I have been honored to serve Cambridge and all its residents for the past 10 years, using a commonsense business point of view integrated with knowledge gained as a publicly focused architect and urban design consultant. Much of this honor derives from helping neighborhood and small-business groups with more than 15 planning, zoning and urban design development concerns when no one else came forward. Public entities must serve the greater good, especially those most in need, and at the same time mitigate any resulting negative impacts on others. I strongly believe there is always a reasonable solution that accomplishes both goals.
Another aspect of my joy serving on the council has come from redirecting the budget into previously under-funded areas – affordable housing, prekindergarten, pedestrian safety, public places and open space, among others. No one councillor can succeed by themselves. To gain a majority of council votes means doing quality research, getting input and presenting a position that’s clear, is embedded in social justice and balances issues in a win-win manner. It is very satisfying when this happens.
Cambridge development is booming, but it is spreading in a very unplanned manner into neighborhood business districts. The council has dramatically upzoned many business districts (and therefore increased the value of land) to such an extent that the cost of housing and living has skyrocketed in 30 years. We must confront the reality of what is happening with an intelligent, balanced approach.
Over the past decade your support has humbled me and, at the same time, encouraged me to fight for what is right on the council in the short and long terms. It is with that in mind, that I have very mixed feelings when I say that I will not be running for a sixth term. At the age of 76, the next phase of my life will focus more on family, writing and perhaps consulting. Of course, I will remain active in the community and will make myself available to strategize as we push for a shared, progressive vision for our Cambridge.
Dennis Carlone has served as city councillor since 2014.
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It was a pleasure working with you these years, and I wish you all the best!
I am personally sorry Dennis is leaving the council. He was always open to discussion and sharing different points of view. He actually listened and I think enjoyed the exchange of ideas. He was one of the few councillors that could see the big picture and ask some tough questions about impacts. His perspective will be missed.
I will miss Dennis Carlone’s understanding of planning and urban design (and his ability to make jokes that lighten the situation). I appreciate his success in increasing funds for affordable housing. I am sure that Cambridge is a better place due to his work on the Council
over the past ten years.
I too will greatly miss Dennis on the council. He has great expertise in planning and development, sees the big picture, understands infrastructural needs, and sees the interlinkages of policies that must be developed in a synergistic fashion. He well deserves his retirement, and he will be enormously missed.
Thank you so much Councillor Carlone for all you have done for the city. I appreciate hugely your class, style, wisdom, patience, and wealth of experience. I hope you will continue to play a role even after you are no longer on Council!
So sad to see you leave the council. You’ve always gotten my #1 vote. Nobody can replace you! I look forward to see your continuing involvement in some other form.
I support Dennis Carlone’s choice to retire. He was dismissed and devalued by many on the current Council. We agreed on most issues but not all and even when on opposite sides he was kind and well informed and helpful and respectful. He brought a skill set to the table that left us with an incredible legacy including Canal Park and the waterfront in East Cambridge. We enjoyed it for years and sad to see that impact and legacy being carved away. Dennis had a vision and we are still enjoying the fruits of that vision. Here is hoping for a long and healthy retirement!!!
Dear Councilor Carlone,
I have been disheartened by your eminent departure but understand it well. Throughout your years, you have been the voice of reason, facts, analysis, experience and CIVIC duty- not personal agenda. You are the only one on council who understands zoning and the importance of design which ultimately affects the social well-being of people. CDD, lacking independence, has become a yes voice for the Council. Unlike those untrained councilors who see design as “subjective” or “today’s eye sore is tomorrow’s landmark”, you understood that a well-balanced and human-scale home can be timeless, doesn’t have to be onerous and can contribute to the quality of life.
You have often been disrespected by those who have self-aggrandizing goals–some of the procedures can attest to that. It has been almost painful to watch. Some of your suggested design changes still maintained or added to the number of units.
You initiated ENVISION CAMBRIDGE for a master plan which morphed unceremoniously into an unqualified mess by others, full of contradictions, only to be trotted out to “support” controversial ideas– but still no city-wide urban plan.
You had a better design for Central Square’s Mass and Main tower with several mid-rise buildings with MORE units instead of an 18-story tower now the precedent for the poorly considered city-wide AHO height jeopardizing different neighborhoods. But you got chastised for not following protocol as favored developers got their – what was tantamount to- spot-zoning.
You came up with another better design for Walden Sq apartments, mid-rise townhouses instead of the cruiseship mass of a housing tower consistently fought by residents who live in the complex. No other councilor understood or listened to residents. Housing is housing. The developer, who was hand-slapped by the Mayor for shoddy management of its other properties, is reverting back to its old massive design and height in anticipation of the new AHO as-of-right which deletes neighborhood input. You understand the importance of re-purposing older buildings, set-backs, green space and city livability- all the while looking for opportunities for more housing. But, alas, housing advocates are siloed into their one talking point without looking at the total context and environment for ALL Cantabridgians, not just the special interest groups with deep pockets. 2072 Mass Ave was a dangerous design with one elevator for 9 stories. (the new AHO 2.0 is political revenge, thumbing its nose at this rejection going bigger and taller). Indeed, design helps make a better project for years to come. You used your experience to try to relay consequences and ideas but were again ignored.
And all the while, you remained a gentleman, respectful- using humor to lighten the moment while making your point. You ran a respectful meeting. You had a calming influence unlike those who chastise speakers BY NAME whose opinions at public comment you disagreed with and where they don’t have a rebuttal opportunity. You attend subordinate meetings like planning board and historical commissions as a member of the public- NOT FLOUTING YOUR POSITION AS A COUNCILOR, which could be considered intimidating. You worked tirelessly behind the scenes while making yourself available for coffee.
In short, you were often the only adult in the room. With the stacked council often at 6-3, much like the supreme court, and with the immense pressure put on Cambridge to be first, the biggest and bestest in the commonwealth, it is obvious we need a new Council- one that is balanced, data-driven not ideological, who has more consideration for ALL the people and not just loudest constituents or personal agendas for the resume. Today we have at least 5 overlapping proposals and petitions which may interfere with each implementation because one hand doesn’t know what the other is doing- Forgotten is the synergistic effects of similar contrary policies. You also understand that 2-yr olds are experiencing the next stage of school life and should be included in universal pre-K.
Soon we will be faced with amendments to the Cambridge Historical Commission and Neighborhood Conservation districts at the Ordinance Committee, chaired by the amendment proposal’s lead sponsor, darling of the pro-housing people, and again master of diminishing anything that gets in the way of the AHO. There is also ignorance about conservation and its invaluable protective guidelines for affordable housing. You have been a champion for integrating the old and new, advocating for the responsibility of good zoning and guidelines which are warranted in a society being overwhelmed by commercial, bio/ tech, lab spaces, employees of which takes up more housing. While zoning can be tweaked, it should not be erased. In many cases, it is a safety net.
We need a more conscientious, civic-minded and sober council who understands NUANCED positions and not just all or nothing creating panic. You, councilor, are a calming influence with constructive ideas and were willing to have that tough deep dive- often being the lone dissenting vote. Having the courage of your convictions will be sorely MISSED in today’s climate. We have one or two potential guiding lights on council but Cambridge needs to dig deeper into fair, equal, balanced representation for all and not just deep pockets or loudest voice. And for all of that– Councilor– that is why this citizen will sorely miss your presence. Good luck and I do hope you will still watch over proceedings from the comfort of your easy chair.
Dennis Carlone will be missed! He was one of the first city council candidates endorsed by the Cambridge Resudents Alliance in his first run for office. We were thrilled when he won a seat!
Dennis is gracious, generous, forward-thinking and astute.
He will be deeply missed!
Shelley Rieman