Happy mid-Summer! I hope you have been enjoying it. I took a day away and spent a night at Tolland state park – even snagged a waterfront site! Being outdoors and unplugged for a day was wonderful…and a performance of dance under trees at Jacob’s Pillow reaffirmed that arts are critical to our well-being. Thanks …
Summer meeting: Council work hasn’t slowed and neither have challenges Read More »
Large crowd last weekend celebrating Brother Blue Happy summer and Happy Bastille Day! This newsletter is a recap/summary of some of my work on the council in 2021. As the council is on summer recess, I will be doing newsletters with less frequency. The major topics are summarized below and in future newsletters I will …
Happy solstice, summer, and school year-end! EXCITING that the green roofs zoning ordinance is in effect and projects are now required to include vegetative roofs. The first projects – including MIT’s (see picture above) – will likely ask for a special permit to pay for a green roof elsewhere instead of putting in the roof …
Final Council Meeting – RISE program, charter reform, and more Read More »
Pride celebration at Starlight Square last week All: Happy Juneteenth! And Happy Pride Month! And Happy Father’s Day! It is quite an exciting day – the first-ever official Juneteenth holiday in Cambridge and Pres. Biden signed federal legislation as well. There are many celebrations and commemorations – and above it all, I recognize that as …
Alewife cleanup last weekend! All: This week was one of the most consequential votes of the year – the vote on our $748 million budget. I voted yes. We have an array of programs other cities would love to be able to afford and many laudatory initiatives and solid services. AND we have a number …
Crews working in the late evenings to fill in some of our newest bike lanes! All: As the city heads towards our new normal, make sure to take advantage of all that is reopening. The library finally reopened for in-person browsing (not completely, despite my and others urging – learn more about the hours and services …
On May 25, the Cambridge City Council unanimously voted to approve a policy order that I, along with Councillors McGovern and Simmons, proposed as substitute to an earlier-proposed policy order (this link will download it as a PDF) related to city contracting and specifically Hewlett-Packard, which is tied to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. We …
My statement on recent Council Israel-Palestine policy orders Read More »
All, There is no council meeting on Monday due to Memorial Day so there is no agenda to discuss below. However, next week there are a number of committee meetings that may be of interest so read below and let me know if you have additional questions about any of them. Please note – the …
Council updates – a welcome break after an intense week Read More »
All: I hope you are enjoying the changes to our city and state – with the declaration that the state of emergency will end June 15, we are about to enter a new phase. We can build on some of the lessons learned – how we can use streets better – and we have to …
Reimagining emergency response and other challenging work ahead Read More »
All: It’s mid-May and if you haven’t walked outside lately do it today! It seems that there has been an explosion of tulips, flowering trees, fragrant lilacs and tulips. Did I mention tulips? Send your favorite places to see glorious flowers – one of my favorites this season are owners who even invited people to peek …
Council updates – budget hearings, vaccine clinics, a plan for congestion Read More »
