Fall 2007 news-in-a-letter

Quick Links: Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency|Environment|Health|Quality of Life for Seniors | Cambridge is a Science City|Wifi and the Digital Divide | Housing|Development| Education, Schools, and Children

Download PDF of Fall 2007 News-in-a-letter

Dear Friends,             

I am pleased to announce that I am running for re-election to the Cambridge City Council. Soon after I was elected to the City Council 12 years ago, I started writing this newsletter. It’s one of the ways I serve as a Councillor, empowering you to be an informed and active citizen.  I hope that when you read about what I’ve been doing you will decide to give me your #1 vote on Election Day, November 6.

Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency

Cambridge Energy Alliance (CEA)   As you know, to address global warming, carbon emissions need to be reduced.  The best immediate action is to use low-cost methods to make buildings more energy efficient.  In four years, the CEA aims to reduce the city’s electricity demand by 50 megawatts (approximately 15% of the peak load) and reduce annual consumption of electricity, fossil fuels, and water by 10%.  Its goal is to include at least 40-50% of all Cambridge residences and businesses. The CEA plans to begin pilot projects late this fall. To learn more, go to www.cambridgeenergyalliance.org. So far, four hundred people have expressed an interest.

Green Jobs   In July, Cambridge sponsored a forum on emerging jobs in the green technology sector. In addition to jobs in renewable energy, many more will be created to achieve household energy efficiency. I have co-sponsored a Council order for a task force to promote training in green jobs, which would include the Rindge School of Technical Arts, Cambridge College, and other schools.

Wind Fund and Solar Panels   Last spring I coordinated a campaign to have households and businesses sign up to support the New England Wind Fund. Thanks to the 335 Cambridge residents and businesses, Cambridge will receive two 2kw solar installations. Though the panels will provide a modest amount of energy, they will serve as an important symbol of change, and an inspiration to others to put up solar panels on their homes and businesses.

Greener New Buildings   The Council has before it a proposed ordinance that will require that all new buildings over 25,000 square feet be built as LEED certifiable. In addition, small modifications can be made to zoning and municipal ordinances to improve green outcomes. In June, I held a hearing to discover if our city codes were limiting the development of green buildings. I learned that many provisions, large and small, stand in the way of maximum efficiency. I have called for a task force to modify codes and create a streamlined permitting process for green buildings.

Harvard Rates a Platinum Building   Harvard recently announced that its facilities headquarters between Blackstone St. and Memorial Drive had earned the highest rating from the Green Building Council and was certified as a LEED platinum building. This is probably the oldest building in the country to be retrofitted to be green and energy efficient.  More important, its costs came in at the budgeted target, flying in the face of the myth that if it is green, it is more expensive.

CFLs   I’m proud to say that I connected NSTAR with parents and staff at most of our public schools who then organized campaigns with their children to raise over $32,000 selling compact fluorescent light bulbs to promote energy efficiency. The money went to funding such things as school trips. Of great importance is that about 10,000 light bulbs were sold reducing carbon emmissions. Boy Scout Troop 56 also participated. Our Cambridge program was showcased at the U.N. in New York City.

Environment

So Many Water Bottles   National news media have shown mountains of water bottles that end up in landfills because so many people get water from a bottle rather than from the faucet. Fortunately, Cambridge water is of very high quality, coming from a watershed in the western suburbs and stored at Hobbs Brook Reservoir in Weston. At the treatment plant on Fresh Pond, it is purified further without the use of chlorine, a process that produces excellent water. You may wonder about the effect of the pipes in your home on the water. In all the testing that has been done on Cambridge water as it comes out of the faucet, no unacceptable levels of lead or other contaminants have been found. You can pick up a test kit at the front desk of the Water Treatment Plant. In September, I’ll introduce a Council order to stop providing bottled water in city buildings. You will soon see—and try out—new, modern water bubblers at City Hall.

Too Many Plastic Bags   I am calling for the city of Cambridge to follow San Francisco's lead in regulating plastic bags. San Francisco has enacted, and Boston is exploring, a ban on plastic shopping bags, banning them from large businesses. Not only do they litter the landscape, but also they are non-biodegradable. They sit around in land fills for 1000 years. Approximately 25 million plastic bags are used per year in Cambridge alone. A little known fact is that just 14 plastic bags are made of enough petroleum to power a car for one mile! Biodegradable bags are under development by a Cambridge company, Metabolix. I would like the city to consider biodegradable plastic in connection with developing a city policy.

Health

Transfats   Cambridge is working with its restaurant owners to eliminate transfats from their menus. New York City and Brookline already have taken such action.  We are also taking steps to remove these fats from food served at schools and at afterschool programs.

Mental Health and the Healthy Children Task Force   Next year mental health services will be a focus of the Healthy Children Task Force which includes representatives of social service agencies, the school department, and parents. In particular, the task force seeks to improve its contact with families of many cultural backgrounds. While expectations about health services differ from culture to culture, the differences in expectations about mental health care deserve attention.  

Quality of Life for Seniors

Sidewalks   Vital to us all is the condition of our sidewalks. This is one problem where more money is a big part of the solution. Each year, the city allocates about $330,000 from the capital budget for small repairs. While Cambridge receives Chapter 90 state money, (about $2 million last year), most of that goes for major road reconstruction including sidewalks. Especially difficult and costly to repair are small sidewalk sections that might trigger ADA compliance issues and incur a high cost. I’m asking for an additional allocation of

$1 million for 2008/2009 to repair sidewalks and address hazardous conditions at a faster rate.

Time Banking   There are now 51 members of the Cambridge Time Trade Circle, people who are willing to use their time as currency. For every hour spent helping someone (with a computer, or shopping or driving), a person will earn an hour’s help in return. The group is still in the planning stages but there will be a big push to recruit new members this fall. For more information or to sign up, call Time Trade Circle Director, Katherine Ellin at (617) 254-0964 x2032 or (617) 868-9855.

Cambridge is Science City

Innovation Zoning   The Bio 2007 conference was held in Boston in May: there I found that we are at the center of a scientific revolution. So small innovative companies want to be close to MIT and Harvard. As real estate becomes more scarce and expensive, the ability of such “incubator” companies to start their businesses here is threatened. I’m working to support zoning mechanisms that value this use.

Human Genome Trail/DNA Day   As a member of the science festival committee, I joined others who want to see a permanent festival outcome, something that would affect the city for years to come. I was approached by some members of the biotech community with a proposal to declare April 25 as DNA Day, to commemorate the day that DNA was discovered in Cambridge, England. Supporters of this proposal plan to work to create a permanent DNA trail which educates the public about the Human Genome.

Wifi and the Digital Divide

Newtowne Court   For about a year, the city has been testing wifi equipment at the Newtowne Court housing development. Wireless access is available for free to nearly all residents there, many of whom have their own computer equipment. This is the first of what I hope will be universal wifi access at public housing developments to assist their residents in applying for jobs, young people in doing their homework, and just helping all residents to be a part of the internet society.

Digital Divide Committee   As a result of my council order, a task force is meeting to consider how to enable all residents of Cambridge to use the internet. The committee, which includes the school department, social service agencies, and residents, is investigating the deployment of the wireless signal and at ways of making the equipment less costly. The committee has looked at the efforts of cities that have enhanced access and will make recommendations for a pilot project to start within a year.

Harvard Square   Last year Harvard Square business people approached me to see if I would help bring wifi to the square. In particular, they wanted Palmer Street redesigned as a pedestrian way with places for people to sit and use their laptops. I brought the proposal to the city manager, who is now working with businesses in the square to fund this. A pilot project already is up and running.

Housing

Affordable Housing and CPA Funding   Cambridge citizens and leaders were exceedingly farsighted in 2001 in signing on to the Community Preservation Act. Under the CPA, Massachusetts matches Cambridge tax contributions through a fee on deed transfers. As a result, Cambridge has received $25 million and assisted in the financing of 550 units of low and moderate income housing. We have received more CPA funds than any other community. A recent Rappaport Institute report has criticized that, saying the money should have gone to poorer communities like Boston (where taxpayers did not vote to match CPA funds). In allocating our CPA funds as 80% for affordable housing, plus 10% for historic preservation and 10% for open space, I feel that we have used that money well.

Progress on Housing   In the last year, 84 units of affordable housing, both homeownership and rental, were completed and marketed throughout the city, including the 33 units at the Switch House project on Blackstone Street, ten of which have three bedrooms. 375 applications have come in and a lottery will soon be held.

Units Under Construction   At Northpoint, of 330 homeownership units now under construction, 38 will be affordable. In addition, of 426 rental units now under construction, 52 will be affordable, all built as part of the city’s inclusionary housing zoning program. These will be available in the next year. Also using monies from the CPA, at least 80 units around the city are under development by non-profit organizations. The Cambridge Housing Authority has a preliminary agreement with the YWCA to develop housing at its pool site on Temple St. in Central Square.

Are You Eligible for the City’s Affordable Housing?   For information about renting or owning, and to get on a list for all Cambridge affordable housing opportunities, call 617-349-4622, the Community Development Housing Department.

Development

Mirant Kendall Power Plant   The Board of Zoning Appeal has granted Mirant’s request for 90 days to come up with a plan to offer river access in East Cambridge. When the plant expanded its capacity seven years ago, the BZA required river access. That requirement is also listed in state permits. Having discovered problems if it created access points along the Broad Canal, Mirant is asking to be relieved of this obligation. The community and state regulators are not buying it. In the next three months, Mirant says it will investigate other ways to meet this obligation in a way that will satisfy all parties. I have offered to coordinate discussions which will take place among the relevant parties.

Lafayette Square   The MIT end of Central Square will one day have a new look. First of all, Lafayette Square, where Main St. merges into Mass Ave, is being reconfigured. Long in the works and nearing completion finally is the direct connection between Columbia St. and Sidney Street. A large peninsula is being formed in the Square which will be landscaped, have benches and be an inviting place for people to sit. Very soon, the Central Square Theater, new home to the Nora Theater and the Underground Railway Theater, will be completed next to Economy Hardware. In addition, the MIT Museum is moving some of its exhibition space downstairs to be in plain view through large windows, there will be new trees, and Novartis is adding some visible street level activity. Thus a new South Mass Ave. district is being born—shall we call it SOMA?

Northpoint   While the major owners of  Northpoint are tussling legally, and the state is figuring out what to do about tidelands regulation, people have wondered what will happen at the site. According to the city, the plan for Northpoint runs with the property so whoever owns it is obligated to build out the Planned Unit Development. The Planned Unit Development, arrived at through an extensive community process, demands 2.2 million square feet of housing and 3.3 million square feet of commercial structures, plus other development. The owners also are obligated to build some of the roads and other infrastructure. The legislature is now addressing a tidelands permitting dispute which affects Northpoint and other structures within 250 feet of historic tidelands.

Education, Schools, and Children

Playground Task Force   As a result of a presentation given at the Healthy Children Task Force last spring, I initiated a Council order asking for a task force to establish criteria for playground development. Its goal would be to assure that children’s physical activity needs were satisfied. The playground task force, including parents and others, has begun to meet and will make its recommendations in the spring.

Kindergarten Registration is Up, Up, Up   On June 30, 2006, 465 children were registered for kindergarten, compared to 571 children registered by June 30 this year, an increase of 20%. This is the biggest increase in five years and does not include new “junior kindergarteners,” aged 3 and 4 years old, who have registered for the Tobin Montessori Program. The School Committee slightly modified the system’s controlled choice guidelines to enable more parents to receive one of their first three choices.

Montessori Program is a Hit   This is the first year that a Montessori program will be offered at a Cambridge public school. Originally three classrooms were planned, but demand has been so great that an additional classroom will be opened.

Tackling Middle School Challenges   Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn, the School Committee, and others in the Cambridge schools are examining the middle school years. Almost all Cambridge schools are organized into a kindergarten to grade 8 model. From my observations as a former School Committee member and a parent, this usually serves the children well, with an exception: sometimes schools are too small, with far fewer than 25 students at each grade. Having so few peers with whom to socialize and work is hard on the students. Also, it’s so expensive and effortful for teachers, who need to prepare for a few students at many different levels.

Outlook for the Community Learning Center   The Community Learning Center, a department of the city, offers adult education to approximately 1000 students every year. Most are learning English and other basic skills, getting their adult diplomas or GEDs. The center is housed in inadequate rental space, where eight classrooms share one toilet. For 18 years, the need to relocate the Center to better quarters has been obvious. Now that the police department will move from its location in Central Square to new quarters near Kendall Square, I’m suggesting that the Learning Center could use the old police station as a new home. I will promote this idea to the Council and the city management.

P.S. Take It Personally -   Want to hear more about topics in this newsletter? This fall I will be hosting mini-forums on global warming and healthy living. For more information, write “forum” in the Subject line of an e-mail send it to henrietta@henriettadavis.org.