Dear Friends,
It s been an exciting and busy first five months on the City Council.
I d like to share with you some of the initiatives I have undertaken
on the Council and update you on other important work being done in
Cambridge.
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NEW LEADERSHIP AND COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
One of the first orders of business for the Council was the election
of a mayor. I was delighted to see Denise Simmons elected as our new
leader. I have enjoyed working with her on issues like early
childhood education, the environment and quality of life in our
city s neighborhoods. Given her additional role as chair of the
School Committee, Mayor Simmons previous experience as a committee
member serves us well as that body works to define and support best
practice and policy in our schools.
I also am serving on a number of Council committees, including being
the chair of the Housing and the Neighborhood and Long Term Planning
Committees, and I look forward to leading the work in these two
critical areas.
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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
I ve been duly impressed with the work being done in the city s
Department of Human Service Programs, the Cambridge Housing
Authority s Workforce Development Program, the Community Learning
Center, and the School Department. I have come to more fully
understand and appreciate the broad scope and high quality of the
services offered in Cambridge. I ve also learned that it is
absolutely critical to the health and well being of children to
receive adequate support and enrichment beginning at birth and
throughout the first years of life.
One of the key issues currently being discussed in the Cambridge
Public Schools is the achievement gap, and one way to address this
disparity is to prepare children to enter school ready to learn. This
means a commitment to working with providers and families to ensure
that there is a seamless system of care in place to meet this goal.
In March, Councillor Kelley and I submitted a Council Order to take a
step in this direction, by asking the mayor to convene a joint meeting
between the City Council and the School Committee to review programs
and services in the city to see how they might be better linked. That
meeting took place at the end of May and will form the basis of this
important ongoing discussion. Also, meetings in June and July of the
Human Services committee, led by Councilor Ken Reeves, will focus on
early childhood education and family service programs.
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HOUSING
There are many important issues regarding housing in the city of
Cambridge. As the chair of the Housing Committee, I recently had the
opportunity to talk with my colleagues, city staff and the public
about them. I have decided to begin my work on the committee by
looking at family housing.
Current trends in the housing market convince developers to build new
housing with fewer bedrooms, to meet the demand of people who don t
have children, whether they live on their own, are just starting a
family, or have seen their children grow and leave the house. The
problem is, if we as a community are building fewer large units, then
it makes it even harder for larger families to live in Cambridge.
Everybody recognizes the importance of children to the future of the
city, and it s crucial to have a housing stock that will meet their
needs too. A meeting of the Housing Committee, was held June 19 to
discuss family housing, and I ll keep you updated on any additional
activities.
Next, I look forward to working with the Cambridge Housing Authority
(CHA) on challenges they are facing in the upcoming decade. It is
critical that we are all continuing to create, preserve and maintain
high quality affordable units in the city of Cambridge. CHA is a
major landlord in the city, so we need to work together to reach
these goals.
What other housing issues need to be examined? I hope you ll let me
know because through collaborative work with my colleagues and with
the public, we can begin to address the most pressing questions with
regard to this important resource.
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THE ENVIRONMENT
As a member of the Health and Environment Committee, I am excited
about the newly formed Cambridge Energy Alliance. This new project
will be path-breaking in the United States when it finally comes on
line, by helping homes and businesses cut their energy use by 15 to
30 percent. It will also aid in identifying low-interest loans to pay
for the work. However, because much of what this project is doing is
new and innovative, the start-up phase has taken longer than
anticipated. At the end of March, the PBS program NOW featured the
Cambridge Energy Alliance. If you missed the broadcast, that episode
is now viewable on the web
(http://www.pbs.org/now/shows/413/index.html).
Also, I brought forward a proposal to the Council to create an
opt-out program that would allow you to stop receiving a Yellow
Pages book. The publishers of Yellow Pages have told us that they
have a program in place already, and if you would like to opt out
you can contact one of the following numbers:
The Talking Phone Book /White Directory Publishers: 1-800-388-8255
(press 4)
Verizon Yellow Pages / Idearc Media: 1-800-888-8448 (press 2)
Yellow Book: 781-238-1025
Additionally, you can look at the website
www.YellowPagesGoesGreen.org for other information.
I am also exceptionally proud of the many people who came together to
figure out how to license six "green cabs." This was a tremendous win
for the city. These new hybrid Toyota Camrys get better gas mileage
and in doing so, reduce green house gas emissions. With the recent
addition of three hybrid Camrys, a total of nine green cabs are now
on the road serving customers in Cambridge.
Lastly, I introduced a Council order at the May 19th meeting to
examine a ban on driving while using a hand-held cell phone. I think
it is a proposal that makes common sense and enhances public safety.
What do you think?
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THE BUDGET
The 2008-2009 budget for the City of Cambridge will be $434.1
million, an increase of 5 percent ($20.8 million) over the previous
year, with a tax levy increase of 5.68 percent over the previous
year. There are many reasons for the increases, but they include the
rise in health care costs, as well as the many capital projects
underway, including the high school renovation, the construction of
the new main library, the War Memorial renovation, and the West
Cambridge Youth Center. The combined impact of these projects means
that the next three fiscal years will require strong budget
management to maintain the underlying strength of Cambridge s
financial outlook.
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SOMETHING ON YOUR MIND?
While it s certainly been a welcome change from being a candidate to
becoming an elected official, some of the things I enjoyed most about
running for office continue to be favorite parts of my role now as
councillor namely the opportunity to sit down with fellow residents
of Cambridge and hear what matters most to them. I hold office hours
every Wednesday at Carberry s Coffee House at 74 Prospect Street in
Central Square from 8:30 9:30 am, and encourage you to drop by.
Would you like to hear about events in Cambridge via email? Get the
City s Weekly Newsletter, alerts on street cleanings, and city
publications by signing up for Cambridge E-Line at
www.cambridgema.gov/eline.
See you at the City-wide Dance Party
Friday, June, 27 at City Hall, 7-11 p.m.
SAM SEIDEL
Cambridge City Councillor
48 Maple Avenue, #2
Cambridge, MA 02139
(617) 349-4280 office
(617) 547-1067 home
