We need City Councilors who aren’t afraid to stand up to the status quo. It seems that the current Council has let City Manager Bob Healy take their power away from them. This isn’t an accusation – go back to the first candidate forum where the majority of the incumbents defended his high salary and questionable tactics, including the discrimination case filed against him. Are they too afraid to challenge him or are they receiving favors of their own? If not, please explain to me why this occurs?

For the few councilors who do challenge Healy, where are the other councilor’s voices? This reminds me of the Patriot Act, which passed the Senate 99-1 back in 2001. Senator Russ Feingold was the opposing vote, even though at the time it was unpopular. Fast forward nine years, the Senate is now catching on to the fact that there have been abuses regarding the Patriot Act within the Dept. of Justice. Will city councilors recognize flaws in something and stand up for it, even among unpopularity?

In addition, for someone to think that one person is the only person fit for the job is mistaken. Take New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg – he feels he’s the only person knowledgeable and qualified to run the city of New York. That same argument is being said about Healy; however, it’s elitist for an individual or a group of individuals to argue this. If I was in a job position performing poorly, I doubt that upper management would make excuses for my behavior, therefore I don’t think that the City Councilors should feel weak when it comes to challenging him, and there should be more than one voice of reason. For example, City Councilor Craig Kelley shouldn’t have had 4 or 5 councilors cave on different measures that he was trying to implement regarding transparency.

I’m itching for a clean slate regarding the new incoming Council because Cambridge deserves better. Defending Healy’s actions doesn’t showcase strong leadership to push the city forward; it tells other people that his behavior is acceptable. I hope that the Council will begin to listen to the constituents and not wait to challenge mistakes or errors when it’s too late. Cambridge residents, please share your insight if any of the City Council incumbents have challenged political corruption in the past.

Originally published in the Cambridge Chronicle, Wicked Local Cambridge, Oct 30, 2009 @ 11:49 AM. To view it, click here