Cambridge City Council/2026

What the Council decided, and how each councillor voted

Every Cambridge City Council meeting in 2026, filed by date and searchable by keyword: each item the Council acted on, the result, and every councillor's recorded vote.

25 items at Cambridge City Council, May 18 2026

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Marc McGovern

Named on 16 roll-call votes in these results: 15 yes, 1 no. Sponsor of 9 items. Show split votes only

Cambridge City Council, May 18 2026

Regular Meeting·Mon, May 18, 2026·Final actions published
AgendaFinal actionsMinutesVideo
Item 4 · CMA 2026-148 · City Manager's Agenda

A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $30,000.00 from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Land Conservation Assistance Grant

PassedOrder Adopted and CMA Placed on File
Roll call 8 yes · 1 absentMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Catherine Zusy, Sumbul Siddiqui
Absent
E. Denise Simmons
Item 5 · CMA 2026-156 · City Manager's Agenda

A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $450,000.00 to support the purchase of four parcels of land located within the town of Lincoln, MA.

PassedAppropriation Order Adopted/Orders 5a, 5b, 5c Adopted CMA Placed on File
Roll call 9 yesMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, E. Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Catherine Zusy, Sumbul Siddiqui
Item 6 · CMA 2026-149 · City Manager's Agenda

A communication transmitter from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $350,000.00 from the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Drinking Water Supply Protection Grant.

PassedOrder Adopted and CMA Placed on File
Roll call 9 yesMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, E. Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Catherine Zusy, Sumbul Siddiqui
Item 7 · CMA 2026-150 · City Manager's Agenda

A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to appropriation of $251,320.90 from the Federal Fiscal Year 2024 Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) Community Connections Grant.

PassedOrder Adopted and CMA Placed on File
Roll call 8 yes · 1 absentMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Catherine Zusy, Sumbul Siddiqui
Absent
E. Denise Simmons
Item 2 · POR 2026-105 · Policy Orders

That the appointment of Interim City Clerk Paula M. Crane be extended for an additional period not to exceed six months.

Sponsors Sumbul Siddiqui, Marc McGovern, Catherine Zusy
PassedAdopted
Voice vote
Item 1 · POR 2026-97 · Calendar

That the City Manager is requested to confer with the relevant departments to immediately request Empower to resign from the Massachusetts High Technology Council and consider options for transitioning the City of Cambridge out of Empower and transferring its retirement accounts into one of the City’s other retirement programs should Empower continue to be a member of the MHTC.

Other actionWithdrawn
Roll call 9 yesMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, E. Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Catherine Zusy, Sumbul Siddiqui
Item 2 · POR 2026-98 · Calendar

That the City Manager is requested to work with relevant City departments including the Law Department to ensure that there is no new data collected by ShotSpotter devices and all existing data shall be kept, used, or deleted only as required by law under our Welcoming Community Ordinance and Surveillance Technology Ordinance.

PassedAdopted
Roll call 5 yes · 2 no · 2 presentMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Sumbul Siddiqui
No
Timothy R. Flaherty, E. Denise Simmons
Present
Burhan Azeem, Catherine Zusy
Item 3 · POR 2026-99 · Calendar

That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Mayor’s Office, Law Department, Election Commission, and other relevant City Departments to engage the Collins Center in assisting the City in reviewing policy options for allowing Cambridge voters to directly elect the City’s Mayor.

PassedAdopted as Amended
Roll call 7 yes · 1 no · 1 presentMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, E. Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Sumbul Siddiqui
No
Catherine Zusy
Present
Ayah A. Al-Zubi
Item 5 · POR 2026-102 · Calendar

That a special Committee of the City Council be formed to conduct a full and complete analysis of each of the proposed changes to the Rules of the City Council, with the goal of a transparent understanding of each of the proposed changes and the implications.

Failed
Roll call 3 yes · 5 no · 1 presentMarc McGovern: No
Who voted how
Yes
Timothy R. Flaherty, E. Denise Simmons, Catherine Zusy
No
Burhan Azeem, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Sumbul Siddiqui
Present
Ayah A. Al-Zubi
Item 6 · COF 2026-73 · Calendar

A communication from City Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler transmitting the proposed 2026- 2027 Rules of the Cambridge City Council. CHARTER RIGHT EXERCISED BY COUNCILLOR FLAHERTY IN COUNCIL MAY 11, 2026 TABLED IN COUNCIL MAY 18, 2026

Tabled or heldTabled
Roll call 6 yes · 3 noMarc McGovern: Yes
Who voted how
Yes
Burhan Azeem, Timothy R. Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, E. Denise Simmons, Catherine Zusy
No
Ayah A. Al-Zubi, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Sumbul Siddiqui
Coverage and sources
Meetings
27 of 31 with Final Actions
Jan 12, 2026 to Nov 9, 2026
Votes
787 items, 508 roll calls
Latest Final Actions: Nov 2, 2026

No Final Actions published for: Regular Meeting, Jan 12, 2026; Special Meeting, Jun 23, 2026; Roundtable, Aug 6, 2026; Regular Meeting, Nov 9, 2026.

Where this comes from

Every item and vote here is read from the City Clerk's Final Actions for each meeting, published on the city's PrimeGov portal. They list every item the Council acted on, its sponsors and reference number, the result, and on a roll call each councillor under yeas, nays, present and absent. Items carried by voice vote show as voice votes, with any absent councillors named.

Each meeting links to its agenda, Final Actions, minutes once they are approved, and video. A meeting appears before its Final Actions do, and its items fill in once the clerk publishes them. Planning Board and Board of Zoning Appeal meetings are not included yet.

Meetings from Jan 1, 2026 to Nov 11, 2026. Built Nov 12, 2026 by Ingest from the City of Cambridge's public records.