a report from Councillor Craig Kelley, regarding assessing and approving Neighborhood-Based Resiliency

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 ckelley@cambridgema.gov Craig A. Kelley Phone: [phone removed] City Councillor Fax: [phone removed] MEMORANDUM To: E. Denise Simmons, Mayor From: Craig A. Kelley, Councillor Date: December 14, 2017 Subject: Transmitting Final Report of the Mayor’s Special Advisory Committee on Neighborhood-Based Resiliency Mayor Simmons: I am transmitting to you the final report of the Mayor’s Special Advisory Committee on Neighborhood-Based Resiliency, “Assessing and Improving Neighborhood-Based Resiliency in Cambridge,” along with the minutes generated during the regular monthly meetings. In our discussions, outreach, and final recommendations, we strived to set our work to the guiding principle put forth in your organizing letter, and to focus “on new and more effective ways to build community resilience in the face of climate change and other, more-everyday neighborhood challenges.” Our goal was to maintain a place for Cambridge in the world, while preserving a place for our diverse communities in Cambridge. While the work of this Committee is not finished, nor ever can be, we believe the observations and recommendations herein will help prepare Cambridge residents to be resilient—that is, to embody the “capacity…to equitably survive and adapt to persistent changes, chronic stresses, and acute shocks.” On behalf of all the Committee members, I want to extend our appreciation and thanks for allowing us to address the challenging questions that face our city and our society. We look forward to working with various departments and the Council to help Cambridge achieve its resiliency goals. Sincerely, Craig A. Kelley, Councillor Cc: Donna Lopez, City Clerk, with instructions that this letter and attending documents be included on the agenda in Communications from City Officers at the Regular Council Meeting of December 18, 2017.