Coming Up at the April 13, 2020 Cambridge City Council meeting

While we all strive to "level the curve" and hope for the best, City Council business continues even as most other businesses do not (at least for now). Springtime is usually the season of hope and renewal and that's rarely been more relevant than this year - at least for those of us who have not lived through World Wars or civil wars (which always struck me as a oxymoron).

Here are the items on this week's agenda that I found most noteworthy:

Manager's Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on COVID-19.

Manager's Agenda #4. Transmitting Communication from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $215,450 from Free Cash to the General Fund Human Service Programs Other Ordinary Maintenance account to support the Homeless Shelter / Local Restaurant Community Meals Program.

While people can debate whether every action has been the right choice, there is no question that the City Manager and City departments have really been responsive in dealing with this horrible crisis. I'm looking forward to how we go about the transition from crisis to manageable threat. In any case, a lot of practices adopted during this crisis will persist for a very long time. Don't go expecting a handshake from anyone any time soon, and I expect that masks and gloves may become a regular practice on all public transportation for the foreseeable future.

Charter Right #1. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the relevant City departments to give the Council a financial impact summary on how the local Covid-19 response will be impacting the City’s free cash and ability to budget looking into July 1, 2021, and to report back to the City Council in a timely manner. [CHARTER RIGHT EXERCISED BY COUNCILLOR SIMMONS ON APR 6, 2020]

Communications & Reports #5. A communication was received from Anthony Ivan Wilson, City Clerk, responding to a question regarding parliamentary procedure.

Pointless kerfuffle. The issue is whether the latter (Apr 6 Order #1 which asks about the effect on next year's budget and free cash) duplicates the former (Mar 30 Order #5 which asks about current year’s/next year’s budget and free cash). The City Clerk is correct, but the City Council has filed repeated orders on various topics in the past regardless of what the rules may say.

Order #1. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to appoint and convene a Small Business Recovery Advisory Committee.   Councillor Simmons, Vice Mayor Mallon

Order #2. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to appoint and convene a COVID-19 Advisory Committee to review the impact of the pandemic on local communities of color, to propose ways to better disseminate information on Impact to Communities of Color.   Councillor Simmons

I think the real distinction here has more to do with income levels and job categories than anything else. Some people can avoid public transportation and work from home and maybe have a good health plan and enough savings to ride things out. Others don't have such luxuries.

Order #3. That in absence of revised City Council goals for the new term, the most recent approved goals are used in all Council business, particularly the budgetary process.   Councillor Carlone, Councillor Simmons, Mayor Siddiqui

One would hope that they would at least pencil in the one additional goal of providing sufficient resources to continue to deal with the Covid-19 crisis and its effects on residents and businesses. I really don't want to see a lot of resources dedicated to things that are fundamentally optional when there are necessities that have to be addressed right now.

Order #4. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the Public Health Department to develop and implement stricter public health regulations to protect our grocery store workers.   Vice Mayor Mallon, Mayor Siddiqui

Absolutely, but not just because of an anecdote or two. Sometimes I think Twitter and neighborhood listservs are the primary source of Cambridge public policy.

Order #5. That the City Council go on record in full support of this petition and of Harvard graduate students as they courageously stand up for their needs in a time of crisis.   Councillor McGovern, Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Zondervan

Order #7. That the City Manager examine expanding the City’s jobs programs for those unemployed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.   Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Carlone

Order #8. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to repurpose the War Memorial facility into only a COVID-19 testing and temporary quarantine site for unhoused individuals awaiting their test results.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

One week the War Memorial facility is set aside as an emergency shelter primarily to prevent infection, and now this Order calls for it to be used only as a COVID-19 testing and temporary quarantine site. It will be interesting to hear from City Management on this, but it sure seems like a couple of city councillors are making a career out of second-guessing city management and those in charge of public health and public safety.

Communications & Reports #1. A communication was received from the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, transmitting the 2019 Annual Report.

Communications & Reports #6. A communication was received from Councillor Quinton Zondervan, transmitting thoughts on planning for the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.

I won't comment on the particulars, but I do appreciate that we are at least beginning to think of next phases to this thing. Unlike some of the foolishness I hear from Washington, D.C. about "reopening the country" as though it was some kind of on-off switch, any rational person needs to understand that this will have to be an extended transition during which some aspects of normalcy will take longer than others and some things will likely change permanently. - Robert Winters

Comments?

We'll Meet Again - What's on the Agenda for the April 6, 2020 Cambridge City Council Virtual Meeting?

The address of Queen Elizabeth to the people of England today is still resonating with me, especially the subtle reference to the Vera Lynn song from the days of World War II. It really choked me up listing to the old gal weave together past, present, and future. If only we had that kind of moral leadership at the top of our political heap. Perhaps we will again some sunny day.

Meanwhile, back in our Cambridge, here are a few agenda items this week that I found interesting:

Manager's Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to a request for the City Council to adopt a statutory small business exemption for personal property accounts equal to or less than $10,000 in assessed value, and if approved as a special act by the Legislature and Governor of the Commonwealth, for personal property accounts equal to or less than $20,000 in assessed value.

This is a relatively modest assist to small businesses, but it's also a sign that maybe there's a realization that small businesses are deserving of benefits now reserved entirely for resident homeowners. There's also the added benefit of bureaucratic simplification.

Manager's Agenda #4. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on COVID-19.

We've all come to appreciate the daily updates from the City administration, but perhaps this will be an opportunity to get some insight into the larger picture of how the City is responding and will continue to respond to this public health nightmare.

Order #1. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with the relevant City departments to give the Council a financial impact summary on how the local Covid-19 response will be impacting the City’s free cash and ability to budget looking into July 1, 2021, and to report back to the City Council in a timely manner.   Councillor Simmons, Councillor Carlone

I can't help but be reminded of how often some councillors would view the City's fund balance as some kind of untapped piggy bank just waiting to be broken open for pet projects and populist initiatives. I guess it takes an actual rainy day to fully understand the value of maintaining a "rainy day fund."

Order #3. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the relevant City departments to report back to the Council on what efforts have been made to work with other municipalities on this issue and to work with Cambridge’s State Delegation and the Governor’s office for a comprehensive regional housing plan to be put in place to house the homeless during the COVID-19 emergency.   Councillor Toomey, Councillor Simmons, Councillor McGovern

ALL housing solutions have to be understood regionally. Unilateral solutions are not solutions. They never were and they never will be.

Order #4. That the City Manager expand tax-filing and stimulus benefit assistance to low-income and unhoused residents.   Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Zondervan

With so many banks in every city square and elsewhere, one might think that these could provide the financial infrastructure for stimulus benefit assistance through coordination between the federal government and all of these banks. The same goes for providing low-interest or zero-interest short-term, government-insured business loans and mortgage assistance. Waiting several months for an across-the-board $1200 check to every resident seems like the least effective way to get through these difficult months of temporary unemployment and loss of income. As for those who lack a bank account or a home address, how to receive the federal benefit seems like just one more problem heaped on top of a host of other problems. - Robert Winters

Comments?

Not an April Fool's Joke - Featured Items on the March 30, 2020 Cambridge City Council Agenda

The City of Cambridge and its residents continue to act affirmatively to address the needs of our neighbors and struggling businesses as the local count of COVID-19 confirmed infections continues to rise (70 in Cambridge as of Mar 29 including one fatality). The Cambridge City Council has, for the most part, focused on the current crisis rather than engaging too much in other agendas. However, that apparently doesn't stop some councillors from overreaching. See Resolution #2 below (which isn't really a resolution so much as an overly broad declaration). Here are the agenda items I found most noteworthy this week:

Manager's Agenda #2. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the recommended reappointment of Christopher Bator as a member of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority for a term of 5-years.

The reconfiguration of the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority starting with the appointments by former City Manager Robert Healy on April 9, 2012 has worked out remarkably well with those inspired appointments. All five Board members continue to serve today: D. Margaret Drury, Chris Bator, Conrad Crawford, Kathleen Born, and Barry Zevin (Governor's appointee).

Manager's Agenda #4. A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to the use of the War Memorial Recreation Center and Field House on Cambridge Street, which is adjacent to and part of the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School campus, for an emergency shelter for the homeless due to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.

This was a late addition to the Manager's agenda. A lot more people will be aware of the need for emergency management when this crisis wanes - hopefully sooner than later - and the City has definitely been looking out for everyone, including people currently without a home or adequate shelter.

I hope that people also develop a renewed interest in broader planning goals, e.g. the importance of having essential needs like basic food and household goods at affordable prices available in all neighborhoods. Perhaps we'll also better appreciate the importance of ensuring that deliveries to homes and businesses is not prevented by other priorities. Internet access has also been elevated to the category of an essential need - regardless whether it's provided via an existing company or municipal broadband.

Resolution #2. Moratorium on rent payments, mortgage payments, evictions and foreclosures.   Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Carlone

While we can all appreciate the goal of having everyone consider renegotiating existing contracts, including rental agreements, this resolution makes no reference to the ability or inability of a tenant or owner of a property with a mortgage to pay their rent or mortgage. It's just a flat out call for a moratorium on payments. Perhaps the authors of the resolution believe that all landlords are billionaires who charge excessive rents. I would love to see the current scale of rents and home prices change to more rational levels, and maybe that will happen to some degree when the dust settles and that all parties - lenders, property owners, and tenants - find ways to be kind to one another during this challenging period. This resolution has more to do with politics than kindness or reasonableness. The details in Order #1 below are by far the more reasonable things to ask.

Order #1. That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to work with the Cambridge Housing Authority and other appropriate personnel to enforce compliance with this order in publicly owned housing, publicly subsidized housing, and federally assisted housing.   Councillor McGovern, Mayor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

Order #2. That the City Manager is requested to confer with the Director of Traffic, Parking, and Transportation on streets in each neighborhood that could be closed to all non-essential traffic for the duration of the Health Emergency and report back to the council as soon as possible.   Councillor Nolan, Councillor Carlone, Vice Mayor Mallon, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

Order #3. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with DCR to explore closing Memorial Drive for the duration of the Stay at Home order to give people in Cambridge a safe space to exercise and be outside without violating social distancing practices.   Councillor Zondervan, Mayor Siddiqui, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler

Order #4. That the City Manager explore short-term solutions to expand essential Internet access to Cambridge residents who lack it during the pandemic until such time that a municipal broadband network can be implemented.   Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler, Councillor Zondervan, Councillor Nolan, Councillor McGovern

Once again, the focus of the Council orders is on getting through the current crisis, and that's appreciated. I do, however, detect more than a hint of a separate agenda in at least one the above orders. - Robert Winters

Comments?