MassVoter.com← Cambridge City CouncilCambridge City Council · 2024–2025 Council · Special meeting
January 1, 2024
3 recorded votes, 3 with disagreement.
Sources: Official minutes (PDF) · Meeting video · City meeting page
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Note on these minutes: Inaugural meeting. The Final Actions file lists no results, so the votes are read from the minutes. The minutes’ roll of members-elect lists eight names and leaves out Councillor-elect Joan Pickett, who then voted on every ballot, so all nine are shown present.
Present: Burhan Azeem, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, Joan Pickett, Sumbul Siddiqui, Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Paul Toner, Ayesha Wilson
Absent: None
Every vote, in order
Inaugural meeting
Election of the Mayor for 2024-2025: Denise Simmons elected
A choice between councillors, so MassVoter shows the result only. First ballot (minutes): McGovern 2 (Azeem, McGovern), Nolan 1 (Nolan), Siddiqui 3 (Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Wilson), Simmons 3 (Pickett, Simmons, Toner); Azeem then changed his vote to himself and McGovern changed his to Simmons. Second ballot: Simmons 8, Nolan 1 (Nolan); Nolan then changed her vote to Simmons.
From the minutes
“The Chair declared the vote final, gaveled 3 times to signify the election, and announced that Councillor Simmons has been elected as Mayor..”
Election of the Vice Mayor (Vice Chair) for 2024-2025: Marc McGovern elected
A choice between councillors, so MassVoter shows the result only. First ballot (minutes): Azeem 1 (Azeem), McGovern 2 (McGovern, Simmons), Nolan 3 (Nolan, Pickett, Toner), Wilson 3 (Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Wilson). Councillors Azeem, Pickett, Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Toner and Wilson then changed their votes to McGovern: 8 for McGovern and 1 for Nolan.
From the minutes
“signify the election and announced that Marc C. McGovern has been elected Vice Chair..”
Adopt the 2022-2023 City Council Rules, as amended, provisionally for 2024-2025
A voice vote; the minutes do not list how each councillor voted, so MassVoter shows the result only.
From the minutes
“Mayor Simmons made a motion that the City Council Rules for 2022 - 2023 as amended, be provisionally adopted as the City Council Rules for 2024 – 2025. On a voice vote, called by the Chair, the motion was adopted..” (Motion: Simmons)
From the Cambridge City Council’s official Final Actions, posted by the City Clerk on the city’s meeting portal (and, for meetings before late January 2026, the Open Meeting Portal), linked from the City Council page. We check every vote against the councillors present and quote the exact wording. MassVoter never grades or scores officials. Councillor photos: City of Cambridge (cambridgema.gov), from the official headshots on each councillor’s City Council page. Former councillors show initials.
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