MassVoter.com← Cambridge City CouncilCambridge City Council · 2026–2027 Council · Special meeting
January 5, 2026
3 recorded votes, 2 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.
Present: Ayah Al-Zubi, Burhan Azeem, Timothy Flaherty, Marc McGovern, Patricia Nolan, Sumbul Siddiqui, Denise Simmons, Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Catherine Zusy
Absent: None
Every vote, in order
Inaugural meeting
Election of the Mayor for 2026-2027: Sumbul Siddiqui elected
A choice between councillors, so MassVoter shows the result only. First ballot (minutes): Siddiqui 3 (Al-Zubi, Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler), McGovern 3 (Azeem, McGovern, Simmons), Nolan 2 (Nolan, Zusy), Zusy 1 (Flaherty). Councillors Nolan, Azeem, Zusy, Flaherty, McGovern and Simmons then changed their votes to Siddiqui.
From the minutes
“The Chair declared the vote final, gaveled 3 times to signify the election, and announced that Councillor Siddiqui has been elected as Mayor..”
Election of the Vice Mayor (Vice Chair) for 2026-2027: Burhan Azeem elected
A choice between councillors, so MassVoter shows the result only. First ballot (minutes): Azeem 4 (Al-Zubi, Azeem, McGovern, Simmons), Nolan 3 (Nolan, Siddiqui, Zusy), Sobrinho-Wheeler 1, Zusy 1 (Flaherty). Second ballot: Azeem 4, Nolan 4 (Nolan, Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Zusy), Zusy 1 (Flaherty). Councillors Flaherty, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Nolan and Zusy and Mayor Siddiqui then changed their votes to Azeem.
From the minutes
“The Chair declared the vote final, gaveled 3 times to signify the election, and announced that Councillor Azeem has been elected as Vice Chair..”
Adopt the 2024-2025 City Council Rules provisionally for the 2026-2027 term
From the minutes
“Councillor Simmons made a motion to adopt provisionally the 2024-2025 City Council Rules for the 2026-2027 term. Councillor Al-Zubi – Yes Vice Mayor Azeem – Yes Councillor Flaherty – Yes Councillor McGovern – Yes Councillor Nolan – Yes Mayor Siddiqui – Yes Councillor Simmons – Yes Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler – Yes Councillor Zusy – Yes The motion passed..” (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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