View this email in your browser Read about the new City Manager and Municipal Broadband in Cambridge. Come Support Municipal Broadband Please join us on Tuesday, October 18th from 6-8 pm in the Sullivan Chamber at Cambridge City Hall to discuss municipal fiber and the implications of Comcast’s de-facto monopoly on high-speed Internet in the Cambridge area. Not only does this lack of competition lead to unfair pricing and low quality service for both residents and businesses, but it also serves to widen the Digital Divide. The state of Internet in Cambridge restricts those with lower socioeconomic status from equal access to both information and economic opportunities.



The City's appointed Municipal Broadband Taskforce just wrapped up their first phase by submitting a series recommendations to the City Manager which can be found here:



http://bit.ly/2cNXXOF



We are excited to be hosting Professor Susan Crawford, who is the John A. Reilly Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and co-director of the Berkman Institute for Internet and Society. We are also welcoming representatives from the Cambridge Municipal Broadband Task Force to discuss their work on this important issue. For more information, please reply to this email or view the event page here.



City Manager Search Concluded The City Council voted to appoint a new City Manager--the product of Cambridge's first ever national search for this position. Internal candidate, Louie DePasquale, was appointed the position with a unanimous 9-0 vote. City Councillor David Maher shepherded the process and I believe he has a lot to be proud of, despite some of the details apparently beyond his control, which I will detail below. This is a historic occasion and one that Louie and the entire Cambridge community can be proud of.



With that said, processes like this cannot escape critical scrutiny. I believe that the City Council did not appropriate the correct amount of money to run this search and that the search firm did not bring us a true nationwide head-hunting process (and instead largely opened this application up as an "open call"). The Council also seems to have rushed through the process, where I believe deep scrutiny of each candidate's specific plans, commitments, and goals was required, but not fulfilled. The Council could have also, easily, conducted salary discussions with prospective applicants, prior to the official appointment (for this "$275+" a year position) rather than after the appointment. We could have easily increased our negotiating leverage, keeping pay for this position within more reasonable bounds.



Fortunately for me, and presumably for several other councillors, Louie has a gracious spirit and an open door policy. I have had the opportunity to meet at length with Louie DePasquale and have gotten to know him well through his work as Cambridge's head of Finance. While I believe the process can always be improved, Louie and I have enjoyed a discussion on various "non-controversial" commitments, such as social and educational equity in Cambridge, increased university and corporate engagement towards community benefit, more proactive development of "all-affordable" city owned housing, and a host of other issues. We have also discussed increased community outreach and engagement, good government, project management, and other challenging "City of Cambridge community process" items.



Louie is a lifelong resident of Cambridge and has served for twenty years as the City's Budget Director until he was appointed Assistant City Manager for Fiscal Affairs in 2002. In his roles, Louie has been responsible for overseeing the City's finances and has been actively involved in major City policy and initiatives.



I'll be coming back to you soon with more video updates on these issues and many others. We hope to have your feedback and your involvement throughout the fall and winter! Good Vibes and High-Fives, Nadeem Mazen and all of Team Nadeem

Don't Forget to Contact Us!



If you have questions or want to get involved with Team Nadeem, please e-mail me at: Nadeem@nadeemtron.com or visit the webpage here