1. Cambridge Day Reports.
2. Evaluation of the non signers, of the Cambridge City Manager, and of the Cambridge City Council.
3. The motion to be considered by the Cambridge City Council on Monday, March 19, 2012.
1. Cambridge Day Reports.
Cambridge Day reports, at http://www.cambridgeday.com/2012/03/17/councillors-seek-to-extend-city-managers-contract-while-they-plan-succession/ that the Cambridge City Council, Monday night, March 19, 2012, will consider a nine month extension for the contract of City Manager Robert Healy. This would extend his end date from September 30, 2012 to June 30, 2013.
The motion to work on a nine month extension is sponsored by seven members of the nine member body. Not included as sponsors are Councilor Craig Kelley and Councilor Kenneth Reeves.
2. Evaluation of the non signers, of the Cambridge City Manager, and of the Cambridge City Council.
The motion is posted below. I find the action troubling.
I find the form of the motions surprising. It comes as quite a surprise in its form inasmuch as this is worded as an exercise of a right by the Cambridge City Council. The seven are proposing simply to extend the contract and have worded the motion as their action with no need to concur by the Cambridge City Manager. They propose a nine month extension to phase him out.
A few weeks ago, I reported a motion by Councilor Kelley to initiate the process on the Cambridge City Manager’s contract with no comment on whether the council would extend it or not. Action on the Kelley motion was delayed a week by, I believe, Councilor Davis’ exercise of her right under the City Charter. That motion was automatically placed on file the following week because Kelley had to be out of state that night.
Kelley was the only member of the current Cambridge City Council who in last year’s election stated he would not vote to rehire the Cambridge City Manager.
Kelley has a public record in which he appears to be the only council member hostile to the Cambridge City Manager.
His position is very hard to compute based on his record with regard to the fake downzonings written by the City Manager’s people and fronted by the Machine. Kelley was very much an aggressive part of these outrages, an aggressive part of the Machine.
Lovely words. Lots of secret fine print which made the words very often so many lies.
Kelley’s record on these zoning outrages put to the lie his long standing claims of environmentalism.
Similarly, Kelley’s main stomping grounds are North Cambridge, which includes Alewife. Kelley has no publicly stated problems with the destruction of the core Alewife reservation for promises of flood protection which, in reality are lies, skillfully worded as usual, but lies. The people active in the North Cambridge group who look the most visible and who the most do not seem t want to know what they are doing certainly look like Kelley people.
Kelley’s indifference to the destruction of Alewife puts the lie to his long standing claims of environmentalism.
Kelley’s claims of hostility to the city manager are interesting. His long record of being part of the city manager’s environmental destruction make his claims of hostility to the city manager quite interesting.
As far as Reeves goes, Reeves is not quite as much of a problem as an “environmentalist” destroying the environment as part of the city manager’s people. Reeves just fits into the normal rottenness of the Cambridge political machine.
As far as the other seven city councilors go, they are extending in office a city manager who should be fired without golden parachute and possibly without pension.
I am very disappointed the Cambridge City Council does not adopt the positions of the Appeals Court panel and the Superior Court judge and jury on Monteiro. It seems very clear that all found it proven that City Manager Healy had committed reprehensible violations of Monteiro’s civil right in retaliation for Monteiro filing a civil rights complaint.
There is nothing complicated about the Monteiro case because it has gone to the Appeals Court with very strong affirmation of findings all over the place. A responsible city council would fire the Cambridge City Manager for cause and use the court decisions as indisputable support.
Cambridge, MA does not have a responsible city council.
3. The motion to be considered by the Cambridge City Council on Monday, March 19, 2012.
The motion reads:
WHEREAS: City Manager Robert Healy's current employment contract with the City of Cambridge expires on September 30, 2012; and WHEREAS: The contract contains a notification provision which needs action by the City Council or Mr. Healy on or before March 31, 2012; and
WHEREAS: As a result of Mr. Healy's long tenure as City Manager, the City of Cambridge has not undertaken a search for a new City Manager for over thirty years; and WHEREAS: It is imperative to the overall stability of the City of Cambridge that the City Council develop both a comprehensive short-term and long-term succession plan that will assist the City Council in their ongoing goal of providing fiscal stability and thoughtful strategic planning and any short-term plan should be in place before the FY 2014 budget process begins; now therefore be it
ORDERED: That the City Council amends the expiration date of the City Manager's current employment contract to June 30, 2013 which coincides with the fiscal FY 2013 year-end; and be it further ORDERED: That all other provisions of the employment contract remain unchanged; and be it further
ORDERED:
That the City Council's Government Operations and Rules Committee, with the assistance of the City Manager, begin the process of developing a comprehensive short-term and long-term succession plans. Such plans shall include timelines and outline opportunities for input from the community including residents, businesses, institutions and city staff. Once developed, such plans shall be presented to the full City Council for final consideration.
Listed sponsors are:
COUNCILLOR MAHER, COUNCILLOR CHEUNG, COUNCILLOR DECKER, VICE MAYOR SIMMONS, COUNCILLOR TOOMEY, MAYOR DAVIS, COUNCILLOR VANBEUZEKOM
This motion is posted at: http://www2.cambridgema.gov/cityClerk/PolicyOrder.cfm?item_id=34502.
