Cambridge Council Hears 150-Plus Speakers on Gaza Ceasefire Resolution

CAMBRIDGE — January 29, 2024 — Cambridge City Council held a marathon remote session dominated by public testimony on a Gaza ceasefire resolution, with more than 150 speakers signed up to address Policy Order 10. Vice Mayor Paul McGovern chaired the meeting after Mayor Denise Simmons joined late; the council voted 8-0 early in the session to cap each speaker at one minute given the crowd. A clear majority of those who testified urged passage of the ceasefire resolution — many asking that the "whereas" preamble clauses be stripped entirely — while a significant minority asked the council to vote no or to add language labeling Hamas a terrorist organization and conditioning any ceasefire on hostage release. State Representative Mike Conley testified in support, calling Somerville's recent passage of a similar resolution a model for Cambridge. The council also heard from speakers in favor of Policy Order 9, a proposed zoning change that would lift a prohibition on households of more than three unrelated people, and took up Policy Order 4 directing immediate safety improvements at the intersection of Cardinal Medeiros Avenue, Binney Street, and Bristol Street, where a car had recently crashed into a nearby home for the second time in 20 years. No substantive votes on the three major policy orders were recorded at the meeting.