That the City Manager be and is hereby requested to appropriate the funds necessary to procure the work of the Collins Center as outlined in their submitted proposal

The Honorable Sumbul Siddiqui Mayor City of Cambridge 795 Massachusetts Ave Cambridge, MA 02139 November 5, 2020 Dear Mayor Siddiqui: The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management is pleased to present this proposal to the Cambridge City Council for an assessment of Cambridge’s options for a charter review. The Center was established in 2008 in the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies to further the public service mission of the University of Massachusetts Boston. The Center provides technical assistance to municipalities, school districts, regional governments, and state agencies on all aspects of public management. The Center is a Massachusetts state government entity. Consequently, the laws of the Commonwealth do not require the City and the University to engage in a statutory procurement process before executing a contract. Please review the proposal that follows, and let us know if you have any questions. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Michael Ward Director Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies UMass Boston

Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management Page 1 Cambridge City Council – Charter Review Options Assessment Proposal PROPOSAL TO THE CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL FOR ASSESSMENT OF CAMBRIDGE’S OPTIONS FOR CHARTER REVIEW 1. Overview On September 23, 2020, at the request of the City Council, the Collins Center charter project team presented at a special Council meeting on charters and charter processes. Cambridge is one of only a dozen or so Massachusetts municipalities to still retain a Plan form of government, and one of only two remaining cities with a Plan E. The City has had this Plan E charter since 1940, and, to the Center’s knowledge, it has been never been the subject of a formal review. Best practices suggest that a charter should be reviewed once every ten years. (Most charters enacted in the last 30 years include a 10-year review.) Following the Center’s presentation, the Council has requested further information about what different charters and forms of government could look like in Cambridge and what charter review pathways might make the most sense. 2. Proposed Deliverables and Workplan This proposal includes the following deliverables: 1. A memo presenting major options of form of government available to Cambridge and the key differences between them; 2. A memo summarizing the Cambridge City Council’s feedback regarding the current charter and form of government, and providing options for pathways the Council could take; and 3. (if requested) A presentation of the memos to the City Council. In order to complete the noted deliverables, the project team proposes the following workplan: Step 1: Draft first memo The project team will draft a memo to the Council presenting major options of form of government available to Cambridge and the key differences between them. Step 2: Interviews with City Councilors The project team will interview each City Councilor individually. These interviews will be an opportunity for the project team to answer any questions from Councilors about the memo, or charters generally, and to obtain the perspectives of Councilors on the potential need for and possible scope of a review of Cambridge’s charter. Step 3: Draft second memo The project team will draft a memo that compiles the feedback received during the interviews and provides recommendations for whether a charter review makes sense for the City at that this particular

Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management Page 2 Cambridge City Council – Charter Review Options Assessment Proposal point in time and, if it does make sense, what are some ways that the review might be conducted (e.g., what a committee doing the review might look like, what its mandate might be, etc.). Step 4: Presentation to City Council (if requested) If requested by the Council, the project team will present the two memos and be available to answer questions at a Council meeting. 3. Timeline This engagement will begin as soon as an agreement can be reached and a contract formalized. A sample timeline appears below. Step Month 1 Month 2 Step 1: Draft first memo XXXX Step 3: Interviews with City Councilors XXXX XXXX Step 3: Draft second memo XXXX Step 4: Presentation to City Council XXXX 4. Fee for Services The Collins Center will provide the scope of services presented in this proposal for an all-inclusive fee of $10,000. The Center will invoice the City for the full amount upon completion of the work. 5. Project Team The following staff are part of the Center’s charter team. Individual projects are staffed on a case by case basis. Marilyn Contreas Marilyn Contreas practices in the areas of government structure and organization and regional service arrangements/operations. She served as a senior program and policy analyst for the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development for over 35 years. She worked with charter commissions, municipal government study committees, and other local officials on questions of structure and organization of local government. She also served as the state’s representative to the working group to prepare a new charter for the city of Chelsea as it emerged from receivership. She has served as a resource on charter-related questions to the Massachusetts Municipal Association, and local Leagues of Women Voters. She has also designed and administered grant programs for municipal governments, and regional planning agencies. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri and a Master of Public Administration from the State University of New York at Albany.

Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management Page 3 Cambridge City Council – Charter Review Options Assessment Proposal Stephen McGoldrick Stephen McGoldrick practices in the areas of management, organizational, and governance issues. He served as Director of the Collins Center from 2013 till his retirement in 2019 and prior to that was Deputy Director since 2009. Before joining the Center, he served as the deputy director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. In that position, he was responsible for facilitating strategic alliances among local governments and providing technical assistance to municipalities on a broad range of governance and management issues. He oversaw the largest collective procurement program in New England in partnership with the Greater Boston Police Council and helped to establish the Metropolitan Mayors Coalition. From 1991 to 1996, McGoldrick served as chief of staff to the Chelsea receiver and subsequently facilitated the establishment of Chelsea's post-receivership government. In 1990, he served as the executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal Personnel Association. From 1983 to 1990, he held leadership positions in the administrations of the mayors of Everett and Somerville. He holds a master of science in management degree from Lesley University and a bachelor of arts in political science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Michael Ward Mike Ward has been with the Center since 2008, serving as Director of Municipal Services before becoming Director in 2019. He co-founded and currently manages the Collins Center’s Government Analytics Program. Prior to his time at the Center, Ward served as budget analyst for the Town of Concord. In this role, he helped the Town begin integrating performance measurement into its annual budget process, assisted with the financial management of a Recreation Center enterprise fund, and worked on numerous budget and procurement projects. Ward studied innovative urban policy in Curitiba (Brazil) and Singapore as a Thomas J. Watson fellow. He looked at how these cities both managed to reshape themselves through creative public transportation, economic development, and service provision strategies. He has also worked on numerous political campaigns, including managing a mayoral campaign in Massachusetts.