Marjorie Decker, our #CambridgeMA state representative, is finally getting a primary challenger, Evan MacKay: https://www.evanforcambridge.com/
Evan is great! If you're still bitter about Memorial Drive Saturdays, which Decker helped kill (and lied about!), or just about how dysfunctional our legislature is, please donate to Evan's campaign: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mackay
Quick Cambridge election outcome thoughts:
On housing, this is a great Council. Jivan is a big step up, and I look forward to what we can do this term.
On bike safety: This is a soft-but-not-worst-case result. Pickett is a big step down over Mallon/Carlone, and protecting the CSO will require constant vigilance and pressure, especially on Wilson (to be good)/Nolan (to stay good). Significant expansion this term seems unlikely (but so does major rollback, imo).
With the #CambMA elections coming up, I have updated my voting guide with this year's candidates and endorsements (that I've found so far).
https://2023cambridgevoting.streamlit.app/
If there are any endorsements/pledges/questionnaires I'm missing, let me know. Or any other suggestions. This is very much a work in progress.
For those interested in the Cambridge election cycle endorsements, Tim put together a reasonable venn diagram capturing the endorsement overlap.
The 6 candidates who fall into "Both ABC endorsed and signed the Cambridge Bike Safety pledge", that is:
A Better Cambridge has announced their endorsements for City Council. Incumbents Burhan Azeem, Marc McGovern, Sumbul Siddiqui, Denise Simmons have been endorsed; newcomers Adrienne Klein, Joe McGuirk, Frtanz Pierre, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, and Ayesha Wilson have also received the endorsement.
If housing is your number 1 priority, these are the folks you want on your ballot this fall.
Cambridge Bike Safety is preparing for a major election this November and has a matching funds fundraiser that you should contribute to.
There are 2 councilor candidates running for 3 open seats that have sued the city to remove all bike lanes. We need all the help we can get to defend the Cycling Safety Ordinance and ensure Cambridge stays best in country at building a protected bike network.
Speaking of Cambridge housing, the A Better Cambridge council questionnaire responses are posted. If you're in the mood to be inspired by some people and also acquire some new mortal enemies, dive in!
“This year, we built only five housing units. Yes, just five. In a city of 50,000 homes, that’s not 1% or even 0.1%; it’s less than 0.01%. These numbers are not just statistics. They represent a profound failure to keep up with the needs of our community.”
-#CambMA councillor Burhan Azeem https://www.cambridgeday.com/2023/08/23/in-a-city-of-50000-homes-we-built-five-this-year/
With a median cost of more than $3,000 for a one-bedroom apartment, we find ourselves beside Manhattan and San Francisco as one of the most expensive cities in the nation. That's why we need to rezone the city, and we need to do it now.
Itamar Turner-Trauring
Christopher Schmidt
Michael.Kinkema
Scott Kilcoyne
DemonHusky
darren is Not Going Back