Conprehensive Professional Public Safety

Rescue Fire Company was founded in 1881. At the age of 14 I became a volunteer and worked my way through the ranks to Captain. As a young teenager, it was the singular experience that became the foundation for my career and dedication to saving lives and pursuing comprehensive safety for everyone in Cambridge and Dorchester County. Because it is solely a volunteer organization, it has saved the taxpayers of Cambridge an enormous amount of money, which has helped control taxes. If we lose those volunteers and have to go to paid fire protection the costs to taxpayers would result in a tax increase of up to 50% or more. Therefore, the City needs to be a better partner to keep it viable, and to improve recruitment, retention, and training. We need to make certain that the equipment is not outdated and always in need of costly repairs. We need to be good stewards of taxpayer’s money and institute a scheduled rotation of fire engines and emergency vehicles that are routinely well-maintained and meet the needs of our City’s architecture to be able to put fires out as quickly and efficiently as possible to save lives and structures. This cannot, and should not, be a political issue. Safety is a life issue for everyone.

As Mayor I will ask the Council to join me in brainstorming and pursuing opportunities to support our volunteer firefighters and all of our emergency responders. The City has a stake in having an appropriate number of current, well-maintained, suitable firefighting vehicles and appropriate equipment and training. In addition, because these firefighters provide this service for no pay, I believe the City would be wise to provide other incentives to entice volunteers to live in the City limits and join either as a firefighter or as an honorary member.

As Mayor, I will initiate the exploration of incentives that have been successfully established in other communities. An efficiently and professionally run fire department will reduce home insurance costs, because a well-prepared fire company can get to and put out a fire more quickly, keeping damage and cost of repairs to a minimum. Homeowners’ Insurers factor in their evaluation of the local fire department when they set your rates. A strong, well-equipped fire department, with access to water sources by way of working, updated fire hydrants, proper height ladders to quickly access multi-storied buildings, and a well-trained firefighting force, supported by an updated 911 and well-connected multi-agency emergency radio system, along with emergency medical teams and law enforcement for traffic control and response teams, are aspects that an insurance underwriter analyzes when setting a community’s insurance rates. A lower insurance rate not only saves property owners money, but also enhances your home’s value for prospective buyers and that makes the entire community more appealing for new business investment, and for teachers, health care professionals, artists, musicians, and a diversity of talent that makes a community more engaging and vibrant.

Our Community, Our Safety, Our Heart

We are living in an extraordinary, and historic, period of time, with the first pandemic of our lifetime, social unrest, and organized racial and cultural division. It will take all of us committed to keeping Cambridge a safe sanctuary for everyone. Our local police play a vital role in our overall safety and we need a strong partnership among police, government officials, schools, community leaders, church groups, and families in our neighborhoods. I have faith in us. In order to attract the kind of police officers we want to give responsibility to for our protection, we have to ask ourselves, “why would the best people want to serve in Cambridge?” What would be an incentive for someone, a person smart enough to be gainfully employed in a safer and more pleasant and more lucrative field, to leave their home and family every day with no certainty for their own safety, no certainty they will return home?

As Mayor of the City of Cambridge, I will ask the Council to join me in exploring all the pros and cons of a Resident Officer Program that would encourage officers to live in and be part of the community they serve. We would need to evaluate salaries, benefits, possible bonus for extraordinary community service or mentoring or being a buddy to a disadvantaged student or a child who has been victimized who doesn’t have a strong male or female figure in their life. I would also ask the Council to consider adding new, and enhancing existing, City sponsored programs to bring police officers to organized events where they can interact with at-risk youth, with our teenagers, and with our young children to change the perception that they should be feared, and reinvigorate the community-oriented police program where, over time, they can become looked upon as helpers and protectors; not as enemies.