Thank you, Cambridge!
I’m thrilled you re-elected me and I can’t wait to get back to what I value most and am good at: DOING THE WORK.
I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues on the truly important work before us:
- The Charter Review Committee will soon provide its recommendations, and the Council will need to craft the specific proposed changes that will go before the voters.
- The Council just passed two ground-breaking climate policies relating to our largest buildings. Implementing them successfully is a high priority challenge. And there are other areas of climate policy whose development will require research, creativity, outreach, and consensus-building.
- The divisions in our community about how to implement bike lanes and increase affordable housing only highlight the importance of the collaborative work needed to ensure we represent all our citizens’ needs yet still pursue our goals.
- There’s much more based on what I’ve heard from all of you. Take a look at my priorities, below, to learn what’s on my mind, and then please share your thoughts.
I believe you reelected me because I listen to diverse points of view, put in the effort to research and understand the complex issues we face, and openly share my conclusions and thought processes so they can be challenged and improved. I communicate regularly and transparently through my newsletters, and I’ve worked hard to help the City do the same (most recently about the bike lanes). I don’t tolerate bullying and will challenge sloppy analysis and intellectual dishonesty. I understand the City (and the school) don’t accept our City’s strong financial position as an excuse for poor financial management; I set ambitious goals (particularly for climate and education), yet I take pains to engage opposing viewpoints and build consensus; I prefer win-win solutions and recognize that sometime compromise is the best way to represent diverse people’s values and needs.
If you want to know what the Council is working on and how I’m thinking about it, sign up for my newsletters via the contact form below. Then… please read them and respond! I learn the most and represent you most effectively when you let me know what you think about the issues the Council is about to take up and why. So, keep in touch!
Although I ran a very efficient campaign ($15.31 spent per #1 vote vs. $25.77 for candidates on average and $78 and $59 for the two), I still spent a bit more than I raised. If you’d like to help, click here to donate.
Patty's Priorities
(Click any item below to view it.)
Some of my most deeply held values are accountability and transparency. And I have lived them as a councillor. As co-chair of the Finance Committee, I worked to make the budget process more open to the public, transparent, and collaborative with staff and the Council than ever before. I was the councilor who two years ago recognized the City’s failure to review its charter and led the effort to put that issue (as well as the Council’s consistent failure to review the City Manager’s performance) on the ballot. This coming term, as the Council transforms the Charter Review Committee’s recommendations into a proposal for the voters, if elected, I will assure that this critical process is open, transparent, inclusive and thoughtful. Read More
Nothing else will matter if the planet continues on its current path. And thus far, Cambridge has failed to meet every emissions reduction goal we have set for the past decade. My leadership, focus, and collaboration with colleagues, is a key reason we’ve adopted regulations calling for reduction of building emissions (BEUDERO was passed in 2023 with a remarkable 8 votes on the Council) and requirements for new buildings to be fossil fuel-free. It’s also a key reason why the City’s will expand its efforts to provide the technical and financial support property owners will need to respond effectively to these regulations. Read More
Too many residents feel left out of the city’s decision-making. And we have not always been honest about our lapses in seeking input or communicating about proposals, projects and plans. The city can and must communicate more, and more transparently, as well as listen better. Read More
There’s a need for more affordable housing in Cambridge. Only very wealthy people can afford to buy or, increasingly, to rent. I believe everyone has a right to housing. Yet we all know that Cambridge cannot house everyone in need in the state. While that sounds obvious, we need to grapple openly and honestly with this fact. Both the need and the complexity of the issues involved are tremendous. Read More
We need to imagine and build a city for the future. More than a quarter of the land in Cambridge (perhaps as much as one-third) is used for public ways – roads and sidewalks. We need to continue to build a network of safe, protected bike lanes, encourage public transit use and walking, and also listen to our small businesses, seniors and mobility-limited residents. Read More
Over and over, Cambridge residents ask for thoughtful planning and for a comprehensive approach to the development of the city. And over and over, we have not provided that planning; we research, sometimes with public input, and generate reports, reports and more reports; yet we do not produce comprehensive overarching plans that then serve as our guides. Read More
My knowledge of the schools – after 14 years on School Committee and two children who went through the Cambridge Schools – combined with my willingness to do research means that you have a councillor able to ask the right questions, and critically evaluate our educational decision-making and programs. Core to my thinking is equity, which comes from holding high standards for all students and supporting them so they can achieve them. Read More
Our city has a phenomenal public safety record and yet for many residents, local government is not seen as a safe haven. And the complex social issues of mental health and drug use, which has spilled over into our streets, make for a challenging environment for our community, residents and public safety staff. I support our new Dept. of Community Safety and the Cambridge Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team (HEART) as important initiatives. We need to recognize that the police and the courts are only one part of a larger system that must include a robust social welfare response and resources at the state level to help deal with our issues. Read More
Patty's Pledge
I love this job, am honored to have it. I pledge to continue playing the unique and critical role that has led so many of you to support me. To those who didn’t support me, know that at one time or another, almost all of my supporters have disagreed with me about something important to them. They stick with me because I am honest with them, listen carefully, do my best to bring together all points of view into appropriate and reasonable policy, and change my mind when the facts call for it.
I stand for accountability — the City’s and the Council’s — to the voters: to commitments we make, to decision-making grounded in data and solid analysis, to listening carefully to all points of view, to addressing the true complexity of the issues we face, and to principles of responsible governance.
The issues we face demand no less.