Just the Facts
Experience
- City Councillor, 1996 to present
- Chair, Health and Environment Committee
- Chair, Cable TV, Telecommunications and Public Utilities Committee
- Past Chair, Traffic and Transportation Committee and Public Safety Committee
- Co-Chair, Healthy Children Task Force 1990-present
- Vice Chair, National League of Cities Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee
- Legislative Liaison, International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)
- Cambridge School Committee 1988-1995
- Administrator, Agassiz Preschool 1985-1994
- Freelance journalist, Time, Life, Money and NPR 1975-1985
- Social worker and community planner, 1967-1974
Education:
- Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Master of Public Administration 1997
- Harvard Law School Intensive Negotiation Program January 1995
- Graduate School of Social Work, Boston College, Master of Social Planning 1972
- University of Rochester, B.A. English Literature 1967
What I've Done
- Pushed for pedestrian and bicycle connections along the Charles River, adding bike routes.
- Promoted community gardening, adding 40 new garden plots this year to support local food and sustainability of resources.
- Collaborated in producing a healthy playgrounds plan to ensure that playgrounds better serve children and families.
- Led the City in setting climate protection/energy efficiency goals.
- Initiated the “digital divide pilot project,” providing computers and the Internet to low-income families.
- Supported zoning that looks to the future, advocating for neighborhood preservation.
- Championed the construction of six new green buildings: City Hall Annex, the new library, the War Memorial Recreation Center, CRLS, the police station and the West Cambridge Community Center.
My Goals Next Term
- Create a community forum to improve understanding between people of differing backgrounds.
- Examine and improve policing practices to eliminate racial profiling; collaborate with police to find a new way to address non-arrestable conflicts.
- Promote many social and cultural community activities, based at the new library.
- Initiate a strategic plan designed to protect the future capacity of childcare facilities.
- Press the City to adopt the state’s new stringent energy code for buildings.
- Secure annual funding for additional bicycle parking facilities.
- Foster community vitality through neighborhood--based events.
- Create a thoughtful and practical plan for aging in the community, focusing on adequate senior housing and transportation.
- Identify additional community gardens plots.
Biography
Henrietta Davis is currently serving her seventh term on the Cambridge City Council. After earning a degree in social work from Boston College in 1972, Councillor Davis worked as a neighborhood planner for the City of Cambridge and a freelance journalist for National Public Radio, Time Inc. and others. After the birth of her second son in 1982, Henrietta left journalism and became an administrator at the Agassiz Preschool.
In 1987, Henrietta was elected to the Cambridge School Committee. Three more terms followed, during which her proudest accomplishments were science curriculum improvements and AIDS prevention efforts. She was elected to the City Council in 1995.
In 1997, Henrietta graduated from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government earning her Master’s Degree in Public Administration.
During her seven Council terms, Henrietta has focused on energy and the environment, non-auto transportation, neighborhood preservation, bridging the digital divide, children’s health and quality living for seniors. She is proud of the work the city has done on climate protection and energy efficiency. She’s a promoter of the Cambridge Energy Alliance and its goal to have 50% of all buildings in the city become energy efficient. She counts as significant recent accomplishments the commitment of Cambridge to purchase 20% renewable energy for its municipal needs. Also, Henrietta led the Council to adopt a green building policy for all new city buildings and an ordinance to protect trees at development sites. Henrietta is proud to say that Cambridge was the #1 walking city in the U.S. in 2008 according to Prevention Magazine.
Currently, Henrietta is chair of the Health and Environment Committee and the Cable TV, Telecommunications and Public Utilities Committee; she was also the long time chair of the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Committee.
She serves as Vice Chair of the National League of Cities (NLC) Steering Committee on Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources and as the Cambridge legislative liaison to the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), Cities for Climate Protection.
Henrietta Davis is married to Richard Bock and has two sons, Daniel, 29, and Aaron, 27, both graduates of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Her vision for Cambridge’s future focuses on Cambridge as a national environmental model, safety for pedestrians and bikers, protecting neighborhood interests, maintaining Cambridge’s unique feel, and promoting the city’s diversity. Her hobbies include kayaking, canoeing, and watercolor painting.