Quote for March
2008 (on a recent study on casinos): While opponents of gambling in
Massachusetts have disputed his methods, Clyde W. Barrow, the center's
director and an authority on the economic impact of gambling, said the figures
show that “gambling revenue is resilient, even in the face of an economic
downturn.” (Boston
Globe article)
We're
waiting for the next study on alcoholism and narcotics addiction in which
these may also be called “resilient in the face of an economic downturn.”

Note to readers:
Plenty of older items from the main page were moved to the 2007 CCJ Notes page
and the
2008 CCJ Notes page.
Quote for February:
“For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my
country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people
are hungry for change.” -- Michelle Obama
(Barack's wife) at a
Milwaukee, WI campaign event.
Is this really the first
time? Surely there must have been something about the USA that gave
her positive feelings before her husband Barack Obama wanted the top job? Does
hubby Barack share her negative impressions about the United States? Perhaps
these are “just words.”

Passing of a Great Man
Sheldon Brown
Cycling Guru at 63
(Newton Tab)
Good quote for December:
"I mean, talk about a direct IV into the vein of your support. It's a
very efficient way to communicate. They regurgitate exactly and put up on
their blogs what you said to them. It is something that we've cultivated and
have really tried to put quite a bit of focus on."
-- former White House communications director Dan Bartlett, on conservative
blogs
Good
quote for August: “By now, the political blogosphere is to the
left what talk radio is to the right. It is a forceful, sometimes demagogic,
message-monger organizing tool for the progressive end of the Democratic
Party.”
- Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe, Aug 10, 2007 column "E-male"

July
24 - Edward J. Sullivan, former Cambridge City
Councillor, former Mayor, and former Middlesex County Clerk of
Courts, passed away July 24. His wake at City Hall on July 27 was
attended by countless friends and colleagues.
In Memory
Interesting Fact: Did you know that the color on the top
of a fire hydrant indicates the flow rate of water from that hydrant?
Blue: 1500+ gal/minute
Green: 1000-1499 gal/min
Orange: 500-999 gal/min
Red: <500 gal/min
Favorite Quote for June:
“He told me...that, as a martyr, he would have been granted 72 virgins. This
didn't seem quite the moment to point out that there is a lively, ongoing
debate among scholars of Islam as to whether the 72 promised virgins might, in
fact, only be 72 raisins.”
-- The New Republic's Peter Bergen, on an interview with a would-be suicide
bomber
Yet
Another Favorite Quote for May: “If they f*** with me or Shaha, I
have enough on them to f*** them too.”
-- Paul Wolfowitz, referring to several senior staff members at the
World Bank
Favorite
Quote for May: “And as for the one Mormon running for office,
those that really believe in God will defeat him anyway, so don't worry about
that.”
-- Nationally renowned bigot and opportunist Al Sharpton comment on Mitt
Romney
April's
favorite quote: “Quoting Robert Winters, a math instructor at
Harvard, who is alleged to be an FBI informant, is like asking the Pope about
religion.”
-- By R.B., April
18, 2007
City Council Rules
2006-2007
[Rule 26 amended Feb 27, 2006]
City
Council Goals - FY2008
(approved Dec 18, 2006)
FY2006
and FY2007
City Council Goals
2005
Cambridge
Election Fun Facts
2005 Cambridge
Candidate Pages
The City Clerks and
City Managers
of Cambridge
“Every municipality has its quirks. In
Newton, the unofficial anthem is ‘Kumbaya.’ The Cambridge City Council will
undoubtedly pass a resolution demanding that yoga be an Olympic sport.
Supposedly urbane Boston has an otherwise good mayor that no one can understand.”
- Brian McGrory,
Boston Globe, Nov 19, 2004
City of Cambridge web site
Boston Globe
Cambridge
Chronicle
Harvard Crimson
|
Will
the real traitor
please stand up?
“For
the majority leader of the United States Senate, in the time of war,
with soldiers dying on the ground, announcing that we have lost the war,
is very close to treasonous. I looked it up while we were driving over
here, what the definition of 'treason' is. It's the betrayal of
trust.”
-- Tom DeLay, 2007
“I
cannot support a failed foreign policy....President Clinton has never
explained to the American people why he was involving the US military in
a civil war in a sovereign nation, other than to say it is for
humanitarian reasons, a new military-foreign policy precedent. Was it
worth it to stay in Vietnam to save face? What good has been
accomplished so far? Absolutely nothing.”
-- then-House Majority Whip Tom Delay, 1999, a month into the US
mission in Kosovo
“As democracy is perfected, the office of
president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the
people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will
reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned
by a downright moron.”
July 26, 1920, H.L. Mencken
Ron Suskind's essay: Without a Doubt
NY Times Magazine, Oct 17, 2004
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the
president, or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong, is
not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public.” -- Theodore Roosevelt (1918)
Bush Advisor Karl Rove, p. 78 of the February 19 &
26, 2001 issue of the New Yorker:
[ on education plan in general ] ... “The tax cuts will make the
economy grow. As people do better, they start voting like Republicans --
unless they have too much education and vote Democratic, which proves
there can be too much of a good thing.”
Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when
they do it from religious conviction. – Blaise Pascal
History Repeats
“Of course the people don't want war. But after all, it's the leaders
of the country who determine the policy, and it's always a simple
matter to drag the people along whether it's a democracy, a fascist
dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no
voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked,
and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the
country to greater danger.”
-- Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials
“I just don’t think we should go hellfire damnation around
the globe freeing people, unless it is directly related to our own national
security.”
-- Gerald R. Ford
|
Cambridge approves
smoking ban
Notes
on the Rent Control Initiative Petition of 2003

Recommended Reading:
FIXING ELECTIONS: THE FAILURE
OF AMERICA'S WINNER-TAKE-ALL POLITICS
by Steven Hill
Election 2002
Graffiti Hotline: 617-349-6955
MassINC
City Council
Goals with City Manager's Key Implementation Goals (6 page PDF)
Harvard Square 1982
Contact the CCJ
with news, questions, requests, comments
Download your free
Adobe Acrobat Reader for
reading and printing PDF formatted documents.
Did you drink your two liters of water today?
Don't Get Towed!
Sign up for street sweeping reminders at http://bostonsweeper.boston.com
National Do Not Call Registry
Add your phone number(s) to the registry.
|

Syd Barrett
Jan 6, 1946 - July 7, 2006
|
|
|
Preview
of April 28, 2008 City Council meeting:
April 28 -
It's Budget Season! Tonight's the night when the FY2009 Budget Book
becomes available (but only after each and every city councillor gets
his or her copy - they are very sensitive about this!). I've always found
this to be the most mischievous part of the year for city councillors.
It's the time when quiet discussions happen behind the scenes and we
only learn about the product of those discussions when we read it in
print - and it's a long established fact that once it's in The Book, the
likelihood of the City Council voting down an appropriation is
essentially zero. Two years ago, this is how we learned about the 54%
increase in the Mayor's Office Budget to fund the Sullivan Chambermaids,
i.e. "research assistants" for each councillor. What will be
this year's surprises?
The
bottom line for this year's budget is an operating budget of
$416,128,365 (up from $394,375,940 in FY2008 - a 5.5% increase), Water
Fund at $17,998,625 (paid almost entirely by water rates, up from
$17,898,685 in FY2008 - virtually unchanged), and a capital budget of
$12,236,615 (up from $11,538,660 in FY2008 - a 6% increase).
Also
of interest on tonight's agenda are a couple of
"Reconsiderations" by Councillor Maher of matters passed on
April 14 - a zoning-related matter and an Order regarding public/private aspects of e-mail to and from public officials.
That could be an interesting discussion, but perhaps they've already had
it via e-mail.
In
addition to the Budget Book, there are a number of other big ticket
items on the agenda:
Mgr #23. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to an order requesting the appropriation and authorization to borrow $8,630,000 to continue sewer projects in the Cherry Street/South Massachusetts Avenue, Agassiz, and Fresh Pond areas of the City.
Mgr #24. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to an order requesting the appropriation and authorization to borrow $1,000,000 to fund extensive improvements to the Lafayette Square Fire Station and Fire Headquarters.
Mgr #25. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to an order requesting the appropriation and authorization to borrow $6,700,000 to fund the replacement of all City and public safety radio systems.
Those
must be some seriously good radios at almost $7 million dollars.
Then
there's this item:
Mgr #22. Transmitting communication from Robert W. Healy, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 08-18, regarding a report on the methods to provide long-term protection for Joan Lorentz Park.
The
recommendation is to not change the designation of the park into
something out of the hands of future City Council control, e.g. a
designation that would require approval of the State Legislature in
order to make even minor modifications. Makes sense, methinks.
Potentially
the most contentious item is:
Charter Right #1: That the City Manager is requested to review the process by which the Board of Zoning Appeal turned down a variance request to build a new hotel in Porter Square, where the Porter Square Neighborhood Association and the majority of the abutters supported the proposal and the only opposition was from a neighborhood association not located in Porter Square and there was commentary that zoning was the domain of a given councillor. Charter Right exercised by Councillor Kelley on
Order Number Eight of Apr 14, 2008.
This
one had all the makings of a schoolyard fight on April 14 until
Councillor Kelley shut it down via Charter Right before Councillor
Decker had a chance to vent. They may need to call out the Fire
Department tonight. There's also a new zoning petition (Applications and
Petitions #6) relating to this matter introduced at tonight's meeting by
the Kaya Hotel owner/developers. Councillors Reeves and Decker received substantial
campaign donations from the developer and there's no doubt some
watchers will be viewing the commentary through this lens.
Councillor
Decker has four Orders on behalf of union workers at the Marriott
Hotels, the Cambridge Housing Authority, and Millennium Pharmaceuticals.
She should have no trouble finding people to hold her signs during her
next campaign.
There
are also these:
Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to direct the City Solicitor to draft a new ordinance that would replace the original ordinance (Ordinance #1138) to provide that non-profit organizations and community groups may post flyers on utility poles. Councillor Seidel, Councillor Kelley and Councillor Decker
Order #16. That the City Manager is requested to investigate locations near and around community centers, and where permission is provided create and install Information Posting Boards for use by and for the community. Mayor Simmons
I
can understand why you might want to allow some flexibility for posting
on lampposts and telephone poles, but exactly where shall the line be
drawn? Are election campaign flyers acceptable? What about announcements
from the Ward 5 Democratic Committee? Is that a community organization
or a political organization? Does it depend on what they're hawking? As
far as Order #16 goes, it's a nice sentiment but these almost invariably
degenerate into depositories of commercial advertising and rubbish.
Then
there are these two items:
Order #18. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council on the status of the multiple small holes in street pavement found in groups on various City streets, to include who is responsible for drilling them, what sort of permits are required to drill them, who is responsible for filling them and what threats they might pose to maintaining safe and even streets. Councillor Kelley
Why
is this even on the agenda? Can't you just pick up the phone and ask
someone, Craig? Jeez.
Order #19. That the City Manager is requested to confer with relevant department heads and report back to the City Council on the status of testing, and any associated results, for pharmaceutical residue in the City’s drinking water supply. Councillor Kelley and Councillor Seidel
Well, the MWRA just
shelled out $23,250 to find nothing. I expect we'll have similar negative
results, but I hope we don't have to flush as much money down the toilet to find
out. -- Robert Winters
|
April 25 - Study
Suggests Math Teachers Scrap Balls and Slices (Kenneth Chang, New York
Times)
Want to walk and learn some history this weekend?
Sat, Apr 26. Middlesex Canal, Wilmington.
3-mi. leisurely walk along scenic section of historic canal to Patch's Pond,
1:30pm. See oxbow, grooves in rocks from tow lines & stone aqueduct. From
Rte. 95/128 exit 35 in Woburn, take Rte. 38 N 2.4 mi. to Wilmington Town Park
lot on L. Joint w/Middlesex Canal Association. No reg. Info: www.middlesexcanal.org
or Roger Hagopian (781-861-7868 to 10pm). L Robert Winters (617-661-9230; Robert@rwinters.com).
| April 20, 2008 - Seriously, what
does this official City web page for the Office of the Mayor tell us
about the operation of that office? The current mayor was chosen by her
colleagues on January 14 - over three months ago. Most of the links on that
page send you back to the main City web page. |

Apr 10, 2007
The Mayor’s Web Page is under construction pending appointment of a
new Mayor for the City of Cambridge.
|
April 18 - Minding
the Achievement Gap (by Vidya Viswanathan, Harvard Crimson)
Cambridge Public Schools focus on improving performance despite achievement
discrepancy
April 17 - State
Senator Anthony Galluccio moves to make affordable housing less affordable
(Boston Globe article)
Our newest state senator has filed an amendment to the latest housing bond
bill that will require developers to pay a “prevailing wage” to workers on
projects of at least 75 units or at least $25 million in total development
costs. As the article reports: “A 2007 study by the Massachusetts Housing
Partnership of multifamily developments between 2002 and 2006 found projects
that paid prevailing wages spent 34 percent more on each unit, or about
$60,000 per unit.”
|
April
and May Programs at Fresh Pond Reservation
These events are FREE and open to the public. Children are welcome in the company of an adult. |
MIGRATORY BIRD WALK
Date: Sunday, April 27
Time: 7:30 to 9:30am
Place: Neville Place Driveway, 650 Concord Ave.
We continue celebrating the arrival of spring on this walk,
during which we will focus on nesting birds, many of which have returned to the
Reservation from their winter habitats for the breeding season. We will have use
of a telescope for looking at waterfowl. As always, beginners are welcome. We
have binoculars to lend and will show you how to use them. |
BEETLE NURSERY WORKSHOP
Date: Sunday, April 27
Time: 1:00 to 3:00pm
Place: Cambridge Water Dept., 250 Fresh Pond Pkwy
Join the Beetle Brigade! During this hands-on workshop, we
will create nurseries for the loosestrife-eating Galerucella beetles that are
scheduled to arrive in early June. Tasks will include washing, trimming and
potting loosestrife plants that were collected earlier from the Reservation
wetland. You can also sign up to monitor the growth of these plants and the
reproduction of the beetles during the summer. Gardening clothes are
recommended. |
BIRDING BY EAR
Date: Saturday, May 3
Time: 7:30 to 9:30am
Place: Neville Place Driveway 650 Concord Avenue
It’s spring, and birds are singing everywhere. During this
walk we will focus on bird song as a way of identifying and locating birds. We
will use guides to show you pictures of the birds we don’t see. Birders of all
experience levels are welcome. We have binoculars to lend and will show you how
to use them. Register for parking information. Please do not park in the Neville
Place lots. |
A GEOLOGICAL HISTORY WALK AT FRESH POND
Date: Saturday, May 3
Time: 1:00 to 3:00pm
Place: Maynard Ecology Center, Bsmt. of Neville Place, 650 Concord Ave.
Ed Myskowski, geologist with the Peabody Essex Museum of
Salem, will take us on a geological history tour of the Reservation. We will
start inside where Ed will give us an overview of geological events from the
pre-Cambrian era to the present. He also will describe and show us the different
kinds of rocks found here. Then we will walk around Fresh Pond to see how
Cambridge fits into this whole picture. Registration is required. |
URBAN SCIENTISTS: INVESTIGATION OF WATER QUALITY AT BLACK'S
NOOK
Date: Sunday, May 4
Time: 1:00 to 3:30pm
Place: Maynard Ecology Center, Bsmt. of Neville Place, 650 Concord Ave.
During this Cambridge Science Festival program, the Friends
group, the Cambridge Public Schools and the Water Department will work together
with program participants to investigate the water quality of Black's Nook. We
will learn how to use a plankton net to collect plankton samples, employ field
equipment to collect water chemistry data, and use a variety of nets and buckets
to collect aquatic plants and macroinvertebrate specimens for observation.
Indoors, we will use hand lenses, microscopes, pond guides and dichotomous keys
to identify the species that we collected: then we will discuss how the
information can be used as an indicator of the health of the environment.
Registration required. |
GARLIC MUSTARD "WEED OUT"
Date: Saturday, May 10
Time: 1:00 to 4:00pm
Place: Walter J. Sullivan Water Purification Facility, 250 Fresh Pond
Pkwy.
Learn to identify and remove this invasive weed that is
stressing entire ecosystems at Fresh Pond Reservation. Teams with a leader will
leave from the parking lot every hour on the hour and walk to the weeding areas.
You will find it easy and satisfying to pull out this awful weed that has been
spreading everywhere. Gloves, water, cookies, and steamed garlic mustard (a
spring tonic!) will be provided. Come for as long as you like fifteen minutes
to all afternoon. Wear old clothes and old shoes or boots. |
MIGRATORY BIRD WALK #1
Date: Sunday, May 11
Time: 7:30 to 9:30am
Place: Neville Place Driveway, 650 Concord Ave.
Part of the thrill of bird watching is that you never know
what you will see. In May it could include a variety of migrating songbirds—some
that are passing through, others that are staying for the summer. We will help
beginners learn to identify birds by sight and song. We have binoculars to lend.
Register for parking information. Please do not park in the Neville Place
parking lots. |
AN EVENING WALK IN THE UPPER CAMBRIDGE WATERSHED
Date: Thursday, May 15
Time: 6:00 to 8:30pm
Place: Walter J. Sullivan Water Purification Facility, 250 Fresh Pond
Pkwy.
Join us for a bus trip to a section of the upper Cambridge
watershed in Lexington, where Watershed Manager Chip Norton will lead us on a 1
1/2 hour walk through some lovely woods owned by the City of Cambridge. We will
visit the site of an old mill and other old foundations, a nice vantage point of
the reservoir at a rocky outcropping, and a mature stand of pines. Bring insect
repellent, and binoculars if you have them. We will provide (Cambridge) water
and apples. Limit 20 people. Bus leaves the Water Department lot promptly at
6:10. Registration is required. |
INVASIVE PLANTS IDENTIFICATION WORKSHOPS
Dates: Saturday, May 17 from 10:00am to12:00noon; and
Monday, May 19 from 6:00 to 8:00pm
Place: Walter J. Sullivan Water Purification Facility, 250 Fresh Pond
Pkwy.
To help volunteers and other interested people learn how to
identify invasive plants, the Water Department is offering two training
sessions. Ted Elliman, a plant expert from the New England Wild Flower Society,
will lead these workshops. This information will be of interest to all who care
about the natural world and to homeowners, whether or not you are a gardener.
Don’t let invasive weeds use your yard as a staging ground! Registration is
required. |
MIGRATORY BIRD WALK #2
Date: Saturday, May 24
Time: 7:30 to 9:30am
Place: Neville Place Driveway, 650 Concord Ave.
Migratory birds such as Baltimore orioles, yellow warblers
and vireos come to Fresh Pond to nest and raise their young. Other species,
including waterfowl and many songbirds, use it as a resting place while heading
farther north. Now is the time to see them all. Beginners are welcome! If you
don’t have binoculars you may borrow a pair from us. Register for parking
information. Please do not park in the Neville Place parking lots. |
|
Please register for each event that you plan to attend. You will
receive information on parking after you register. E-mail Elizabeth Wylde at friendsoffreshpond@yahoo.com or call (617) 349-4793 and leave your name and phone number.
Offered by Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation
|
|
Friends of Fresh Pond Reservation is collaborating with the Cambridge Water Department
on a project to control the spread of the invasive plant Purple Loosestrife (Lythrum
salicaria) in wetlands and on shorelines of the Reservation. You can read about
this biocontrol project on the Water Department website at: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CWD/purpleloosestrifebiocontrol.cfm
If you would like to learn more or to volunteer to participate, email Elizabeth at friendsoffreshpond@yahoo.com
Keep up to date on events at the Pond: visit the Friends group
website at http://friendsoffreshpond.org
Report
on the Sept 19, 2007 Phragmites Project at Danehy Park
Note: A small number of intrepid volunteers have been working with Ranger Jean
Rogers and Elizabeth Wylde to remove garlic mustard and other invasive plants from the recently planted areas of the Northeast Sector,
the bioswales, the Weir Meadow, and other vulnerable areas of the Reservation. Although progress has been made, there is always more
to be done.
Would you like to come work with us? We will be happy to teach you how to recognize the plants and we will work
along side you. This is a task that can be accomplished a couple of hours at a time from now through the fall. Any amount of
time--once or a series of volunteer days would make a real impact.
E-mail Elizabeth at friendsoffreshpond@yahoo.com
or call Jean at 617-349-4793 to let us know when you are available. Your participation will be greatly appreciated. |
|
MIT
professor Edward Lorenz, father of chaos theory, dies at 90
By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer
WASHINGTON -
Edward Lorenz, the father of chaos theory, died at his home in
Cambridge, Mass., Wednesday. He was 90.
He
was a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology when he
came up with the scientific concept that small effects lead to big
changes, something that became known as the "butterfly
effect." He explained how something as minuscule as a butterfly
flapping its wings in Brazil changes the constantly moving atmosphere in
ways that could later trigger tornadoes in Texas.
His
discovery of "deterministic chaos" brought about "one of
the most dramatic changes in mankind's view of nature since Sir Isaac
Newton," said the committee that awarded Lorenz the 1991 Kyoto
Prize for basic sciences. It was one of many scientific awards that
Lorenz won. There is no Nobel Prize for his specific field of expertise,
meteorology.
Jerry
Mahlman, a longtime friend, noted that the man who pioneered chaos
theory was "the most organized person I ever knew."
Lorenz
came up with the chaos theory concept in the 1960s through his own
meticulous work habits, said Kevin Trenberth, a student of Lorenz's.
Trenberth is now climate analysis chief at the National Center for
Atmospheric Research.
He
inadvertently ran what seemed like the same calculations through a
creaky computer twice and came up with vastly different answers. When he
tried to figure out what happened, he noticed a slight decimal point
change — less than 0.0001 — wound up leading to significant error.
That error became a seminal scientific paper, presented in 1972, about
the butterfly effect.
Lorenz
was "the quiet geek" who turned the old concept of
"wiggle room" into hard numbers and scientific theory, said
Mahlman, a retired federal climate scientist. Meteorologists today base
their forecasts on his techniques. Lorenz's 1967 book "The Nature
and Theory of the General Circulation of the Atmosphere" is
considered a classic textbook in meteorology.
The
concept of small changes turning into big effects also influenced many
basic sciences. Other fields probably benefited more than meteorology,
said MIT meteorology professor Alan Plumb.
Lorenz
also was incredibly quiet. Getting him to talk was painfully difficult,
his colleagues said, except around his late wife, Jane. He rarely wrote
papers with others.
"Of
all the geniuses of that era, he was the quietest and most humble and
the most kind," said Mahlman.
Lorenz
was born in West Hartford, Conn., in 1917 and later wrote in a
biographical sketch: "As a boy I was always interested in doing
things with numbers and was also fascinated by changes in the
weather."
He
had degrees from Dartmouth College and Harvard University as well as MIT
where he joined the meteorology staff in 1948. He later became
department head and retired in 1987.
In
1983, with a colleague, he won the $50,000 Crafoord Prize by the Royal
Swedish Academy of Sciences, which recognizes leaders in scientific
fields not eligible for a Nobel.
Lorenz
was an avid hiker and climber, who well into his 80s would "put
many younger people to shame in terms of his fitness and love of going
into the mountains," Trenberth said.
Lorenz
is survived by three children.
Obituary
in MIT News Boston
Globe obituary |
|
Preview
of April 14 City Council meeting:
It's mainly
fund transfers within the School Department capital budget and minor
appropriations this week on the relatively short City
Manager's Agenda. Much more interesting are several City Council
Orders:
Order
#2. That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Director of Information Technology, the City Purchasing Agent, the City Clerk and the Assistant to the City Council to report back to the Government Operations and Rules Committee on the feasibility of a paperless City Council agenda. Councillor Maher
This
isn't a bad idea, but I can assure you that for any newcomers to City
Council meetings who are already somewhat bewildered by the proceedings,
this could put them completely in the dark. They'll have to keep at
least a little paperwork available for the public to know what's going
on. Personally, I always just bring my own printed
PDF version of the meeting agenda, but I do like to read in advance
of the meeting the printed materials not available via the City website,
especially the communications of some of the stranger characters.
Order
#5. Questions regarding public/private aspects of e-mail to and from public officials. Councillor Kelley and Councillor Seidel
This
promises to be a nice "acting out" of the current (mainly
contrived) tempest regarding e-mail sent to the School Committee via
their website. My sense is that this whole matter is just a way of creating
political cover for reconsideration of the School Superintendent's
contract extension. To every member of the public who wants to say
something privately to a public official, here's some advice: Don't do
it via e-mail or even by letter. Say it face-to-face. Clear enough?
Order
#6. That the subject of the use of City Council meeting time to make public announcements be referred to the Government Rules and Operations Committee to determine an appropriate procedure to make such announcements. Councillor Toomey
This
is noteworthy mainly in relation to a recent Order regarding possible
changes to the Public Comment portion of City Council meetings.
Councillor Toomey understands that it's not just the public who needs to
follow some basic rules.
Order
#8. That the City Manager is requested to review the process by which the Board of Zoning Appeal turned down a variance request to build a new hotel in Porter Square, where the Porter Square Neighborhood Association and the majority of the abutters supported the proposal and the only opposition was from a neighborhood association not located in Porter Square and
there was commentary that zoning was the domain of a given
councillor. Councillor Reeves
This
should be fun. Who is the offending councillor? Nothing like a little
jealous indignation to spice up a local legislative body. You may also
want to look into the campaign finance reports to see who received $500
checks from the developer seeking the variance.
Order
#10. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council with a line item explanation accounting for every dollar given to the Cambridge Health Alliance, specifically to what department and for what project the money was given; said narration should be a dollar-to-dollar review. Councillor Decker
Order
#11. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council whether the Cambridge Health Alliance is committed to maintaining women’s health services, specifically
OB/GYN and access to midwife care, at the East Cambridge Neighborhood Health Clinic. Councillor Decker
I
love it. Note the phrase "line item explanation accounting for every dollar given to the Cambridge Health
Alliance." I'm sure that both of these Orders are all about using
this year's Budget hearings and process to leverage restoration of
services at the Windsor Street Health Clinic - regardless whether such
restorations make any fiscal or policy sense (which they might). -- Robert Winters
|
|
Preview
of April 7 City Council meeting:
The City
Manager's Agenda this week consists primarily of routine
appropriations of grants from state and federal sources. There's also a report on the decision of the
Mass. Appellate Tax Board that telecommunication companies are now taxable on poles and wires.
From the report: “... the City of Cambridge should benefit by
approximately $900,000 to $950,000 in additional personal property taxes
on poles and wires on public ways on the Verizon system alone. Since the
case is still in the appeal process through FY08, the City of Cambridge
cannot realize any of the potential tax revenue at this time. Although
this represents a sizable increase in personal property taxes it still
only represents a portion of the revenue which could be realized under
the proposed Municipal Partnership Act, which would allow for taxation
of other items currently exempt by Massachusetts General Law.”
Order
#7. That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Assistant
City Manager for Community Development and the City Solicitor to provide
the City Council with a draft amendment to the Inclusionary Zoning
Ordinance to provide for using square footage as an alternative way to
calculate the required donation in order to provide units with more than
two bedrooms to further the City Council goal to support family housing
in Cambridge. Councillor Maher and Vice Mayor Murphy
I
have no comment on this Order except to ask: When did the phrase
“square footage” become the new term for area or floor area? Should
we measure the volume of a liquid in “gallonage” and the length of
City Council meetings in “hourage”? -- Robert Winters |
Apr 4 - The
Boston Globe yesterday reported that the current per pupil cost for the
Cambridge Public Schools is $15,175 (compared to Waltham at $12,900;
Somerville at $11,593; Watertown at $11,290; Boston at $10,872; Brookline at
$10,546; Newton at $9,135; Lexington at $8,988; Belmont at $8,243; and
Arlington at $8,225). However, in the 2007 municipal election campaign,
several candidates said it was $23,000 per pupil. The greatschools
website give the obviously wrong figure of $8,641. I found a 2003 chart
from Alan Price on the cambridgepublic.us
website that gives a range between $5,500 and $11,000 for various elementary
schools. Metroprofiles.com
puts the Cambridge figure at $17,551 in 2005. The Harvard
Crimson in 2005 put the figure at about $15,000. For FY2004, the
Crimson put the cost per pupil for regular education at $13,363. The Area
4 Newsletter said in 2002 that the projected cost per pupil was estimated
to rise from $17,221 in 2002 to $21,419 in 2006. Councillors Toomey and
Sullivan and City Manager Healy put the figure at $16,000 in 2000.
So,
what's the accurate figure right now? Let
me know. I'm sure others would also like to know. - Robert
Winters
Apr 2 - How
Not to Save Housing - by Robert Samuelson (at Real
Clear Politics)
|
A
few thoughts before the March 31, 2008 City Council
meeting:
City
Manager's Agenda - The nature of the Manager's Agenda changes from
week to week. Some weeks feature one or two major fiscal items such as
last week's setting of the water & sewer rates, the mid-May vote on the
annual budget, and the setting of the property tax rates in the fall. (The
Manager always correctly points out that the City Council merely votes on
tax classification, exemptions, and various other parameters, and the
Mass. Department of Revenue sets the rates.) The primary focus of this
week's Manager's Agenda is catching up on Council requests for reports on
various matters. Of the 26 items on "Awaiting Report", the
Manager answers 10 this week covering topics from parking meters to
bicycles to rodents to block grants to tree plantings to bricks on Cedar
Street. Not too sexy or controversial, but these are all part of managing
a city.
Last
week's Council Order from Mayor Simmons regarding possible changes to
the rules governing Public Comment at City Council meetings is sure
to elicit further response from the usual suspects. It's been funny
watching the reactions to this highly non-specific Order that doesn't
actually propose any changes, though you would never know it from the
reactions. A little history may be helpful here. There are few people
among those who now attend Council meetings who go back to times before
the current protocols were in place, but I am one of them. The reporters,
in particular, have no basis for comparison. It used to be that if you
wanted to speak on a particular item, you waited until that item came up
during the meeting and you stepped up to the microphone and were
recognized by the Chair. The great advantage of that system was that
members of the public were obliged to address a specific agenda item at
the time the item was under discussion. I preferred that system because it
allowed those who had something serious to say to do so when that topic
was before the Council. It was not uncommon that there would even be some
interaction between the councillors and the person making the comments.
The major down side of that system was that you had to stick around until
your item came up, and some of those meetings could run pretty long.
Because
rent control was always the big deal of the day, this meant that you could
count on seeing Mike Turk, Connie Thibault, Bill Noble and others from the
Cambridge Tenants Union dutifully occupying their usual seats in the
Sullivan Chamber just in case anything involving rent control came up
during the meeting. We were also blessed with the presence of Bill Jones
who would regularly offer his perspectives on current events and local
history (though not always accurately) when he was not partaking of the
plentiful food provided in the Council's Green Room. Though everyone was
supposed to address specific agenda items, it was an unwritten rule that
Mr. Jones could stray somewhat from the agenda. Say what you will about
Billy, but none of the would-be comedians who now work the Sullivan
Chamber can hold a candle to Mr. Jones in terms of pure entertainment.
More importantly, just about everyone liked Billy Jones. That cannot be
said of today's crop of crabby complainers.
One
East Cambridge woman at last week's meeting who generally speaks
intelligently on matters of substance during Public Comment seemed upset
at possibly being lumped in with the "nut cases". Let's be clear
about this. Whether or not you want to see some changes in the protocols
governing Public Comment, no one wants to curtail the rights of any
member of the public to speak on relevant matters before the City Council.
The principal problem, as I see it, is that some members of the public
feel they have license to use this opportunity to mock and attack anyone and everyone
for no purpose other than to draw attention to themselves. I agree with
Councillor Toomey that the rules as they stand do not need to be
changed. They merely need to be enforced - perhaps, in some cases, with an
iron hand. Most or all of the principal abusers of Public Comment have
“blogs” in which they freely express themselves - just as I freely
express myself on this website (as I am doing now). Nobody is obliged to
read my erratic ramblings. Anyone can similarly read “From the Port”
or “Enough Room” if they want to listen to the erratic ramblings of
Councillor Podgers or Councillor Bercaw. Free speech reigns.
Anyone
who reads my ramblings can easily discern some of my likes and dislikes of
elected officials and others who work in the City administration. Most
have picked up on the fact that I'm generally supportive of candidates
(new ones in particular), elected officials, department heads, and City
workers. I actually believe Cambridge is a well-run city - as compared to
many other Massachusetts cities, especially those without a city manager
form of government. This doesn't mean I believe there's no room for
improvement. I think we do a piss-poor job of community policing, we don't
do nearly enough to address problems of vandalism and loud cars, and I
believe there are a number of City programs that exist primarily to
preserve the jobs of those who work in them. I will likely never be
convinced that city councillors need personal aides (perhaps better
referred to as Sullivan chambermaids or manservants). I am flabbergasted
by some of the salary levels in the City administration and how the
elected officials go along to get along just as long as we're flush with
property tax revenue. It bothers me that the executive director of the
Election Commission treats one of the best friends the commission ever had
like an enemy for no rational reason, and I still believe that the Dept.
of Traffic & Parking owes me $80 for towing my VW Bus away without
warning. Then again, my mechanic has been holding my Bus hostage in Natick
since December 13, so T&P is looking pretty good in comparison.
Cambridge
water is good enough to win prizes, and that doesn't happen by accident.
The Cambridge Department of Public Works has a public service philosophy
that can't be beat. If anyone wants to complain about the condition of
Cambridge sidewalks or snow plowing, they should visit almost any other
city or town in Massachusetts to see just how good we are in comparison.
Cambridge is way ahead of most cities in terms of recycling and
environmental initiatives - and the City Manager deserves most of the
credit for this. I attended a public hearing last week about the Cambridge
Energy Alliance and the programs they will be providing for Cambridge
residents and businesses, and it made me feel very proud to live in
this city. Though some of the City Manager's appointments are, in my
opinion, driven by the desire to avoid trouble rather than to improve
things, I still believe Mr. Healy is possibly the best in the business
and, unlike some of the naysayers, I believe our multiple AAA bond ratings
speak volumes about how well this city is managed.
Hmmm...
maybe I should say that during Public Comment, but it's not on the agenda
and I don't know if I can squeeze it in under three minutes. --
Robert Winters
|
|
Coming
up at the March 24, 2008 City Council meeting:
Water
and Sewer Rates - "That the City Council approve the following block rates for water consumption and sewer use for the period beginning Apr 1, 2008 and ending Mar 31, 2009. The City administration and City Council continue to recognize that it is important to mitigate the effects of water and sewer increases both for FY09 and future fiscal years as much as possible. Therefore, I am pleased to submit a recommendation that calls for a 2.1% increase in the water rate, a 4.8% increase in the sewer rate and a 3.9% increase in the combined rate."
Resolution
#15. Resolution on the death of Isaac Meyers. Councillor Davis
Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council on how the March 17 accident in Central Square happened and that said report back contain a copy of the relevant police report to the extent that that information may be shared. Councillor Kelley, Councillor Seidel and Councillor Davis
Suffice
to say that this intersection where trucks turn right from River St.
onto Mass. Ave. is hazardous for pedestrians - especially for those who
don't consider the mechanics of a turning truck with a long wheel base.
The death was both horrible and preventable.
Order
#5. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council on the City's policies and regulations concerning the number of unrelated people living in the same dwelling unit and any suggestions to modify that number. Councillor Kelley
Monkey
See, Monkey Do. The City of Boston just put limits on the number of
unrelated people who may live in a single household, and the Boston Globe
wrote a story about it. Is this really a problem in Cambridge? Why is this
being brought up now? This seems like a solution in search of a problem.
Order
#6. That the Mayor is requested to hold a special combined meeting, to be open to public comment and to be televised as with a normally scheduled meeting, of both the School Committee and the City Council to start a discussion on how to best coordinate various youth services. Councillor Kelley, Councillor Seidel, Councillor Maher and Councillor Toomey
I
expect this to generate discussion and future committee meetings, but it's
worth noting that not all youth centers and other activities draw many
participants. Part of this is political - building youth centers and
establishing related programs makes for good copy on political campaign
brochures, but this does not necessarily imply either good planning, good
allocation of resources, or practical benefits. Cambridge politicians love
to build youth centers on which they can hang their hats (and possibly
their names) even if nobody shows up at them. My model program would
integrate the Police Department and the Recreation Department in a manner
similar to the Police Athletic League in New York City. In such a model,
you would get all the best aspects of community policing as well as better
security and supervision. In my opinion, there is far too much emphasis on
youth centers. Whatever happened to the community schools model? Does it
make any sense to have school buildings and their facilities open only
during school hours and a limited range of after-school activities?
Order
#7. That the Government Operations Committee review City Council policy on Public
Comment with a view towards making any necessary amendments and report back to the City Council on this matter. Mayor Simmons
I'm
not sure what the mayor has in mind with this order, but we would all
benefit from changes that limit the role of the narcissists that now
dominate public comment at City Council meetings. There's an old
phrase we used to hear a lot around Cambridge: “The bad drive out the
good.” When nut cases (do I really have to name them) turn the
opening of every City Council meeting into a circus side show, this
benefits no one and does nothing to promote democracy. Of course you don't
really have to refer this to a committee for a solution. All it takes
is a mayor with a firm hand and a heavy gavel. Enough already!
Order
#8. That the City Manager is requested to report back to the City Council on the impact an exodus of bio-tech companies from Cambridge may have on the tax base of our city, and further report back on Northpoint and what likelihood there may be for further development. Mayor Simmons, Councillor Reeves and Councillor Toomey
I
mention this item only to note the changing tone over the course of
the last 10 to 15 years. There was a time when entities like the Cambridge
Citizens for Livable Neighborhoods (CCLN) and it's cousin, the Cambridge
Citizens for Growth Management (CCGM) were very vocal in opposing any kind
of development in Cambridge, and many elected officials would butt heads
with City planners and the City Manager over development issues. Nowadays,
the tone seems to be consistently one of maintaining the revenue stream to
support every imaginable affordable housing program and human services
program in addition to a parade of major capital projects. I offer no
opinion on this shift in political winds - I merely note the change in the
weather. -- Robert Winters |
March 19 - Massachusetts
state budget reaches “point of reckoning” - MassInc
March 19 - Who's Zoomin' Who? (Harvard Crimson story "School
Super Urged to Stay")
The Cambridge School Committee, really
three members and a mayor, appear to be crafting their own new brand of
dishonesty. In January, the School Committee voted 4-3 to extend the contract of
Superintendent of Schools Thomas Fowler-Finn, though they did not at that time
specify a term for the contract extension. The devil may be in the lack of
details. In the initial vote on contract extension, members Fred Fantini, Joe
Grassi, Nancy Tauber, and newly elected mayor Denise Simmons voted for the
contract extension. The opposing votes were Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, and
Luc Schuster. Some (and this includes me) felt that Simmons' vote was tied to
her getting the votes of her Council colleagues to become mayor. It's not
unusual that the mayoral selection hinges on some understanding about how the
selected mayor will act in his or her role as Chair of the School Committee.
There was some cause for concern at
the time of the January contract vote that no term was specified. Cynics (and
this includes me) worried that Simmons' deciding vote might have been just the formal
conclusion of a deal with her City Council colleagues and that what followed
might be a negotiation in which the proposed terms might be so minimal or
unacceptable that it would amount to a de facto rejection. The fact that there
has been no resolution after two months in what is absolutely a cut-and-dried
question is an indication that this School Committee may not have any
understanding of what constitutes an understanding. Simmons statement that
“you don’t want to rush something that’s so important” is bewildering at
best.
Though I have personally only gone to
a couple of School Committee meetings this year, I have watched portions of
several other meetings on TV. My impression is that this is one of the most
dysfunctional groups to have ever occupied the seats in the Henrietta S. Attles
Meeting Room. With two petulant children serving on the School Committee, I
suppose this was to be expected. What we could use is some leadership from the
mayor, but for that we may just have to wait and see. -- Robert
Winters
Feb 26 - Cash
is King in Council Elections (by Sarah Howland, Harvard Crimson)
Feb 26 - Sometimes The Right is right: Decommissioning
the peaceniks (Cambridge Chronicle)
Feb 19 - I just
picked up the results of the Democratic City Committee ward committee elections,
including the write-in votes. Here they are: http://rwinters.com/docs/demwards2008.pdf
One interesting thing about these results - they're not correct. Not
that it matters much to me or anyone else, but I received enough write-in votes
to be among those elected to the Ward 6 Democratic City Committee and the
results show this. However, in my own precinct 6-1, as well as in the
neighboring precinct 6-2, the results show no write-in votes at all. Only
precinct 6-3 shows any write-ins, so apparently any write-in choices on my
ballot and on the ballots of others in my precinct were not counted, even
though I completed my ballot correctly. [I took a photo of my ballot, by the
way, so there's no question that my ballot was completed correctly.] By the way,
the Election Commission promised that the complete results would be posted Feb
6, but they were not due to complications with provisional ballots. The results
were complete on Feb 12 and were to be posted on the website of the Election
Commission the next day. They were still not posted as of Tues, Feb 19.
The main reason I visited the Cambridge Election Commission today was to pick up
campaign finance reports for the School Committee candidates. The deadline for
submitting these reports was January 20. Neither Richard Harding nor Patty
Nolan have filed their year-end reports - a full 30 days after the
deadline. [Mar 14 update - Ms. Nolan turned in
her report on Feb 25, 36 days late. No word yet on Harding and Walser.] Former School Committee member Nancy Walser is also
required to file a year-end report and has not yet done so.
Here are some highlights of the reports:
|
Candidate |
year |
expenditures |
Notes |
#1 votes |
$ per vote |
|
Marc McGovern |
2006-7 |
$ 23,637.00 |
|
2277 |
$ 10.38 |
|
Gail Lemily-Wiggins |
2006-7 |
$ 8,931.61 |
|
1024 |
$ 8.72 |
|
Nancy Tauber |
2006-7 |
$ 9,533.09 |
|
1246 |
$ 7.65 |
|
Luc Schuster |
2006-7 |
$ 12,776.76 |
|
1680 |
$ 7.61 |
|
Patty Nolan |
2006-7 |
$ 12,063.75 |
updated Mar 14 |
1672 |
$ 7.22 |
|
Stefan Malner |
2006-7 |
$ 574.41 |
|
133 |
$ 4.32 |
|
Fred Fantini |
2006-7 |
$ 6,114.00 |
|
2017 |
$ 3.03 |
|
Joe Grassi |
2006-7 |
$ 4,770.52 |
|
1629 |
$ 2.93 |
|
Richard Harding |
2006-7 |
$ 3,849.41 |
estimated |
1562 |
$ 2.46 |
Perhaps the most notable thing is the extraordinary amount of money ($23,637)
spent by Marc McGovern for 2006-7 to win his seat. This is not the record high,
however. That distinction goes to Marc McGovern for 2002-3 at $27,182. It
is noteworthy that incumbent Richard Harding spent relatively little on his
campaign and was defeated. In contrast, Fred Fantini and Joe Grassi continued
their low-cost, high-effect campaigns in the $3/vote range. No one can ever
accuse these two of buying an election. Here are the dollar per #1 vote totals
for all School Committee candidates in the last three elections:
|
Candidate |
2002-3 |
2004-5 |
2006-7 |
| Christopher Craig |
$ 0.15 |
- |
- |
|
Fred Fantini |
$ 2.92 |
$ 3.34 |
$ 3.03 |
|
Joe Grassi |
$ 2.50 |
$ 2.98 |
$2.93 |
|
Richard Harding |
$ 5.56 |
$ 5.99 |
$2.46 (est.) |
|
Gail Lemily-Wiggins |
- |
- |
$8.72 |
| Ben Lummis |
$ 5.52 |
$ 7.33 |
- |
|
Stefan Malner |
- |
- |
$4.32 |
|
Marc McGovern |
$ 10.01 |
$ 8.36 |
$ 10.38 |
|
Patty Nolan |
- |
$ 5.80 |
$ 7.22 |
| Alan Price |
$ 10.33 |
- |
- |
|
Luc Schuster |
- |
$ 6.17 |
$ 7.61 |
|
Nancy Tauber |
- |
- |
$ 7.65 |
| Nancy Walser |
$ 6.02 |
$ 5.48 |
- |
I promise to provide some interesting information on the campaign finance reports
of City Council candidates soon. Here's some preliminary information on the Council candidates, listed alphabetically:
|
Candidate |
year |
receipts |
expenditures |
#1 votes |
$ per vote |
Notes |
|
Henrietta Davis |
2006-7 |
$ 65,796 |
$ 60,999 |
1592 |
$ 38.32 |
|
| Marjorie Decker |
2006-7 |
$ 52,685 |
$ 50,960 |
1069 |
$ 47.67 |
|
| Jonathan Janik |
2006-7 |
$ 5,019 |
$ 3,923 |
261 |
$ 15.03 |
|
| Craig Kelley |
2006-7 |
$ 29,811 |
$ 26,295 |
1118 |
$ 23.52 |
|
| David Maher |
2006-7 |
$ 35,535 |
$ 31,547 |
1312 |
$ 24.04 |
|
| Kevin Moore |
2006-7 |
$ 2,460 |
$ 960 |
251 |
$ 3.82 |
several reports missing |
| Gregg Moree |
2006-7 |
$ 23,000 |
$ 22,390 |
111 |
$ 201.71 |
$750 to The Alewife for "insurance" |
| Brian Murphy |
2006-7 |
$ 54,327 |
$ 57,141 |
1160 |
$ 49.26 |
|
| Kathy Podgers |
2006-7 |
- |
- |
92 |
- |
no records available |
| Kenneth Reeves |
2006-7 |
$ 70,120 |
$ 63,218 |
1217 |
$ 51.95 |
again, no record of payments for office space |
| Sam Seidel |
2006-7 |
$ 28,392 |
$ 28,064 |
1037 |
$ 27.06 |
|
| Denise Simmons |
2006-7 |
$ 32,133 |
$ 35,662 |
996 |
$ 35.81 |
|
| Edward J. Sullivan |
2006-7 |
$ 34,560 |
$ 28,622 |
831 |
$ 34.44 |
|
| Tim Toomey |
2006-7 |
$ 63,651 |
$ 51,085 |
1339 |
$ 38.15 |
includes only 2007 receipts/expenditures |
| Larry Ward |
2006-7 |
$ 10,706 |
$ 11,005 |
699 |
$ 15.74 |
|
Needless to say, Gregg Moree must have set some kind of record for least effective
campaign. Among those who were elected, Councillors Kelley, Maher, and Seidel
appear to have received the most bang for the buck in their campaigns.
--
Robert Winters
|
Feb 23, 2008
(updated) - How has
voter turnout changed in the Cambridge municipal elections over the last
50 years? Here are the numbers:
| YEAR |
VOTERS |
TURNOUT |
% TURNOUT |
| 1951 |
55294 |
37252 |
67% |
| 1953 |
57181 |
39000 |
68% |
| 1955 |
53638 |
36232 |
68% |
| 1957 |
52244 |
34391 |
66% |
| 1959 |
48630 |
34287 |
71% |
| 1961 |
49545 |
33239 |
67% |
| 1963 |
47054 |
32936 |
70% |
| 1965 |
46306 |
31819 |
69% |
| 1967 |
44805 |
31386 |
70% |
| 1969 |
42570 |
25613 |
60% |
| 1971 |
44623 |
30401 |
68% |
| 1973 |
47516 |
26248 |
55% |
| 1975 |
45292 |
27969 |
62% |
| 1977 |
48796 |
23593 |
48% |
| 1979 |
44952 |
26908 |
60% |
|
| YEAR |
VOTERS |
TURNOUT |
% TURNOUT |
| 1981 |
47973 |
25569 |
53% |
| 1983 |
45616 |
30053 |
66% |
| 1985 |
48134 |
24393 |
51% |
| 1987 |
44941 |
23860 |
53% |
| 1989 |
47461 |
27593 |
58% |
| 1991 |
44730 |
23335 |
52% |
| 1993 |
46235 |
22142 |
48% |
| 1995 |
41708 |
19183 |
46% |
| 1997 |
43002 |
17229 |
40% |
| 1999 |
58666 |
19161 |
33% (45%
of "active" voters) |
| 2001 |
56973 |
17688 |
31% (40%
of "active" voters) |
| 2003 |
55831 |
20958 |
38% (51%
of "active" voters) |
| 2005 |
56641 |
16202 |
29% (39% of
"active" voters) |
| 2007 |
56339 |
13721 |
24% (35% of "active
voters") |
|

Notes:
Of the 58666 registered voters in 1999, 42500 were listed as
"active", so if you were to use that as a better measure of
actual potential voters, you'd have a percentage of 45% rather than the
33% caused by the provisions of the Motor-Voter Law.
Of the 56973 registered voters in 2001, 43911 were listed as
"active", so if you were to use that as a better measure of
actual potential voters, you'd have a percentage of 40% rather than the
31% caused by the provisions of the Motor-Voter Law.
Of the 55831 registered voters in 2003, 41069 were listed as
"active", so if you were to use that as a better measure of
actual potential voters, you'd have a percentage of 51% rather than the
38% caused by the provisions of the Motor-Voter Law.
Of the 58666 registered voters in 2005, 41271 were listed as
"active", so if you were to use that as a better measure of
actual potential voters, you'd have a percentage of 39% rather than the
29% caused by the provisions of the Motor-Voter Law.
Of the 56339 registered voters in 2007, 39462 were listed as
"active", so if you were to use that as a better measure of
actual potential voters, you'd have a percentage of 35% rather than the
24% caused by the provisions of the Motor-Voter Law. |
Feb 17,18 - Picture Postcards
Jan 29, 11:00pm
- The Cambridge School Committee tonight passed on a 4-3 vote a motion to enter
into negotiations for a contract extension with Superintendent Thomas
Fowler-Finn.
Voting in favor: Fred Fantini, Joe Grassi, Nancy Tauber, Denise Simmons
Voting against: Marc McGovern, Patty Nolan, Luc Schuster
I'm not aware of the
length of the extension or of any other conditions. Much of that will presumably
be determined during the contract negotiations.

|
January 14 - It's Mayor Simmons and Vice-Mayor Murphy
My fellow occupant in the balcony of the Sullivan Chamber called it as soon
as people began arriving for tonight's City Council meeting. The tip-off
was the assembled campaign people, family and friends of Denise Simmons over on her side of the Sullivan Chamber. All that remained
was to see how the details would play out. Rumors had been swirling since
last week about which councillors were going to cross over to cut the
deal to make either Denise Simmons, Henrietta Davis, or Brian Murphy
mayor. In the end, it was Simmons who was able to garner the five votes
and Henrietta Davis and Brian Murphy made it clear as the roll call got
underway that the outcome would not be determined this time around by
the Billy Walsh coalition. The coalition of the reasonable, including
freshman Councillor Sam Seidel, would determine the outcome. In the end,
after the outcome was clear, both the vote for mayor and for vice-chair
of the City Council was made unanimous as the other councillors changed
their votes.
This
promises to be a good City Council term. Newly elected Mayor Simmons
showed us that the Sullivan spirit is still alive and well in the
Sullivan Chamber as she swiftly and expertly moved through the City
Council agenda and wrapped up the meeting by 7:30pm. We've had to suffer
through two years of poorly run meetings that often dragged on toward
midnight, but there's hope now that we'll see efficiently run meetings
and good City Council subcommittee appointments. The best start would be to
give Henrietta Davis any and all appointments she wants since she's been
the most consistent in her committee meeting attendance and preparation.
There was a comic moment late in the meeting when Councillor Kelley spoke on
an Order from Henrietta Davis asking the City Manager to publish
Cambridge's snow removal policies “in the Cambridge Chronicle and
other local papers” several times this winter. Kenneth Errol Reeves
responded that the City should not use the Cambridge Chronicle at all -
continuing the kafuffle that raged last year between him and the
Chronicle. Councillor Decker then weighed in on the side of Reeves and exercised
her charter right to delay the Order until the next Council meeting.
For the record, the mayoral vote (the 2nd ballot officially) initially had
Davis, Kelley, Murphy, Reeves, Seidel, and Simmons voting for Denise
Simmons; Maher and Toomey voting for Tim Toomey; and Decker voting
“present” (I won't even bother trying to figure that one out). David
Maher then asked to change his vote to Simmons and make the vote
unanimous. Decker then changed her vote to Simmons and City Clerk
Margaret Drury gaveled the vote closed before Councillor Toomey had a
chance to weigh in - declaring the vote unanimous even though no such
vote was taken. I suppose you could argue that the vote was actually an
8-1 vote for Simmons since the rules are clear that the vote is final
when the gavel drops. Nonetheless, Councillor Toomey did ask to have his
vote changed to Denise Simmons after she had already been sworn in.
Let's just call it unanimous, regardless of the technicalities.
The vote for Vice-Chair of the City Council (traditionally called
Vice-Mayor) came next. In the initial vote, all councillors except
Decker voted for Brian Murphy. Decker again voted “present”. Only
afterwards did she join the others as she changed her vote to Murphy to
make the vote unanimous.
Some have focused on Denise Simmons' racial and gender identity in regard to
her election as mayor. I prefer to think of her as the person who has
shown more interest in local Cambridge history than any of the other
city councillors. In this regard, she and I are siblings. Cambridge is a
city with a history like few others in the United States, and it's great
to have someone in the public eye who appreciates this. -- Robert
Winters |

Mayor Simmons

Vice-Mayor Murphy
|
Oct 20, 2007 - Follow
the Money - A very interesting article by Bill Cunningham
and Aimee Smith in The Bridge about some of the
current real estate activities of former city councillor Bill Walsh and
the ongoing sage at 55 Magazine Street.
|
The Board & Commission Project
The City of Cambridge has a long list of appointed boards, commissions, authorities, and advisory
committees on which hundreds of Cambridge residents (and City employees) serve. In almost all cases, the "appointing
authority" is the City Manager. Not long ago there was a City Council Order requesting a list of members who serve on
all of these boards, but a complete response was not forthcoming. There was a 1997 "City of Cambridge Boards and
Commissions Manual" published by the City Manager's Office that listed most of the existing boards with brief
descriptions of each, but this manual is now out of date and, to the best of my knowledge, unavailable.
That's where YOU come in. I have set up a web page for all of the City boards and commissions,
but it's very much a work in progress. Many who are reading this serve on one or more of these boards and are in an ideal
position to provide a list of members and their terms as well as concise descriptions of the purpose of some of these
committees. Other attend some of the meetings of these committees are in a good position to provide information. So, here's
your invitation. The page is located at http://rwinters.com/docs/boards.htm.
My request is that you look over this page and send
me suggestions on how best to organize it, provide statements of purpose and other relevant information about each
committee, and to give the names and terms of the members of these committees. Some of this information can be taken from various
web pages of the City of Cambridge. Other information will come from your personal knowledge from either serving on these committees
or attending their meetings.
Contact information for board members will not be provided unless members specifically request to have it
included. Citizen members of these committees serve out out of a sense of civic duty and should be respected for their willingness
to give of their time, their energy, and their intellect. It is rarely, if ever, appropriate for members of the public to
contact members of these boards outside of the context of public meetings of the respective boards. |
Pen Portraits of Prominent People - by Henry J. Mahoney Editor, Cambridge Sentinel - 1923
This book was published c. 1923 and features very witty one-page “pen portraits” (with photo) of prominent
Cantabrigians of the day. I'll be adding names alphabetically as time permits. There are 182 portraits in the book.
It comes to mind that there may be some value in expanding these profiles to other prominent Cantabrigians
who arrived on the scene after 1923, including prominent Cantabrigians of today. With this in mind, I extend the invitation
to any and all who may wish to contribute their own “pen portraits” of Cambridge people. Contributions do not necessarily have
to be in the style of Mr. Mahoney. Inclusion is, as always, subject to the erratic discretion of the editor.
Special thanks to Karen Welch for sending me the book. - RW
How much does it cost to get elected to the Cambridge City Council or
School Committee? (2005)
The true measure of what candidates spend is the expense incurred over a full two-year election
cycle. In recent years, more candidates have adopted the “never-ending campaign” philosophy complete with rented
headquarters, phone bills charged to campaign accounts, and more in addition to the expenses associated with the
actual election.
It's not as easy as it should be to get all this information. The Office of Campaign and Political
Finance (OCPF) is useful, but their records are incomplete. The Cambridge Election Commission has the reports from
School Committee candidates but they |