City councillor Allana Mallon (now vice mayor) leads a meeting of The Mayor’s Arts Task Force last term. (Photo: City of Cambridge)

Lower the voting age, extend a contract 

City Council, 5:30 p.m. Monday. The state Legislature didn’t approve Cambridge requests to lower the voting age in either 2002 or 2006 (when the age requested was 17), but the city is trying again for a home rule petition to let residents 16 and older cast ballots in municipal elections. Other items in local politics: City Manager Louis A. DePasquale serves formal notice of “his desire” to negotiate for a new contract that let’s him stay on on past January; and a group of councillors wants to see if council aides can be promoted to full time. (There have been aides only since 2006.) There are also calls for Cambridge Recycling Center updates, as it isn’t always accessible for drop-offs, and to strengthen the short-term rental law that hasn’t prevented Airbnb violations. An order aiming to prevent unilateral cancellations of the annual Cambridge Carnival – as happened last year when police perceived a security threat – returns after being set aside last week to allow attendance by event organizer Nicola Williams. Televised.

The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.

A committee just for arts and celebrations

Government Operations, Rules & Claims Committee, 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday. This committee run by councillors E. Denise Simmons and Marc McGovern will explore changes to this term’s City Council rules, including breaking up the “Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee” so the arts and public celebrations portion stands alone. That would continue the work of last term’s arts task force led by vice mayor Alanna Mallon, who is seeking the change based on a recommendation of the task force. Televised.

The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.

Budgeting in television time

School Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. All budget meetings and hearings that take place in the committee’s chambers should be televised, member Fred Fantini says, and a motion by vice chair Manikka Bowman on school climate remains on the table to be handled. A presentation on culturally responsive reaching is also expected. Followed by a closed-door meeting to discussing a labor bargaining strategy.

The committee meets in the Dr. Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.

Harvard, Lesley and MIT show their work

Planning Board, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. It’s town-gown report time. The board will get presentations about the “needs and plans” of Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Lesley University. 

The board meets on the second floor of the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.

A multiuse path, and a substation detour

Ordinance Committee, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Dennis Carlone and Marc McGovern reconvenes a hearing on the Alexandria Grand Junction Pathway Overlay District, which could move the multiuse path closer to reality – and see a deal struck in which the real estate company removes the risk of a giant Eversource substation being built in a residential area across from The Kennedy-Longfellow School. Televised.

The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square.

Unclogging traffic around Porter Square

Porter Square/North Cambridge traffic issues meeting, 6 p.m. Wednesday. An open house-style meeting addresses requests to convert Davenport Street for one-way traffic; and ways to address traffic congestion on Cogswell Avenue. 

The meeting is planned for Lesley University’s second floor University Hall, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square.

Looking at education budget priorities

School Committee, 6 p.m. Thursday. Members expect an update on the the upcoming annual school district budget.

The committee meets in the Dr. Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.