Cambridge council vote puts Reeves back in mayor’s office

Yawu Miller

Back in 1996, when Cambridge City Councilor Ken Reeves became the state’s first black, openly gay mayor, he had big ideas for the city, focusing on the redevelopment of Central Square and helping to foster job creation in the city’s growing technology sector.

Blacks and Latinos had a tenuous toehold in the city, residing mainly in working class neighborhoods of Area 4 and North Cambridge.

Ten years later, much of the city’s black and Latino middle class has been pushed out in the post rent-control era and Reeves is again mayor.

It’s a largely ceremonial post. Cambridge city councilors pick a mayor from among their own ranks every two years, usually taking turns.

In the Council’s Monday vote, Reeves edged out fellow black councilor E. Denise Simmons, six-to-four to clinch what is now his third term as mayor.

“The Cambridge City Council is a magnificent body,” Reeves said in his acceptance speech. “I want to thank my colleagues. Any one of us could be the mayor. It’s an odd process, but I thank you for the honor.”

Although the day-to-day business of running the city is handled by a city manager, the mayor’s post carries with it visibility and affords the elected councilor a sounding board to provide a vision for the city’s future.

While Reeves has not yet articulated that vision, it’s clear that the fate of the city’s working class, black and Latino populations weighs heavily on his mind.

“In ten years, it’s changed drastically,” Reeves told reporters in an impromptu City Hall news conference following his swearing in as mayor. “Our middle class has evaporated. What used to be a triple decker is now condos with empty nesters or a person working in the bio sciences.”

With a high concentration of high tech millionaires and only one in three residents a Cantabrigian of more than ten years, the city has become much wealthier and much more transient. What’s left of the city’s working class populations is largely relegated to subsidized housing developments.

Housing issues weigh heavily on the minds of the city’s black population. Developer Marvin Gilmore says creating more affordable housing should be the city’s number one priority.

“The city should not let any more land go into private hands,” he said. “We don’t have enough land.”

Reeves points to existing efforts Cambridge has undertaken to create housing for its working- and middle class residents, noting that the city currently pays up to $190,000 in costs for first-time homebuyers and offers three-bedroom condominiums for $85,000.

The city also has an Inclusionary Zoning law, mandating that any new housing built in Cambridge offer 15 percent of its units at an affordable rate.

“We want this to be a liveable city,” Reeves said. “When people here retire or are working in mid-level jobs, the question becomes, ‘can I afford to live here?’ The answer has to be ‘yes.’”

Reeves will also have to confront the issue of the achievement gap in the city’s school system, where white and Asian students routinely out-perform black and Latino students. As mayor, Reeves will serve as chairman of the city’s school committee.

His supporters say Reeves is well-positioned to bring the needed changes to the city.

“Ken had a great impact in his first mayoral term,” said Harvard Law School professor Charles Ogletree. “He focused on substantive issues and improved the community substantially.”

Cambridge native George “Chip” Greenidge, who ran a youth center there during Reeves’ first mayoral term, says his strength is his ability to convene.

“Ken has been a team builder,” Greenidge says. “He can galvanize the community, corporations and city government to whatever new vision the city needs to have. He’s gotten a lot of people interested in public service. He’s taught a lot of people that change is possible.”