Career change is nothing new to Elizabeth Bisio, a former emergency room nurse turned startup founder. This cycle, the Cambridge Crossing resident hopes to add the public sector to her resume as she pursues a seat on the Cambridge City Council. She thinks her health care and business acumen will help her create what she calls necessary changes in how the city is run.
Between 2016 and 2017, Bisio shifted from nursing to working at a series of digital health companies, then in 2023 co-founded her own company, Tandem, which provides telehealth, mobile clinics and in-office care for pets. After beginning with a mobile clinic, the company last month opened its first “hub” location on Beacon Street in Somerville, next to the area affectionately known as the “G.W.A.C.C.A.”
Bisio’s political views are informed by her business experience. She is hesitant about fully implementing the Cycling Safety Ordinance, which would involve converting street parking spaces into bike lanes. Her reticence stands in contrast to a majority of candidates, who have pledged to fully implement the ordinance, and grows out of Bisio’s experience trying to open Tandem in Cambridge.
“[I] just wanted to have, at least, somewhere somebody in the event of emergency can bring their pet to the door,” she said. “They’re not having to whip around the block. They’re not having to double park in order to get them in safely and as quickly as possible. And we couldn’t find it.”
She thinks parking spaces should not be sacrificed without neighborhood input, a position influenced by attending a contentious May meeting called by Broadway residents opposing new bike lanes on their street. But Bisio supports other methods to make Cambridge a biker-friendly city, such as improving intersection designs to prevent collisions.
Through Tandem’s mobile van service, Bisio says she got a feel for other problems affecting the broader Cambridge community, especially when it comes to tensions around attempts to improve affordability by increasing the housing supply. She says the city’s new zoning laws fast-track development at the expense of current residents. If elected, she says she will provide a counterbalance to proponents of high-rise projects and give voice to residents’ concerns.
“We’re building up bigger … we’re going to have to make changes,” she said, acknowledging that some new housing development is inevitable. She believes it is valuable to listen to residents’ concerns about developments blocking sunlight or affecting neighborhood character. Telling these residents “‘Well, you’re just being selfish,’ which is the answer I’ve seen from a lot of people, including current councillors, is really dismissive.”
Better care for the unhoused
She also wants to see more done to support Cantabrigians who are unhoused and who may suffer from opioid use disorder. “I took care of many, many overdoses,” she said. “When I was in the ER was at one of the peaks of the heroin addiction crisis.”
Providing additional wraparound services is an essential step to solving this “big, multipronged” problem, Bisio said. She also disagrees with the sudden closing of Cambridge’s Transition Wellness Center, which shuttered its doors in June after the expiration of its Covid-era federal funding through the American Rescue Plan.
“If I had one pet project, it would be to put together a task force to say, ‘Hey, how can we come together across city departments and really try to make a concrete impact?’ specifically on the number of needles on the ground and the distribution of services,” she said. With services such as shelter and medicine concentrated in specific areas, “how do we make it so they’re more distributed, so we’re not having large groups then potentially causing disturbances that are felt more by the neighborhood?” she said.
Bisio is also skeptical that city budgets and expenses will keep up with revenue, and wants to make cuts to low-performing programs. Despite Cambridge’s AAA bond rating (one of only 22 American cities with that distinction) and cash reserves, she believes the fiscal health of the city may be jeopardized by decreasing revenue and reduced investment due to higher interest rates.
“I feel like we’re stuck in that blitzscaling mindset, where we’re like, ‘grow, grow, grow … We’re not going to be able to continue to do everything” she said. “How do we reevaluate our programs with a much more objective approach, so that we don’t end up cutting something that’s actually really valuable? I think that’s the worst-case scenario.”
A moderating presence
Overall, Bisio expects to provide a moderating, conciliatory presence in City Council chambers. “We have these strong lobby groups really drive a lot of the narrative, specifically at City Council meetings,” she said, referring to the Cambridge Citizens Coalition and A Better Cambridge. ABC advocates for rapid housing development, while CCC takes a more moderate position.
Bisio is endorsed by CCC, but she doesn’t always appreciate the nature of the debate that arises from having an interest group duopoly. “The 5 percent who are the loudest are controlling 90 percent of the conversation,” she said.
On council, she plans to bring a new voice to the conversation and include those who have been shouted down in the past.
“One of Cambridge’s biggest strengths is we do have very engaged, very highly educated citizens,” she said. “Why are we not leaning on that? Some of those voices, actually, might get shut down because they’re not in the most popular group at the moment.”
Through seeking out new perspectives and adding her own, Bisio hopes to create the systemwide change she has long sought, starting early in her career in her days as a nurse.
“There’s the saying: Somebody’s walking on the beach and they see a starfish up, and they pick it up and put it back in the ocean. But there’s a million starfish, and so nursing is picking up each individual starfish and touching each individual patient,” she said. “On the technology side, I was able to see I can change the system, I can be influencing how things are done at a much larger scale. And so that’s what has really driven me. And I think City Council is that next step.”
A stronger
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Thanks for posting these articles, which I assume come from longer interviews with candidates. I also thank Elizabeth Bisio for running.
I want to point out/ask for clarification on two things:
First: Tandem Vet has a dedicated parking lot. Was the quote referring to getting pets from front doors to the mobile van? Otherwise, I’m not sure what is meant here.
Second: “If elected, she says she will provide a counter-balance to proponents of high-rise projects and give voice to residents’ concerns.”
From the sound of this interview, she is opposed to 4-6 story projects allowed by the multi-family housing ordinance. I think Cambridge Day should note that Ms. Bisio lives in a 15-story building.
In prior interviews, Elizabeth has not been afraid to point out that she lives in one of these “high-rise” projects.
Very insightful discussion of the issues from a grounded, experience-based vantage. She is someone who would bring real insight and balance to City Council. Wonderful essay on her as well.
It’s highly misleading for Cambridge Day to claim CCC advocates for moderate housing development. They formed in opposition to the 100% Affordable Housing Overlay. They opposed the amendments to the AHO. They opposed ending exclusionary zoning. They have opposed most or all of the multifamily buildings that have come forward since the multifamily zoning passed.
It would be more accurate to say they oppose most new development and want to impose barriers that would allow them to sue to block all new housing, despite Cambridge’s housing shortage, skyrocketing rents for Cambridge families, incredibly long affordable housing waitlists, and more and more homelessness in Cambridge.
Opposing ending exclusionary zoning, with its disparate impact by race and class, is a regressive, illiberal position.
The CCC is anti-affordable housing. Full stop. Not a single one of their candidates should get your vote.