Simmons Elected Cambridge Mayor

Denise Simmons won the Cambridge mayorship in a unanimous vote this week, becoming the first African-American woman to hold the post. Brian P. Murphy ’86-’87, another veteran council member, was elected vice mayor.

Simmons said yesterday that she would continue to focus on the issues she has supported since joining the city council in 2002: education, housing for low and middle-income residents, and creating “green-collar jobs”—new employment opportunities in the environmental field.

“Cambridge is changing, and Cambridge policies have to change too. We have to stay abreast of that,” Simmons said. “The good thing is that in terms of the mechanics of the job, I know them already.”

The mayor of Cambridge is selected by the city council from among its members.

Simmons’ election on Tuesday also gave her an automatic seat as chair of the School Committee, where she served from 1992 to 2001. Last October, Cambridge voters elected an all-white committee to govern the city’s school district, where minorities make up 64 percent of the student population. Committee member Patricia M. Nolan ’80 said she had worried that the composition of the committee could alienate some families.

“Having Denise on the board as chair will make a big difference,” Nolan said.

Simmons will also have to weigh in on the renewal of school superintendent Thomas D. Fowler-Finn’s contract, a matter which has divided the committee in past years.

Marc C. McGovern, a member of the School Committee, said he was excited to have a mayor with close ties to the school system, regardless of what Simmons decides on the superintendent.

“I feel that her experience both as a committee member and as a parent will give her a very good understanding and a deep level of commitment,” said McGovern, who spoke out against renewing Fowler-Finn’s contract in 2006.

Simmons also said she would focus on building connections not only between branches of the city government but also between the council and the community, including Harvard.

“I’d like to increase public awareness and public involvement, holding town meetings, reaching out to the community,” she said. “And when I say community, Harvard is part of that community.”

Simmons also said she is committed to honoring African-American history in Cambridge, beginning with plans for a statue in honor of Prince Hall, a former slave who founded Black Freemasonry and was a prominent Bostonian during the Revolutionary era.

“I call it ‘Re-wrighting,’” she said. “‘Write,’ as in to write down the story of some of our African-American leaders who have been forgotten. ‘Right,’ as in giving them their right place in history.”

—Staff writer Cora K. Currier can be reached at ccurrier@fas.harvard.edu.