COVID-19 Special Edition #9

We are still seeing new cases of COVID-19 in our community every single day, and disproportionate impacts in black and brown communities in our city, as is the case throughout the country. Now is not the time to re-open our economy, but it looks like Governor Baker is hell bent on doing so anyway. Somerville and Boston are staying closed, and I hope our city manager will choose the same path. Don’t get me wrong, we need to start thinking and planning around re-opening for sure, but we need to do so carefully, thoughtfully, and equitably.

Wearing a face covering is now mandatory in Cambridge. Read the official policy here and make sure you mask up when you go outside for any reason.

Please consider signing our petition that calls on Harvard and MIT to do more for our community in this time of crisis. You can sign here or read my op-ed on why MIT and Harvard need to step it up.

You can still give public comment virtually at council meetings by signing up here. Once you sign up, you will receive instructions on how to enter the Zoom meeting on Monday night.

This week we will publish revamped “how to help” and “how to get help” lists, and they will be included in next week’s email blast. As always, you can contact my office directly: [email protected], 617-901-2006 (leave a message and Dan or I will get back to you).

City Manager’s Agenda

Note: Most of these items are bond issues to fund the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) capital budget. These need to be passed to a second reading on Monday so they can be approved as part of the overall budget in June, but I don’t expect we will discuss them extensively on Monday night. The full proposed budget for FY21 is available online.

CMA #1: Funding the continued operation of Food For Free

Food For Free does immensely important work to keep people in our community fed, and they are continuing that work during the COVID-19 pandemic. With record unemployment across the state, the nonprofit went from feeding 160 households every two weeks to more than 1,900 every week, according to the Executive Director. This unprecedented demand has been overwhelming for Food For Free, hence this appropriation of $150,000 to support their continued operation through June 30.

We have major food supply issues, and that’s likely to get worse. Food For Free is doing the best they can, but this can’t all fall on them, and $150K is not going to solve the problem. We need to put far more resources into addressing the food supply issue. When we are hearing reports of diabetic low-income seniors receiving boxes of high-fructose corn syrup-laced foods that don’t meet their dietary needs, it is clear that more needs to be done. But most of all, we need a plan. Thus far we haven’t had one, so I’m calling for one right now.

CMA #2: Funding for new plug-in hybrid rubbish packers

This is an appropriation of $879,000 to purchase three plug-in hybrid rubbish packers, which will replace three diesel-powered rubbish packers in the existing fleet. It is wonderful to see the city transition the municipal fleet away from diesel-powered engines, but it definitely feels weird to be spending this kind of money on new garbage trucks in the middle of a pandemic we are struggling to respond to. What’s important to recognize about this appropriation is that most of this money comes from a grant that MassDEP awarded to the city back in January, which was designated for this specific purpose. So it isn’t as if we could take the grant and spend it on something else. In the past when I have asked about transitioning the municipal fleet, the city has identified heavier-duty vehicles like garbage trucks as a particular challenge. Moving ahead with this indicates the technology has improved to a level where they are willing to give it a shot, which is encouraging. I would like to see the entire municipal fleet replaced as soon as possible!

CMA #3: Funding for sewer separation projects

This is an appropriation of 6.5 million to fund various sewer separation projects. 6 million will go towards repairing aging pipes in areas where more significant work is not planned anytime soon, and 500K will be used to implement mitigation efforts identified through the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment, something I pushed for as chair of the city’s Climate Protection Action Committee before I took office.

Sewer separation may not be very fun to talk about (much less live through), but it is critical in our fight against climate change. Much of Cambridge’s aging sewer infrastructure combines sewage and rainwater runoff into a single pipe, in what’s known as a combined sewer overflow system (CSO). Normally, the system works fine and everything is sent to the Deer Island wastewater treatment facility. But during heavy rainstorms or periods of snowmelt, the amount of water can overwhelm the system. When this happens, some water mixed with raw sewage is discharged into a nearby body of water, such as the Charles River or Alewife Brook. Despite all of Cambridge’s efforts to separate the two systems, more than 29 million gallons of raw sewage entered the Charles River in 2017!

This has a profoundly negative impact on a major ally in our fight against climate change: seagrass. The grass is threatened by the clouding of the water (turbidity) which blocks needed sunlight. The clouding is caused by tiny plants and animals that get fertilized by our sewage.

CMA #4: Funding for street & sidewalk reconstruction

This is $5 million for various street & sidewalk repairs. Pretty self-explanatory, but still makes you wonder why we can’t spend this money to make the city more bike and pedestrian-friendly even faster? When will we get bold about abandoning car culture and fully embracing walkability? There isn’t enough bike and pedestrian infrastructure being built fast enough. The City Manager continues to ignore the mandate from the Council to move faster on this. Here is a list of the projects slated to be worked on in FY21:

CMA #5: Funding for improvements to municipal buildings

This is $16 million for repairs to municipal buildings. The focus is on the DPW complex on Hampshire Street and the firehouse in Central Square. “The improvements include but are not limited to accessibility, envelope – windows work, upgrades to the HVAC, plumbing-piping, electrical and lighting.”

CMA #6: Funding for improvements to firehouses

This is $9 million for improvements to the Lexington Ave and River Street firehouses. “These improvements include but are not limited to interior and building system upgrades, HVAC replacement, and envelope repair.“

CMA #7: Funding for the design and construction of the Tobin Montessori and Vassal Lane Upper School

This is $237 million for the design and construction of the Tobin Montessori and Vassal Lane Upper School. Quite a bit of money! The school will be net-zero emissions ready. I hope the school will be re-named as part of our efforts to eliminate anti-black racism from our school system. Henry Vassall [sic] was a notorious slaveowner.

CMA #8: Funding for repairs to schools

This is $1.8 million for repairs to various schools. Repairs include “electrical service, roof replacement, chiller replacement, floor replacement and replacement of bi-directional amplifier and antenna in various school buildings”.

CMA #9: City Manager’s update on COVID-19

Another placeholder. Apparently we STILL cannot get any part of these updates in writing? :-/

Calendar

Charter Right #1: More information about the Police Department’s Twitter incident

Councillor Simmons exercised her charter right last week on this order from Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler and myself, asking for more information about the recent scandal where Police Superintendent Jack Albert tweeted a political statement, vulgarly disparaging two elected officials from the Commonwealth, using the official Cambridge Police Department Twitter account.

While Superintendent Albert has apologized for “accidentally” using the official police account instead of his personal account, the sentiments he expressed in the tweet are disturbing, coming from a high-level police official. This is a clear bias incident, and the Policy Order asks for details on what disciplinary action has been taken. It also asks for a report on how protocols have been revised to avoid future issues on social media. I don’t know what the outcome of this Policy Order will be, but it seems clear to me that the City Council has a right to know this information either way.

It was disappointing to see this not get brought to a vote last week. To blatantly roadblock the simplest attempt at ensuring accountability for our police and city management, in general, is shameful.

Resolutions

Resolution #1: Memorial Day Observance

Memorial Day is next week. There will be a virtual observance, and City Staff will place flags on the graves of our fallen due to the closure of Mount Auburn Cemetery. If you need more information, reply to this email and I will get your questions answered.

Policy Orders

PO #1: Council support for providing equal stimulus checks to immigrant taxpayers

This order puts the Council on record in support of HD.5036/S.2659, a statehouse bill that would provide stimulus checks to immigrants who were excluded from the Federal stimulus. Our economic system is so unfair and so blatantly exploitative that even the scraps of federal support being provided during this pandemic are unavailable to immigrants. Immigrant workers are the backbone of our economy, often working for sub-living wages, and ineligible for social security & other benefits, as I experienced myself when my family immigrated to the U.S. The least we can do is provide financial support, and I appreciate that Councillor Toomey brought this Resolution forward.

PO #2: Creating an Arts Recovery Advisory Committee

This order asks for the creation of an Arts Recovery Advisory Committee. I support this, but how many committees will it take before we actually help the artists in our city? The Cultural District was facing the loss of anchor institutions like the Middle East and Green Street Studios before the pandemic even hit. If we’re serious about keeping the arts alive we will have to dig deep and come up with creative solutions, before it is too late.

PO #3: Council support for regulating third party delivery fees

This order puts the Council on record in support of HD.5054, a statehouse bill that would restrict third-party delivery fees. Services like Uber Eats and Grubhub aren’t giving restaurants a fair deal, and now the restaurants are relying on those services for a significant percentage of their revenue. Things are unbearable as these services act as parasites on the local restaurants and their workers as well as the underpaid delivery workers themselves. This is all brought to you by the unfair “gig economy”, in an effort to further enrich Silicon Valley capitalists at everyone else’s expense. This nonsense has got to stop, and state-level action will be required. Somerville is also considering a similar resolution this week.

PO #4: Request for update on digital equity initiatives

The City should have created a municipal broadband system years ago. Those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to work from home during the pandemic are needlessly sipping the internet through a Comcast straw. The next time your Zoom gets stuck, remember that this is with Comcast temporarily removing some of their data throttling! Can we once and for all agree to treat the internet like our roads, instead of nickel-and-diming people over it? We are approving a $5M bond to *repair* roads and sidewalks, but we won’t spend $1M to study the feasibility of a municipal broadband system? What is wrong with this picture?

This order needs to be amended to make it clear that the Council is also looking for an update on the digital equity research initiative and the Digital Equity Advisory Board. Both of these were announced in November 2018 and funded with $150,000 after I successfully lobbied the city manager, but an update has not been provided since.

PO #5: Universal vote-by-mail

This order from Councillor Nolan asks the City Manager to work with the Election Commission to determine the feasibility of vote-by-mail. I strongly support this! We need to prepare for safe elections in the fall, and it will take some time to figure out the logistics. So we need to get this done soon.

PO #6: Proposed amendment to the mandatory mask order

This order from Councillor Nolan makes a further amendment to the mandatory mask order.

PO #7: Request for a comprehensive, equitable plan for reopening the city

I submitted this order, which asks for a comprehensive plan for how we are going to come out of the current situation. This will take months, if not years. We know that black people and poor people are being disproportionately impacted, and that needs to be addressed in our plan. Governor Baker’s advisory panel does not include any frontline workers or labor leaders, and I am concerned he will move too quickly, which would be catastrophic. I’d like to see some movement from the City Manager on planning for this instead of just waiting for Governor Baker to tell us what to do.

PO #8: Request for DPW to begin distributing Gator Bags

I submitted this order which asks for DPW to install gator bags on trees that need them, or offer them by request, so residents can help water trees. Next time you go for a walk, take a look at some of the younger trees in your neighborhood. Are they leafing out? If only some or none of the branches have leaves, the tree isn’t doing well. There are many reasons why a new tree might not make it, but under-watering is common even when we aren’t in a pandemic. New trees cost more than $1000 each to plant, and our city’s canopy has declined by nearly 20% in 10 years. Plus, we need them to protect us against future disasters that climate change will bring. So it makes sense to get these bags out so residents can lend a hand in keeping the trees alive.

PO #9: Proposed amendments to Chapter 2.108, which governs emergency preparedness

I submitted this order, which proposes amendments to the city’s Ordinance that governs emergency preparedness. The language I want to add concerns shelter, testing, and data reporting during a pandemic. Here is my proposed language:

Communications & Reports from Other City Officers

COF #1: Report from Mayor Siddiqui on the May 7 meeting of the School Committee

Another helpful report from Mayor Siddiqui and her staff on the School Committee budget proceedings, this time recapping the May 7, 2020 meeting. The final vote will be on Tuesday, May 19, and I will be watching very closely.