Transparency has been a controversial issue for Cambridge Waterfront Development Inc., the entity responsible for the Cambridge Harbor project. The City Council and citizens alike have complained in the past about CWDI’s opaque dealings and lack of communication with the public. So, it was appropriate, and likely inevitable, that the issue arose during the January 15th meeting of the CWDI Board of Directors at the Dorchester Chamber of Commerce.
As if anticipating this, CWDI President Angie Hengst addressed it during her opening remarks. After mentioning the December 19th groundbreaking for the Cambridge Harbor promenade, she said that the board had “talked about some planning for public information sessions throughout 2025 just to keep the public informed. Obviously, they can come to our meetings, but maybe some more specialized meetings talking about various parts of the project. But, you know, we really want to keep the public abreast of what’s going on so they feel part of the project and know where we’re headed. So we’ll be looking into planning some of those for the year and then some possible community events.”
Later, after board member Frank Narr discussed profits and losses due to last year’s litigation, the beginning of construction on the promenade, and predicted property sales, his colleague Tim Crosby inquired about the public’s involvement in decisions about the design and development of the Harbor project.
“Because it’s been two years since the public input side of this was a very active role, right?” asked Crosby. “And there are different stakeholders out here. Some are community based, some are based by ethnicity and things like that. Are we going to exert a particular effort to those communities and say, ‘Okay, look, here’s where we are. What do you think and what are we missing before we get too far down this thing?'”
“So where a particular commercial entity goes or whether residential goes or where hotel goes is still subject to a response from a developer,” Narr responded. “So, you know what the community may say, if the community says how we think of hotels here, it’s really the market’s going to kind of drive where those things go.”
Crosby agreed that the citizens can’t really have a say regarding the major parts of the project, but he said “there’s an awful lot of small pieces that can have a direct impact on certain communities that I think I just want to get out and communicate with. The more we communicate, I think the better off we are.”
Hengst then said, for the benefit of the audio recording and the citizens present, that the public is encouraged to reach out to city and county representatives with comments and concerns. “So, that’s another way for the community to voice their thoughts along the way.”
When the meeting was turned over to the public for comments, new resident Stephanie Willett pointed to Crosby’s remarks about communication and mentioned how important that is. “Passive communications, putting information out there, is not always good for a lot of minority communities. I haven’t caught up with everything that’s been going on, but to the extent that you all can get out and get into some of these communities and share your faces and show that you’re willing to be engaged with them. Relationships are very important.”
Jennie Leichtling of Mill Street, whose background is in fundraising development for nonprofit organizations, proposed that public communication can manifest itself in more ways than just talking or sending messages.
“The one thing that I am hearing a lot of is ‘if you build it, they will come,'” said Leichtling. “You need to build the community first, and you need to make sure that what you build reflects what the people want. And so, I’m hearing really responsible building stuff, everything that you guys are doing the research for, the capital investments, I think it all sounds great, wonderful. What I would propose adding in addition to this is doing kind of consistent community development and not just at meetings, but on the location.”
For “the location,” Leichtling focused on the playground next to the Visitor Center. She suggested bringing in a coffee cart or food trucks, installing picnic benches, and building a beach volleyball court.
“Because,” she said, “we need to continually invite the community to that space. Because I think the more we invite them, the more we’ll see how the community wants to use that space. Because, until we actually get the community there, we don’t really know what they’re going to actually do.”
“We’ve definitely had conversations of how we can get the community out there and start utilizing that space more, and they’re all wonderful ideas,” Hengst replied.
Since Mayor Lajan Cephas, City Commissioner Sputty Cephas, and City Manager Glenn Steckman were present at the meeting, along with several concerned citizens, one could say that communications are open and the conversation has begun. The next CWDI board meeting is March 19 at 4pm. For those interested in keeping up with the project or who want to contact CWDI, go to Cambridgeharbor.org.
Patti Willis says
Always a good idea to engage the many aspects of the community in ongoing discussions. Everyone may not agree or be able to influence final plans, but they can share their views and have those views respected, while learning more about the intricacies of the planning.