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Cambridge City Council votes 8-0 to enter executive session for city manager negotiations
Summary
At a Feb. 10, 2025 special meeting, the Cambridge City Council voted 8-0, with one member absent, to close public comment and enter executive session for a strategy session in preparation for negotiations with the city manager; the council said it will not reconvene in open session.
The Cambridge City Council voted 8-0, with one member absent, on Feb. 10, 2025, to close public comment and enter an executive session to conduct a strategy session in preparation for negotiations with non‑union personnel, specifically the city manager.
The vote came during a special remote meeting called to order by the mayor. Councilors closed public comment after no members of the public had signed up to speak; Councilor Toner moved to close public comment. Councilor Siddiqui moved that the council go into executive session "for the purpose of conducting a strategy session in preparation for negotiations with non‑union personnel, specifically the city manager." The clerk recorded eight members voting yes and one member absent.
Under state law cited at the meeting, the council used authority to permit remote participation and to take executive‑session personnel action. The council recorded that executive session would include the eight members present and specified participants: city council outside counsel Elizabeth Valerio, City Clerk Diane LeBlanc, Deputy City Clerk Paula Crane, and Special Assistant to the City Council Naomi Stefan. The council also announced it would not reconvene in open session.
Roll call during the two procedural votes recorded the following: Councilor Azim (yes); Vice Mayor McGovern (yes); Councilor Noland (yes); Councilor Siddiqui (yes); Councilor Sabrina Wheeler (yes); Councilor Toner (yes); Councilor Wilson (absent); Councilor Zusi (yes); Mayor Simmons (yes). The clerk announced the final count as eight yes votes and one absence.
The meeting record includes references to Chapter 2 of the Acts of 2023 permitting remote participation and to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 38, Section 20G on public comment procedures, which the clerk cited when describing public comment rules and how to submit written comments to the city clerk. The transcript contains no substantive public remarks and no further details about negotiation strategy or any schedule for a future open meeting.
Because the discussion moves to executive session and the council said it will not reconvene in open session, no additional public record of negotiation deliberations appears in the meeting minutes provided.
