Several Cambridge city councilors said they were frustrated with the delayed response from the cityâs legal department regarding a total tear gas ban at a Monday meeting.
The Council discussed draft ordinance language surrounding the prohibition of tear gas use by the Cambridge Police Department. Though CPD has not used tear gas since 1972, its use is not explicitly banned.
Police Commissioner Branville G. Bard, Jr. said at the meeting he is currently pursuing a tear gas ban via the implementation of an official department policy.
âWe found some tear gas in our inventory and destroyed it,â Bard said. âWe have no tear gas on hand, we don t authorize the use of it, and I have no problem with totally supporting a ban on using tear gas.â
Cambridge City Council advanced a zoning amendment for the Alewife neighborhood to the next round of consideration and received yet another update on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout at Monday s meeting.
The Council passed a motion 6-3 to bring the zoning petition to a second reading, awaiting a final vote on March 15. The petition proposes the development of 490 units of affordable housing and $17 million in funding toward a new bridge with an accompanying shuttle service for the area.
Petition sponsor Councilor Marc C. McGovern said current zoning laws in Alewife should be changed to accommodate new housing and neighborhood improvements.
âA lot of the things that we are talking about are community benefits: housing, the bridge, additional open space, reduction in parking, retail â none of those things are required under current zoning,â McGovern said. âAt the end of the day, I have to decide and we have to decide what we think is the better outcome for the city a
The Cambridge Health Department hosted a virtual town hall Tuesday during which public health officers, medical experts, and government officials provided updates on the Covid-19 vaccine rollout and discussed hesitations that some people of color may have about receiving the vaccine.
Moderated by Cambridge mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, the panelists included Cambridge Chief Public Health Officer Claude A. Jacob, Harvard Medical School professor and Cambridge Health Alliance-affiliated physician Michael C. Payne â77, Cambridge Police Superintendent Christine A. Elow, and Cambridge Housing Authority Deputy Executive Director Brenda S. Downing.
To initiate the town hall discussion, Jacob updated Cambridge residents on the progress of the vaccine rollout, especially with regards to senior citizens and people experiencing homelessness. The cityâs efforts to vaccinate its vulnerable populations demonstrates its ability to run a ârobust city-wide vaccine program,â according t