Alphabet Soup: Rethinking the Cambridge Plan E Approach

We will be updating this City Charter Review blog as the process moves forward. 

CCC’s Steering Committee has discussed and voted on key Charter Review Issues.
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 A majority of us support the following: (see Rationales Below)

1. KEEP CURRENT  2-year CITY COUNCIL TERMS (No to 4-year terms, desired by some on COUNCIL)..
2. KEEP CITY MANAGER SYSTEM (Give our new City Manager enough time to prove himself).
3. CREATE A COMBINATION DISTRICT-BASED and CITY-WIDE-BASED COUNCIL - 6 district Councillors (2 from each of 3 Precinct-defined areas) plus 3 citywide Councillors.
4. GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE: Most of us support keeping the current Council-Elected mayor, a minority favors a separate voter-elected mayor from among those running for Council (a separate vote) on the same ballot as the regular City Councillor Election and School Committee Election. Another minority supports a Strong Mayor system (without an appointed City Manager). Some of us support keeping the current system as is. 

Key discussion point at the March 28 meeting: a working consensus on the question: Should the head of the executive branch be an elected official (strong mayor) or remain an appointed position by the city council (city manager)?  (See Above Chart ).

• CCC's Steering Committee supports keeping the appointed city manager system to give our new manager time to show how he will work with Council. We will have opportunities to change this later.

• Send comments to [email protected] or submit them via this form. 
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  • https://cambridgema.zoom.us/j/83253118929 
  • Meeting ID: 832 5311 8929
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• Read the agenda and all past meeting materials HERE
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TIMELINE AND PROCESS

1. Once the Charter Committee has made their decision (made their recommendations) this will go to City Council for a Vote (and possible revisions).
2. It will then be presented to the Electorate for a Vote, possibly as early as the next election (November).
3. The specific timeline is still up in the air. The committee has asked for an extension of time.

 
RATIONALES BEHIND CCC DECISION

1. KEEP  2-year CITY COUNCIL TERMS (No to 4-year terms, pushed by some COUNCILLORS).
   1. Council is currently pretty unresponsive; 4 years would make it even worse.
   2. 2-year terms provide a means to inform the public of key issues on a regular basis.
   3. 2-year terms is what is found in nearby systems such as Boston and Somerville as well as the Massachusetts House & Senate and the US House of Representatives.
2. KEEP the current appointed City Manager system (the so-called Weak Mayor system).

1. We are making already a number of changes with the city manager system.
2. We should give our new manager a chance to show what he can do in meeting the new Council goals and demands.
3. If at some point we do move to a strong Mayor system (an elected Mayor), we would need to prepare the way and likely set up a system like Boston where the mayor could not also run for Council.
4. We feel that the City Manager system offers more checks and balances.
   • This allows key oversight on financing and achieving Council policy changes.
   • This helps limit political intervention in functioning of the city.
5. Some of us feel we should keep the City Manager but also could have residents vote for the mayor (this person setting the goals for the Council term).

1. KEEP the current mayor and city manager system as it is.
   1. Some of us instead would like to have the voters elect our mayor within the current city manager system and have the elected mayor set the term’s agenda both with Council and with the city manager.
   2. Some of us prefer instead a strong mayor system to make the mayor more accountable to the voters.
   3. Any mayor vote should be a separate vote from the Councillor vote, allowing voters to select their #1 (and other) candidates and also vote separately for mayor, keeping the same number of 9 Councillors (including the mayor).
2. RETURN to a partial District/Precinct-based City Council system balanced with city-wide elected Councillors (6 Precinct Councillors and 3 at-large).  
   1. This is what is how nearby cities like Somerville and Boston function.
   2. This could make Councillors more responsive to local neighborhoods/residents.
   3. This will cut down on Council infighting, since they will be required to work with each other to get things passed.
   4. District/Precinct council members will make it easier and less expensive for one to run for City Council (making it more democratic)
   5. There are various ways to create the election district map out of our 33 Precincts – preferably a system of three 11 precinct-based Districts that crosscut Cambridge areas and provides a mix of incomes, housing types, races, and interests.
   6. Councillors decide whether they want to run as city-wide Councillors or precinct Councillors in each election.