A reelection bid by School Committee vice chair Caroline Hunter can continue, Cambridge’s Election Commission decided Tuesday in a 3-0 vote after a hearing.
The hearing decided an objection by Cambridge Public Schools parent Missy Page that Hunter’s primary home isn’t in Cambridge – state law mandates that school board members have residency and voter registration in the city they serve in – but in Oak Bluffs, Martha’s Vineyard.
Residency is defined not only by the number of days per year an individual lives in a town, but on the individual’s places of employment, religious, social and political affiliations and other attachments to the community.
Hunter has been a registered voter in Cambridge since 2022, the year she joined the School Committee. She was seated after a special election caused by the departure of an elected committee member.
Cambridge election commissioners Ethridge King, Charles Marquardt and Thomas Stohlman said there was not ample proof that Hunter does not live primarily in Cambridge.
“I think there’s sufficient evidence to say that Ms. Hunter’s domicile is in Cambridge, and she lives part time in a summer house,” Marquart said during the ruling.
In testimony supporting her complaint, Page cited Hunter’s social and political involvement in Oak Bluffs, including longtime participation in the Polar Bears, a swimming group, and numerous leadership awards from organizations in Martha’s Vineyard.
“People move and have summer homes, but it’s clear that Hunter has retained an active presence in Oak Bluffs and demonstrated social and political affiliations in Oak Bluffs outside of the summer,” Page said. “Since joining the Cambridge School Committee in December 2022, her social and political affiliations at Oak Bluffs appear and have remained strong.”
In her own defense, Hunter testified about her history of service to the city of Cambridge.
“Missy Page only googled and filtered for Martha’s Vineyard,” Hunter said before testifying that she raised her daughter, helped run a community garden and organized a recent block party in Cambridge. Hunter spoke for nearly two minutes to list chronologically the awards she has received and community services she has performed throughout her time in Cambridge.
Four witnesses spoke in support of Hunter’s case, ranging from neighbors to colleagues in Cambridge education.
“Only someone blinded by some personal benefit would purposely refuse to see that Caroline Hunter not only resides in the Cambridge community, but she’s the very fabric of the Cambridge community,” Ebony Bridwell-Mitchell said.
Another witness and neighbor to Hunter, Lloyd Sheldon Johnson, said, “I see what she has done in our neighborhood, on River Street, on Rockwell Street, to really bring a sense of community to everyone who resides in that area.”
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything, but I think it’s very important for us to be mindful of the fact that me, as an African American male, I always expect to be scrutinized more than the average person would be scrutinized in any place, in any venue, in any situation,” Johnson added.
Hunter, meanwhile, opened her testimony to the Election Commission about her ability to run for reelection with an assertion that Page’s complaint was politically motivated.
“Since Missy Page brought up my community connections, I think it’s relevant that Missy Page did not state all of her community connections – that she is, in fact, a member of the Cambridge Progressive Electoral Collaboration, which is a political group,” Hunter said.
Member groups are of the Cpec are the Alliance of Cambridge Tenants, The Black Response Cambridge, Cambridge Democratic Socialists of America, Cambridge Housing Affordability Organizers, Cambridge Housing Justice Coalition, Cambridge Residents Alliance, Our Revolution Cambridge and the Solidarity Squad. Ally organizations include the Cambridge Education Association and Cambridge Retired Educators United.
Questions regarding Hunter’s residency first arose during her 2021 campaign for School Committee.
Page took note of Hunter’s fluctuating voter registrations. “Having reregistered as an Oak Bluffs voter after losing the 2021 election is suggestive of where Ms. Hunter expected to be living and voting up until the moment that she learned she would be seated on Cambridge’s School Committee in November 2022,” Page said.
District parent Virginia Cuello spoke as a witness for Page’s testimony, which followed Hunter’s witnesses. Cuello spoke from her perspective as a caregiver, saying Hunter’s focus on the Oak Bluff community makes her “out of touch” with the needs of the city of Cambridge.
“Living in Cambridge is also being a part of the community in Cambridge, which is why this is important,” Cuello said. “As a caregiver, I want whoever is on the School Committee to also understand my kid.”
Asked about her motivations behind the hearing, Page cited a commitment to electoral integrity. “Our elected officials are not above the law, and they should be required to adhere to the laws of the city of Cambridge that are required in order to run for office,” Page told Cambridge Day.
The commission results were “just and fair,” Hunter said after the hearing. “I guess it means that I’m a very strong candidate that people are trying very hard to get me off.”
Hunter proposed that there be repercussions for Page for questioning her residency.
“I want to challenge the Cambridge Progressive Electoral Commissions to oust her,” Hunter said, referring to Page, “because do they stand with her position? Does she represent them?”
Page said later that the objection was filed on her own, “solely on my own behalf – as a registered Cambridge voter and CPSD parent who has closely followed the work of the School Committee over the past several years.”
“I exercised my democratic right to research a long-standing community concern and file an objection accordingly. It is concerning to hear a lifelong activist and educator mischaracterize this legitimate civic action. Challenging government processes through established democratic channels should not be dismissed or maligned. Such citizen participation is a fundamental part of an accountable government,” Page said.
This post was updated Sept. 11, 2025, to add remarks by Missy Page.
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She has not been doing her job as a member given how awful the superintendent search is going, so wondering if she lives in the city makes some sense given how often she zooms in and the questions of the last election and how much she is published being present in Martha’s Vineyard. At a 50k a year salary, I think we can all agree that living in Cambridge should be a basic requirement for our elected officials as is the law. Tax documents would shut the issue down without any drama and ensure a legal result .
It is worth noting that during the last election, Hunter’s campaign treasurer lived in Oak Bluffs. I thought that was extremely odd.
Hunter did not attend last night’s School Committee candidate forum. Was she on the Vineyard?
Agreed, Spooner.
“Don’t be a bump on a log!” –Caroline Hunter
This simple phrase is a call to action, given by Caroline Hunter every morning in the water at Inkwell Beach as she leads the Polar Bears, who gather for exercise and meditation. ”
https://www.mvtimes.com/2025/07/24/oak-bluffs-41/
If she is there every morning, how is she here? This is a quote from July. She is being awarded for being an impactful community leader there- how is she drawing a 50k salary from Cambridge while spending enough time in Martha’s Vineyard to win community leadership awards? That just seems off.
I respect Member Hunter’s long history in Cambridge- it is a storied and valued one- and it does not mean she should be allowed to break the rule. I would like to see her provide actual evidence, not anecdotes from people who appreciate her history.
Cambridge benefits from many perspectives, including from people with long ties who no longer live here. For example, Patrick Barrett now lives in Maine and Ken Reeves has mostly lived in Providence for years, yet they still weigh in. That’s their right; at the same time, policy should be shaped first and foremost by the people who live with its day-to-day impacts.
Given how serious the School Committee’s work is, and how poorly the superintendent search was handled, I’m reluctant to elect someone who isn’t fully here and engaged. I don’t know if that’s the case in this race, but I think it’s a fair question.
The September 10 article about a claim that Caroline Hunter, a member of the Cambridge School Committee and a candidate for reelection, is not a resident of Cambridge, suggested that the Cambridge Progressive Electoral Collaborative (CPEC) had raised this issue. That is not the case. CPEC is a collaborative effort by several organizations. It does not have individual members. It does not endorse candidates. Its mission is to share information about issues and promote voting.
In this instance, an individual member of one of the CPEC organizations properly exercised her right to raise an issue. While CPEC supports the right of people to raise issues, it did not play a role in this event.
Henry H Wortis, Our Revolution-Cambridge representative to CPEC