In a rerun of November’s election for City Council, the outcome was as expected: Cathie Zusy will take the seat left empty by the death of councillor Joan Pickett on Aug. 30.
The result was announced at Thursday’s meeting of the city’s Election Commission, which was attended by Zusy – who is accepting the seat – her husband and several supporters, including former mayor Henrietta Davis.
“I am honored to be representing the people of Cambridge and serving as a city councillor,” Zusy said, mentioning the growth of housing stock and transportation as among priorities as she serves out the next year and a half of a two-year term.
A swearing-in is expected for Monday, with Zusy then being able to take her seat that night in Sullivan Chamber. What committees Zusy will get as a councillor is unknown, she said, despite an introductory lunch with Mayor E. Denise Simmons on Thursday. “She hasn’t made those determinations yet. What I do understand from her is that she’s just trying to follow protocol,” Zusy said, “and I was only officially elected tonight and I won’t be sworn in till Monday.”
Zusy’s election was expected, because political junkies in Cambridge who own the same software as the city reran the Nov. 3 results on their own after Pickett’s death.
Despite the complication of a ranked-choice ballot that helps make for slow results on Election Days, the rerun was fast for election commissioners too. “Between the time you said ‘go’ and now, we have tabulated it,” commissioners were told by staff at 5:01 p.m. – one minute after the start of the meeting. (It took longer to print the results.)
According to independent reruns and official returns showing how Zusy’s competitors were eliminated in successive rounds of counts, had she declined the council seat it would have been filled by John Hanratty. Behind Hanratty was Federico Muchnik.
Zusy said she is not arriving at Monday’s meeting with prepared policy orders. She has spent the past couple of weeks meeting with people about issues such as the Alewife Triangle and Central Square zoning, similar to her education process during the fall’s campaign season. “Every day you’re hit from all sides with new information and new concerns about things that are and aren’t working,” Zusy said. “I’ve been getting back up to speed. I do consider myself a creative problem solver, and I’m a collaborative player. I’m just really excited with the opportunity this position provides to really move some things forward for the city.”
She called herself among a group lucky enough to buy homes in Cambridge decades ago and keenly aware of the housing crisis facing younger residents and workers struggling to stay here. “There are ways that we can expand our housing stock and make the city more livable for young people and young families and those without a million-and-a-half dollars to buy a property here that won’t require tearing down historic buildings, pulling up trees and filling every green space and alienating neighbors,” Zusy said, pointing to smart growth along transportation corridors and some transitional areas identified in the Envision Cambridge planning report from 2019. “I am committed to our building more housing, and especially more affordable housing, and I think we can figure out ways to do that without disrupting neighborhoods.”
She was also looking forward to working with fellow councillors on transportation issues, “solving larger regional transportation issues and figuring out how to make the bike lanes work, that the buses and subways are running and that drivers, cyclists, scooters and pedestrians all feel safe on the streets.” Zusy said she is primarily a walker and bicyclist, though she relies on the T for trips into Boston.
“I’m eager also to continue to build community and work toward a more sustainable Cambridge,“ said Zusy, who campaigned as the “Magazine Beach lady” in recognition of her success fundraising and collaborating with city and state officials and staff in reviving the riverfront area in Cambridgeport.
Pickett was a co-chair of the council’s Finance Committee; Neighborhood & Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts & Celebration Committee; Transportation & Public Utilities Committee; and Civic Unity Committee. She was placed also on committees for Government Operations, Rules & Claims; and Public Safety.
“These are all committees that I would be interested in. I’d also be interested in being on Health & Environment and Housing,” Zusy said. “But I understand I can’t really be them all, and I don’t think the mayor wants to do a reshuffling.”
Zusy is a graduate of Bucknell University and, for master’s degrees, Simmons and the Cooperstown History Museum Studies Program; she has done extensive work as a museum curator, and in Cambridge her interests have reflected that focus – restoring St. Augustine’s African Orthodox Church and preserving the work of the late outsider artist Peter Valentine. She has also been president and treasurer of the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association.
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