June 2020 - Neighbors - lists.buenavistasocialclub.org

Council meeting NOW - watch live!
by Ruth Ryals 29 Jun '20

29 Jun '20

Online City Council meeting NOW click here Council Agenda Overview Full agenda hereTo watch the meetings or to sign up to speak during public comment, click here. You can also email your comments to council(a)cambridgema.gov to be included in the record. The first few policy orders below were late orders from last week - which all got charter righted by Councilor Zondervan. In general, unless there is a time-based urgency, I oppose late policy orders since I believe the Council and the community need time to reflect and review orders before adoption. I am glad the six late orders were put off until next week, so we all have time to consider them. PO #146 - Police Department inventory: This order, which I support, asks for an itemized statement of all materials, tools, and property owned by the Cambridge Police Department. This list should already exist (Chapter 2.52 Section 090 of the Cambridge municipal code calls for it to be provided to the City Manager each June), so this is a matter of transparency. The list would help the Council and public understand what exactly is in the possession of the Cambridge Police, since there has been confusion about what category this vehicle falls under and if these “specialty impact weapons” are actually owned by the CPD. PO #149 - An order which I am excited to see and fully support asks the city to explore a 911 emergency system structured differently to include referral to social workers, not only traditional police personnel, along the lines of the Eugene Oregon CAHOOTS program. Since reading about this program in a Boston Globe article about ways to restructure policing, I have advocated that Cambridge explore doing the same. Our police department does some admirable work, and we can learn from others - the Eugene, Oregon program has been in place since 1989. PO #156 - Summer library: This order, which I co-sponsored, asks for an expansion of the current library re-opening with the specific goal of providing more books to students. We are still working on how to support and distribute books to families throughout Cambridge - stay tuned as we work to figure out the best way to accomplish this. (Note: you can now get books through the main library by requesting online.) PO #161 - Golf course: I have proposed a policy order, co-sponsored by Vice Mayor Mallon and Councillors Zondervan and Carlone, asking the city manager to determine the feasibility of identifying one evening or day per week that the Fresh Pond Golf Course can be open to the public for general use. The golf course is the largest amount of open space we have in Cambridge and right now only around 30 people are able to use it at any given time. I believe that it would be prudent and equitable to open that space up to residents for additional uses at least one day a week, especially during a pandemic which makes staying distanced imperative. AND, if you have never visited it, you have missed out on an extraordinary treat. PO #163 - COVID Testing in preparation for school: This order by Mayor Siddiqui which I was happy to co-sponsor asks for more available testing across the city foreseeing an increased need as schools anticipate reopening. The challenge of schools for the fall - as with summer programming - is great. And the more we can make sure families and students and staff can get tested the better. Committee Hearings:Committee hearings are back for the first time since the pandemic hit. Yesterday was the first, scheduled last minute, for the Human Services committee to receive updates on the plan for summer programming in the city. We heard about the challenges facing the city, which are real. And, I along with my colleagues pushed for clear accountability, for attention to efficacy, for measurable goals, inclusion of all families, and monitoring for results. The upcoming committee hearings are as follows: July 1: The Public Safety Committee will meet at 10AM on July 1 to discuss the Cambridge Police Department's Use of Force Policy and related matters. July 7: The Ordinance Committee will meet on July 7, 2020 at 5pm to conduct a public hearing on proposed amendments to the Cycling Safety Ordinance. July 8: The Ordinance Committee will meet on July 8, 2020 at 5pm to conduct a public hearing on a petition to add an Affordable Housing Ordinance to the City’s Zoning Ordinances. July 15: (I am chair of this committee) The Neighborhood and Long Term Planning, Public Facilities, Arts and Celebrations Committee will meet to discuss the timeline, scope, and budget of the Tobin/Vassal Lane School Project, including updates on the Armory property, and how it fits into the long-term plan for all school buildings in the City to accommodate expected enrollment changes over the next 10 to 20 years and to receive an update on the legislative office plans. This Saturday! The Recycling Center's Household Hazardous Waste Day is on June 27th. Please view the safety guidelines to access these services. Earlier this week, Cambridge Public Library's Summer Reading Program launched. The challenges, prizes and fun last throughout the summer until August 28, 2020. Mark your calendars, because street Cleaning parking restrictions will be enforced beginning July 1st! Beginning Monday, June 22nd, the Department of Human Service Programs will offer free Online/Offline Summer 2020 Programming to Cambridge youth in grades K-8. Parking meters and regulations are now in effect and will be reinforced. City buildings are (slowly) reopening. Here is a list of City services available during the phased reopening. The Main Library is now offering contactless holds pickup! Read more here. COVID testing in Cambridge - see testing sites here. Outside dining has begun! See all the streets that it is happening on here. Parks are open on Monday! The official info from the City is below: The City of Cambridge announced that the City's basketball courts, playgrounds, tot lots, and water play structures will reopen for public use on Monday, June 29. As the Public Works Department works to get water turned on at all locations, there may be some delays before all water play structures are fully operational. Those utilizing City of Cambridge playgrounds, tot lots, and water play structures should adhere to the following: Do not visit playgrounds, tot lots, or water play structures if you feel sick. Wash hands before and after use. Maintain a distance of 6 feet (2 meters) from others at all times. Wear face coverings at all times when you cannot maintain a distance of 6 feet (2 meters) from others. Children should be monitored at all times to ensure they are maintaining proper distancing and wearing face coverings. Seek alternative facilities if the area is too crowded or wait outside the area until social distancing is possible. While the City will regularly clean and disinfect surfaces, this will not be done on a daily basis. Please use play structures and other common surfaces at your own discretion. Those utilizing City of Cambridge basketball courts should adhere to the following: Wash hands before and after play. No pick-up games or scrimmages. Open for non-contact drills only. Wait outside court until others leave. No congregating outside courts. Maintain a distance of 6 feet (2 meters) from others at all times. Wear face coverings at all times when you cannot maintain a distance of 6 feet (2 meters) from others. Parks, community gardens, and fields remain open for passive use. No congregating, group activities, or game playing is allowed. The Gold Star Pool remains closed while under construction with a tentative completion date of mid-August.The public is reminded to wear face coverings, practice social distancing, and wash hands frequently when outside their homes. Film and music:Local treasures: The Cambridge Art Center hosts a national contest DO IT YOUR DAMN SELF which invites young (teen) filmmakers to submit their personal films. The range of topics is far-reaching, and often intense. And always rewarding. Peruse the virtual screening this year. Favorite music video of the week: I’ve been in love with the Dixie Chicks since I heard “Not Ready to Make Nice” and now with their new release as The Chicks (forgoing the Dixie part) March, I’m head over heels. If you are able to, please give! Here are a few local efforts in need of support: Cambridge Mutual Aid: Through this great group, you can volunteer, ask for help, give help, donate, and help not only Cambridge neighbors, but also the hardest hit community in Massachusetts - Chelsea. Mayor's Disaster Relief Fund: https://bit.ly/2X0hmR2. Cambridge Community Foundation: https://bit.ly/33ImGeE Food for Free: https://bit.ly/3afFuEE Greater Boston Food Bank:https://www.gbfb.org/ Enroot Emergency Immigrant Cash Assistance Fund: https://bit.ly/2y7bBIe The One Chelsea Fund: https://bit.ly/2W6dGO7 I also encourage you to donate to the following organizations that are engaging in racial justice work: The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute: https://bit.ly/2U0SkjV Families for Justice as Healing: https://bit.ly/36T3o88 Prisoners' Legal Services: https://bit.ly/2BrC1X7 Boston NAACP: https://bit.ly/2XqSS4R Massachusetts Bail Fund: https://bit.ly/2MmIAMx The ACLU of Massachusetts: https://bit.ly/2Mipg2X Our mailing address is: Councilor Patty Nolan 184 Huron Ave Cambridge, MA 02138 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. This email was sent to rryals(a)comcast.net why did I get this? unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences City Councillor Patty Nolan · 184 Huron Ave · Cambridge, MA 02138-1326 · USA

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FW: in search of housing
by Ruth Ryals 29 Jun '20

29 Jun '20

From: Margot Welch <margotwelch77(a)comcast.net> Date: Monday, June 29, 2020 at 3:21 PM Subject: Fwd: in search of housing This woman is truly amazing; as she explains — and you’ll grasp — she is very accomplished and experienced, as is her partner. If you have what they’re looking for, move quickly because someone is sure to spot the gem in all these words. I worked with her at Harvard Graduate School of Education; she was a wonderful student and a very gifted person and I have missed her since we both left GSE. Good luck to the prize bidder! Margot My name is Samantha Broun and I will be a Nieman Fellow at Harvard for the '20 - '21 academic year. My partner - Rob Rosenthal - and I live in Falmouth, MA. We both work in public radio and are based at Atlantic Public Media in Woods Hole with Jay Allison, a stalwart public radio visionary (This I Believe, The Moth Radio Hour, and more). I currently serve as Managing Editor for APM’s Peabody Award-winning website Transom.org. I am also an independent producer. My reporting focuses on the personal and political impacts of violent crime. (You can listen to some of my work here and here.) Rob has been teaching people how to make public radio since 2000. The legions of graduates from his workshops now work at radio stations, networks and podcasts including This American Life, Radiolab, Gimlet Media, Neon Hum, 99% Invisible, and NPR. We are in search of a place to call home for the academic year. Harvard's start date is still in flux but we imagine we may start renting as early as August 1st and may rent through the end of May or June. We are looking for something furnished and, ideally, within walking distance of Harvard Yard. Rob's 16 year old daughter Gwen may come visit from time to time (she lives with her mom in Maine). We have no pets, we're quiet and neat and, we think, good company to have around. Our ideal would be a separate furnished apartment with our own kitchen and access to internet and laundry but we know that may be naive given housing in Cambridge. And so, we'd be interested in hearing about other scenarios too. Mostly we want a place we look forward to coming home to. If you have a place to rent and think we'd be a fit, please feel free to email me at samanthabroun(a)gmail.com or you can reach me by phone at (401)378-8845. Thank you, Sam -- Samantha Broun radio and video producer www.soundlightmedia.com 401.378.8845

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FW: Fri 7/3 Chelsea Food Collection
by Ruth Ryals 29 Jun '20

29 Jun '20

From: Polly Attwood <polly.attwood(a)gmail.com> Date: Monday, June 29, 2020 at 2:21 PM To: Ruth Ryals <rryals(a)comcast.net> Cc: Anne Tonachel <annert(a)gmail.com> Subject: Fri 7/3 Chelsea Food Collection Hello, Ruth - once again, please share this with the Porter Square neighborhood listserv. Thank you, Polly and Anne Greetings Porter Square area Neighbors! This Friday, July 3, we again collect food for Chelsea. We intend to collect through the end of July and then see where we are. FOOD DROP OFF TIME: Friday, July 3, from 10am to 4:30pm WHERE: 175 Richdale Ave entrance to CoHousing Please leave items just inside the gate either in a paper bag, small box or in boxes marked FOR CHELSEA. Various ones of us will be around to receive your food donations. THANK YOU!! WHAT IS MOST NEEDED- and be sure food is in original packaging. nothing can be open, or re-bagged in any way. if it is, we have to dispose of it. Rice, 2-3 lb bags beans, dried and canned tomatoes, canned dry pasta tuna unsweetened cereals diapers, esp. size 4 baby wipes PLEASE NO flour, sugar, condiments, or fresh foods (supplied by generous food producer) Here is LINK to the Chelsea Food Collaborative which our effort is supporting. Another option, if it works for you, is to make a financial donation, via link at top of page. Please email Anne Tonachel (annert(a)gmail.com) or myself (polly.attwood(a)gmail.com) if you have any questions. take good care, Polly

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Watch meetings about officer use of force policy, and if you're curious where latest ramen will be - Cambridge Day
by Comcast 28 Jun '20

28 Jun '20

Watch meetings about officer use of force policy, and if you're curious where latest ramen will be - Cambridge Day

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Communal Reading of Frederick Douglass’s Speech and the U.S. Declaration of Independence July 2
by Comcast 28 Jun '20

28 Jun '20

________________________________ From: Comcast <rryals(a)comcast.net> Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2020 3:29 PM To: portersquare(a)googlegroups.com Subject: Fwd: Communal Reading of Frederick Douglass’s Speech and the U.S. Declaration of Independence July 2 [https://meltwater-apps-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/images/570ba439a…] Contact: Muna Kangsen, Manager of Communications, Programs, and Events. Ph. 857-235-9809 or mkangsen(a)cambridgema.gov<mailto:mkangsen@cambridgema.gov> For Immediate Release Communal Reading of Frederick Douglass’s Speech and the U.S. Declaration of Independence on July 2 Cambridge, MA, June 28, 2020 -- The Cambridge Public Library will host a virtual communal reading of Frederick Douglass’s speech, What to the Slave is the Fourth of July, and the U.S. Declaration of Independence, on Wednesday, July 2, at 5:30 p.m. The virtual event is co-sponsored by the Office of Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and City Manager Louis A. DePasquale. Community members are invited to sign-up to read excerpts from both or to view and listen to the reading. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July is a speech that abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass gave at an Independence Day celebration in Rochester, New York on July 5, 1852. Douglass, who had escaped slavery in 1838, was invited to speak in Rochester by the Women’s Abolitionist League of Rochester, New York. The U.S. Declaration of Independence was adopted by the Continental Congress in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776. The Preamble of the Declaration lists inalienable rights, and the main document, a list of grievances for which the 13 colonies wanted independence from Great Britain. The U.S. Declaration of Independence did not address slavery and its claims of inalienable rights did not extend to slaves. When the document was adopted, slavery was legal in all colonies and many of the signatories of the Declaration were slave owners. What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July highlighted the contradictions of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. In the speech, Douglass laments that the rights so eloquently espoused in the Preamble of the U.S. Declaration of Independence did not apply to slaves. In Douglass’s view, the 4th of July is not a day worthy of celebration for the slave because it is “...a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim.” 168 years after Douglass gave his speech, the rights and privileges of citizenship remain elusive to many Black Americans. Community members interested in participating in the program are welcome to register<http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=iNz98fGjAij26T-2FVbfVb…>. Community interested in reading excerpts may indicate so using the dropdown menu on the registration form. -###- About the Cambridge Public Library: At the Cambridge Public Library, we welcome all, inspire minds and empower community. We support a Cambridge where everyone has equitable opportunities to learn, people live their best lives, and democracy thrives. During the COVID-19 health crisis we are offering holds pickup service<http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=iNz98fGjAij26T-2FVbfVb…> and a variety of online and virtual programs and services<http://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=iNz98fGjAij26T-2FVbfVb…>. Source: * From Library of Congress, Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress * Sellman, James Clyde, 1999. Frederick Douglass in Africana Encyclopedia (Vol. I, 627 – 629), New York, New York, Basic Books United States Archives, America’s Founding Documents This email was sent to info(a)portersquare.net City of Cambridge, 795 Massachusetts Avenue, Executive Office, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States

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Re: [Neighbors] [NorthCommons] please post
by raryals 27 Jun '20

27 Jun '20

On Sat, Jun 27, 2020 at 1:18 PM Roxane K. Coombs via groups.io <roxaneart= yahoo.com(a)groups.io> wrote: > FREE. Full size lightweight foam mattress, less than 1 year old. Very > clean, no bugs/virus > a few moving smudges. Plus light-weight F-size metal bed frame in pieces.. > Yours for free. > 3/4 Potter Park – will put items out visibly by cars, or on porch if > raining. "FREE" sign on items. > > > -- Ruth Ryals raryals(a)gmail.com

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Reminder: Stand Out at Porter Square this Sunday 10 am!
by Ruth Ryals 26 Jun '20

26 Jun '20

Reminder: And we hope to have a really creative sign-Look for it! ************************************************************************************* There is a "Stand Out Against Racism" at Porter Square again, this Sunday, June 28, at 10am! Just bring yourself, family, your own sign (hand-written is very effective), your mask and stay socially distant. There is plenty of room around the Square and up/down Mass Ave. We welcome ALL of our neighbors and friends to join us in reflecting how deeply concerned we are about racism in this country. Ruth https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/24/metro/mass-residents-uniformly-back-… See you there! Also (forwarded from NorthCommon): In addition to the standout on Sunday, Please join a group of neighbors EVERY night from 6:30-7:30 on the median of Mass Ave between Linnaean St and just below Martin St, across from ChangSho. Bring a sign. We are going into our 4th week of this standout and plan to be there until CHANGE! Pattie Heyman

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Enforcement of parking, street sweeping, meters back again!
by Ruth Ryals 26 Jun '20

26 Jun '20

Street Cleaning Street cleaning has resumed in the City of Cambridge. Residents were not required to move their cars during the month of June, however, beginning Wednesday, July 1st, street cleaning parking restrictions will be enforced. To sign up for reminders via email and text, please visit cambridgema.gov/subscribe. Traffic & Parking 2019 Resident and Visitor Parking Permits, which were due to expire on March 31, 2020, will continue to be honored until further notice. Cambridge residents who have not yet applied for 2020 Parking Permits are encouraged to submit their Parking Permit application(s) as soon as possible. Information about how to apply for or renew Parking Permits is available at cambridgema.gov/parking-permits. On June 5, the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department announced that all parking regulations, including meter payment requirements, will be in effect starting June 15. All parking ticket disputes and hearings are currently on hold, and staff will resume reviewing disputes and holding hearings once offices re-open. Contact parkingservices(a)cambridgema.gov with questions about permits, tickets, disputes, and/or hearings.

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Compliments of Cambridge Local First
by Ruth Ryals 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

If you have (or know of) a business reopening and need help with indoor/outdoor layout, check out this free assistance: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd7qnSOR2j_UP2SVQS_GQZubzONvK7p3m0… And join Cambridge Local First at https://cambridgelocalfirst.org/ Ruth

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Check out this free webinar-not just for kids !
by Ruth Ryals 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

https://www.globalsecurestudent.com/events-2/free-parent-presentation-for-s…

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