{"id":176,"date":"2026-05-22T17:09:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176"},"modified":"2026-05-22T17:09:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T17:09:45","slug":"higher-parking-fees-on-the-way-and-perhaps-direct-election-of-mayors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176","title":{"rendered":"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

City Council appears to have settled on a fee structure for resident parking permits, for now.<\/p>\n

Read more Boosters \u2018R Us and a serviceable space opera<\/a><\/p>\n

Starting next year, residents will pay $75 for an annual parking permit, up from $25, the cost since 2013. However, residents for whom $75 constitutes a financial hardship can check a box when applying for or renewing their sticker and get it for free.<\/p>\n

A policy order approving the new structure passed 7-2. A late amendment courtesy of Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem was added to the order, requiring the city to report back to council how many residents take the exemption.<\/p>\n

This is the fourth time council has debated parking fees since February. It first tinkered with the fee structure back in March in an effort to cover the cost of issuing permits, which the city department of transportation claims is about $3 million.<\/p>\n

The proposal drew immediate backlash from older Cantabrigians because it eliminated free parking stickers for all seniors. Some of them said that even a $25 increase for low-income seniors was too much.<\/p>\n

\u201cCambridge seniors are being asked to absorb one more burden,\u201d said Cambridge resident Valerie Bonds during public comment. \u201cPart of the exemption is a recognition of the commitment that seniors have made to this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Critics have said the policy change will disproportionately affect low-income seniors. McGovern pointed out, though, that this argument applied to low-income residents of any age.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want the people who can afford to pay full price to pay full price, and the people who can\u2019t to not have to regardless of their age,\u201d McGovern said.<\/p>\n

The policy order originally before the council Monday requested the city manager\u2019s office to assess how removing the exemption would affect seniors. \u00a0Councillor E. Denise Simmons, who has been the council\u2019s most vocal opponent of the fee, was the lead sponsor.<\/p>\n

But McGovern offered an amendment to replace that language with changing the fee structure to allow senior citizens to avoid a fee by checking a box claiming financial hardship..<\/p>\n

\u201cThis, I think, is a good compromise,\u201d McGovern said. \u201cSeniors will continue to pay zero if they check that box, as will people of any age.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGovern\u2019s amendment narrowly passed 5-4, with Azeem and Simmons along with councillors Timothy Flaherty and Patty Nolan voting against it. Councillor Cathie Zusy had voted with Flaherty and Simmons on this issue previously, but this time broke with them to vote in favor of the amendment. She offered tepid support for the new fee structure, saying she would like to think of it as a one-year \u201cpilot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Unlike other city benefits, residents with cars won\u2019t have to provide any proof of income to obtain the exemption.<\/p>\n

Read more In Somerville, a Salute to Service<\/a><\/p>\n

Azeem expressed concern that too many residents will take the exemption.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you ask me, \u2018Hey, do you have an extra 75 bucks, lying around?\u2019 I\u2019m not feeling great about [giving] 75 extra bucks, right?\u201d Azeem said \u201cI both support what we\u2019re trying to do here, but I also worry that \u2026 if 50 percent of the people decide to check the box, that\u2019s one and a half million dollars.\u201d He said it could be a high-impact decision.<\/p>\n

Azeem added the amendment requiring the city to review how many people take the exemption but along with Flaherty voted against the overarching policy order.<\/p>\n

How to select a mayor<\/h2>\n

Seven members of city council also voted to explore direct mayoral elections, a policy order that could reshape the role of mayor. Currently, city councillors vote for mayor once they are sworn in at the start of a new term. While the mayor plays an important role enforcing procedure in council meetings and has ceremonial significance, the job has little formal power beyond that of a typical councillor, as the city manager serves as the city administration\u2019s chief executive.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Some cities allow candidates to run for only one office at a time, meaning office-seekers would have to pick mayor or council. That option could dramatically reshape Cambridge\u2019s city council. Other options would be an instant-runoff system where candidates can put themselves out for both mayor and councillor.<\/p>\n

The city will work with the Collins Center at the University of Massachusetts Boston to review options for electing a mayor. The Collins Center also assisted with last year\u2019s charter review process<\/p>\n

Resulting changes to the city\u2019s charter could go further than the matter of electing a mayor, though. Simmons introduced an amendment calling for the Collins Center to also prepare a \u201cneutral review of the unresolved governance questions that emerged from the recent charter review process,\u201d which could also include \u201cthe role and authority of the mayor, the relationship between the city council and the city manager, and the public engagement process that would be necessary before any further charter amendment is advanced.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simmons said the purpose of the amendment was to make sure that the voices of communities that weren\u2019t engaged during last year\u2019s charter review process are heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we go down that road again, are we going to do it the same way, or are we going to work even harder to get more voices at the table?\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n

In Cambridge\u2019s governmental structure, the city manager has broad executive authority, including recommending the municipal budget and property tax rates, and overseeing large departments like Cambridge\u2019s police force.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think there\u2019s a balance issue,\u201d Nolan said, supporting the amendments.<\/p>\n

Councillor Ayah Al-Zubi introduced an amendment to explore electing the city manager. \u201cI believe residents should be able to elect their own executive based on the principle of what democracy should look like,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a whole different ballgame,\u201d McGovern countered.<\/p>\n

Her amendment was voted down by 7 to 2, with only Councillor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler joining her.<\/p>\n

Al-Zubi voted present in the resulting policy order, while Zusy voted against it, repeating her objections from the prior week. \u201cWe already spent half a year debating these things,\u201d Zusy said. \u201cIt\u2019s time to move on and really focus on advancing the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more If only humans could breathe like yellow-rumped warblers<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

City Council appears to have settled on a fee structure for resident parking permits, for now. Read more Boosters \u2018R Us and a serviceable space opera Starting next year, residents will pay $75 for an annual parking permit, up from $25, the cost since 2013. However, residents for whom $75 constitutes a financial hardship can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[14,84,107],"class_list":["post-176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-cambridge-city-council","tag-cambridge-mayoral-election","tag-parking"],"yoast_head":"\nHigher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors - Cambridge Moving Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors - Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"City Council appears to have settled on a fee structure for resident parking permits, for now. Read more Boosters \u2018R Us and a serviceable space opera Starting next year, residents will pay $75 for an annual parking permit, up from $25, the cost since 2013. However, residents for whom $75 constitutes a financial hardship can […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cambridge Moving Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-22T17:09:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\"},\"headline\":\"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T17:09:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176\"},\"wordCount\":1041,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Cambridge City Council\",\"Cambridge mayoral election\",\"parking\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Government\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176\",\"name\":\"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors - Cambridge Moving Hub\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-22T17:09:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg\",\"width\":986,\"height\":758},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?p=176#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cambridge Moving Hub\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cambridgemovinghub.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors - Cambridge Moving Hub","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors - Cambridge Moving Hub","og_description":"City Council appears to have settled on a fee structure for resident parking permits, for now. Read more Boosters \u2018R Us and a serviceable space opera Starting next year, residents will pay $75 for an annual parking permit, up from $25, the cost since 2013. However, residents for whom $75 constitutes a financial hardship can […]","og_url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176","og_site_name":"Cambridge Moving Hub","article_published_time":"2026-05-22T17:09:45+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373"},"headline":"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors","datePublished":"2026-05-22T17:09:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176"},"wordCount":1041,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg","keywords":["Cambridge City Council","Cambridge mayoral election","parking"],"articleSection":["Government"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176","name":"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors - Cambridge Moving Hub","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg","datePublished":"2026-05-22T17:09:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/6d991696b60665f66ad4b6ee54f82228.jpg","width":986,"height":758},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=176#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Higher parking fees on the way, and perhaps direct election of mayors"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/","name":"Cambridge Moving Hub","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5fd5ad832d9b2ddb71a83fd908922373","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com"],"url":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}