Right now, the loud voices on the issues we face are highly polarized. Too often, they rely on oversimplification and misinformation to pull us into their corners. In this context, we need Patty more than ever because she is driven by values and pragmatism, NOT rigid ideology. She listens to all constituents and is data-driven (more on this, below). She is a dogged researcher who knows how to connect the dots on complex issues.  She knows what questions to ask and has the courage to do so, even when the answers are likely to be inconvenient.  As a result, she pursues policies that balance the needs and values of our City’s diverse citizens, something that is decidedly NOT on the agendas of our City’s advocacy groups.  It means that she is assailed by advocates on all sides.  She’s not pure enough for many advocates because she represents all of us, those who are and those who are not polarized at an extreme.

Another thing: Patty actually gets things done. She’s highly responsive to citizen input, whether it’s physically measuring incorrectly-built pedestrian islands, doing the research to find out that 2/3 of our city’s short-term rentals (e.g., AirBNB’s) aren’t legally registered and then doing something about it.  She has foresight and deep understanding.  So, for example, when she noticed that developers had started buying up huge tracts in the Alewife area, Patty did what others would not and could not—she convinced the Council to vote for a one-year development moratorium so the City, residents and property owners – working together – could develop community-minded zoning for that area.  Without Patty’s hard work on the controversial new zoning, the original proposal would be the law today.  More about the new zoning and Patty’s impact here.

She is by far the strongest candidate when it comes to the climate crisis.  Patty has been a tireless advocate for climate action, helping negotiate challenging policies to push them over the finish line (e.g., BEUDO and the fossil fuel free requirement for new buildings).  She has the unmatched and broad knowledge of climate science, policy, technology, finance, social justice and public health impacts, and what other municipalities are doing, all necessary for sound decision-making.  And because climate, and our City’s role in helping lead the nation, it’s a priority for her.

While the entire Council is working hard to push back on federal government overreach, Patty is doing it in her non-existent spare time.  She is one of two co-chairs of Crimson Courage, a coalition of over 19,000 Harvard alums who support Harvard’s resistance to federal government overreach (perhaps you were at a demonstration that she helped organize in Cambridge or at the courthouse in Boston or were able to sign onto the amicus brief that Crimson Courage helped support).  She is now working with alums of other universities to ensure that higher education institutions nationwide stand up for academic freedom and the rule of law. See her recent op-ed  in US News & World Report.

Other candidates talk about transparency.  Patty delivers.  Take a look at her newsletters. Read a few and consider the commitment their frequency and substance represents. She shares what’s going on in the City, what the Council is working on, and what votes are coming up.  She tells you how she’s likely to vote and why, so you can challenge her if you want. As Chair of Finance and the Health & Environment Committees, she’s held over 30 substantive meetings this term all of which included follow up on policy decisions and monitoring of progress and results.  This is hard work that too often is neglected by the City and the Council. The fact that she remembers commitments and goals, shares data on results, and makes the effort to communicate consistently demonstrates her commitment to transparency and accountability as well as a work ethic that is unmatched.

Add to that Patty’s depth of knowledge about finance — from small-scale employee-owned businesses to large corporations to complex situations like the City’s virtual power purchase agreement, she understands and naturally thinks in terms of the interrelationships between the shifting commercial real estate market, home values, future tax revenue, the impact of large-scale borrowing for our AAA bond rating and the bond rating’s impact on debt service (already a big item in our budget), the role of free cash, and now the federal crackdown on universities, which in turn affects our local economy in a myraid of ways.  Patty offers the knowledge and analytic rigor we need as we plan future budgets.

What sets Patty apart is her integrity, independence, work ethic, and courage. She puts in the work needed to research the issues before the Council and to listen carefully to all perspectives, which means you won’t always agree with her conclusions. But you will always know why she draws them. She doesn’t accept the glowing statements in executive summaries; she reads the reports and runs the numbers — then decides. She has the courage to challenge assumptions, ask tough questions, and hold our city and the council accountable. She knows that good leadership means not just fighting for bold ideas, but making sure those ideas deliver results for all our residents. It means listening to ALL constituencies and working on solutions regardless of political considerations. It also means calling out failed policy and missed goals, and using them to motivate and shape new policy.  

Finally, please vote for the new charter.  Patty was the force behind instituting charter review (while EVERY other municipality in MA reviews their charter, Cambridge had never done it in the 80+ years since our charter was written).  This update comes from over a year of work by a citizen-led committee followed by work by the Council. It does not make any major changes, but it does modernize the charter (it allows the City to use up-to-date methods for tabulating rank-choice votes; it recognizes that not everyone living in Cambridge is male).  There’s a lot of misinformation out there that this short video about the charter and this flyer aim to correct.

Re-electing Patty Nolan means keeping a leader who is transparent, principled and effective, visionary and pragmatic, and keeps all the City’s constituents in mind. Let’s continue moving Cambridge – all of us together – forward with Patty’s experienced, thoughtful, and passionate leadership.  See below for more on her priorities and thinking or check out her candidate statement on CCTV for a quick overview.