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.
Budget hearings get underway
Finance Committee, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday. This committee run by city councillor Patty Nolan holds hearings on city and school budgets for the fiscal year starting July 1, an operating fund totaling $991 million (up $35.6 million, or 3.7 percent, from the previous year’s budget) and capital funding of $151 million. Adoption is anticipated June 2. City administration is expected to start off the meeting with a discussion of the tax rate and how it fits into preparation for the budget, Nolan said, followed by questions about financing for specific departments – nearly all of which have been pulled for discussion this year. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
New Middle Eastern restaurant
Board of Zoning Appeal, 6 to 11:30 p.m. Thursday. Naya, a rapidly expanding Middle Eastern restaurant chain – it’s also bringing its Lebanese influences in bowls, wraps and salads to Watertown and Boston’s Back Bay – seeks to open at 355 Main St., Kendall Square, in a former Clover location. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Flavor Boom! comes to Kendall
License Commission, 9 to 11 a.m. Friday. The eclectic and casual bowl restaurant from Watertown, Boston and Jamaica Plain seeks to open at 201 Broadway, Kendall Square, serving workers and MIT students its variously sized dishes (from a kid version to a family meal) ranging from sofrito stew and eggplant zaalouk to red-glaze pork and chicken adobo, what a founder calls “Asian-Mediterranean comfort food.” Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Help change the government
Cambridge Democratic City Committee multiward caucus, 2 p.m. Saturday. Each of the city’s 11 wards selects delegates who will attend a state party convention Sept. 13 in Springfield and play a role in 2026 national midterm elections. Attendees are invited to run or vote for potential delegates. (Only registered Democrats can vote for delegates, but registration or a change of registration can be done that day.) “Serving as a delegate is a great way to get involved in the fight and shape the Democratic Party’s message to take our nation back,” the organization says. The event, with guest Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, is at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.
Proposed FY2026 schools budget
Finance Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. This committee run by city councillor Patty Nolan holds hearings on the $268.3 million schools budgets for the fiscal year starting July 1. That’s a $23.3 million increase over the current budget, or 9.5 percent. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Multifamily design guidelines
Planning Board, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. With adoption Feb. 10 of zoning that allows for four-story (and potentially higher) buildings to go up as-of-right in all residential areas, city staff have adapted developer guidelines passed in 2020 for Affordable Housing Overlay zoning. “It became clear that good multifamily design is not limited to affordable housing,” staff said. Board members will dig into the principles to see if thinking has changed with a few years of experience. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
Digging into proposed budget
Finance Committee, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillor Patty Nolan holds hearings on city budgeting for the fiscal year starting July 1, an operating fund totaling $991 million and capital funding of $151 million. Adoption is anticipated June 2. The day brings questions about financing for specific departments, nearly all of which were pulled for discussion this year. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
The just-in-case budget meeting
Finance Committee, 9 a.m. May 15. This committee run by city councillor Patty Nolan has socked away this hearing time in case there’s more to dig into on the proposed $1.1 billion city operating and capital budget for the 2026 fiscal year starting July 1. In recent years the previously scheduled budget meetings were enough and this meeting has been canceled. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
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