Cambridge Politics by Sam Seidel

[Sam Seidel is a founding member of the Progressive Democrats of Cambridge and a 2005 candidate for city council.]

The 2006-07 Cambridge political season began when the new City Council was sworn in Jan. 2.
With all the pomp and circumstance that befits the occasion, the Sullivan Chamber in City Hall was decked out in flowers and red carpet for the event, and councilors took their seats around the side of the room with one change – newest councilor Craig Kelley took up residence where ousted member David Maher used to be.

As a candidate in this last election, I stood in the gallery surveying the scene, and realized that the rituals surrounding the transfer of power are very important parts of the continuity of power. I must have been thinking of something important because the newly elected mayor Ken Reeves made note of this very point in his acceptance speech.

Speaking of the newly elected mayor, there was a moment of political interest and intrigue as the ballots for mayor were cast among the nine councilors.

Councilor Denise Simmons had long made clear her intent for the top slot, but in the roll call of names, she could only amass four votes, and had to face the reality that Mr. Reeves did in fact have the five votes he needed to win.

Council watchers will be interested to see the impact of this vote on the performance of this year’s Council.

I for one will be interested to see how Mayor Reeves puts into action some of the ideas he talked about on the campaign trail, particularly his discussion about the emergent Creative Class (to use Richard Florida’s term), and how that future looks in a city like Cambridge.

Of course the other major issue to emerge out of the campaign will also occupy the attention and energy of many in the coming months.

Concerns about the schools are pervasive. One needn’t travel far to hear that Cambridge spends more per pupil on schools than most other communities in the Commonwealth, and still remains in the bottom third in terms of test scores.

Craig Kelley made the schools a fundamental focus of his campaign, and two new school committee members argued that new voices were needed. The mayor will play an important role in this debate as the chair of the School Committee, and there he will be joined by the fresh faces of Patty Nolan and Luc Schuster who will have to hit the ground running. We’ll need to keep an eye on all these developments over the course of this year.

There are many other issues to watch over this next year, including some of the environmental proposals before the Council, and the work the city will do on taxes and on wireless internet.
But, in case you aren’t in the mood for policy debates, there are some more elections coming up in 2006, and they ought to be exciting.

More than a couple of Cambridge pols will be right in the thick of things this election season. Here are some names to look out for:

State House (24th Middlesex)

Anne Paulsen. When State Rep. Alice Wolf decided not to run for the State Senate, Cambridge residents thought they wouldn’t have to worry about any changes among their state representatives.
They were not correct. State Rep. Anne Paulsen, whose district covers parts of North Cambridge as well as Belmont and Arlington, decided to give up the House seat she first occupied in 1993, which will has set the wheels in motion for a successor to that spot. The only name heard as a candidate to date is that of Belmont Selectman Will Brownsberger.

State Senate (Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex)

Anthony Galluccio. Now that fellow councilor, Marjorie Decker, has withdrawn her name for the Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex Senate seat, preferring like Wolf (see above) to focus on her current job, City Councilor Anthony Galluccio will have the Cambridge field clear for himself as he makes his second run at the post being vacated by Sen. Jarrett Barrios (see below).

Galluccio, typically the top vote-getter in Council races, can now focus on shoring up his home base without worrying about a divisive fight among Cambridge voters, and with no other Cambridge names announced, he can take his message to the rest of the district, which runs from Saugus to Allston.

A Galluccio victory means that a Cantabrigian maintains that seat in the State House.

Middlesex District Attorney

Jarrett Barrios. Barrios, the sitting state Senator for Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex, is giving up his seat to run for Middlesex District Attorney.

The Middlesex D.A. represents the Commonwealth in criminal cases in Middlesex County. With a population of 1.5 million covering 823 square miles, this is a big job. Barrios will face state Rep. Mike Festa, a Melrose Democrat, who’s also been out hitting the hustings, among others. This size of the district and the importance of the job make this another one to watch.

Comments

[Roy Bercaw, Editor, ENOUGH ROOM; Cambridge]

Sam Seidel omitted the most qualified candidate for Middlesex District Attorney. Gerry Leone, who was "unintentioanlly" omitted from the list of candidates, was Chief of the Criminal Bureau of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office. He went on to be Deputy U.S. Attorney under Michael Sullivan for Massachusetts.
He is an experienced supervisor and prosecutor. It is curious that many local politicians and local journalists are unaware of any candidates other than the one-party offerings of the limosine liberal Democrats. They got used to having no opponents and appear to see an election as an entitlement. This is the first time that Jarrett Barrios will have any opposition. This is the first time that his inexperience may become an issue. This is the first election where Barrios' media image may be exposed. See for yourself at http://www.gerryleone.com

Roy Bercaw, Editor
ENOUGH ROOM

[Sam Seidel]

I thank Roy Bercaw for pointing out that I do not name Gerry Leone specifically in my summation of the Cambridge political round-up for 2006.

While I could have done more than simply group Mr. Leone in a shorthand "among others" (referring to "other contenders"), I have no doubt that Gerry Leone will have ample opportunity to speak for himself over the course of this campaign, as well as have others mention his name too. I cite two examples for the record: the Alewife's own reporting on Mike Festa's departure from the race (http://www.thealewife.com) and the February 13, 2006 Boston Globe article, "Middlesex DA Race - A Study in Contrasts" (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/02/13/middlesex_da_race_a_study_of_contrasts/).

Furthermore, irrespective of Leone's professional qualifications (which Bercaw is justified to point out), word has it that he is a prodigious fundraiser. If money equals access, then Gerry Leone should have plenty of opportunity to have the voters of Middlesex County hear his name between now and September.

My focus in that piece was to talk about local Cambridge politicians in the news, and therefore focused on elected officials with Cambridge constituencies. In the Middlesex DA's race, this means Jarrett Barrios. I am not sure this represents the bias Mr. Bercaw ascribes to it, but I do not deny him his right to a point of view.