Yes. Yes. Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes. Mayor Simmons.

Yes.

That's nine members voting yes.

The rules are suspended and I'm bringing forward the late policy orders. Roll call, please.

On the late resolutions, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Councilor Serena Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councilor Toner.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes. That's nine members voting yes.

And the three resolutions are in front of us. With the Council's permission, I will waive the reading, but just acknowledge the first one is to the family of Sadie Warren. Many of you will know Sadie Warren. He was the... First African-American mayor of Newton, he served in the Commonwealth for a number of years. His last position was with Harvard University. He lives behind him, his family, Elizabeth Tasker Plummer, and his children, Abigail and John. And so I thought it would be filling as a colleague in service that we acknowledge not only his work, but his passing. The next one is on the condolences to the family of Raymond C. Avant. Again, a gentleman of Cambridge, raised in Cambridge, went to the Longfellow Grammar School. That was a long ago, and we call it a grammar school. Held a job in finance, leaves a large family behind, and I thought it fitting to acknowledge his life. I don't always want to say his passing, And the last one is to the family of Peter Anthony Emmanuel, who also recently passed, and a long-standing resident of Cambridge, a veteran born in Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean, well-known to many, many, many in the Central Square area, very sort of an ambassador to the port, and I thought it would be fitting that the city council acknowledge his work as well as his passing. Any discussion? Do I hear anything from my colleagues, Azeem, Wilson, Siddiqui, or Toner?

No. Thank you.

Thank you. Hearing none, I would ask for a motion to approve all three resolutions.

So moved.

On a motion by the Vice Mayor, roll call.

Councilor Azeem. Yes. Yes. Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Councilor Nolan. Yes. Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes. Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes. Councilor Toner.

Yes.

Yes. Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes. Councilor Azusi. Yes. Mayor Simmons. Yes. Yes. That's nine members voting yes.

And the late resolutions are adopted by the affirmative vote of nine members. Are there any late policy orders? Madam Mayor, there are none. Would you like to put some on the floor? Oh, okay, announcements. Hearing none, I will accept a motion to adjourn. On a motion by the Vice Mayor to adjourn, do you wanna have any discussion? Think about it, roll it over. I was gonna say something, but I'll be polite. If there's no discussion and there's no objection on a motion by the Vice Mayor to adjourn.

Councilor Azeem. Yes. Yes, Vice Mayor McGovern. Yes. Yes, Councilor Nolan. Yes. Yes, Councilor Siddiqui. Yes. Yes, Councilor Sobrinho-Wheeler. Yes. Yes, Councilor Toner. Yes. Yes, Councilor Wilson. Yes. Yes, Councilor Zusy. Yes. Yes, Mayor Simmons.

Yes.

Yes, that's all nine members voting yes.

I want, before I bang the gavel, I want to wish all of you great success. And tomorrow, I hope it's a good day for us all. I look forward to continued working with my esteemed colleagues. And with that, I will bang the gavel. Meeting's adjourned.