Five-candidate justice coalition for City Council explains their platform ahead of Tuesday voting
Vote for justice on or before Tuesday.
This election, voters have a chance to elect five candidates who have pledged to work for justice. Challengers Burhan Azeem, Tonia Hicks and Theodora Skeadas have joined in a coalition with incumbents Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Quinton Zondervan to offer voters a clear choice. These candidates have pledged to stand together for bold action on climate change, housing affordability, tenant protections and racial justice.
We want to hire a progressive city manager who will actually deliver on council priorities such as affordable housing, universal pre-kindergarten, municipal broadband, expanded after-school programs, low-barrier housing options for unhoused people, and implementation of the Heart program as an alternative public safety response.
We are voting “yes” on all three charter reform ballot questions. Longer term, we support switching from Plan E to a more democratic form of government.
We are united in our commitment to bike and pedestrian safety and to the implementation of the Bike Safety Ordinance as written, without delay. We support a safer Memorial Drive that prioritizes people over cars, and we want to expand open space opportunities for people of all ages. We need a Green New Deal for Cambridge.
We all supported the 2072 Massachusetts Ave. proposal to build 49 green affordable housing units near Porter Square, and we want the city to issue a bond order to accelerate the creation of affordable housing.
You can learn more at justice4cambridge.org and please remember to vote for the Justice Coalition, in any order, on or before Tuesday!
Burhan Azeem, Tonia Hicks, Theodora Skeadas, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Quinton Zondervan, candidates for City Council
Really a bummer to Burhan Azeem align with these candidates. Especially the two incumbents who only a few weeks ago rushed to attack the Cambridge police to the defense of a sexual predator. They have still yet to recant their actions.
Yet another sub-group that wants to work together. That is commendable considering the state of the current council, its name-calling and divisiveness. Like most candidates, they support climate change, housing affordability, tenant protections and racial justice. They also support universal pre-kindergarten, municipal broadband, expanded after-school programs, all buzz words, ideologies, and goals many espouse. The problem is when one looks at the fine print and behavior.
It is also telling that three of these candidates are also supported by ABC and their pro-housing stance fueled by really unkind all-or-nothing, for-us-or-against-us aggressive tactics.
Two points (among several) jump out – tenant protections and racial justice. The most vulnerable population are our seniors. Other than Denise Simmons, Nicola Williams, Dennis Carlone, Patty Nolan, and maybe on a good day, McGovern, very few candidates even mention them in between elections. Rightly or wrongly, many tenants- comprised of multi-cultural, multi-racial, income- and physically challenged immigrants and low-income residents -fear punitive measures like losing their housing if they speak up about inequities. Who is looking out for them? Nicola Williams seems one of the few concerned on this point while promoting her affordable housing plan to keep people in Cambridge. It has been commented that Denise Simmons hasn’t been as attentive as she used to be this cycle, perhaps just keeping her head down. Theodora often mentions her board membership on the YWCA. But what is her idea of racial justice? Mr. Azeem is getting his sea-legs but often espouses ABC rhetoric. How do you define racial, housing and environmental justice?
Two new development projects are on the table, one in central sq at the Gas Light Building (Bank of America) and the other on the corner of Walden St and Mass Ave. The gas light building slated for an upscale boutique hotel stands cheek by jowl with Temple St/ YWCA low-income housing. Those residents expressed concern about blocked air and light, guest noise after hours- but they and ultimately their health are ignored. AND this is not even housing!
I thought that maybe 2072 Mass Ave might be a good location for housing given its proximity to transportation, groceries etc. But next comes the sausage-making. And again, the adjoining senior housing with many immigrants and multi-cultural tenants go un-noticed. Where was the outreach? Only the neighbors residing in that area know how congested that corner is, how many accidents there have been, the impact of height- etc. I was taken by only 1 elevator for 9 stories, an accident waiting to happen, and they needed 13-17 variances or exceptions to 40B zoning. It made sense to look at the design again.
But here is where these candidates get relevant.
Quinton initially got elected as an anti-AHO candidate but then voted for it, disappointing his supporters. New comer, Tonya Hicks calls for anyone appointed to any municipal committee must primarily consider housing first at all costs including the Historical Commission, Planning Board, BZA etc. This is not their charge and in calling for housing priority first, the manager (and councilors if #1 passes) can “stack the courts” voting an agenda through while ignoring expertise and independent purview.
Now we have Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler in whom we had hope as a broader thinker with land banks, etc. He is purportedly orchestrating a new amendment to the AHO to allow 13 stories at 2072 Mass Ave instead of 8 (and then 9) stories, and 6 stories instead of 4 stories in neighborhoods. Making 2072 an AHO project eliminates neighbor recourse, binding design review, or deliberations on safety. With a majority pro-housing councillors, that amendment gets approved as a way to punish activist dissenters. In changing the rules, why have zoning? The seniors in the adjoining building are terrified at losing open space, light, their meager trees and live with construction.
There is another affordable housing project around the corner. The neighbors are having problems with a 450 foot 8-story wall defining the street. Dennis Carlone, a city planner and architect is the only councillor working with both neighbors and housing advocates to get a better human scale design with the same amount of units. This is the kind of interfacing we need from our councillors, not just waving the progressive pro-housing flag, but with concrete solutions and engagement for a better project.
Kudos for yet another combination of candidates wanting to work together. But what truly are their positions and will they be reliable for a more cohesive and civil Cambridge. Or will they continue as a cloaked part of the political machinery?