2013 CCJ Notes - Part II
(July to December 2013)
[items moved from main page]

Michael Sullivan to challenge Marian Ryan for Middlesex County District Attorney

Dec 23, 2013 - Michael Sullivan, current Middlesex County Clerk of Courts and former Cambridge Mayor and City Councillor, will challenge Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan in next year’s Democratic primary. He plans to make a formal announcement on his candidacy early next year. Read about it at here (Lowell Sun).

Michael Sullivan was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 1993 and served from January 1994 through July 2007. He was elected as Middlesex County Clerk of Courts in November 2006 - succeeding Edward J. Sullivan, his uncle, who had served in this position for 48 years (8 consecutive terms) from 1959 through 2006.

The sympathy of all Cantabrigians is extended to Mayor Henrietta Davis on the loss of her mother.

Beatrice L. (Levy) Davis of Chestnut Hill on Thursday, December 26, 2013. Beloved wife of the late Ralph Davis. Devoted mother of Henrietta Davis & her husband Richard Bock, Michael Davis & his wife Madelyn, and Mary M. Davis. Loving grandmother and great grandmother of Daniel & Lindsey Bickers Bock and their daughters Hazel and Ada, Aaron & Caroline Bock and their daughter Mia, Gregory Davis & Charlene Cho and their children Rosie and Atticus, Adam & Ashley Davis and their children Katherine, Suzanne and Emma, Bethany & Matthew Phillips and their daughter Fiona, Sam & Meghan Thompson and Benjamin Thompson. Dear sister of the late Saul and Maurice Levy. Beloved sister-in-law of Sylvia Segal. Fond aunt to her many nieces and nephews. Former employee and graduate of Bentley University. Services at Temple Shalom of Newton, 175 Temple Street, Newton on Tuesday, December 31 at 1:00pm. Interment at Sharon Memorial Park, Sharon. Shiva following the burial will be at Le Meridien Cambridge-MIT, and continuing Wednesday & Thursday 4-7pm at the home of Henrietta and Richard. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to National Wildlife Foundation, P O Box 1583, Merrifield, VA 22116-1583. [Obituary]

Cambridge Public Library Holiday Book Drive

The Cambridge Public Library (CPL) is collecting donations of new books to give to children who are living in Cambridge shelters and transitional housing during the holidays.

The Cambridge Public Library and Porter Square Books partner annually to provide a holiday gift to children from birth through high school. In 2012, we were able to give 465 children at the Hildebrand Family Self Help Center, Transition House and the YWCA children the gift of a book.

Donations will be accepted through Dec 31, 2013 at all Cambridge Public Library locations and at Porter Square Books, which also offers a 20% discount on books for this project.

For more information, call 617-349-4040 or visit CPL’s website, www.cambridgepubliclibrary.org.

City of Cambridge Seeks Members for the Central Square Advisory Committee

The City of Cambridge is currently seeking letters of interest from Cambridgeport, Riverside, Area IV, Mid-Cambridge residents and the Central Square business community who would like to serve on the Central Square Advisory Committee.

Committee Charge
Zoning: Undertake all Large Project Reviews as required by the Cambridge Zoning Ordinance and receives all applications for variances and special permits for activities within the Central Square Overlay District for review and comment.

Non-Zoning: Monitor the progress of the non-zoning recommendations of the K2C2 study.

Time Commitment
The Committee will meet every two months. Additional meetings will be scheduled as required based on project review needs.

Participation in previous Central Square planning activities and understanding of development and design issues are desirable. Final selection of Advisory Committee members will be made by City Manager Richard Rossi.

To apply, please send a letter by Fri, Dec 20, describing your interest in the Central Square Advisory Committee and any experience you have working on similar issues to:

Elaine Thorne
Cambridge Community Development Department,
344 Broadway, Cambridge, MA 02139
ethorne@cambridgema.gov

Recount Completed - Same Winners, Similar Margins

Dec 12, 2013 - The 2013 City Council Election Recount is now complete: Recount Results (PDF, 2 pages)

Note: This chart was modified from an earlier version to reflect a correction in Count 15.

Turnout in Cambridge Municipal Elections: 1951 to 2013

The percent voter turnout in the recent Cambridge municipal election was about the same as recent years. Here are a few graphics to show the trend from 1951 to 2013:

Click for larger image

The chart shows voter turnout as a fraction of the "active" voters in order to give a better indication of actual voter turnout. This year the number of registered voters reached an all-time high - in part due to the fact that the list has not been purged out of caution because of the various special elections that have taken place (and still to take place on Dec 10 for the 5th Congressional District). As a fraction of all registered voters, the voter turnout was 25%. As a fraction of "active" voters, the voter turnout was 35%. By either measure, voter turnout was down 1%. However, the actual number of voters increased by approximately 12% from 15,971 to 17,846 based on the number of City Council ballots cast.

Comments?

RECOUNT UPDATE - 16th Count Complete: Deciding round up next

Day 9 (Dec 12) will likely be the last day of the City Council Election Recount. They have no counted out Sam Seidel and Ken Reeves is next. At the end of that rount (Count 17) the winners will be determined (and it's pretty much certain that they will be the same as the original winners with a margin between Carlone and vanBeuzekom in the 16-22 ballot range, though there are about 17 other ballots in play during the Reeves transfer that could narrow the margin a bit.

Here's the latest:
Results at the end of the 16th Count (PDF)

UPDATE (5:40pm) - The 17th Count has been completed except for the totals and any last verification of ballots. The results will be announced shortly and the remaining winners declared. The winners will be the same as in the original election results. The margin between 9th Place (Carlone) and 10th Place (vanBeuzekom) will also be approximately the same as in the original results - anywhere between 14 and 22 votes (by my estimate). I'll post all the details as soon as its been made official and I get the remaining numbers. - Robert Winters

Cambridge City Council Election Recount - 14th Count Complete

Right now the margin between 9th and 10th place in the deciding round projects to about 12 votes. Seidel (16th Count) has an additional 10 ballots and Reeves (17th Count) has an additional 11 ballots compared to the original count. When defeated, vanBeuzekom and Kelley could gain a few more ballots than Mazen and Carlone to further narrow the margin. Though an upset is very unlikely, this ain't over yet.

The remaining rounds with transferred ballot numbers from the original count look like this (updated Dec 12, 9am):

After trimming out some excess caused by earlier rounds, there are really only about 18 ballots in play and the margin between Carlone and vanBeuzekom projects to about 18 in the deciding round. This is starting to look pretty settled now.

Cambridge Remembers Nelson Mandela

The City of Cambridge is collaborating with South Africa Partners in planning a special remembrance in honor of Nelson Mandela on Monday, Dec. 9, at Cambridge City Hall. Further details about this plan will be released on Monday.

"The City of Cambridge shares its sorrow with the world over the loss of this great leader and we celebrate his life and contributions to South Africa and the world." - Cambridge Mayor Henrietta Davis

RECOUNT UPDATE (Dec 7, 5:15pm)

The distribution of Leland Cheung's 617 surplus ballots was completed today. There were a few big swings in the number of ballots transferred to particular candidates, but it appears at this point unlikely that there will be any change in who will ultimately be elected.

The candidates who gained the most in the new surplus distribution are Sam Seidel (+10) and Ken Reeves (+9), though neither will ultimately benefit from these gains. Nadeem Mazen also picked up an additional 5 ballots. The candidates who suffered the greatest loss from Original Count to Recount are Craig Kelley (–9) and Minka vanBeuzekom (–8). Dennis Carlone also lost 4 ballots in this surplus distribution.

What this basically means is that the likely outcome when this gets to the deciding round (the 17th Count this time) will be that Craig Kelley and Nadeem Mazen should have approximately the same number of ballots (7th and 8th place) followed by Dennis Carlone (9th place); and the gap between Carlone and Minka vanBeuzekom will likely be greater than in the original count.

Perhaps the only uncertainty in this may be in how the additional ballots picked up by Sam Seidel and Ken Reeves may eventually find their way to the continuing candidates when they are counted out in the 15th and 16th Counts.

It was anticipated that as soon as Leland Cheung's surplus distribution was made official, the election workers would commence the counting out of candidates with fewer than 50 ballots (Gregg Moree), then Ron Peden, then James Williamson. This all depended upon how far they would get before the expected close of the day at around 5:00pm, but they never got past the 2nd Count. The counting out of minor candidates will begin Monday morning at 8:30am. The ballots of most, but not all, of the continuing candidates have already been matched and sequenced in accordance with the original count, so many of the next few rounds should go relatively quickly. - Robert Winters

Comments?

RECOUNT UPDATE (Dec 6, 2013)

The 2013 Cambridge City Council Election Recount finished its fifth day today. The distribution and counting of ballots according to #1 Votes was completed early in the day and the results announced (see below). The rest of the day was dedicated to matching Leland Cheung's #1 paper ballots with replica ballots created from the official electronic record of his #1 votes. This is necessary prior to any drawing and distribution of surplus ballots to other candidates (2nd Count) because of the legal requirement that ballot transfers must follow the same course as in the official results unless the discovery of an error warrants otherwise.

The matching of ballots and ballot records will continue on Saturday and, hopefully, the 2nd Count will then be carried out. Once that is complete, most of the uncertainty about the eventual election outcome will be removed since subsequent transfer rounds as candidates are defeated should proceed more or less as they did in the Official Count. The matching of paper ballots and ballot records will occur in later rounds whenever ballot order is relevant. - Robert Winters

Revised Ward & Precinct Totals for City Council Election (Recount)

Differences between Official Results (Nov 15) and Recount

Comments?

panoramic photo by Tom Stohlman

A Neverending Stream of Election 2013 Facts

Here's some information about voter turnout in individual precincts (based on City Council votes) in the recent municipal election:

Note that whether you use percentage of all registered voters or percentage of active voters, Ward 9, Precinct 1 comes out on top and Ward 2, Precinct 2 is at the bottom.

Different Measures of Popularity of City Council Candidates

Anyone familiar with Cambridge municipal elections knows the importance of the #1 vote in electing favored candidates, but there are other measures of popularity that provide insight into the general acceptability of candidates to voters. Shown below are the standings of the top 12 candidates showing #1 Vote Totals; number of ballots listing candidate either #1 or #2 (Top2); number of ballots listing candidate #1, #2, or #3 (Top3); number of ballots listing candidate anywhere from #1 through #5 (Top5); and number of ballots listing candidate anywhere from #1 through #9 (Top9). There was a total of 17,743 valid ballots in the City Council election.

Comments?

2013 Cambridge City Council Election Recount Scheduled

Nov 27 - The Cambridge Election Commission yesterday announced the dates, times, and location for the Recount of the 2013 City Council election. It will take place at the Moore Youth Center, 12 Gilmore Street, in the Riverside neighborhood. (Parking is expected to be a challenge.) Though nobody yet knows how long the Recount will actually take, the Election Commission has reserved the space for a two week period beginning Monday, Dec 2 at 8:30am.

The space is reserved for Mon, Dec 2 through Sat, Dec 7; and Mon, Dec 9 (followed by a break on Tues, Dec 10 for the Congressional election to fill the Markey seat); and Wed, Dec 11 through Sat, Dec 14. All meetings begin at 8:30am at the Moore Youth Center.

Looking Back at the 2001 School Committee Recount

There have been municipal election recounts before, but nothing really compares to the marathon 2001 School Committee Recount that took place in the former space of the Election Commission on Green Street (above the old Police Station). Here are a few images from that marathon - just to whet your appetite for the 2013 City Council Recount scheduled to begin Dec 2, 2013.

Comments? Fond recollections?

It Makes a Difference Whose Ox is Gored

Nov 20, 2013 - It was an interesting Election Commission meeting tonight. I finally learned definitively when Cambridge adopted the Cincinnati Method for surplus ballot distribution for the PR elections (Sept 20, 1973 by unanimous vote of the Election Commission). I had convinced myself at some point that the switch had been made in the early 1970's, so it was great to see that this was indeed the case. However, that wasn't the most interesting thing that occurred at the meeting.

The major order of business at this meeting was to consider the petition for a recount submitted by Minka vanBeuzekom. Now it should be obvious to any rational person that when an election is as close as the recent City Council election, a recount should be automatic. That's really the only way to be absolutely certain that voter intent was reflected in the election results. Nonetheless, two of the official winning candidates (Carlone and Mazen) were there arguing against Minka's petition for a recount. One of them (Carlone) even had a lawyer there doing everything he could to prevent a recount. I have no doubt whatsoever that had there been a different ordering of the candidates at the end of the decisive 16th Count, one of these candidates would be the one petitioning for a recount. Apparently the old adage is true - it really does make a difference whose ox is gored. And I'm sure they'll all be telling us next year about how much they value "true democracy".

The Commission voted unanimously that the recount will proceed. There will be a hearing next week (Tues, Nov 26 at 5:30pm in the Sullivan Chamber) to receive testimony from people and to lay out plans for the recount which is expected to take place after the Thanksgiving holiday. - RW

Official 2013 Cambridge Election Results (Nov 15)

Nov 15, 6:55pm - The Official results in the City Council election gave the same winners as the Unofficial Results from last week. The only significant change due to the 7 additional ballots was a partial change in the Cheung surplus due to two additional #1 votes for Leland Cheung. The deciding margin at the end of the 16th Round grew to 13 votes separating Dennis Carlone and Minka vanBeuzekom. (Mazen had 1 more than Carlone.) In the final Round, Carlone surpassed Mazen to yield the following winners in the order they reached the election quota (1775).

City Council (in order of election): Leland Cheung, David Maher, Denise Simmons, Tim Toomey, Dennis Benzan, Marc McGovern, Craig Kelley, Dennis Carlone, Nadeem Mazen. [Detailed Report]
Incumbents defeated: Ken Reeves, Minka vanBeuzekom

Nov 16 Update: Minka vanBeuzekom has sent word to her entourage that she will be asking for a Recount.

School Committee (in order of election): Patty Nolan, Fred Fantini, Richard Harding, Kathleen Kelly, Fran Cronin, and Mervan Osborne. [Detailed Report]
Incumbents defeated: None

Official Final Election Results - City Council and School Committee (PDF)

Comments?

The Roll of the Dice

One interesting aspect to this year's City Council election results has been the way the 600+ surplus ballots of Leland Cheung have shifted from the preliminary results to the unofficial results and now to the official results. This has to do with the "Cincinnati Method" that we currently use to choose which ballots are transferred. The addition of just a few ballots can cause significant changes in the choice of which ballots are chosen as surplus and how these surplus ballots are distributed to continuing candidates according to next available preference on those ballots. These changes generally persist thoughout the succeeding transfer rounds right up to the decisive round when the field has been reduced to ten candidates.

In the preliminary results (Nov 5), at the end of the decisive 16th Round, Nadeem Mazen had a 15 ballot lead over Minka vanBeuzekom and the spread between Craig Kelley (7th place) and Minka (10th place) was 51 ballots.

The following day when the auxiliary ballots were included, the margin between Nadeem and Minka had shrunk to just 6 ballots and there was only a 20 ballot spread beween Craig and Minka. The primary reason for this shift was the fact that Minka had a gain of 16 surplus ballots coupled with a loss of 4 surplus ballots for Nadeem (a net change of 20 ballots).

When just 6 additional valid ballots were included on Fri, Nov 15 (provisional and overseas absentee ballots), the roll of the dice went favorably for Craig Kelley (gain of 10) and not so well for Minka (loss of 4) along with a gain of 6 for Nadeem. This widened the spread between 7th and 10th place to 30 ballots at the end of the 16th Round and also placed Nadeem 1 ballot ahead of Dennis "Pearl Harbor" Carlone. The gap between Carlone and Minka opened up to 13 ballots.

In the event that a recount is demanded, it's certain that there will be some additional shifts in both the #1 vote totals for candidates as well as in which surplus ballots are transferred. Which way will the dice roll?

Cambridge 2013 Election Count (in case you missed it)

Just in case you missed the live broadcast of The Count on Tues, Nov 5, the good folks at CCTV have now uploaded it in 3 parts for your viewing pleasure (not to suggest that will be your reaction, of course!). You'll find the program (hosted by Susana Segat and Robert Winters) at: http://cctvcambridge.org/electioncount2013.

Announcing a New Mobile App for Café People - the iRake

Heavy rains drenched Cambridge a few days ago, and when you combine heavy rain with a plentiful supply of fallen oak leaves that can mean just one thing: Clogged Storm Drains. What's a café dweller to do when the drains are so clogged that the sidewalk becomes impassable even for hipsters? Since actual physical labor is unthinkable for the Macbook Air crowd, we've invented a new mobile app for all those hipsters who wouldn't dream of getting their feet wet - the iRake.

Sure, you can always use "See, Click, Fix" to send word to those working class men in the orange trucks who take their coffee from Dunkin' without the $5 cost and the pour-over. But who needs to mix with the little people, when you can simply activate the iRake with a few simple clicks between sips of free-range coffee brewed from politically correct nations of the world. You don't even have to put down your expensive pastry!

Coming this winter: The iShovel (now in Beta).

Voter Registration and Absentee Ballots for the Special State Election, December 10th

The Special State Election will be held on Tuesday, December 10, 2013 for the office of Representative in Congress for Massachusetts 5th Congressional District to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Edward Markey. For Cambridge residents not already registered, the last day to register to vote is Wednesday, November 20, 2013 until 8:00pm. The polls will be open on Election Day from 7:00am until 8:00pm.

Absentee Ballots are now available for the Special State Election at the Cambridge Election Commission office. Any voter who is unable to go to the polls on Election Day due to physical disability, religious belief, or absence from the city may request an Absentee Ballot from the Commission. The deadline to apply for an Absentee Ballot is Monday, December 9, 2013 at noon. Absentee Ballots may be mailed to voters, or such voters may choose to vote at the Commission office during regular city office hours: Monday, 8:30am-8:00pm; Tuesday-Thursday, 8:30am-5:00pm; Friday, 8:30am-Noon. The office will also be open for Absentee Voting on Friday, December 6, 2013 from 8:30am until 5:00pm.

For any additional information, please visit the Cambridge Election Commission office at 51 Inman Street, call (617-349-4361) or visit our website at www.cambridgema.gov/election.

Nov 26 - I just love playing with ballot data. If anyone wants to know who would replace each of the recently elected Cambridge city councillors should there be a vacancy during the next term, tune in to Cambridge InsideOut on CCTV this Tuesday (Nov 26) at 5:30pm and 6:00pm. I have lots of other fun facts to share such as #2 vote distribution, slate effectiveness and more. - RW

Nov 12 - Please tune in tonight (Tues, Nov 12 from 5:30pm to 6:30pm) to Cambridge InsideOut (The Sequel) on CCTV if you would like to hear detailed information about the recent Cambridge election results, a possible recount, and some interesting facts about different methods of surplus transfer in PR elections that may be worth considering. Last night I ran a series of experiments using the Cambridge tabulation software and ballot data from the very close 2001 and 2009 School Committee elections and the results are quite interesting.

In a few days I'll also be posting some preliminary information on the cost of the recent election. Since some of the greatest costs are incurred during the days immediately before the election, it would be highly inaccurate to give any such information until at least after the mid-November campaign finance information becomes available. Significant campaign costs will continue to be paid through the end of the year, but the mid-November figures will at least give preliminary estimates. - Robert Winters

Episode 17 of Cambridge InsideOut - A detailed look at the 2013 Cambridge election results and possible recount:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7T2H2pzF1M    [Comments?]

Episode 18 of Cambridge InsideOut - Boulder vs. Cincinnati vs. Fractional transfer methods in Cambridge's PR elections:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noxcL2EHJEs    [Comments?]

If you would like to look at the demonstrations used in these videos, you'll find them at http://rwinters.com/experiment/.

When Worlds Collide

As many of you know, my REAL job is teaching mathematics at MIT (and a weekly class at the Harvard Extension School). Elections and, for that matter, the Cambridge Civic Journal are more like full-time hobbies, though in a week like the one just past it seems like I've been working two full-time jobs. With the controversy over the closeness of the City Council results and what will almost certainly be a recount to follow sometime after next Friday's official results are known, I've been approached by many people asking for explanations of the Cambridge election method and especially about the way surplus ballots are chosen and transferred in the PR Count. If ever my two worlds of mathematics and civics/politics collide, this is it.

I plan on writing up a lot more about the election, proportional representation, the Cincinnati Method, and possible modifications that may be worth considering. If there's anything you would like me to include, just drop me a line. There's a lot that needs to be said, and much of it may surprise you. - Robert Winters

Unofficial 2013 Cambridge Election Results (Nov 6)

Nov 6, 8:30pm - The plot thickens in the City Council election. At the end of Tuesday's ballot count, there were only 51 votes separating the 7th through 10th candidates with only 15 votes separating the 9th place candidate (Nadeem Mazen) and the 10th place candidate (Minka vanBeuzekom) in the decisive 16th Count. When Wednesday's auxiliary ballots were included, the gap between the 7th through 10th candidates (Kelley, Carlone, Mazen, vanBeuzekom) narrowed to just 20 votes and only 6 votes now separate the 9th place candidate (Nadeem Mazen) and the 10th place candidate (Minka vanBeuzekom) in the decisive 16th Count.

At this point the winners have not changed, but the margin of victory is now shockingly small. There will be one last official count on Friday, November 15 that will include any overseas absentee ballots and provisional ballots. In some recent elections, due to the method of surplus distribution, the addition of just a few extra ballots has caused swings of 20 or more votes in the tabulation.

City Council (in order of election): Leland Cheung, David Maher, Denise Simmons, Tim Toomey, Dennis Benzan, Marc McGovern, Craig Kelley, Dennis Carlone, Nadeem Mazen. [Detailed Report]
Incumbents defeated: Ken Reeves, Minka vanBeuzekom

School Committee (in order of election): Patty Nolan, Fred Fantini, Richard Harding, Kathleen Kelly, Fran Cronin, and Mervan Osborne. [Detailed Report]
Incumbents defeated: None

Unofficial Election Results - City Council and School Committee (PDF)

Comments?

Preliminary 2013 Cambridge Election Results (Nov 5)

Nov 6, post midnight - It was an interesting night at The Count. Susana Segat and I did the live broadcast from the Senior Center and had many guests on the show including many of the City Council and School Committee candidates. In years past I would have been the first person to deliver the results, but tonight we were busy from the beginning of the show at 9:00pm all the way until 11:30pm or later. In case you have not yet heard the preliminary results, here they are:

City Council (in order of election - modified Wednesday to reflect actual order of election in final round): Leland Cheung, David Maher, Dennis Benzan, Tim Toomey, Denise Simmons, Marc McGovern, Craig Kelley, Dennis Carlone, Nadeem Mazen. [Detailed Report]
Incumbents defeated: Ken Reeves, Minka vanBeuzekom

School Committee (in order of election): Patty Nolan, Fred Fantini, Richard Harding, Kathleen Kelly, Fran Cronin, and Mervan Osborne. [Detailed Report]
Incumbents defeated: None

The City Council election quota was 1713 with 17,128 valid ballots counted. Only Leland Cheung exceeded quota with a surplus of 604 ballots.

The School Committee election quota was 2292 with 16,040 valid ballots counted. Three candidates reached quota on the 1st Count: Patty Nolan with a huge surplus of 1502 ballots, Fred Fantini with a surplus of 493 ballots, and Richard Harding with 3 surplus ballots.

It's important to emphasize that these are the preliminary figures. There are an additional 710 additional City Council ballots that will be inspected and included on Wednesday. Many of these may be blank ballots, but most will likely contain valid choices. In the City Council race, in the deciding round the vote totals for the 7th through 10th place candidates were: Kelley 1517, Carlone 1510, Mazen 1481, and vanBeuzekom 1466. That's only a 15 vote margin between 9th and 10th place, so it's possible that the unofficial results on Wednesday could change.

In the School Committee race, there are an additional 1,673 ballots to be inspected and counted on Wednesday. Most of these will likely be blank ballots without valid choices. However, even if there is a substantial number of valid ballots yet to be counted, the margins between candidates are such that it's essentially impossible for the results to change.

I'll be at the Senior Center on Wednesday and will post the final, unofficial results when they are known. - RW

Comments?

Some thoughts on the 2013 municipal election campaign on the eve of Election Day

Now that it's just a couple of days before Election Day, it's a good time to reflect a bit on what many have thought would transpire and what has actually transpired as the campaign has played itself out. Some of the factors that were expected to be significant are these:

• Two incumbent women (Davis, Decker) did not seek reelection. This contributed to the emergence of a large field of City Council candidates - 7 incumbents, 4 repeat challengers, and 14 new challengers - a total of 25 candidates for 9 seats.
• In the School Committee race, two incumbents did not seek reelection (McGovern, Turkel). This created a field of 4 incumbents, 2 repeat challengers, and 3 new challengers - a total of 9 candidates for 6 seats.
• Two prominent zoning petitions in the Central Square and Kendall Square areas in addition to the deliberations of the Red Ribbon Commission and the K2C2 process catapulted the issue of real and perceived development plans for these areas into prominence. Indeed, at least one organization (Cambridge Residents Alliance) was spawned by what they perceived as the threat of new development. On the flip side, the K2C2 process focused on the positive possibilities that might grow out of new investment in these areas through zoning and other incentives. A group called "A Better Cambridge" emerged as an advocate for "smart growth" principles and good urban design.
• The choice of Richard Rossi last December to succeed Robert Healy as City Manager was nearly unanimous and not at all unexpected, but it aggravated some activists who vowed to make this an election issue.
• Some activists introduced initiatives to distinguish themselves as agents of change in the interest of the quality of life of residents.
• Anti-development activists teamed up with local climate change activists to introduce a "net-zero" zoning petition that was timed so as to be a defining issue in the City Council election.
• On the School Committee side, the dichotomy of "excellence vs. equity", especially in the context of the "Innovation Agenda", was once again a defining issue. There was even some talk about a move to eliminate AP classes at the high school in the name of "equity".

So how much of this actually panned out as defining issues in the election? We won't really know until after the election results are determined, and even then it won't be possible to read the minds of those who voted to know their motivations. We can, however, make a few pre-election observations.

First, the significance of "two women leaving the Council" doesn't appear to be carrying the day, though it will certainly be a factor. Marjorie Decker has thrown her wholehearted support to Council candidate Marc McGovern (who in turn has been urging his supporters to vote for Kathleen Kelly to succeed him on the School Committee). Some women voters will certainly look to new candidates Kristen von Hoffmann and Janneke House, but it's just as likely that voters who prefer woman candidates may vote in significant numbers for incumbents Denise Simmons and Minka vanBeuzekom.

On the Kendall and Central fronts, many of us expected the ultra-political Cambridge Residents Alliance (CRA) to do a major mailing filled with their usual frightening misrepresentations as a means of swinging the election in favor of their chosen candidates. It's possible that such a piece may still arrive in the Monday mail, but this is looking less likely. They appear to have placed all of their political chips on challenger Dennis Carlone to carry their message and claims of the coming "tsunami of development marching down Main Street and Mass. Ave." and wall-to-wall skyscrapers displacing businesses and residents in their wake. It's not so clear whether many potential voters are drinking the CRA Kool-Aid, but there's no doubt that some have already drunk their fill.

On the matter of choosing the City Manager with minimal process, opponents have chosen to focus their attention on what appears to have been a minor technical violation of the open meeting law - the only consequence of which was how many names appeared as sponsors of the resolution to hire Richard Rossi. There were going to be 7 votes regardless of the technicalities, and that's all that really mattered. Nonetheless, the activists have continued to portray this as some kind of betrayal because they were not given maximal opportunity to chime in on the process. In truth, there were only a handful of us who attended the Government Operations Committee hearings on this matter, and anyone who was actually there could clearly see where the outcome was heading. This hasn't stopped the bloggers from blogging about what they continue to call "a lack of transparency". Apparently, crystal clear is not sufficiently transparent for some activists and their blogger friends. Perhaps they should have come to the public meetings.

Similar claims of lack of transparency and procedural missteps have also been directed at the passage of the MIT-Kendall zoning petition earlier this year. When MIT representatives sent word during City Council deliberations that their "memorandum of understanding" (which was the basis upon which the votes of several city councillors depended) would be null and void if an 11th hour amendment was approved, this led to Mayor Davis' decision to rescind her vote for that amendment. The zoning petition was then able to pass as expected. Because some activists did not like the outcome, they took issue with the procedures. Do you detect a pattern here?

One entertaining initiative of this past year was the "Teague Petition" - a zoning petition that would have imposed restrictions on some kinds of outdoor lighting. This petition would have had little or no effect on existing problematic intrusive lighting. Some people, myself included, argued that this was a matter better addressed through a separate municipal ordinance than via zoning. The Planning Board and the City Council agreed and there is now a task force coming up with a proposed ordinance. This seems like a far better approach, but it didn't fit in well with petition supporters who (I believe) had hoped to score big "quality of life" points with their petition in the upcoming election. Sorry, Charlie.

The Net Zero Petition was somewhat more impactful in terms of the election campaign. Though the legality (and certainly the practicality) of this petition was highly questionable, it did lead some City Council candidates (Carlone, Mazen, vanBeuzekom, Seidel, von Hoffmann) to jump fully on the Net Zero bandwagon. Several other prominent challengers (Benzan, McGovern) had serious issues with the proposal, and it's pretty clear that most of the incumbents were not supporters. The political dynamic has been tricky in that anyone with objections ran the risk of being tarred and feathered by environmental zealots - even if their objections were based on potential threats to new housing construction, including affordable housing. In the end the City Council found a workaround to avoid outright voting down of the petition. They voted to ask the City Manager to form a task force of all stakeholders to navigate a way toward the energy efficiency and other environmental goals upon which there was minimal disagreement. This way the Net Zero crowd was able to claim victory even as their proposal was allowed to quietly expire. It was still a topic at candidate forums, but it became less of a defining issue.

On the School Committee side, there have been a number of prominent issues that have come up at candidate forums and on street corners around the city. What I find most interesting is the way language is being twisted so that candidates can avoid being pinned down as taking a side on the "excellence vs. equity" issue. To be clear, this shouldn't really be a dichotomy. Everybody agrees with the goals of quality education and fairness to students regardless of background or current ability. The devil is in the details. More specifically, should students be allowed to attend separate classes based on their proven performance and interests? Or should students of all ability remain in the same classroom using such devices as "differentiated instruction" to manage differing abilities? Some people have even gone so far as to recommend that all Advanced Placement (AP) classes be eliminated at the high school. Candidates have generally danced around these issues by using phrases like "quality education for all children" (nobody disagrees) to mean that no provision should be made for advanced students unless the same provisions are made for all students. In short, they're perfectly happy to deny opportunities to "advanced learners". Personally, I feel that providing opportunities for advanced learners is just as much of a civil right as ensuring that other students be guaranteed a quality education.

There's more that could be said, but I'll leave it at that for now. My sense is that we may see a modest increase in turnout in this year's election - in large part due to all the new candidates. I have a secret list of who I believe will be elected, but I'm not telling. It's more difficult to make predictions this year for a number of reasons. First, the use of social media tools and other new toys create more possibilities for the younger, more tech-savvy candidates to bring nontraditional voters to the polls. That's a real wild card in an election. It's also hard to know how effective candidates really are when they meet voters face-to-face when knocking doors. Some candidates will benefit greatly from that kind of contact and only they know how well they have been received. - Robert Winters

Cambridge Candidate Pages

Comments?

Cambridge School Committee 2013 Campaign Finance Summaries (updated Dec 15)

Note: The figures shown are through the Oct 18, 2013 reporting deadline. Post-election reports will show different results.

Comments?

Oct 30 - The "Random Draw of Precincts" took place recently at the Cambridge Election Commission. This determines the order in which ballots from precincts throughout the city are counted in the election. Though this has a relatively minor effect on the tabulation of the ballots (because of the "Cincinnati Method" used to transfer surplus ballots), it can potentially make a difference in a very close election. Here's the ordering determined by lottery (read down the columns):

A milestone - Even with daily efforts of late to drive down traffic from spammers by banning many offending IP addresses, the combined traffic on rwinters.com and cambridgecivic.com continues to show healthy growth. We just surpassed 10,000 unique visitors per month (averaged over the past year) as of the end of September. [It's been above that mark on isolated months in the past, generally around election time, but this is the 12-month average which is far less volatile.] This will almost certainly spike to a much higher number as the municipal election draws near and people flock to the Cambridge Candidate Pages before heading to the polls. Here's the latest graph:

Central Square Branch Library to Close for Construction Work October 1 for approximately Three Months

Message from the Library staff: The Central Square Branch Library will be closing on Oct. 1, 2013 for approximately three months during the installation of a new elevator. The work cannot be done safely while the building is open.

During this period, the book drop in the courtyard will remain open. While we are very grateful for this investment in the Central Square Branch, we do regret the inconvenience for the neighborhood. The staff at the two nearest branches, the Main Library and the Valente Branch Library, will be happy to serve you.

Aug 18, 2013 - A Better Cambridge response to Connolly Net Zero Zoning Petition

Cambridge Residents and Businesses Encouraged to Take Energy Efficiency Survey

The Cambridge Energy Alliance is encouraging Cambridge renters and businesses that lease space in Cambridge to take their Energy Efficiency Survey, and receive a FREE 7-SOCKET SMART POWER STRIP (a $30 value)!

Smart Power Strips automatically eliminate wasteful standby power, saving money as well as energy. Just one computer station or widescreen television plugged into your Smart Power Strip can save more than $100 per year!

Take the survey today! http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZSDRSNY

For more information, call 617-349-LEAF or visit: www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org.

2013 Cambridge City Council Campaign Finance Receipts (Jan 1, 2013 through Nov 1, 2013)

Note: Receipts include candidate loans which can greatly increase the percentage from Cambridge. Fees are included and reduce total receipts. Percentages for unions/PACS and identifiable real estate interests (RE) are shown. The total receipts in the first graph below includes all receipts reported by the bank. Bank receipts in some cases do not yet match the reported itemized receipts. All figures taken from Mass. Office of Campaign & Political Finance (OCPF) reports.

Total Itemized Receipts – 2013 (through end of October)

Percentage of Itemized Receipts from Cambridge – 2013 (through end of October, minimum $2000)

Percentage of Itemized Receipts from Cambridge w/o Candidate Loans

Percentage of Itemized Receipts from Real Estate/Developers – 2013 (through end of October, minimum $5000)

Comments?

Members Needed for Cambridge's "Getting to Net Zero" Task Force

Cambridge City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking volunteers to serve on a new "Getting to Net Zero" Task Force that will advise the City Manager on ways to advance the goal of putting Cambridge on the trajectory towards becoming a "net zero community," with focus on carbon emissions from building operations. This includes reducing energy use intensity of buildings and taking advantage of opportunities to harvest energy from renewable resources.

The Task Force will work collaboratively to examine strategies and develop recommendations that address the following topics:

· reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the built environment
· improve energy efficiency and conservation in existing and new buildings
· support renewable energy generation both on- and off-site
· best practices to engage/educate users and influence occupant behavior

The City seeks individuals with a high degree of experience and expertise in these topics and demonstrated ability to work effectively on a team with diverse opinions to craft consensus solutions. The intention is to create a task force that includes subject matter experts in topics such as building design, construction and operation, development economics, energy efficiency, and renewable energy technology & policy, including the concept of Renewable Energy Certificates, as well as community advocates/residents, business/property owners/developer representatives, and representatives of local universities/the Cambridge Climate Compact.

The Task Force will work collaboratively to develop actionable recommendations that are comprehensive, practical and implementable and at the same time bold in their vision; these may include changes to City ordinances, zoning, policies and other directives. The work of the Task Force should continue to advance Cambridge's role as a regional and national leader in addressing environmental issues.

It is expected that Committee appointments will be made by the City Manager before the end of the year. The group will meet at least monthly starting December 2013 and deliver final recommendations by December 2014.

To apply, please send a letter by Nov 12, 2013 describing your interest in the study and any experience you have working on similar issues to:

Richard C. Rossi, City Manager
City of Cambridge , 795 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: citymanager@cambridgema.gov
Fax: 617-349-4307

Nov 5 - We'll be broadcasting Election Night coverage of The Count on CCTV Channel 8 from the Cambridge Senior Center tonight starting at 9:00pm. The hosts will be Susana Segat and Robert Winters. We'll be providing current and historical information, explaining exactly how our proportional representation elections work, and interviewing candidates and others. The program will also be livestreamed at http://cctvcambridge.org/cambridgeelection2013.

It's also a lot of fun to be there in person, so come on down for the excitement! - RW

Traffic report - The Cambridge Candidate Pages [http://vote.cambridgecivic.com] on Nov 4, Election Eve had 14,436 page visits. There will be lots more today as people make up their minds before voting. Polls are open until 8:00pm.

Update - The Candidate Pages had an additional 4,336 visitors on Election Day, Nov 6 with 25,283 page visits.

PS - I predicted that voter turnout would be about 18,000 and I think it will be within about 200 votes of that prediction.

The visits to the Cambridge Candidate Pages peaked dramatically on Election Day.
With about 18,000 voters, it would appear that perhaps
25% or more may have consulted the Candidate Pages this year.

Toomey Highlights Work on Grand Junction Train Issues, Vision for Future Bike Path

On Wednesday, City Councillor Tim Toomey released a new video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6jv5rJJPjk) highlighting his work on issues related to the Grand Junction Railroad in Cambridge. The Grand Junction, which traverses several Cambridge neighborhoods, has become a hot button issue in recent years with proposals for Commuter Rail trains and ethanol transport being considered at the state level. Toomey, who resides in East Cambridge several blocks from the tracks, has been a strong supporter of creating a mixed-use bike and pedestrian path in the Grand Junction's right-of-way.

"Grand Junction is an incredible asset for our community," Toomey said Wednesday. "While it has an important regional significance, being the only rail link between the northern and southern halves of the MBTA Commuter Rail system, it is also essentially a large swath of undeveloped, lightly-used land in the heart of Cambridge. With the exception of Commuter Rail maintenance trains and a freight train that carries produce to Chelsea several times per week, the tracks are seldom used. It's pretty clear that there are many outside of Cambridge that have an eye on it, but unfortunately their plans tend not to benefit abutters of the tracks in any way."

In 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) began studying ways to use the Grand Junction Railroad for Commuter Rail service from Worcester to North Station. Their plans, which included more than twenty trains per day travelling at high speeds through six intersections in Cambridge and Somerville, were met with intense community skepticism and opposition. Councillor Toomey's outspoken opposition helped force the state to more closely study the plan, and it was eventually shelved.

"That was a real victory for our community," said Toomey. "There is such a strong need for better public transportation in our state, but that was not the way to do it," Toomey said, adding that the Massachusetts Sierra Club joined in opposition to the state proposal. "By blocking that proposal, we kept Grand Junction open to uses that will provide tangible benefits to Cambridge residents."

In 2013, Toomey emerged as a leading voice in the fight to stop a Fortune 500 company's plan to use railroads in Cambridge and Somerville to move millions of gallons of flammable ethanol each week. The plans included the possibility that Grand Junction could be used for trains carrying more than 60 tanker cars full of flammable chemicals. This proposal was met with intense community opposition not only in Cambridge, but in many of the surrounding communities. After a successful push by legislators at the State House, Global Partners, the petroleum company behind the proposal, backed down from their plans.

"Again, this was an immense victory for our neighborhood and the entire region, really," Toomey said. "An accident in a place like Cambridge or Somerville would have disastrous effects. While we have one of the best trained and best equipped fire departments in the entire country right here in Cambridge, an ethanol accident in an urban residential area would necessitate a regional response capability that just does not exist right now," Toomey said, adding that this was another plan that would have potentially precluded a positive community use for the Grand Junction Railroad.

"I think the fact that our community has had to fight back against destructive uses of these tracks twice in as many years highlights the urgency of building the rail trail," said Toomey, referring to a proposal to use unused space next to the Grand Junction railroad tracks to construct a mixed-use bike path. "This corridor passes through Kendall Square, where we have seen enormous growth in the numbers of people who bike and walk to work as opposed to driving cars," said Toomey. "The rail trail would offer a safer place for people to commute and recreate. The demand is already there."

In a video released on Wednesday, which can be found on Toomey's website, the City Councillor describes work he has done to bring the rail trail closer to construction, including his work to include the path in the East Cambridge Open Space Planning Study and secure $500,000 in funding from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"More and more people are realizing just how much sense this project makes," Toomey said. "Just as we have been successful in opposing problematic proposals in the past, I firmly believe we can be successful if we support the rail trail with the same intensity."

Note: This was taken from a press release.

"A Better Cambridge" (ABC) Grades the City Council Candidates

Oct 26 - "A Better Cambridge" (ABC), the Cambridge resident group that describes itself as "working to build a more diverse and livable city on the path towards sustainable growth," has released the results of its 2013 City Council Candidate ratings. Since its inception, ABC has been a consistent supporter of the planning principles of "smart growth" and transit-oriented development, especially housing for a broad spectrum of incomes. Of the 18 City Council candidates who responded to the group's questionaire, top scores went to Leland Cheung and Marc McGovern, and lowest scores went to Dennis Carlone and Ron Peden.

"A Better Cambridge looks forward to working with all 9 members of the next City Council to help build a more diverse and livable city," said ABC chairman Jesse Kanson-Benanav. He added: "We believe a better Cambridge is a Cambridge that grows smart and sustainably, taking advantage of Cambridge's proximity to public and alternate transportation to expand housing choices for all Cambridge families." The full ABC mission and vision may be viewed at http://www.abettercambridge.org/our_mission.

ABC's analysis, including charts listing the candidate ratings on the individual question plus summary analyses of each candidate's positions, may be found at the ABC website: http://www.abettercambridge.org.

The group's press release noted that its candidate questionnaire and analysis is intended to give information about how the various candidates stand on the issues that ABC has focused on and is not intended to be an exhaustive analysis of their stance on every issue currently facing Cambridge.

ABC's Candidate Grid (2 page PDF)     ABC's Candidate Analysis (56 page PDF)

The ABC questions/topics posed to the candidates were:

• DIVERSITY: If elected, what policies will you support or propose to help strengthen the diversity of our community through increased affordable housing and greater economic opportunity for all Cambridge residents?
• SUSTAINABILITY: If elected, what policies or initiatives will you support to ensure that there is adequate housing near public transportation that supports sufficient retail to meet neighborhood needs, meets the needs of current and future residents, reduces auto usage and encourages energy efficiency?
• GROWTH: Do you agree that in order to support diversity and meet the housing needs of sustainable growth in Cambridge increased density may be necessary? If elected, what specific policies or initiatives will you support to achieve sustainable urban growth and to increase low and moderate income housing for all populations, including families?
• LIVABILITY: What traits of Cambridge neighborhoods do you find most distinctive? If elected, what policies or initiatives will you support to help reinforce these characteristics through new development, public and open spaces and other means?
• DIALOGUE: In your opinion, do public planning processes in Cambridge support open and constructive engagement between stakeholders? If elected, how will you help ensure transparent and mutually respectful planning for the future of Cambridge?
• K2C2: Which three K2C2 recommendations do you believe should be top priorities for the City of Cambridge over the next few years? What specific policies or initiatives recommended will you support to ensure these priorities are achieved during the next City Council term? Are there policies and recommendations that you oppose?
• CONNOLLY "NET ZERO" PETITION: Does this candidate oppose the Connolly Petition?
• BUILDING HEIGHTS: Does this candidate support the possibility of increased height allowances for certain transit-oriented developments?
• MORATORIUM ON NEW DEVELOPMENT: Does this candidate oppose a moratorium on development?
• CITYWIDE MASTER PLAN: Does this candidate oppose a master planning process that freezes smart growth projects?

Comments?

P A N G E A
Parents for a Global Education Association

Dear Cambridge Families,

Six of the nine (6 of 9) School Committee candidates participated in our forum on World Languages: Fran Cronin, Alfred Fantini, John Holland, Elechi Kadete, Patricia Nolan, and Mervan Osborne. One (1) candidate responded that she was a strong advocate for world languages, but was not able to answer the questions: Joyce Gerber. Two (2) candidates did not respond: Richard Harding and Kathleen Kelly.

We are grateful to have received responses from 6 candidates. We have enclosed these here in alphabetical order.

You can also find them on PANGEA's website under latest updates: www.pangeacambridge.com

We have reached out to all the candidates and are hopeful that other responses will soon follow. If you know any of the candidates who have not responded and desire to hear their opinions on these issues, we'd encourage you to reach out to them and ask for their responses.

When we receive further responses, we will forward them along.

Sincerely,
Paul Ciampa, PANGEA member
Jane Chiang, PANGEA member

Fran Cronin responses (2 pg. PDF)

Fred Fantini responses (6 pg. PDF)

John Holland responses (4 pg. PDF)

Elechi Kadete responses (5 pg. PDF)

Patricia Nolan responses (11 pg. PDF)

Mervan Osborne responses (2 pg. PDF)

PANGEA is an organization of parents and community members advocating for the development, support, and promotion of language immersion programs in Cambridge for all children. We believe that effective cross-cultural and communication skills are integral to a global education. Language immersion programs are one way to fill that need. Strong world language programs can also provide these skills. Families should have the option of choosing the model that best fits their circumstances.

Comments?

Oct 17 - There was a pretty good School Committee candidates forum last night at the Main Library that would definitely have caused people who pay attention to shift their anticipated ballot rankings. I'll try to distill some of what was said in the next day or two. - RW

Oct 17 - It's been interesting watching some of the side effects of 3 City Council candidates (Carlone, House, Mazen) announcing the other day that they are running as a slate (the "clean slate" as they are calling it). Just as interesting as who is on that slate is the matter of who is excluded from that slate - either because of not wanting to be part of it or not being asked. It's also very interesting that candidate Carlone is instructing voters to specifically give a #2 vote to House and a #3 vote to Mazen [Note: This has now been changed to a more neutral statement.] When the CCA ran slates of candidates in years past, endorsed candidates naturally asked for the #1 vote but NEVER advised anyone how to assign the rest of the rankings but simply to "vote the whole slate". The CCA also at least tried to have some diversity in their endorsed slates. The whole matter of candidate slates is something that deserves a more extensive writeup - perhaps a project for the next few days. - RW

City Manager Seeks Members for Fresh Pond Advisory Board

City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking Cambridge residents to fill vacancies on the Fresh Pond Advisory Board. The Fresh Pond Advisory Board was created in 2001 to advise the City Manager and City boards and commissions on implementation of the Fresh Pond Reservation Master Plan, which was adopted by the City Council in January 2001. The Master Plan provides guidance for the maintenance and improvement of Fresh Pond Reservation, a critical element of the City's water supply, and the City's most heavily used open space.

The primary purposes of the Advisory Board are to oversee the general stewardship of Fresh Pond Reservation in accordance with the Master Plan and to maintain collaborative relationships among City departments and user groups that impact the Reservation. The Advisory Board also provides a forum for public discussion and evaluation of proposals for land-use and land-management projects.

The Fresh Pond Advisory Board includes up to 18 members (up to 12 of whom are resident volunteers with active, long-term knowledge of the Reservation, who are not City employees or consultants to the City). Board members are appointed for three-year terms and may be reappointed at the City Manager's discretion. Persons with expertise in landscape architecture, park management and environmental management are encouraged to apply. The Fresh Pond Advisory Board meets at least four (4) times annually, on Thursday evenings.

For more information, call Sam Corda, Managing Director, Cambridge Water Department at 617-349-4770 or scorda@cambridgema.gov. Interested persons should send a letter and/or resume via e-mail, mail or fax by Friday, October 24, 2013 to:

Richard C. Rossi, City Manager
City of Cambridge
795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Ph: 617-349-4300; Fax 617-349-4307
E-mail: citymanager@cambridgema.gov

Oct 25 - City Council Candidate Tim Toomey Touts 2013 Endorsements (added to his Candidate Page)

Oct 7 - School Committee candidate Elechi Kadete letter to Cambridge Chronicle

Excerpt: "I am running for School Committee because I believe I can make a difference as I am in touch with Cambridge youth. I feel blessed that in Cambridge, I was able to attend school with others from various walks of life. My schoolmates were the children of University Professors, doctors, High tech specialists as well as people who were on public assistance. My schoolmates were of different races and religions, but we sat in one class and we were friends and remain so. I have seen the many struggles and many successes of my schoolmates. I have seen kids who were smart and qualified to go to college unable to go because they could not get the necessary funding. Some have ended up on public assistance. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, yet in Cambridge, with all its resources, it happens too often."

Oct 6 - School Committee candidate Mervan Osborne announces 2013 policy proposals

1) Universal access to Pre-K: "I propose that every family should have access to a quality preschool for their child."

2) Address the Achievement Gap Challenge: "I propose the creation of an Achievement for All working group that calls on the expertise and experiences of school leaders, parents, community members and outside experts."

3) Foreign Language in all CPS Elementary Schools: "I propose a review of the World Language program to introduce curricular opportunities on our JK-5 campuses and examine the possibility of requiring a foreign language for all three years in grades 6-8."

Oct 5 - City Council Candidate Luis Vasquez Visits CRLS

This past week, Cambridge City Council Candidate and 2006 CRLS graduate, Luis Vasquez returned to his old stomping grounds to tour the newly renovated facility and to be a guest speaker in a civics class for senior students.

Vasquez started the classroom conversation with a message, "First off, I'm jealous. You guys are spoiled. The renovation left you with a beautiful school to enjoy and to feel even safer in than before. CRLS is packed with resources driven by people that have 'been there done that'; I urge you to use them. I didn't, and that's my only regret. What I got by with, was adults seeking me out to push me ahead because they believed in me. We can taste success quicker once we realize our own potential. That didn't happen for me until I was 18 and I found out I would be a father. The biggest blessing of my life to date." [Click above link for full story]

A quick word on another City Council candidate forum

Oct 8, 2013 - Congratulations are in order to the good folks of the Porter Square Neighbors Association (PSNA) for putting on an excellent, well-attended City Council candidate forum tonight. There were other sponsors, but this was clearly a PSNA production. Alice Wolf moderated the forum and did a great job managing things with just the right tone and sense of humor. I was especially appreciative of the choice of questions presented to each of the three panels of candidates. They were fair and relevant - a big improvement over last week's MCNA candidate forum. I am grateful that Erin Baldassari from the Cambridge Chronicle was there taking notes, and I will defer to her report for most of the details of what was actually said and emphasized by the candidates.

One thing that distinguished candidates was their differing views of new residential and/or commercial development in the city. Several of them spoke of the need for a "master plan" which, quite frankly, makes me think of Robert Moses and others who felt they had all the answers. This was softened to some degree by a call for "neighborhood planning" which was not really defined and which could, quite easily, be just a code word for "not in my backyard". Some candidates (who I will refrain from naming for now) spoke only of their fear of any redevelopment in Central Square. The final candidate of the night was the only one who emphasized the importance of training local residents to take advantage of job opportunities in developing areas such as Kendall Square.

On a personal note, I have to say that I was gratified to see some people in the audience who had with them material printed from the Cambridge Candidate Pages. I also greatly appreciated the fact that several candidates referred to material I have posted on the Cambridge Civic Journal. I wonder sometimes why I continue to do this civic journalism, and it helps a lot when I see people actually making good use of what I produce. The next four weeks are going to be brutal in terms of the misinformation and outright falsehoods that are going to be spread about the candidates and about various issues. I'm already seeing some of it in listservs and pamphlets distributed at these forums. At some point self-appointed oracles will tell you which candidates you should vote for and who you should not vote for. As tempting as it may be to go up to the mountaintop and come down with a few inscribed tablets commanding you who you should vote for, I will continue to resist that urge and, once again, ask you to consult what the candidates submit to the Cambridge Candidate Pages and post on their own websites, use your own judgment, and decide on your own how to rank the candidates. Above all, I urge you to ignore any advice from self-anointed pundits regarding which candidates you should vote for. - Robert Winters

A quick word on an unsatisfying candidate forum

Oct 3 - Last night was the second major City Council candidate forum of the campaign season - this one sponsored by the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association (MCNA) which featured the same multiple-table discussion format that they've done for the past several election cycles. The format is great in that there's a lot of interaction (and even a little argument) among the candidates and opportunity for conversation between the candidates and the attendees. On the down side, the selection of topics and questions posed to the candidates was biased to the point of being downright comical. The draftees were pretty clearly aligned with those activists who would block most new residential and commercial construction - especially in areas close to transit. The questions also revealed a viewpoint dominated by the belief that corruption and conspiracies guide much of what the current city councillors say and do. Quite a few of the questions posed to candidates were of the "When did you stop beating your wife?" variety.

In short, the format was great but I'd really like to know who was on the MCNA subcommittee that drafted the topics and questions. I think I can guess and I'm pretty sure which candidate they're backing, but I'd still like to see the list so that I can "unfriend" them. Candidate forums should be about the candidates and not about the biases of the forum sponsors. - RW

Candidates Night Out

Sept 27 - There was a City Council Candidate Forum tonight - the first of the season - sponsored by the East Cambridge Planning Team and held at the Dante Alighieri Society Center at Hampshire and Portland Streets in the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood of Cambridge. All 25 City Council candidates were there - a full banquet. One thing you have to understand about candidate forums, especially the first of the campaign, is that it's not especially important WHAT the candidates say, but HOW they connect with the audience. Nonetheless, reporters will likely give detailed accounts of candidate statements, size up the candidates accordingly, and thereby completely miss the point.

The candidates who have a chance of being elected are the ones who actually speak directly to the audience without sounding as though they're reading from note cards. They address their audience and appeal to them in human terms. The better candidates also say substantive things without being evasive. This projects both competence and honesty.

At the risk of appearing to play favorites, the candidates who were most successful at tonight's forum were (in no particular order) Ken Reeves, Mark McGovern, Denise Simmons, Dennis Benzan, Leland Cheung, Tim Toomey, and David Maher. Also showing promise were Minka vanBeuzekom, Craig Kelley, Dennis Carlone, Logan Leslie, Luis Vasquez, Jefferson Smith, and Sam Seidel. To a lesser degree, Nadeem Mazen and Ron Peden also had some good moments. This is not to say that the other candidates were especially dreadful (well, maybe one or two) - just that they didn't especially connect with the audience at this event. This will likely change in subsequent forums, especially next week's MCNA Forum at Cambridge College where candidates will talk with individual voters around tables. Some candidates do much better in direct conversation than they do addressing an entire room.

Questions posed to the candidates included such topics as affordable housing, transportation, the City Manager and city government, funding for school construction, and perceived dysfunction of the current City Council. They were also asked to comment briefly on the season's most overblown issue, the "Net Zero Petition," and relatively few candidates offered unqualified support. The two challengers who appear to be running the strongest campaigns were both clearly opposed to this petition as currently written.

The audience at this event was, as is often the case, largely composed of people who were there supporting particular candidates, but there were definitely some non-affiliates at the forum who were there to actually learn about the candidates. The event was recorded by CCTV and should be viewable soon either on Cable TV or via the CCTV website. - Robert Winters

Town and Gown - Cambridge City Council candidates seek improved relations with Harvard through more communication, financing, and student involvement (Harvard Crimson, 1st of 5 articles to appear on the upcoming municipal election)

Excerpts:
"There wouldn't really be a Cambridge if Harvard hadn't founded their college here...Our histories are intertwined and that one would not be successful without the other," said current City Councillor and candidate Leland Cheung.

"Like it or not, people can live here 100 years, but no one will have been here longer than Harvard. Like it or not, Cambridge is defined by its universities. To not embrace that is to the detriment to both Harvard and the town...Cambridge is because of Harvard," said Logan E. Leslie '16, who is running for a seat on the Council.

Asked to characterize Harvard's relationship with city government in the last two years, candidates gave conflicting responses.... "I don't think there has ever been a relationship," said Craig A. Kelley, a current city councillor who is seeking reelection.

Voter Registration and Absentee Ballots for the Municipal Election, November 5th

The 2013 Cambridge Municipal Election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. For Cambridge residents not already registered, the last day to register to vote was Wednesday, October 16, 2013 until 8pm. The polls will be open on Election Day from 7:00am until 8:00pm.

Absentee Ballots are now available at the Cambridge Election Commission office. Any voter who is unable to go to the polls on Election Day due to physical disability, religious belief, or absence from the City may request an Absentee Ballot from the Commission by Noon on Monday, November 4th. Absentee Ballots may be mailed to voters, or such voters may choose to vote at the Commission office during regular city office hours: Monday, 8:30am-8:00pm; Tuesday-Thursday, 8:30am-5:00pm; Friday, 8:30am-Noon. The office will also be open for Absentee Voting on Friday, November 1st from 8:30am until 5:00pm and Saturday, November 2nd from 9:00am until 5:00pm.

For any additional information, please visit the Cambridge Election Commission office at 51 Inman Street, call (617-349-4361) or visit our website at www.cambridgema.gov/election.

Gripes for a Wednesday Afternoon

Oct 2 - Sometimes during the day-to-day business of alerting people to what's coming up at City Hall or trying to inform voters about the candidates in the upcoming election, there are some things that deserve comment that don't necessarily fit comfortably in any specific category. I guess these would have to simply be called Gripes. So... at the risk of offending a few people, here are a few Gripes for a Wednesday Afternoon:

1) I'm getting kind of sick of reading letters submitted to the Cambridge Chronicle (and elsewhere) that are OBVIOUSLY generated by people associated with current political campaigns. If the campaign staff and workers of a particular candidate want to place a political advertisement in a local paper, shouldn't they pay the going rate and include the phrase "Paid Political Advertisement"?

2) Has anyone taken notice of the fact that the parking skills of Cambridge car drivers have plummeted lately? The law requires that cars not be parked more than a foot from the curb, yet I routinely see cars parked several feet from the curb. When was the last time a parking control officer tagged a vehicle for parking like an idiot? Dishonorable mention goes to those drivers who don't understand the meaning of the word "parallel" in the phrase "parallel parking".

3) A special award should be issued to all of the novice cyclists on Hubway bikes now occupying the street like molecules in a hot gas. Not a day goes by without encountering at least one of these characters either drifting across a busy street without looking or careening wrong-way down a bike lane.

4) Tonight I'll be attending yet another "Net Zero" event. It amazes me how quickly some local activists who never paid any attention to environmental concerns suddenly "got religion" on global warming when they realized it could potentially be used to block new commercial and residential development in Cambridge.

Perhaps I should make this a regular Wednesday "Hump Day" tradition. Anyone else have some gripes? - Robert Winters

Comments, Gripes?

Sept 14 - All of the Cambridge City Council Candidate Pages were updated today to include a link to their profiles recently published in the Cambridge Chronicle. All of these can be found in the special section in the Chronicle on this year's municipal election.

300 Mass. Ave./Forest City project gets final approval

Sept 3, 2013 - The Cambridge Planning Board tonight gave its unanimous final approval to the design of the proposed building at 300 Mass. Ave. that had been the subject of multiple iterations of a zoning petition by Forest City/MIT.

300 Mass. Ave. - Proposed Design (June 2013)

300 Mass. Ave. - Approved Design (Sept 2013)

This marks the successful final step of what has been a very long process that began with the initial filing in February 2011 of a zoning petition to extend the Cambridgeport Revitalization Development District (CRDD) to include this Mass. Ave. frontage from MIT's Random Hall up to Blanche Street (commonly referred to as the "All Asia Block"). In a sense, this story really began several decades ago with the original plans for University Park that included this block but which was subsequently excised due to different property ownership. Only in recent years have those other owners been willing to enter into the arrangement that led to the proposal now finally approved and proceeding toward demolition and construction.

The February 2011 zoning petition was eventually withdrawn but was re-filed in March 2012. That zoning petition spawned a backlash when, at the City's urging, a slender residential tower at Sydney and Green Streets was included in the plans. Amid complaints over excessive shadows and the loss of a small park, the residential component was removed from the proposal in its Ordinance Committee. In a curious twist, many of the same people who objected to the proposed housing morphed into housing activists as they objected to the proposed commercial building. This zoning petition was then allowed to expire in August 2012. It was re-filed in substantially the same form in December 2012 along with a revised memorandum of understanding that reaffirmed a variety of housing commitments and added the promise of new affordable housing units in the future. That zoning amendment eventually passed unanimously in February 2013.

With the new zoning in hand, there was still the design review process required under the zoning. The architects had an initial review before the Central Square Advisory Committee in June followed by the initial Planning Board hearing on July 9. There were some objections from the Board and unresolved issues with an abutter, so another hearing was scheduled for August 6. Rather than get the go-ahead as expected, there were still a few substantial objections remaining - primarily concerning the significant amount of glass on the Mass. Ave. facade, so yet another hearing was scheduled. At the September 3 hearing the architects presented much more aesthetically pleasing plans and the Planning Board gave an enthusiastic and unanimous vote of approval.

In addition to a very good building, the plans include a cooperative plan with the City to transform Blanche Street between Green Street and Mass. Ave. into a "shared street" or woonerf, a Dutch word that means "living street" where pedestrians and cyclists have legal priority over motorists. Two examples of this kind of treatment are Palmer Street and Winthrop Street in Harvard Square. There will also be a significant row of new small-scale retail along the Mass. Ave. frontage.

It has to be noted that, as has happened before in Cambridge, this development proposal left a political vestige - the opposition group that calls itself the Cambridge Residents Alliance (CRA). Their primary activities to date include (1) a zoning proposal that would have preserved in perpetuity the surface parking lots in Central Square and harshly capped all building heights and densities in and around Central Square, (2) a proposed citywide moratorium on most large-scale residential or commercial development, (3) an activist core that presents highly disputable claims of "a tsunami of development" and "crush hour on the Red Line", and (4) the inevitable effort to promote anti-development candidates for City Council in the upcoming election. Another group called "A Better Cambridge" (ABC) was formed that generally supports "smart growth" principles and good urban design but remains apolitical.

The ABC group has been largely supportive of the recommendations that grew out of the 2011-2012 Central Square Advisory Committee and its predecessor Mayor's Red Ribbon Commission. The CRA has been primarily opposed to any of the recommendations that would permit any substantial new construction or redevelopment in Central Square (and elsewhere in Cambridge). So even as the Forest City/MIT plans for 300 Mass. Ave. proceed toward construction, the seeds have been sown for the latest episode in the never-ending competition of visions for the future of Cambridge and Central Square - just in time for this year's municipal election season. Indeed, a very good case can be made that the current "Net Zero Petition" (introduced by many of the same activists who have been opposing new construction) is a proxy to stop all new large-scale residential and commercial construction. - Robert Winters

Comments?

Candidates on the ballot for the November 5, 2013 Cambridge Municipal Election

Online Voter Registration Search Now Available

The City of Cambridge Election Commission is proud to announce the launch of the new Online Voter Registration Search. Voters will now be able to access a voter registration search page which has been added to the Election Commission website at https://www.cambridgema.gov/election/voterregistrationsearch.aspx.

Voters will be prompted to enter their first name, last name and date of birth. If they are registered, they will be able to check the address where they are registered, active or inactive status, political party affiliation, elected officials and their polling place information, including a link to a map of the polling place.

For residents who are not registered in Cambridge, there is a link to a voter registration form that can be printed and mailed to the Election Commission.

For voters in the 5th Congressional district, the deadline to register to vote for the Oct 15, 2013 Special Primary is Sept 25, 2013 at 8pm. For all Cambridge voters, the deadline to register for the Nov 5, 2013 Municipal Election is October 16, 2013 at 8pm.

City Manager Seeks Members for Recycling Committee

Cambridge, MA - City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking Cambridge residents and local professionals interested in serving on the Recycling Advisory Committee (RAC). The RAC is an all volunteer committee which as requested shall provide advice, assistance and recommendations to the Department of Public Works (DPW) regarding recycling, composting, reuse, extended producer responsibility and waste prevention.

Over the long-term, DPW strives to meet the goals of the MassDEP Solid Waste Master Plan to reduce residential trash. The RAC does this through research, feedback, public outreach and event planning. The Committee has been active for over 20 years and should consist of at least nine members with a demonstrated interest in the topics listed above. Members serve a three-year term and are expected to attend monthly meetings (Sept-June).

The City seeks members that represent local businesses and property managers going green, Cambridge residents and users of the Recycling Center, non-profit organizations and social service agencies whose goals overlap with waste reduction. RAC member requirements include:

• Knowledge, Skills and Abilities needed:
• Marketing
• Advocacy for state and federal policy on extended producer responsibility
• Knowledge of the reuse industry
• Familiarity with the Cambridge Public Schools
• Knowledge about using recycled materials
• Knowledge about non-toxic alternatives to everyday items
  
• Duties, Responsibilities and Minimum Requirements include:
• Attend/participate in monthly meeting, held the second Wednesday of the month (Sept-June). An alternative meeting day and time may be selected by new members.
• Participate in creating committee direction and implementation of ideas.
• Take a leadership role in projects, such as doing research, organizing & attending events, advocating for Extended Producer Responsibility legislation, etc.
• Work with the Public Works Recycling Division, Climate Protection Committee and other appropriate City staff to provide feedback on City initiatives and collaborate on projects.
• Research different approaches to communication, education and best practices for recycling, composting, reuse and waste reduction programs.
• Disseminate outreach materials and post fliers in the community to educate the public.
• Write articles for all varieties of media promoting City programs and services including newspaper editorials, blog posts, newsletter articles, etc.
• Initiate, plan, attend and manage events to promote recycling, composting, reuse and waste reduction.
• Recruit additional volunteers for specific events and projects.
• Meet with the community and participate in at least 2-3 events, such as Danehy Park Family Day, Area 4 Community Pride Day, Urban Ag Fair, City Sprouts Festival, Family Fun Day, Fresh Pond Day, Arts in the Park, Summer in the City, block parties.
• Continually promote positive recycling, composting, reuse and waste reduction whenever the opportunity presents itself.

Interested persons should submit an email by Tuesday, Oct 22, 2013 describing their relevant experience and their professional interest in these issues to Owen O’Riordan, Acting Commissioner, Dept. of Public Works 147 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, MA 02140; or e-mail to: theworks@cambridgema.gov. For more information, visit our website, www.cambridgema.gov/theworks.aspx.

Current Committee members interesting in serving again must submit a letter of interest by Oct 22, 2013.

Cambridge Watershed Bike Tour - October 19

Cambridge, MA -- Explore where your water comes from! Join Cambridge Water Department (CWD) staff on a guided bike tour of the watershed Saturday, Oct 19, from 8am-4pm. The 34-mile loop will take cyclists from the Walter J. Sullivan Purification Facility at 250 Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge, to the watershed lands and reservoirs in Lincoln, Lexington, Weston and Waltham. Rain date is Sunday, Oct 20.

The tour will include stops at the CWD Field Office, Winter Street Dam and Gatehouse, Stony Brook Dam and Gatehouse, and Paul Revere Capture Site. Advanced registration is required; registration closes on Oct 15. Participants must be comfortable with the 34 mile distance and must provide their own bike (road or hybrid), helmet and lunch. Technical assistance will be provided by Urban AdvenTours.

To register, please contact Katie at kbooras@cambridgema.gov or call 617-349-7712. For more information, visit http://www.cambridgema.gov/Water/Programs/watershedbiketour.aspx.

Alewife Reservation Constructed Wetland Grand Opening Ceremony - Tuesday, October 15

Cambridge, MA – After a long and collaborative effort between the City of Cambridge's Department of Public Works, the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority (MWRA) and the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the three agencies are pleased to announce the grand opening of the Alewife Constructed Wetland just west of the Alewife T Station along the Alewife Greenway Extension multi-use path, Tuesday, Oct 15, from 2:00-5:00pm. (See more detailed directions below).

Alewife Reservation Constructed Wetland during restoration - August 2012

Alewife Reservation Constructed Wetland - October 2013

The 3.4-acre wetland is designed to store and treat stormwater runoff before it enters the Little River. The new wetland will slow down the flow of stormwater through contact with a series of marsh systems, allowing sediment to settle, and removing nutrients and pollutants from the water. Several types of habitats, ranging from emergent marsh to riparian woodland have been created to enrich and enhance the biodiversity that already exists in the Alewife Reservation. The wetland also provides recreational amenities, including a boardwalk and scenic overlooks, environmental education opportunities, an amphitheater designed with seating for a class of students, interpretive signage, and links to the Alewife Greenway Extension's bike and pedestrian paths.

"This newly constructed wetland not only improves water quality in the Little River and Alewife Brook, but also provides a new and unique recreational and educational open space for the community to enjoy," said Richard C. Rossi, City Manager.

This project is funded by the City of Cambridge, MWRA and the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust through the Clean Water SRF program administered by MassDEP.

Please visit the City's website to learn more about this innovative stormwater management project and new urban wild at www.cambridgema.gov/theworks/cityprojects.aspx (select Cambridge Park Drive Area Drainage Improvements and Stormwater Wetland Project).

Directions to Alewife Reservation Constructed Wetland:
Walking directions to the Basin Amphitheater via Alewife Greenway Extension:

From DCR Discovery Park Lot - 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge

• Exit DCR parking lot at driveway entrance.

• Turn LEFT out of parking lot going SOUTH to walking trail at the Corner of Acorn Park Dr., approx. 90 ft.

• Turn LEFT on walking trail going EAST to Alewife Station Access Rd., approx. 900 ft.

• Turn RIGHT on Alewife Station Access Rd. going SOUTH over the Little River to Alewife Greenway Extension, approx. 450 ft.

• Turn RIGHT on Alewife Greenway Extension going WEST to Basin Amphitheater, approx. 1300 ft.

From MBTA Alewife Station - Intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Cambridge Park Drive

• Exit Alewife Station to Alewife Station Access Rd.

• Turn RIGHT out of Alewife Station going NORTH under parking structure overpass, approx. 500 ft.

• Turn LEFT to cross Alewife Station Access Rd. going WEST to Alewife Greenway Extension, approx. 80 ft.

• Stay STRAIGHT on Alewife Greenway Extension going WEST to Basin Amphitheater, approx. 1300 ft.

Cambridge Human Rights Commission Vacancies

Cambridge City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking persons interested in serving on the Cambridge Human Rights Commission (CHRC). Made up of 11 members who serve three-year terms, the CHRC meets on the first Thursday of every month at 6 p.m. The Commission seeks Cambridge residents representing the diversity of Cambridge.

Commissioners are expected to work with other members of the Commission and staff to fulfill the goals and objectives of the Cambridge Human Rights Commission Ordinance (CMC Chapter 2.76). Commissioners are expected to attend monthly meetings, participate in subcommittees on outreach and public education, and work with Commission staff on the investigation, mediation and resolution of complaints filed with the Commission which allege discrimination in housing, public accommodation, employment or education based upon race, color, sex, age, religious creed, disability, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, marital status, family status, military status or source of income.

For more information, contact Nancy Schlacter, Cambridge Human Rights Commission, at 617-349-4396 or nschlacter@cambridgema.gov. Letters of interest, including resume and/or applicable experience, can be sent via mail, fax or e-mail by Friday, October 18, 2013 to:

Richard C. Rossi, City Manager
City of Cambridge
795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
Ph: 617-349-4300; Fax 617-349-4307
E-mail: citymanager@cambridgema.gov

Sept 26 - PANGEA (Parents for a Global Education Association), a new parent group, has made the following request for questions to be directed to Cambridge School Committee candidates. They would like to get questions no later than Oct 7 and plan to publicize candidate responses by Oct 24. (Questions can be sent to info@pangeacambridge.com):

Dear Cambridge Families,
We feel that world languages are an important part of an elementary education. Over the past few years, there has been a vigorous debate around exactly what type of language instruction the City will provide. Given the upcoming election, we feel that it is important to ask specific questions of the candidates and request their written responses. To this end, we are reaching out to the Cambridge community to see what questions they'd like to ask the candidates for School Committee on this issue. If you have a question you'd like to ask, please email us at info@pangeacambridge.com or send us a letter in the mail to: Jane Chiang, 245 First Street, Suite 1800-18020113, Cambridge, MA 02142

ALL QUESTIONS NEED TO BE IN OUR HANDS BY OCTOBER 7 TO BE CONSIDERED FOR INCLUSION.

We will read through these questions, and from these responses, send a list of questions to the candidates. We will then aggregate their responses, send them to the broader Cambridge community, and post them on PANGEA's website: www.pangeacambridge.com.

We'd note that not every question sent to us may be submitted to the candidates. We will attempt to capture the key themes/questions that reflect the community as a whole.

Thank you.
Paul Ciampa, PANGEA member
Jane Chiang, PANGEA member

PANGEA (Parents for a Global Education Association) is an organization of parents and community members advocating for the development, support, and promotion of language immerson programs based on best practices in Cambridge for all children. We believe that effective cross-cultural and communication skills are integral to a global education. Language immersion programs are one way to fill that need. Strong world language programs can also provide these skills.

Comments?

Cambridge Arts Council Announces Launch of its 2014 Grant Cycle

New applications and guidelines

Grant Program Community Meeting and Info Session
Monday, August 19th, 6-8pm, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room

Grant Writing Workshop
Monday, September 23rd, 6-8pm, 344 Broadway, 2nd Floor Conference Room

Grant Submission Deadline
Tuesday, October 15th, 5:00pm

Cambridge Arts Council City Hall Annex 344 Broadway, 2nd Fl. Cambridge, MA 02139 617-349-4380 www.cambridgeartscouncil.org The Cambridge Arts Council is supported in part by the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, New England Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts and many corporate and individual donors. The Cambridge Arts Council exists to ensure that the arts remain vital for people living, working, and visiting Cambridge.

Dima Snow, 2012 CAC Grant Recipient

Cambridge Works Transitional Jobs Program Gives Cambridge Residents a Helping Hand

Cambridge Works, the City's transitional jobs program for younger residents who haven't been able to get or keep jobs, celebrated its 11th graduating class Sept 26 at Cambridge City Hall.

The program provides a temporary job with the City, and/or other partner employers, while also offering intensive care management, soft skills development and job search assistance to help participants secure an unsubsidized job upon program completion. Cambridge Works is coordinated through the Office of Workforce Development for the Department of Human Services Program (DHSP).

Congratulations to the September 2013 Cambridge Works graduates: Quiahna Aiguier, Corey Anderson, Paul Dottin-Carter, Hailemelkot Kahassai, Christopher Rodriguez, Wesley Thorpe and Douglas Treadwell, Jr.

City Manager Richard C. Rossi congratulated the graduates, thanked the worksite supervisors for their contribution toward the program's success and praised the dedication of the Cambridge Works staff. "They are not only dedicated to the program, but to the individuals. They will follow up and mentor these participants and really help them turn their lives around," Rossi said of the staff.

The 2013 Worksites included: Cambridge Dept. of Public Works, Cambridge Housing Authority, Hyatt Regency, Spaulding Hospital, Tasty Burger and United Security Inc.

Below are comments from some of the 2013 graduates:

"The (Cambridge Works) staff helped me get my foot in the door and enhance my confidence." - Wesley Thorpe

"The professional development classes were so helpful and I really loved my job. I can't thank the (Cambridge Works) staff enough for really being in my corner." - Quiahna Auguier

Cambridge Works is currently recruiting participants for its next session. For more information, contact Susan Mintz, at 617-349-6070 or smintz@cambridgema.gov.

Cambridge Works graduates and program staff at the 2013 ceremony

Voter Registration and Absentee Ballots for the Special State Primary, October 15th

The Special State Primary will be held on Tuesday, October 15, 2013 for the office of Representative in Congress for Massachusetts 5th Congressional District to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative Edward Markey. For Cambridge residents not already registered, the last day to register to vote was Wednesday, September 25, 2013 until 8pm. The polls will be open on Election Day from 7:00am until 8:00pm.

Please contact the Cambridge Election Commission office to find out when the Absentee Ballots will be available. Any voter who is unable to go to the polls on Election Day due to physical disability, religious belief, or absence from the City may request an Absentee Ballot from the Commission. Due to the observance of Columbus Day, Monday, October 14, 2013 the deadline to apply for an Absentee Ballot is Friday, October 11, 2013 at 5pm. Absentee Ballots may be mailed to voters, or such voters may choose to vote at the Commission office during regular city office hours: Monday, 8:30am-8:00pm; Tuesday-Thursday, 8:30am-5:00pm; Friday, 8:30am-Noon. The office will also be open for Absentee Voting on Friday, October 11, 2013 from 8:30am until 5:00pm.

For any additional information, please visit the Cambridge Election Commission office at 51 Inman Street, call (617-349-4361) or visit our website at www.cambridgema.gov/election.

Rainbow over Central Square - morning of Sept 1, 2013, photo by Patrick Barrett

Dedication of The Alice K. Wolf Center - Saturday, Sept 28, 2:00pm at 5 Western Ave.

The City of Cambridge will host a special ceremony to dedicate the renovated building that now houses the Community Learning Center, Multi-Service Center and Cambridge Housing Authority as the new Alice K. Wolf Center, in honor of her many years of public service for Cambridge and Massachusetts.

Previously housing the Cambridge Police Department, the 80-year old building, an historical landmark, underwent an $18 million "green" conversion expected to lead to a high gold "LEED" certification by the US Green Building Council. The dramatic transformation of the building has incorporated the latest in sustainable technology, from its building systems to the furnishings.

Sept 26 - There will be a Community Meeting on the Proposed Security Camera Policy in Cambridge tonight at 6:00pm in the Sullivan Chamber at Cambridge City Hall. The meeting will be hosted by City Manager Richard Rossi and Mayor Henrietta Davis. [A draft of the Security Camera Policy can be viewed here.] It is expected that the ACLU will bring out the troops to protest what they see as an unconscionable violation of the civil liberties of citizens, and they may well succeed in squelching any efforts by the City Council and the Cambridge Police to bring serious criminals to justice. Once that's done the City Council will go back to banning sugary drinks, plastic bags, and styrofoam; telling you which electricity suppliers you are required to use; and making it as difficult as possible to own and operate a motor vehicle in Cambridge. At least you won't have to worry about having your picture taken as you flee from a crime scene. - Robert Winters

Sept 24 - As a sometimes expert of election methods, I will be watching today's Boston mayoral preliminary election with a smile. With 12 candidates and the top 2 continuing on to the November election, this is an example of an election where the method plays as big a factor as the voters - perhaps more. The top 2 finishers will likely earn a ride to the November election primarily due to vote-splitting, and there's a real possibility that neither of these 2 candidates will exceed 25% of the vote. This is a good example of an election that would have benefitted from ranked-choice balloting and Instant Runoff to determine the winner(s). - RW

Community Meeting on Proposed Security Camera Policy in Cambridge, Sept 26

You are invited to attend a Community Meeting to discuss the proposed Security Camera Policy in the City of Cambridge.

Thurs, Sept 26, 6:00pm
Cambridge City Hall, Sullivan Chamber, 2nd Floor
795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139

Hosted by:   
City Manager Richard C. Rossi and Mayor Henrietta Davis

A draft of the Security Camera Policy can be viewed here. [Link to Public Meeting Notice]

Understanding Hoarding: Saturday, Sept 21, 9:30am - Noon

Cambridge Senior Center, 806 Mass. Ave., Cambridge
Light refreshments will be provided.

Join us as we learn more about hoarding and the people affected by it. We will begin with a brief Hoarding 101, followed by a film that documents a family's struggles to solve the problems associated with severe hoarding. My Mother's Garden is an emotionally charged documentary that addresses many of the complex issues that affect not just the person described as a hoarder but the entire community.

Following the film there will be a discussion facilitated by Sarah Dowal, MSW, MPH. Presented by the Cambridge Council on Aging. To register, please call 617-349-6055.

Danehy Park Family Day Saturday, Sept 21

The City of Cambridge will host the 18th Annual Danehy Park Family Day on Saturday, September 21, from 11:00am to 4:00pm. Enjoy a fun-filled day of children's amusement rides, arts and crafts, music and roving performers, plus free hot dogs, chips, sodas and T-shirts while supplies last! Check out performances throughout the day at the children's stage. Other special giveaways include colorful kites that appeal to kids of all ages! The rain date is Sunday, Sept. 22.

Danehy Park is a 55-acre facility located at 99 Sherman Street in North Cambridge (adjacent to Garden and New Streets). This free event, sponsored by the City of Cambridge, attracts over 4,000 people annually and offers something for everyone.

Shuttle buses will be running throughout Cambridge to provide transportation. Danehy Park can be reached by public transportation: #74 bus or #78 bus from Harvard Square; #83 bus from Central Square; or take a shuttle bus from the Alewife MBTA Station. Picnics and lawn chairs are encouraged.

For more information, call 617-349-4301 or visit www.cambridgema.gov.

Images of PARKing Day 2013 - Fri, Sept 20

PARKing Day 2013 - Fri, Sept 20

This really is a lot of fun checking out all the creative ideas sprouting up in parking spaces scattered around the city. You will likely find me at the 9 hole miniature golf course in Lafayette Square set up by Patrick Barrett and the Central Square Business Association. - Robert Winters

More information on the CDD website

The Trees of Cambridge

The Cambridge DPW has put together a fabulous map of all the trees on all the public streets and parks in Cambridge.

Municipal Election Year Programming on CCTV: Cambridge Inside Out - The Sequel

In the coming weeks, I'll be teaming up with former School Committee member Susana Segat to do some CCTV broadcasts initially focusing on the upcoming elections, the issues, and the candidates. The shows will also be live-streamed on the web and later posted on YouTube. Our consecutive half-hour time slots are Tuesdays at 5:30pm and 6:00pm starting this Tuesday, Sept 10.

Glenn Koocher was agreeable to our using the name "Cambridge Inside Out" for the program. As many of you may recall, Glenn hosted a memorable local show by that name from 1989 through 2001. Regular panelists then included Barbara Ackermann, Marty Foster, Saundra Graham, and Tom Rafferty.

Our plan is to do some live shows and also some pre-recorded programs leading up to a reprise of our live broadcast on election night, Tues, Nov 5. If all goes well, we may continue the program beyond that date. We hope to have some of the candidates on the show either during live broadcasts or on video gathered by our roving reporter (Susana). - Robert Winters

Commercial Parking Control Committee Members Vacancy

City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking to fill vacancies in the Commercial Parking Control Committee. Pursuant to City Ordinance 10.16, the Commercial Parking Control Committee (CPCC) reviews applications and decides whether to issue Commercial Parking Permits. The Committee also decides if spaces have improperly or illegally been operated as Commercial Parking spaces. Commercial Parking Space means parking space available for use by the general public at any time for a fee.

Committee members are appointed by the City Manager for staggered terms of three years. No person shall be appointed to the Committee who has a financial interest in commercial parking in Cambridge.

Meetings will be held as needed on weekday evenings, generally no more than twice per year, unless a Commercial Parking permit application or enforcement action is pending. Hearings will be staffed by the Cambridge Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department.

Committee members must be a Cambridge resident and have experience that may include a background as a planner, architect, engineer, lawyer, sustainability, public health; neighborhood involvement is also a plus.

For more information, contact Adam Shulman, Transportation Planner at 617-349-4745 or ashulman@cambridgema.gov.

Please send cover letter and/or resume indicating your qualifications and why you are interested in being a member of the Committee by the application deadline of Friday, Sept 20, 2013 to:

Richard C. Rossi, City Manager
c/o Susan Clippinger, Director
Cambridge Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department
344 Broadway, 2nd Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139
Email: Susan Clippinger at sclippinger@cambridgema.gov

Affirmative Action Advisory Committee Vacancy

Cambridge City Manager Richard C. Rossi is seeking applications for candidates to serve on the Affirmative Action Advisory Committee (AAAC).

The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee discusses policies affecting municipal employment and its impact on affirmative action issues and serves in an advisory capacity to the Director of Affirmative Action, Personnel Director and the City Manager.

The role of the AAAC is to:

• Discuss developments in the law impacting the City ‘s Affirmative Action Plan
• Provide assistance to the AA Director in updating the Plan and monitoring progress
• Offer assistance to the City in its recruitment efforts
• Provide advice and assistance to the City Manager to further the City’s AA efforts.

Interested persons should send a letter of interest and/or resume via e-mail, mail or fax by Friday, Sept 20, 2013 to:

Richard C. Rossi, City Manager
c/o Duane Brown, Affirmative Action Director
City of Cambridge
795 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02139
E-mail: dbrown@cambridgema.gov

Cambridge Candidate 2013 Match Game (PDF)

Can you match the candidate names, occupations, and birthdates? The list includes all 34 City Council and School Committee candidates.

Comments?

Aug 21 - Kendall Square initiative moves toward design phase (MIT News)

Urban-design firm to be selected; community meetings will be set for fall.
An exploration of alternative approaches, has been posted on MIT’s Capital Projects website (view PDF).

Map: Massachusetts water usage and cost, by town (Boston Globe)

Saturday Morning Comedy

July 20 - There was a Boston Globe editorial this morning generally praising former City Manager Robert Healy. The closing paragraph stated: "Yet while Healy's tenure may provide few lessons for less generously funded communities, it is a model of how a city can play a winning hand. Healy left Cambridge a better city than when he began. It can be a better city, still." The editorial provoked a comment from someone using the moniker JEM007. Here are a few excerpts:

"The well-intentioned, but ignorant, morally undeveloped Globe editors continue to extoll the winning successes of the ruling power elites in Boston, Cambridge, and elsewhere by avoiding any mention of unintended or undesired results. In the 1940's & 50's, Cambridge had more than a million residents, mostly poor or middle class, many of whom had labored mightly during WW II to aid the mobilization of our country's war effort."

Sorry to break this to you, JEM007, but the Cambridge population topped off at about 120,000 or so in 1950 - a bit shy of the more than one million residents you imagine it once had. Cambridge had a much more substantial middle class back then, but it has always had its fair share of wealthy and poor residents going back to colonial days.

"Bob Healy just rode this tsunami of unusual, huge financial success, mostly unrelated to any effort of his, while advancing his personal interest, in a most undesirable manner. He played the usual 5-4 split betwen the conservative vs. liberal city councilors superbly, knowing where the bodies were buried, overlooking common corruption, and discrimination, even abuse, to maintain an appearance of a city in which nothing bad ever happened. So much easy money was falling into everyone's laps that they quickly turned a blind eye, seeking their advantage, too."

When anyone in Cambridge these days uses the word "tsunami," it becomes pretty clear where they're coming from. This is the battle cry of the so-called Cambridge Residents Alliance - a group that opposes any new construction in Cambridge and which has repeatedly used the term "tsunami" to characterize any proposed or potential new development. I am especially amused by the characterization of Bob Healy as some kind of masterful hustler who could manipulate the nine city councillors at any given time through blackmail and abuse in order to secure all the buried treasure. Apparently, at least according to JEM007, the combined IQ of all city councillors over the last 32 years was negligible and they could all be manipulated like wooden marionettes. - RW

H Mart readying for move into Central Square this fall (July 10, Boston Globe)

The new H Mart will occupy 18,000 sq. ft. in the space formerly occupied by the Harvest Market (which moved across the street) and an adjacent space. The new store will also have a food court featuring a Japanese restaurant (Go Go Curry), a Japanese noodle restaurant (Sapporo Ramen), and a bakery shop (Paris Baguette) that will also serve sandwiches and beverages.

This will be a great addition to Central Square.

City Offers Help to Retailers and Restaurants by Sponsoring Best Retail Practices Program
Free Workshop, One-On-One Consultations and Access to Business Improvement Grants

The City of Cambridge Department of Community Development is pleased to announce that the City will once again be offering its Best Retail Practices Program to assist retailers, restaurateurs and storefront business owners in Cambridge Best Retail Practices (BRP) brings professional advice to independent retailers in the areas of store and restaurant design, layout and visual merchandising, customer service and both traditional and social media marketing through workshops and one-on-one consultations.

Cambridge's BRP's 3-part program begins with a free 2½ hour workshop in which visual examples of current best practices are shared. Everyone is sure to learn something new! The workshop will be held Tuesday, Sept 17, from 8-10am, in the Community Room of the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway. We will also be providing more in-store consultation opportunities, with up to 16 in-store consultation appointments available for eligible Cambridge businesses.

Retail expert Christine Moynihan of Retail Visioning will present the free workshop and conduct 10 individual consultations. Since 2003, she has brought the "tips, tools and tricks of the trade" of this program to over 1,000 business owners across the state and provided specific recommendations to over 370 shops, salons and restaurants. Following the workshop, qualified owners of shops, restaurants and store front service businesses in Cambridge may apply to be one of the businesses that will receive a one-on-one, in-store consultation session with Moynihan – also for free! These businesses will then receive a written report with specific ideas and recommendations for improving their businesses now and for the future.

Qualifying businesses will also have the opportunity to apply for up to $2,000 in federal grants to implement recommended improvements. Criteria for the consultations and eligibility to receive the grant money will be explained at the workshop.

Seating is limited and registration is recommended for this highly popular program. For more information on the workshop, consultations and grants -- and to register for the workshop --please contact Pardis Saffari at: 617-349-4654 or by email: psaffari@cambridgema.gov.

Sept 11 - Cambridge Election Commission approves ballot designs for municipal election

The Cambridge Election Commission today approved the layout of the preferential ballots to be used for the Cambridge City Council and School Committee municipal election on Nov 5, 2013.

The School Committee ballot will once again use the landscape format with space for the 9 qualified candidates plus space for 6 write-in candidates. Voters are allowed to rank up to 9 candidates.

The large field of 25 candidates in the City Council election plus the legal requirement that there be space allotted for up to an additional 9 write-in candidates presented challenges in the ballot design. There are also other limitations imposed by the optical scanners used to record the ballots. The Election Commission voted to use a portrait format for the City Council ballot and to permit up to 18 rankings to be expressed by each voter.

Though this will have an insignificant effect on the election (fewer than 5% of voters even express this many preferences and almost all of the ballots of those voters are credited toward earlier preferences), it is the first time in the history of PR elections in Cambridge that there has been a cap placed on the number of preferences. The law governing the Cambridge municipal elections (Mass. Gen'l Laws Ch. 54A) has always had the option to cap the number of preferences to "not less than fifteen choices for any particular body or office." - Robert Winters

[Update: At the Sept 18 meeting of the Election Commission, the City Council ballot format was changed again - back to 25 ovals instead of just 18 - so voters will be able to rank all of the candidates on the City Council ballot. I'm guessing that this also means that it will be in landscape format, but I'm waiting to find out.]

Community Preservation Act Committee Meeting Sept. 10

The Community Preservation Act Committee (CPAC) will hold a committee meeting on Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at 5:30pm, in the Ackermann Room at Cambridge City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Avenue.

The purpose of the meeting will be for the CPAC to vote on the percentage allocation to CPA expenditure categories and on particular projects to be funded with Community Preservation Act Funds for FY14. These funds may be allocated to affordable housing, open space and historic preservation.

For more information, contact Angela Pierre, Principal Budget Analyst, at 617-349-4267 or apierre@cambridgema.gov.

Aug 18, 2013 - ImprovBoston's "So That Happened" hosts City Council Candidate Luis Vasquez

Food drive to benefit Cambridge's Weekend Backpack Program, Sept 7 through Sept 13

Whole Foods Market at Fresh Pond & River St. are holding a food drive to benefit Cambridge's Weekend Backpack Program starting THIS Saturday, September 7th through September 13th.

The Weekend Backpack Program sends two lunches, two breakfasts, milk, and fresh fruit home to Cambridge public school students whose primary source of nutrition is the school cafeteria. The healthy meals are packed discreetly in the students' backpacks each Friday afternoon and help stop food insecurity in its tracks.

This program ensures that the students, who would normally be undernourished over the weekend, receive enough food to eradicate their food insecurity and help them to be better prepared to learn. The weekend backpack program will be starting up at the 5 Cambridge Public Elementary Schools in October, so please support the program by purchasing the specially selected food items on your next trip to Whole Foods Market this week! Look for the signs at Whole Foods.

To read more about the Weekend Backpack program and how it is benefiting our students and their families: http://www.takepart.com/article/2013/08/26/op-ed-school-backpack-food-program-cambridge

Aug 28 - Kathleen Kelly is honored to receive the endorsement from The National Association of Social Workers of MA for Cambridge School Committee.

Come Join the Parade - Thurs, Aug 22, 6:30pm from City Hall to Lafayette Square with the Dirty Water Brass Band

(with stops along the way)

Cambridge Riverfront Mobile Food Program 2013 Season is Under Way

The successful Riverfront Mobile Food Program is back with new and exciting offerings for the 2013 season. The City of Cambridge invites applications from qualified Mobile Food Vendors to sell freshly-prepared food and beverages at designated spaces at riverside parks.

This year will include more vendors at Riverbend Park on Sundays during the Memorial Drive road closure, as well as vendors at our new location at North Point Park on Saturdays, along the Charles River. New vendors include Baja Taco Truck, Bon Me Foods, Life Force Juice, Pennypackers Food Truck and Veebops Ice Cream. Returning vendors include Culinary Cruisers. Be sure to follow them on TWITTER for the exact locations of the food trucks. The City of Cambridge is still accepting applications from qualified vendors for the remainder of the 2013 season. For more information, visit: http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/econdev/smallbusiness/foodtrucks.aspx

March On 50 Years Forward and the Legacy of the 1963 March on Washington D.C.

The City of Cambridge Employees' Diversity Committee will host an event to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, D.C. Thurs, Aug 22, from 6-7:30pm, in the citywide Senior Center, 806 Mass. Ave. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The event will feature a keynote address by Professor Jemadari Kamara, Professor of Africana Studies and Director of the Center for African, Caribbean and Community Development at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. In his address, Dr. Kamara will touch on the historical context of the march, its impact on the civil rights and economic policy debates of the era and its continuing implications for civil and economic rights in contemporary America.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which took place 100 years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, was a milestone in the movement for civil rights in the US. The march brought together over 250,000 people at the National Mall for a peaceful demonstration to promote civil rights and economic equality for African Americans. The March culminated in Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which envisioned an America free of racial segregation.

The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was instrumental in applying pressure on the Kennedy Administration which resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1964, the ratification of the Twenty Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution outlawing the poll tax in 1964, and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Renovation Achieves LEED® Gold Certification
Design provides greater sustainability and improved space utilization

Aug 6, 2013 - The City of Cambridge is proud to announce that the comprehensive renovation project for Cambridge Rindge and Latin School (CRLS) has earned LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by HMFH Architects, Inc., the highly visible 400,000 square foot high school fulfills the City's ambitious sustainability goals through substantial reductions in energy consumption and water use, and significant increases in indoor environmental quality, natural ventilation and daylighting.

The sustainable design strategy for the three-building complex, which was originally constructed in 1932 and expanded in 1978, includes a chilled beam HVAC system – well-suited to incorporation in existing concrete frame buildings—and a rooftop photovoltaic array. These retrofits, coupled with high-efficiency lighting fixtures and daylighting contribute to the school's net energy savings, lowering the operating costs by more than $335,000 annually, and reducing energy use by more than 1.3 million KWh of electricity and nearly 44,000 therms of natural gas.

Monitors in the lobby displaying real-time energy data and a small rooftop garden tie environmental stewardship to the curriculum and provide educational opportunities for the school's 1,800 students. Other visible features include low-flow fixtures that provide an annual savings of 1.3 million gallons of water, operable windows and outdoor bike racks. Beneath the playground for the onsite daycare center, a rainwater collection tank stores runoff from the roof and is used to irrigate the landscaping, eliminating potable water use.

While achieving high points in the categories of Sustainable Sites, Energy and Atmosphere and Water Efficiency, the project was cited with exemplary performance for construction waste management by diverting 95% of waste from landfills back into the manufacturing process. The revitalization and refresh of classrooms and shared core spaces required careful selection of finishes; recycled and low-VOC materials, FSC-certified wood, and durable rubber flooring that requires no harsh cleaning chemicals, contribute to the overall indoor air quality to provide a healthy learning environment.

The renovated school, which shares its urban site with two other City-owned LEED Silver buildings – War Memorial Recreation Center, also an HMFH design, and the Cambridge Public Library – completes the civic campus of sustainable buildings and aligns with the City's sustainability initiatives.

"As far as we know, less than 10 renovated school buildings nationwide have achieved LEED Gold, so we are especially proud," said Cambridge City Manager Richard C. Rossi. "This project is a perfect example of what can be achieved with civic commitment and strong community support. It also validates and expands our city-wide efforts to manage all of our resources in the most sustainable way. The revitalization of CRLS represents an ongoing commitment to modernize our educational facilities, to promote the highest levels of learning and achievement for all students, and to reduce our community's carbon footprint."

The City and the CRLS Project Manager worked closely with its architects, utilizing their expertise in both educational environments and sustainable design, to turn this project from a basic reconstruction into a stunning example of how to integrate 21st century learning and environmental responsibility. This effort resulted in improved classrooms, library and teaching facilities, and corridors with new windows, flooring and wall finishes. Additionally, the renovation also enlivens common areas and provides clear circulation and more internal transparency. The re-designed science core includes larger labs that accommodate teaching areas as well as space for experiments, and the theater is redesigned and equipped for live broadcasts.

The City of Cambridge is proud to have worked with HMFH Architects, Inc., a local firm that has been in business since 1969 on two award winning renovated municipal buildings that serve as models for sustainable and healthy community development.

CRLS Panorama - photo by Ed Wonsek

Municipal Election Year Programming on CCTV

I'll be the guest this Tuesday (Aug 6, 5:00pm) on Ann Cowan's CCTV program "'Meet the Candidates." Though not a candidate, I hope I'll be able to help frame some of the issues in this year's municipal election. In the coming weeks, I'll also be teaming up with former School Committee member Susana Segat to do some CCTV broadcasts (also live-streamed on the web) on the upcoming elections, the issues, and the candidates. The plan is to do some BeLive shows and some produced programs leading up to a reprise of our live broadcast on election night, Tuesday, November 5. Details to follow. - Robert Winters

Talking about Cambridge elections and other stuff - Robert Winters with Ann Cowen on CCTV, Aug 6, 2013

Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0RRLUgmTtE

Affordable Rental and Homeownership Programs Information Session - Monday, August 12

The City of Cambridge will be holding a series of free Walk-In Informational Sessions on affordable rental and homeownership programs at different locations in the coming months.

The next session will be held Monday, Aug 12, from 6-8pm, at Jefferson Park Community Room, 1 Jackson Place, Cambridge. Housing personnel from the Community Development Department will be available to discuss the city's affordable rental and homeownership programs. For more information, call 617-349-4622.

Community Preservation Act Committee Public Hearing - Monday, August 12

The Community Preservation Act Committee will hold a public hearing on Monday, Aug 12, at 6pm, in the Sullivan Chamber of Cambridge City Hall, 795 Mass. Ave. The purpose of the hearing will be to take public comment regarding allocation of Community Preservation Act Funds for FY14. These funds may be allocated to affordable housing, open space and historic preservation. For more information, contact Angela Pierre, Principal Budget Analyst, at 617-349-4267 or apierre@cambridgema.gov.

Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation Project -MBTA Red Line Weekend Diversion - August 10 and 11

On Saturday, August 10 and Sunday, August 11, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will close the Longfellow Bridge to all motor vehicle travel, except MBTA buses. The closure is to implement an MBTA Red Line diversion related to bridge construction. Buses will replace Red Line trains for service between Kendall/MIT Station and Park Street Station, with a stop at Charles/MGH Station. [Map of bus route and stops]

Bus service will be in place for Boston and Cambridge-bound Red Line customers from the start of service on Saturday, August 10 to the end of service on Sunday, August 11. Red Line trains will resume service on Monday morning. The diversion is necessary for MassDOT's design/build contractor, White-Skanska-Consigli JV, to perform work in close proximity to the Red Line tracks that is not allowed during MBTA service hours. Please visit the MBTA's service updates webpage for additional information.

MBTA buses will be the only motor vehicles permitted on the bridge. All other motor vehicles including passenger vehicles, trucks and all other buses will need to use one of two routes shown on the attached detour map to reach Boston. One route uses Memorial Drive westbound to make a U-turn at Ames Street for access to Memorial Drive eastbound to Land Boulevard and Charles River Dam Road (Monsignor O'Brien Highway/Route 28) to reach Leverett Circle. A second route uses 3rd Street and Binney Street to reach Land Boulevard. Truck restrictions are in place for Memorial Drive. [Map]

Emergency response, bicycle and pedestrian access will be maintained across the bridge during this weekend diversion. Please note: Bicyclists will be asked to walk their bikes on the sidewalk across the Longfellow Bridge to ensure the safety of all bridge users.

The Cambridge-bound detour remains in place using a signed route from Charles Circle following Charles Street to Leverett Circle, Monsignor O'Brien Highway/Charles River Dam Road and Edwin H. Land Boulevard. [Map]

For more information on the project and traffic management plans, visit the website at www.mass.gov/massdot/longfellowbridge. For questions, to report issues and concerns related to construction or to be added to the project email distribution list, please call the project hotline at 617-519-9892 or email longfellowbridge@state.ma.us.

The Candidates (updated as candidates pull papers and submit signatures - updated Aug 5) - FINAL

* The deadline to file nomination papers was Wednesday, July 31st at 5:00pm. 50 certified signatures are required and candidates can submit no more than 100 signatures. Signatures are unofficially certified by staff in the Election Commission office, but actual certification is done by the Election Commission during July and possibly as late as Aug 14. When officially certified, the number of certified signatures will be indicated in bold.

Comments?

Cambridge Candidate Pages - 2013

2013 Campaign Event Listings and Candidate Forums

Where's Alice?

July 22 - Nomination papers for candidates for City Council and School Committee have been available since July 1 and the deadline for submission is Wed, July 31. All candidates who were expected to take out nomination papers (plus a few more) have now taken out papers except one - Alice Turkel. Several people have asked what's up, and I've sent a few e-mail messages to Alice asking her what's up. So far, I've received no response. One city councillor speculated that Alice might run for City Council, but that seems a bit far-fetched. Besides, without nomination papers you're not running for anything.

Anyone know what's up? Has Alice joined the Foreign Legion? Was she drafted by the Boston Celtics? Has she taken a job with the CIA? Where's Alice?

Update (July 31): Alice Turkel is not running for School Committee.

NPR story on my new friend Zev Dickstein

Zev is the 11-year-old campaign manager for School Committee candidate Joyce Gerber. He was the subject of a recent WGBH radio story which aired June 21 and was subsequently picked up on NPR's Weekend Edition on June 29. [Listen to the 3-minute audio segment]
Honestly, Zev is by far the most refreshing thing so far in this municipal election season.

A few weeks ago, President Obama was in town for a political rally. Zev had a business card he wanted to give to the President, and he did. In fact, not only did he hand his business card to Mr. Obama, as the pictures below indicate, the President actually stopped to read it. Though not recorded in pictures, Mr. Obama put Zev's business card in his pocket. You never know when he might need another campaign manager. - RW

Paul Toner announces candidacy for National Education Association (NEA) Executive Committee

July 16, 2013 - It's Official...... Paul Toner announced his candidacy for the NEA Executive Committee. There was a great kickoff at the close of the NEA Representative Assembly on July 9th, with more than 100 volunteers from Massachusetts, Alaska, New York, North Carolina, Colorado, and other state affiliates joined in. Paul invites you to help spread the word about his campaign and invite all your friends to check out his website at www.toner4nea.com and on Facebook at Toner4NEA. You can also sign-up for updates about his campaign.

Paul looks forward to talking to NEA members about the issues and challenges we are facing in public education during the campaign. The election takes place at the 2014 Representative Assembly in Denver, Colorado. There will be a fundraiser in the Fall to help support Paul's campaign. [NEA website]

Questions, questions, questions..... (updated July 11)

Question #1: What, if any, relationship is there between the number of City Council vacancies and the number of new candidates elected? There will be two City Council vacancies (two incumbents who are not seeking reelection) in the election this November, and people are asking what this might foretell. The basic answer is that there are too many other factors in play. There have been elections with no vacancies and 4 challengers elected, and there have been elections where the existence of vacancies has had no effect on the incumbents. It is, however, more common than not that the number of newly elected candidates exceeds the number of vacancies. See the table below.

Question #2: How does the candidate who gets the most #1 votes fare in the next election? Generally, if you're the "top dog" in one election, you will almost certainly do well in the next election, though there is one notable exceptions. A "top dog" has never been defeated in the next election. See the table below for how well the previous "top dog" fared in the next election.

In 25 of 35 City Council elections, the number of challengers elected exceeded the number of vacancies.
In 7 elections in which there were 2 vacancies, an incumbent was defeated in 5 of these elections.

In 20 of 35 School Committee elections, the number of challengers elected exceeded the number of vacancies.
In 10 elections in which there was 1 vacancy, an incumbent was defeated in 9 of these elections.
In 15 elections in which there were 2 vacancies, an incumbent was defeated in only 4 of these elections.

Cambridge LGBT Senior Information Fair Monday, July 29

The Cambridge Council on Aging and the Cambridge GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender) Commission are holding a LGBT Senior Information Fair on Monday, July 29, 2013, from 6-7:30 p.m., at the Cambridge Senior Center, at 806 Massachusetts Avenue. Light refreshments will be served, generously provided by Cadbury Commons, a residence for seniors). There will also be musical entertainment.

A number of organizations, including the LGBT Aging Project, AARP, Cambridge Human Services, Cambridge GLBT Commission and others will have representatives and information tables. This is an opportunity to socialize, eat and receive interesting and pertinent information. We encourage seniors, caregivers and friends to attend this fair.

The needs of LGBT seniors are often more extreme since they are more likely to have fewer family members to support them and even in Cambridge they may fear prejudice from service providers and caretakers. The LGBT Senior Fair supports the Cambridge Council on Aging's continued commitment to create a culture of respect for diversity in the aging population.

For more information, please contact Alicia Johnson at 617-349-6220 or at aliciaj@cambridgema.gov.

Building Pathways Pre-Apprenticeship Program Information Session July 24

The Cambridge Employment Program is hosting an information session for the Building Pathways Pre-Apprenticeship Program on Wednesday, July 24, at 6:00pm, at 51 Inman St., Cambridge.

Building Pathways Pre-Apprenticeship Program is looking for qualified people who want to begin careers as electricians, plumbers, sprinkler fitters, laborers and more. Building Pathways provides seven weeks of career exploration and hands-on experience in the building trades followed by placement in a union apprenticeship. Applicants must be 18 or older, have a high school diploma or GED, and an interest in the construction trades. They must also attend an information session in order to apply for the program.

For more information or to register for the session, call Brett Thomason at 617-348-6750.

James L. Sullivan Cambridge City Manager June 28, 1968 - April 1, 1970 April 1, 1974 - July 1, 1981	Robert W. Healy Cambridge City Manager July 1, 1981 - June 30, 2013	Richard C. Rossi Cambridge City Manager July 1, 2013 - present
The City Clerks and City Managers of Cambridge

Plan for Ethanol Trains Derailed

July 1, 2013 - Opponents of the plan by Global Partners to transport ethanol via high-volume trains through Cambridge, Somerville, and other towns east of Worcester to a planned blending facility in Revere scored major victories today. The "Ethanol Amendment" in the state's annual budget that would effectively have prohibited the planned terminal in Revere was passed by the State Senate Conference Committee and sent to the Governor's Office for ratification into law.

Roseann Bongiovanni of Chelsea, a principal citizen opponent of the plan, said, "A big thank you goes out to our legislative champions Senator Sal DiDomenico and Senator Anthony Petrucelli! Without their leadership and support, and that of their great staff (Ingrid and Anthony G.), this would not be possible. Representatives Reinstein and O'Flaherty should also be recognized for their advocacy in favor of this amendment. A special thank you also goes out to Attorney Rubin who drafted the amendment language."

The amendment was H.3538 which read as follows:

"SECTION 81. Section 14 of chapter 91 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2010 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following paragraph:
An ethanol storage or blending facility that stores or blends or is intended to store or blend more than an average of 5,000 gallons of ethanol per day and is located within 1 mile of a census block that has a population density of greater than 4,000 people per square mile shall not be granted a license under this chapter. For the purposes of this section, ethanol shall be defined as any mixture composed of not less than 30 percent ethanol.

Upon final passage, many people believed that even with the Governor's signature, a legal challenge would be sure to follow. For example, U.S. Congressman Michael Capuano wrote several months ago in a letter to the Cambridge City Council:

Therefore, I am compelled to inform the Council it is my understanding that neither federal nor state law seems to provide ways to prevent ethanol from being transported through any community. There are laws and regulations available to ensure safety, but bans on the transport of hazardous materials have not been upheld in court. The Council may know that the Washington DC City Council enacted a ban on hazmat transportation through the city, but it was struck down in federal court. As far as I know, no other city has passed legislation banning the transit of hazardous materials and had the ban stand up in court. Of course, if others can identify alternative paths to judicial success, I stand ready to support them.

With this view as backdrop, opponents of the ethanol transport plan were thrilled to receive word that Global Partners has decided to cancel their plans. Noting significant opposition from local groups such as the Chelsea Creek Action Group, Global Partners stated that they are "a good company that doesn't want to go against the wishes of the local community."

Comments?

Cambridge Awarded $112,800 to Fight Homelessness through Prevention Services

July 10, 2013 - The Patrick Administration's Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) awarded the City of Cambridge $112,800 in federal Emergency Solutions Grant funds. These funds will be used to expand upon existing resources to develop a multi-faceted approach to providing homelessness prevention services in the city.

The award will help build on the foundation of prevention service delivery at the Multi-Service Center (MSC) by creating a coordinated homelessness prevention program that integrates existing case management and financial assistance at the MSC with tenancy preservation services at the Cambridge District Court and eviction prevention legal services.

ESG is an annual federal grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that was expanded under the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing (HEARTH) Act of 2009 to include funding for prevention and rapid rehousing services in addition to funding for shelter beds.

"We are thrilled to have received this award that will enhance existing services that help individuals and families quickly regain stability in permanent housing after experiencing a housing crisis," said Assistant City Manager for Human Services Ellen Semonoff.

Note: This story is taken from a City press release.