Tuesday April 29, 2008

James Scafide, Chief of the Business Technology and Economic Development Division of the Office of Massachusetts Attorney General, will be our guest at the April GAC meeting and luncheon. He will discuss Attorney General Martha Coakley’s initiatives around job creation and economic development and is interested in learning what issues are of importance to the Cambridge business community. If you plan to attend please RSVP to Terrence Smith, Director of Government Affairs at tsmith@cambridgechamber.org or by phone at 617-876-4213. 

(Note that for this month we will be meeting the last Tuesday rather than the fourth Tuesday of the month.)

 

May GAC Meeting and Luncheon
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Guest TBA

February 25, 2008 City Council Roundtable Meeting on Goal Setting

The current process for setting Council goals has been in place since 1996. The purpose is to provide guidance to the City Manager and department heads in developing budgets. There is some lag in the process resulting from biannual elections and the City’s budget cycle. Current Council Goals were developed in 2006 are the basis for the current budget and the budget for FY 09, which begins July 1, 2008.

Cambridge City Council Committees named for 2008-2009 Term
Mayor E. Denise Simmons posted the membership of the Cambridge City Council’s Committees on the Council website at Cambridge City Council Committees. Note that the Mayor is an ex-officio member of all committees and that the Ordinance and Finance Committees are Committees of the whole.

February GAC Meeting and Luncheon
The Government Affairs Committee met yesterday, February 26, and a packed Chamber Board Room expected to hear from Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy. Unfortunately the City Manager was ill. In his place we heard from Deputy City Manager Richard Rossi and Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs Louis Depasquale. Mr. Rossi noted in his introductory comments that it takes the two of them to fill-in for the Manager.

Mr. Rossi began his presentation by distributing copies of the Tripe A Bond Rating reports recently produced by Standard and Poor’s, Fitch, and Moody’s Investment Services. These are the three major municipal bond rating agencies and Cambridge is one of only twenty cities in the country to receive a Triple A rating from all three organizations. 

Mr. Rossi said that the rating agencies identified a number of factors that led to the rating agency decisions. These include the importance of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to the local economy, the strength of the life science and biotech sector in Cambridge, the City’s below average debt, the City having $85 million in excess levy capacity and the City being a net importer of jobs.  

Mr. Rossi reported that the City recently issued $69.9 million in bond financing for several major capital improvement projects. These include completion of the expansion of the main library, completion of the new public safety building, water and sewer projects, the new West Cambridge Youth and Community Center, renovation of the War Memorial facility at the High School and design work for improvements and renovation at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School.

Mr. Depasquale discussed the City’s focus on delivering a budget that focuses on the impact of budget decisions on taxpayers. This has been and continues to be a major focus of the City Manager and the City has for the past several years enhanced the information it provided to taxpayers. 

According to Mr. Depasquale the most recent budget increase was just under four percent but the City was able to fund that with a less than three percent increase in the tax levy. He also reported that last year water and sewer rates were not increased for the first-time in the City’s history. The City is currently preparing the budget for the next fiscal year which begins on July 1. The major increases in this budget will be from capitol improvements, employee health insurance and employee wage increases. In the current budget the Commercial property owners pays 65% of property taxes with 35% paid by residential owners.

Future work for the City, according to Mr. Rossi, includes continued improvements to the City’s cable television system, support for the work of the Historical Commission to preserve historic properties, and support of the very popular Facade Improvement Program that assists small businesses. He also mentioned that the Leaf Blower ordinance will go into effect soon. He strongly urged businesses to find ways to work with the Cambridge School Department including hiring Cambridge youths and urged those organizations doing construction projects to take care in reducing noise that impacts neighbors. He also said that the City is looking for approximately 13,500 square feet of space for a permanent home for the Community Learning Center, which provides adult education courses.

During question and answer members asked about the capitol projects that are underway and future projects and the re-use of facilities. Mr. Rossi said that the next major project is the renovation of CRLS and other future projects include the renovation of some fire houses. He was asked about the future use of the current Police headquarters and said that that is still being worked on as is the use of facilities under the control of the Cambridge School Department. The need for improvements of roads and sidewalks in Kendall Square was also raised.

One question about crime led to a suggestion that the GAC invite Police Commissioner Robert Haas to a future meeting and luncheon which we hope to schedule this year.

Thanks again to Mr. Rossi and Mr. Depasquale filling in for the City Manager and thanks to all who attended.

View current GCA Update

For a listing of public meetings, visit the Public Meetings link or the Public Meeting Notices area of the City of Cambridge Web site.