All: It’s mid-August and a possible hurricane is on the way. Heed warnings and stay safe on Sunday and Monday. I’ve been busy – I attended the sobering event for residents who have lost loved ones to violence in Danehy Park last weekend and managed to catch several street musicians playing in Harvard Square. I …
Council updates: extreme weather, Covid and hiring redux Read More »
Outdoor dining is here to stay All: It is August – hoping that vacation rates increase and plans for the fall – especially for schools – will be for in-person learning and working. And hoping that the challenging news (gun violence, climate, economic distress) spur us to act instead of despair. The uptick in gun violence in …
Council updates – addressing gun violence at the summer meeting Read More »
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 »
