Q&A with Cambridge Mayor-Elect Lajan Cephas

In the December 3rd runoff to succeed Steve Rideout as Cambridge’s next mayor, City Council President Lajan Cephas beat former mayor Andrew Bradshaw with 53% of the vote. Cephas will become the city’s second Black woman mayor when she is sworn in at the new city council’s first session in January.

The race was a contentious one. The Maryland Democratic Party took the unusual step of publicly supporting Cephas, claiming the Republicans backed Bradshaw, who had resigned as mayor in 2022 after a year in office due to criminal charges that later led to conviction. Mayor Rideout came out for Cephas, while two of her colleagues on the city council endorsed Bradshaw.

With the election over, Cambridge native Cephas, a former business owner and correctional officer who now sells insurance, is already taking on the duties of mayor since Rideout’s early retirement. She spared a few minutes to speak with the Spy about her future in office.

How are you feeling since the election?

I am relieved that it is over because that was a really ugly process, and I don’t like to be a part of anything that’s negative. I’m more like a get-it-done type of person. I’m not all about all the extras and I just felt like that was a little bit too extra.

To what do you attribute your win?

I attribute it to the work that we’ve done with the current city staff. Also my leadership as the Commission president, also during the time that I had to act with the powers of mayor. And then I think I also attribute it to the other candidate had his opportunity, and he didn’t do his best with that opportunity. So, I believe that’s what contributed to the win.

What in your background helped you to become mayor?

Everything. Yeah. So, for more than 20 years, I’ve worked in business management. I’ve worked with many different types of people having to do outreach while still having to run a business at the same time. And I’ve worked in many cities from San Diego, California, from Baltimore City, from obviously Cambridge, Salisbury, even did some work in Delaware. So, just dealing with different types of people, like having conversations, and having to understand what is the challenge so we can overcome it. I know that’s definitely the advantage that provided me, and also the experience, as far as me being in this role of mayor and also the Commission president, because it’s really the business of people. So, if you understand people, you can do anything. You can work in customer service. You could be a mayor, you could be a pastor of a church and, if you’re able to connect with people, you could be successful at just about anything.

How do you feel about the low voter turnout in this election?

I think the low voter turnout, I think it is close to the average based off my understanding of it, based off what our research is. About maybe 15% of voters tend to turn up for local elections. In our case it was less than that. I think it was more like around 11 to 12%. My math could be a little off. But a lot of people, they’re workers, they have children, you know, they have day-to-day life that they’re trying to figure out, are they’re going to have money to pay that next bill. So, the last thing on a lot of people’s minds is taking time off from work so they can vote. Maybe they couldn’t get off. Maybe they’re working a 12-hour shift. So, I try to focus less on who did not show up and focus more on who did show up. And I greatly appreciate those who were able to make that time because it’s a huge sacrifice, showing up in the line, not knowing what the process is going to be, you know, it gives anxiety. [In an email later, she wrote, “I believe voter turnout in Cambridge was just about 15%, which is around the national average. There was a total of 1484 total voters in the past mayoral election and about 9,000 registered voters in the city of Cambridge.”]

What are your ambitions and goals for 2025?

The goal for 2025 is to continue to move the city forward. I think initially we need to get a few committees or commissions together to do some asset mapping to figure out what do we have, because we have a lot of folks that say we need something for the kids to do. But online I see this program, basketball, I see after-school program at the Boys and Girls Club. It looks like we have a lot of programming for the youth. So, it’s a matter of looking at the nonprofits we have and figuring out what is the best strategy to have the best outcomes.

How do you understand the mayor’s role?

I see the mayor’s role as a neutral voice willing to listen to all parties and all sides. I see someone that should be accessible to the public. It really shouldn’t spend much time here in this office. So what I plan to do, because this week there is an actual mayor’s office in City Hall, I hope to share it with my fellow commissioners just in case if they need to have a meeting with someone in private. But it’s not my plan to be in this office. My plan is to be out in the public, available to be going to events and then obviously networking with our federal and state delegation so we can bring some funding back to the city. So I think that’s the main thing, to be that networker. And of course, as far as actual responsibilities, the mayor chairs the Commissioners of Cambridge meeting and I believe the mayor also chairs the Police Advisory Board.

Are you still going to have any role with Cambridge Waterfront Development, Inc (CWDI)?

Absolutely. So, my plan is to attend every meeting. That’s absolutely the plan, but we are in the process of changing the Articles of Incorporation. Now, I probably won’t have that ability of voting on that because I think more than likely that’s going to come before the next council. … How it stands right now is the mayor is the sole member, which would lead one to believe that if you’re the mayor, you have total authority over this board or this or this commission or body of people that’s put in place to ensure the waterfront development happens. So, how it’s drafted now pending the approval of the next commission is there will be three members. The Commissioners of Cambridge serve as one member. You have the County Council serving as another member. And then you have our state delegation, which means our state delegates and senator, they would be that third member, which would make it more fair and more balanced for everyone in this community and also in the Lower Shore and the Mid-Shore community as well.

What issues in the city need to be addressed?

What needs to be addressed in the city is definitely code enforcement. And don’t get me wrong, they’re doing a really great job. It’s just we’ve been behind for many years. There’s a document that was actually put together by the League of Women Voters back in 1969. It was a housing study and there were challenges and code enforcement at that time. So, I will say that we are making great leaps. We actually have, I think, more code enforcement now than we’ve had in a very long time. But I think that it’s important that we actually provide money in the budget for an additional code enforcement officer because eventually it’s extremely important that we get to internal inspections of rental properties to ensure our residents have the best and safest residences as possible.

I had read that that was an inspiration for you, that 1969 report.

It’s a lot of good information. Like, the same neighborhoods, the same homes, even Calvin Mowbray Park, it talked about how members in the Council, how they were. So, how it was supposed to have been arranged was that apartment community was supposed to spread out throughout the city. I believe every three to five blocks there, there was supposed to be a duplex. But many members in the community felt like, “I don’t want that in my neighborhood.” So, that’s why we ended up with all these condensed communities of poverty.

Describe your ideal future for Cambridge.

My ideal future of Cambridge is where we’re working efficiently. You know, every child has the opportunity of going home to a safe, clean home without distraction so they can be their best person when they get to school. I see opportunities for our youth when they graduate high school, because college isn’t the pathway for every student. You know, there could be an opportunity right here at City Hall. There could be opportunities for someone graduating high school to be an entrepreneur. So, that’s what I see. I see efficient city services. I see our taxpayers feeling like their money is being spent in the right direction. They don’t feel ripped off, because we have many that feel like, “When I’m paying county taxes and I’m paying city taxes, what exactly am I getting from the city?” So, I just see services that we all could be proud of and residents that feel like, “You know what, I’m glad I live here in Cambridge.”

Your role as the mayor is going to be different from when you were on the City Council. Your influence is going to be different. So, why did you decide to run for mayor instead of staying on the Council?

I truly believe we should always make pathways for other leaders. And I know Shay Cisco had a vision of being a commissioner, and I did not want to be one to hold her from that vision. If she felt like that’s her next step in life, I was willing to make that sacrifice just so she could be a candidate and actually see if she could earn the vote of the Ward 2 residents to make that happen. And then the other thing was I knew Mayor Steve Rideout had no intentions of running for mayor, and I didn’t know of anyone else that could run that was so heavily involved with local city government. So, it was a no-brainer for me. It was a no-brainer for me to create an opportunity for Shay Cisco and also for anyone else who decided to run for Ward 2. And then to give me the opportunity to be this voice of unison for the whole city. Because I’ve done the work before, when the other person resigned because of his personal situation. But to actually give it everything, give a full four years and actually be elected and actually earn that role.