CMA 2026-207 · Agenda item attachment · Jul 23 2026

CMA 2026-207 IN CITY COUNCIL July 23, 2026 To The Honorable, The City Council: We continue to be devastated by the loss of Xavier Bautista after the senseless and horrible shooting on July 4th. We grieve with his family and friends, and as colleagues of Xavier, we are missing a dedicated co-worker who made our community better every day. Everybody deserves to be safe in our city, to enjoy our streets and parks, to live without fear and the tragedy that has marked our community too many times. We all acknowledge that this work needs greater attention and the last weeks have been a reminder of the need to strengthen community bonds, to protect public safety, and to respond to trauma with greater empathy and dedication. This is work that we have been committed to and we discussed in a report at the February 9, 2026 City Council meeting that was focused on strengthening violence prevention efforts in Cambridge. Since then, we have been acting on those recommendations, including hiring our first Assistant Director of Violence Prevention, Dr. Kwame Dance, a Cambridge-raised mental health advocate, psychotherapist, consultant, and educator. To support the important discussion on next steps, I’ve included: • Update from Community Safety on our violence prevention efforts and next steps • Summary of our active 2026 Summer Community Programs • Violence Prevention Recommendations Report from the February 2026 City Council Meeting I’m looking forward to this important discussion with the City Council and the broader community. I also recognize that how we navigate public safety technology is an important part of this discussion. There are different voices and values that we are weighing as we make these important decisions, and the City is ready to answer questions and support the City Council and the community as we move forward. Very truly yours, Yi-An Huang City Manager

City of Cambridge A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the City's violence prevention efforts.