These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City Calendar and in the city’s Open Meetings Portal.
Harvard, MIT and Lesley report
Economic Development & University Relations Committee, 1:30 p.m. Thursday. This committee run by city councillors Paul Toner and Sumbul Siddiqui bring in Harvard, MIT and Lesley representatives to hear their community-focused reports and talk programs and partnerships. The Planning Board heard these reports in February. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
The middle-school experience
School Committee School Climate Subcommittee, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday. This hearing chaired by Rachel Weinstein examines the experience of students in grades 6 through 8. Watchable online.
Next for church weathervane
Historical Commission, 6 p.m. Thursday. First Church in Cambridge reports on the condition of its 5-foot, 5-inch 172-pound golden cockerel weathervane – actually solid copper with gilding – that had been overlooking Cambridge Common for 150 years until its removal last fall. (It’s much older, having been created in 1721, and was deteriorating.) The church asks to install a replica on its tower. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Student protests, private jets
City Council, 5:30 p.m. Monday. Councillors return to the issue of the city manager and local university administrations respecting the rights of students protesting peacefully against continued violence in Gaza, an issue bumped from discussion a week ago, and may oppose the expansion of private jet facilities at Hanscom Field or anywhere in the region. They also expect to hear reports from the Health and Environment Committee reviewing a progress report from the city’s Net Zero Action Plan and an update from a hearing held by the Transportation and Public Utilities Committee on a Digital Navigator Pilot Program, an initiative designed to connect residents to the Internet and lower barriers to digital equity.
The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Digging into proposed budget
Finance Committee, 9 a.m. Tuesday. This committee run by city councillors Patty Nolan and Joan Pickett has a hearing on a proposed $955.6 million city budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which starts July 1. There’s a lot to dig into, as the meeting allows questions on the city clerk, City Council, Election Commission, employee benefits, equity and inclusion, diversity, executive leadership, communications, the housing liaison, tourism, finance, auditing, assessing, assessing general services, information technology, purchasing, treasury and revenue, human resources, the Law Department, Mayor’s Office, public celebrations, animal commission, community safety, emergency communications, fire department, inspectional services, licensing, police, Traffic, Parking & Transportation and more. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
School choice hearing and more
School Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. There’s no agenda posted for this meeting as of press time, but it begins with a hearing on school choice. The committee meets in the Dr. Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Watchable online, including by Zoom.
Housing vouchers and ‘family’
Planning Board, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The board looks at a residents’ zoning petition calling for the city’s Affordable Housing Trust to, among other things, directly fund vouchers that fill the gap between their income and rent demands; as well as at changing definitions around the concept of “family” in zoning to match the realities of 2024; and gets a request for a year’s extension on a special permit for Harvard Square’s Garage mall, where a renovation plan is stalled by “volatility in both the capital markets and the office markets,” and owner Trinity Property Management has not yet “terminated the existing tenancies in the building and commenced the demolition,” according to Trinity’s lawyer. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Multifamily housing everywhere
Housing Committee, 12:30 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Burhan Azeem and Sumbul Siddiqui looks at allowing multifamily housing in all neighborhoods of the city. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Proposed budget for education
Finance Committee, 4 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Patty Nolan and Joan Pickett runs a hearing on the school district’s proposed $268.3 million budget as part of the city’s overall $955.6 million budget for the 2025 fiscal year, which starts July 1. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Yaakov Aldrich contributed to this report.
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