These are just some of the municipal meetings and civic events for the coming week. More are on the City Calendar and in the city’s Open Meetings Portal.
Vendors at City Hall, in parks
City Council, 5:30 p.m. Monday. Staff outline steps taken to diversify the vendors doing business with City Hall. A report in 2023 looked at a roughly five-year period from 2016 to 2021 and found minority- or women-owned businesses accounted for slightly more than 1 percent of the money Cambridge’s government spent on its municipal needs. Speaking of which: Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler asks staff to consider allowing food vendors in city parks, which “would provide new low-barrier economic opportunities for entrepreneurs, including immigrant-owned and family-run businesses.” Returning from last week is an order from councillor Cathie Zusy calling for a housing needs study to see if city needs had changed since 2019; councillor Ayah Al-Zubi has an amendment waiting too, to first see if a study is needed. The council meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Ellery Street multifamily plan
Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Conservation District Commission, 6 to 8 p.m. Monday. The continuation of a hearing as a developer brings plans for 88 Ellery St., where the existing two-story, single-family 1873 home of 4,006 square feet would get a partial demolition and a rear addition of six stories and 47,692 square feet – not needing a special permit, because the project falls under the multifamily zoning enacted Feb. 10, 2025. The developer describes the goal as building “to the limit” to create 32 to 36 “much-needed homes, primarily offering two-bedroom units specifically tailored to accommodate young and growing families.” It would be next door to another six-story multifamily development at 84-86 Ellery St., a block north of a six-story project at 60 Ellery St. and around the corner from a six-story project at 406 Broadway. Watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
General budget hearing
Finance Committee, 9 a.m. Tuesday. This committee run by city councillors Ayah Al-Zubi and Patty Nolan holds a general budget hearing, in which city councillors identify which department spending plans they want to ask about. The options today are the Arts Council, Community Development, housing, human services, finance administration, Assessing, Auditing, Budget, Purchasing, Information Technology, Treasury/revenue, Cable TV, city clerk, City Council, communications and community engagement, the Election Commission, executive branch, human resources, employee benefits, law, the Mayor’s Office, tourism and Equity and Inclusion. The expected date of adoption is June 1, and the next fiscal year starts July 1. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
School artificial intelligence
School Committee, 6 p.m. Tuesday. The superintendent presents on artificial intelligence and gives updates on long-term strategic planning; listening sessions and office hours by district leaders about the future of 158 Spring St., once the Kennedy-Longfellow School; and hiring processes for school and district leadership positions. The committee meets in the Dr. Henrietta S. Attles Meeting Room at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, 459 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Televised and watchable online.
Education budget hearings
Finance Committee, 6 p.m. Wednesday. This committee run by city councillors Ayah Al-Zubi and Patty Nolan holds a general budget hearing, in which city councillors identify which department spending plans they want to ask about. The expected date of adoption is June 1, and the next fiscal year starts July 1. The committee meets at City Hall, 795 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Televised and watchable online and by Zoom videoconferencing.
Redesign of bus routes 47/91
Transit Advisory Committee, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday. MBTA staff presents data supporting a bus network redesign proposal for Route 47/91 – the combined lines stretch from Sullivan Square and the Broadway Station in Boston through Cambridge and Somerville – and there are reports and discussion on other city and state projects and on transportation issues within the neighborhood that the life sciences developer Healthpeak proposes to build in the Alewife Quadrangle area in the Cambridge Highlands. The company presented last week to the Planning Board. At the City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge, and watchable by Zoom videoconferencing.
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