Cambridge City Council candidate John Hanratty is running because “there is a lot of anger” toward the council among some Cambridge residents, and “I am representing that.”
“I don’t think the Cambridge city government represents me, or most of the people I talk to,” he said.
The three-decade Cambridge resident and tech entrepreneur said he seeks to disrupt the council status quo of “precooked solutions under the guise of community input” and of “representing special interest groups” rather than the broader community. With anxiety and frustrations rising due to impending funding cuts from the federal government, as well as a grim economy, Hanratty is running on a promise he assures he can deliver: listening and accountability.
“I’m just trying to bring some responsible management to the government,” he said.
He started an association for his own neighborhood, called the Neighborhood 9 Coalition, as a way of “organizing and informing the neighborhood of issues that relate to them.” Founded in November to represent the 410-acre between Harvard and Porter squares and its 11,780 people, the group quickly drew around 400 members and continues growing, Hanratty said.
“One of the big issues with neighborhoods and residents is they’re the last to know. Part of it is poor communication from the city, but part of it is people have their own lives,” he said.
His work within N9C includes collecting information he finds relevant to his neighborhood and disseminating that information to “be a voice for the neighborhood.” One crucial aspect of that was in-person meetings, because “we’re all neighbors,” a grassroots sentiment he’s bringing to his campaign since stepping down from his post at N9C to run for office.
Hanratty made a previous bid for the council in 2023. He described his previous campaign as “disadvantaged,” because he was a newcomer, but that he did “really well” despite that fact.
“I know a little bit more about what I’m doing. I’m a little bit better known. and I think there’s some opportunities,” he said.
Despite the fact that he’s up against incumbents – eight of the nine sitting councillors – Hanratty said he brings something new to the table. “I don’t think they’re making the same promises as I am,” he said. Councillors doing work he approves of are “outnumbered,” he said.
Among his top priorities are housing – not just affordable housing, but middle-class housing, too. Middle-class residents are being run out of town, he said.
“When we do certain things like upzoning, all of a sudden [middle-class] houses become much more valuable, and a developer comes by and buys it and builds a nice set of condos that they can’t afford to live in,” he said.
The finite number of homes middle-class residents can afford is one problem; the growing number of bike lanes is another, he said, and it was an issue he put front and center on his last campaign too.
“If [the residents] are not gonna get on bikes, there isn’t any transportation other than the public transportation that doesn’t reach them or doesn’t suit their needs … what are they gonna do? They’re gonna have to move,” he said. “We’re chasing them out.”
Current councillors are compounding the issue by proposing zoning for 12-story buildings, increasing the amount of congestion – potentially doubling the number of people in a certain area while seeking to eliminate cars and parking, he said, calling it just one example of council “solutions being run by special-interest groups.”
“They take money from them, they get voters for them, then they have some control there,” he said.
The heart of these issues, for him, is that appreciation for the “vibrance” and “diversity” of Cambridge neighborhoods is being lost, he said.
“Each one is different, and as I knock on doors and campaign, I can feel the differences and it’s great,” he said, describing his goal as “keeping that feeling of being a little bit funky and being diverse as far as having lots of different types of music and food and products that people like to come in and see and experience.”
His deep love for Cambridge is integral to not just his campaign, but his identity as a Cambridge resident. He enjoys taking his dog, Oscar, an Irish Water Spaniel, to various dog parks, allowing him to experience “the underbelly of Cambridge life.”
“When you live in Cambridge or live anywhere, during different stages of your life, you get to know different elements of the city that you didn’t really know,” Hanratty said. “When you arrive, you might get to know the bar scene, and then when you get married and have kids, all of a sudden you’re into the school … you move into an area, you start knowing all the shopkeepers and all the people that work around the area.”
“It’s fun to have a multilayered city like that,” he said.
A stronger
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Hurrah! He has my vote.
I’m curious about two things.
First, if Hanratty loves Cambridge so much, why didn’t he vote in municipal elections before he ran for Council? He voted twice in a 20 year period.
Second, why did he support the removal of 1/2 mile of parking on Garden Street against the recommendations of the Traffic Department? This shift on Garden Street will also mean that neighborhood traffic signals will be longer, resulting in more traffic.
This housing policy will only accelerate displacement of the middle class. No one is forcing middle class homeowners to sell their homes—Cambridge has one of the lowest tax rates in the state and programs to help senior homeowners.
It’s the failure to build more multifamily homes that has caused a supply shortage and skyrocketing prices, resulting in displacement, less diversity annd vibrancy, and pushing out the middle class. Condos are much less expensive than single-family homes.
Cambridge conducts an annual scientific study that shows housing prices are far and away the most important issue to residents, and 8 of 9 Councillors supported doing something about it by ending the ban on apartment buildings in certain neighborhoods. That broad coalition is hardly limited to a special interest group—two Councillors who, like Hanratty, were endorsed by CCC voted for it.
CCC and N9C are special interest groups as well.
I’m sorry, but I find it hard to trust Mr Hanratty here taking issue with “ precooked solutions” when he was a plaintiff on a lawsuit to rip out all of the bike lanes that have been installed as part of the CSO.
Sure, it’s fun to pretend that there’s a bike special interest group, but the facts are that every council meeting where bike lanes are up for a vote, the emails and speakers in favor of the lanes outnumber the detractors, and every council election since the CSO has shown continued broad support for pro-safety councilors.
At some point you have to recognize that the issue isn’t the process, it’s your ideas.
Hanratty is correct in his comment about middle-class residents leaving Cambridge.
House rich and cash poor. Just look around… so many gone in the last ten years.
If the city cut out so much of the waste that is built into the budget, perhaps taxes for the middle class might not continue to spiral out of control.
Those aging-in-place will also be forced out by current council’s lack of fiscal restraint. The outlook is indeed “grim” with federal funding cancelations, educational layoffs, high commercial vacancy rates and massive developments put on hold. This means not only super-sized residential tax increases but also layoffs for city employees. I do not want to loose my friends, neighbors, and the city workers who take care of us.
[fixed typos] Those aging-in-place will also be forced out by our current council’s lack of fiscal restraint. The outlook is indeed “grim” with federal funding cancellations, educational layoffs, high commercial vacancy rates and massive developments put on hold. This means not only super-sized residential tax increases but also layoffs for city employees. I do not want to lose my friends, neighbors, and the city workers who take care of us.
“I don’t think the Cambridge city government represents me, or most of the people I talk to,” he said.
That definitely resonates with me and most of my neighbors. Somehow, with voting as it exists in Cambridge, we have a monolithic/monotone/one sided representation on City Council. With the new City Manager still experiencing his sea legs, there is no balance there either since he sees himself as “the butler” to the City Council. His words not mine. LOL
Hanratty has an analytical perspective but unwedded to ideology, other than reflecting what the thus far unrepresented residents need. He will bring a fresh perspective to a pretty monotonous City Council. I am glad he is running. Not a natural born politician at all but we need someone who can argue the other side and represent those badly neglected and silenced over the past few election cycles.
He’s running against the big bike lobby, lol. I for one will not be voting for him.
John has launched the much needed neighborhood association. More of those are needed to bring residents together. Thats a strength.
He makes a great point about there being “different”Cambridges for different stages of life. The push for vibrancy and density might sound great if you’re younger but it’s not everyone’s need. Us older residents might have legitimate needs for safe streets (nor being knocked over by cyclists running red lights or cars speeding in residential neighborhoods). The city has to do more to create an all-ages city. Not one hyper-focused on just a younger demographic.
And be much more engaging of citizens BEFORE decision are made. John’s right that anger is growing over the process to shape the city’s future.
Is this a press release or reporting? It reads like the former and I believe which it is should be made clear to the reader.
Never heard of Hanratty until now, but if he’s representing anger– sorry, hard pass. If I wanted more angry people in office I’d vote for Trumpers.
Then I as I read the article, I still wasn’t even sure exactly what he was angry about, or what he wants to do– and then I saw the give-away.
Bike lanes. He’s angry about bike lanes. Nobody in this city runs for public office on the anger platform *without* harping on about bike lanes. Yawn.
Just to clarify – the Neighborhood 9 Coalition is an email list that currently has 265 members. The group met a couple of times and the last meeting was in March. Most of the messages with useful information are simply forwarded from the porter square neighbors association list from their wonderful admin. It’s a bit of a stretch to claim it’s more than this.
I wonder why, given that he loves Cambridge and has lived here for almost 30 years, he voted only twice in municipal elections before he put himself on the ballot in 2023.
That is very off-putting.
Hanratty supported the most recent plan for Garden Street, which will remove 1/2 mile of all parking and will necessitate longer wait times at traffic lights. The plan he supported also went against the recommendations of the city traffic department.
That doesn’t sound promising for a city councillor.
I’m sorry but the last two paragraphs are full of logical contradictions including in the same sentences. Too few houses for middle income families to buy, but somehow Cambridge is full of overpriced condos no one is buying because they are too expensive?! Average single family house price in Cambridge is at least $1.2 mil. Condo: $900k. Last time I checked, 1.2 mil is larger than 900k.
Same with transportation: unless you “close the Cambridge borders”, and do t allow any car into Cambridge where the jobs are, you are NOT going to solve any traffic gridlock and other problems. Cambridge council IS solving these problems by making cycling safer. Sorry, John, but just like last election, I’m not going to vote for your ideas and will encourage others to do the same.
Hanratty’s campaign relies on a populist narrative portraying city government as corrupt, elitist, and beholden to “special interests,” but that claim collapses under scrutiny.
His charge that Cambridge’s housing policies are “chasing out the middle class” ignores basic economics. It’s restrictive zoning and neighborhood veto power, not upzoning, that create scarcity and drive prices up. The same “developer fear” rhetoric he uses has long been deployed to block new housing, producing the very unaffordability he laments.
Denser development doesn’t erase community diversity. Restrictive zoning drive up home prices did that. Denser development allows new generations and lower-income residents to live here at all.
Calling to “hit the brakes” on growth isn’t responsible management. It’s a formula for deeper exclusion.
Funny how the NIMBY solution to a housing crisis is to keep doing the same things that caused the crisis.
@Old Boy
You said “Hanratty is correct in his comment about middle-class residents leaving Cambridge.
House rich and cash poor. Just look around… so many gone in the last ten years.”
What has caused that? Exclusionary zoning? That was has been in place, not zoning reform.
I think you are mixing up cause and effect. Recently enacted zoning reform did not act backwards in time and drive up prices over the past 10+ years. Exclusionary zoning did that.
Upzoning is the solution. The solution is not “let’s keep doing the same things that caused the housing crisis”.