THE HARVARD CRIMSON THE UNIVERSITY DAILY, EST. 1873
| VOLUME CL, NO. 27
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EDITORIAL
SPORTS
Launch Grants Need More Fuel
Men’s Water Polo Extends to 14-Game Win Streak
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CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
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| FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2023
Cambridge Elections 2023 CAMBRIDGE HEADS TO THE POLLS. This Tuesday, Cantabrigians will elect nine city councilors and six at-large School Committee members to lead the city and its school system for the next two years. Before you cast your vote, read The Crimson’s guide to the candidates and some of the defining issues of the race, including public safety, transportation infrastructure, and climate policy. SEE PAGE 7 JULIAN J. GIORDANO — CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER, SAMI E. TURNER — CRIMSON DESIGNER
Council Hopefuls Push for Public School Committee Candidates Safety, Police Reform Split on Algebra, Special Ed BY RYAN H. DOAN-NGUYEN AND YUSUF S. MIAN CRIMSON STAFF WRITERS
As Cambridge voters head to the polls Tuesday, policing and public safety remain top of mind for voters and candidates alike. Cambridge politics have been dominated by the issue of public safety ever since Cambridge police shot and killed 20-year-old Sayed Faisal in January. Faisal’s death coincided with multiple high-profile police killings across the country, sparking outcry from activists, police abolitionists, cultural and religious organizations, and residents. The city saw months of protests, disruptions, and heated exchanges between councilors and residents during Cambridge City Council meetings, a week-long picket at City Hall, and even its occupation. Council candidates remain split on the issues of policing and safety — and what forms they should take. A Reckoning on Cambridge Police On Jan. 4, a 911 caller reported Faisal, a Bangladeshi American
college student and Cambridge resident, harming himself with a knife and broken glass. When police arrived, Faisal fled, prompting a foot chase through Cambridgeport after which he was cornered by multiple officers in a residential backyard. Faisal then moved toward CPD officer Liam McMahon — an eight-year veteran of the department — while aiming his knife, and when McMahon’s sponge round failed to stop him, McMahon shot and killed him. Last month, District Attorney Marian T. Ryan released the full findings of the investigation in an inquest report. The Massachusetts District Court Judge overseeing the case, John F. Coffey, concluded McMahon’s actions were “objectively reasonable” and that he will not face prosecution. The city has since enacted policing and public safety reforms, such as creating a procedural justice dashboard, increasing staffing for the city-sponsored Community Safety Department, and exploring the use of body cameras — a practice absent among Cambridge officers, in contrast to the neighboring cities of Boston and Somerville. In an October statement is-
sued after the inquest report’s release, City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 wrote that Cambridge will continue to work with the Police Executive Research Forum, a policing think tank led by police chiefs nationwide that assessed CPD’s practices and publicly disclosed its findings. The city has also expanded funding for the Cambridge Holistic Emergency Alternative Response Team — a non-police alternative to emergency response in Cambridge also known as HEART. Where Council Candidates Stand on Policing In March, all incumbent City Councilors voted to fund HEART except for E. Denise Simmons, who voted present, and Paul F. Toner, who opposed the measure. The measure allocated funds from the American Plan Act to HEART with the eventual goal of transferring certain 911 calls to the organization. Simmons and Toner, who are both running for re-election, do not mention HEART or police alternatives in their public platforms.
SEE PAGE 7
BY SALLY E. EDWARDS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
Two defining issues in the Cambridge School Committee race — equitable math curriculum and inclusive special education — have juxtaposed some of the contest’s incumbents against their challengers. The candidates for the School Committee have spent months campaigning and answering questions at forums. On Tuesday, city voters will go to the polls to decide who will craft the district’s education policy for the next two years. Much of the debate in the race has centered around how and when to implement a plan to offer Algebra 1 to all eighth graders and the city’s special education services. Algebra 1 for All Every School Committee candidate in the race says it’s time for Cambridge to begin offering Algebra 1 to middle schoolers — a goal that has vexed the panel since the early 1990s. But they’re split over how to do it. The four incumbents in the contest — David J. Weinstein,
Rachel B. Weinstein, Caroline M. Hunter, and José Luis Rojas Villarreal —served on the committee that voted in support of a September motion to expand Algebra 1 to all Cambridge middle schools by 2025. The motion was referred to Cambridge’s superintendent, Victoria L. Greer, who is tasked with finalizing the plan. “My commitment is to make sure that we see it through and we see it through effectively,” said David Weinstein — a CPS father and former public school teacher serving his second term on the school committee — who jointly introduced the September motion. But many of the challengers in this year’s race say the proposal moves too slowly. Eugenia B. Schraa Huh ’04, a former public school teacher and CPS mother who has made the issue central to her candidacy, said the plan is “at best a partial solution.” “Clearly, that’s not really a solution because that’s three years from now,” she said. The issue took center stage in the race after a July Boston Globe report outlined CPS parents’ concerns about the absence of middle school Algebra 1.
The concerns center around inequities between CPS middle schoolers and students who leave the district and take Algebra at non-CPS middle schools before returning to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in ninth grade. Parents say the district leaves their middle schoolers disadvantaged by not preparing them for upper-level math entering high school. Some challengers say the district needs a more robust plan to implement its 2025 proposal. “I have zero faith that it will be done successfully on the timeline that has been proposed by the district,” said Elizabeth C. P. Hudson, a challenger who has pushed for strong STEM education in CPS. “I’ve seen no discussion of the preparation.” Challenger Alborz Bejnood said the current plan is a “step in the right direction,” but he said it doesn’t move quickly enough. “I feel that it’s something that could be done within the upper schools by no later than next year,” he said. “In the meantime, I think that it’s not unreasonable to appropriate some of the funds for busing or commutes for kids who are ready or able to just take
SEE PAGE 9
CLIMATE
PROFILES
TRANSIT
Council Hopefuls Address Climate Change
Meet the 24 City Council Candidates
Separated Bike Lanes Divide Council Race
PAGE 7. Four months after Cambridge became the first
PAGE 8. There are two dozen candidates vying for Cam-
PAGE 9. Cambridge’s bike lanes have emerged as a divisive topic ahead of the Council election. While some have championed the continued development of separated bike lanes, others have sought to halt them.
known city in the United States to require large buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2035, environmental policy has become a key issue in the Council race.
bridge City Council — from the incumbents to grassroots challengers, from social workers and teachers to bartenders and filmmakers, meet the hopefuls.