15 Questions with E. Denise Simmons

FM sat down with Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons to chat about all things 02138: public education, town-gown relations, and that mysterious vowel at the front of her name.

1.
Fifteen Minutes (FM): You were elected and sworn in as mayor back in January. How was the job been so far?

E. Denise Simmons (EDS): It’s been really great. I mean, you don’t know the job of mayor until you do it. But then again, it gives you opportunities to work on issues that are important to you as an individual or your constituency as well as issues that appear before the council on a regular basis. One of the things I said in my inaugural remarks was that I really wanted to engage my community, which is what I have tried while in office.



2.
FM: The city council voted unanimously for you as mayor. How did you pull that off?

EDS: A lot of meetings, a lot of talking. First of all, I think I’m well respected by my colleagues. When you bring people together, people are willing to support you because they know you’re willing to be fair. And, you know, I got the math. I just kind of hammered at it.



3.
FM: One of your signature issues is public education. What challenges does the school district of Cambridge face?

EDS: The challenge of the Cambridge school district, and the challenge of any school district, is educating all children so that they can reach their potential, and that’s not always easy because you have to know what resources are needed, and how to apply those resources where they are most effective. In that application of resources, it may not necessarily be equitable, but it will be fair. In other words, you may have to give more resources to special-needs children, which we do in Cambridge, or to minority students. We don’t want to do that at the expense of our high-achieving students of any color, so that takes a lot of very detailed planning to make sure that you don’t sacrifice any one student for the other.



4.
FM: Thomas D. Fowler Finn recently resigned as superintendent of the school district. How is the search for a replacement going?

EDS: We’re taking a very proactive attitude toward it. We want to have a hands-on model—a series of meetings that engage the community in terms of what qualities the new superintendent should have, as well as a process to engage some of the members of the community to actually participate in some panels that will screen the candidates.



5.
FM: During the debate over an endowment tax for wealthy universities in Massachusetts, a spokesperson for State Senate President Therese Murray said, “Some of these institutions give very little back to their communities. With such large endowments, they should be doing more.” Do you think this statement accurately describes Harvard?

EDS: The city of Cambridge has a very unique and rich relationship with the universities, where we do get a good deal of services. But there’s always going to be a healthy tension between the city and the university community.



6.
FM: As a member of this community, what do you think Harvard does well?

EDS: You know, it depends on who you talk to and what day it is. Harvard does a good job; Harvard can do more. But the city has to be better at asking for what it wants.



7.
FM: How could it improve?

EDS: I want to see more of our students accepted by Harvard University. I want to see some of our adults being able to take advantage of opportunities of continued learning at Harvard. If there is a unique service that Harvard provides and we don’t have, I’d like to be able to go and say, “We need this.”

8.
FM: Would you support an endowment tax?

EDS: I’d have to know more about it. I specifically want to know what the benefits would be for Cambridge, and the endowment tax would be one way of looking at it. We’ve always said that we do have to look at the state regulation about how its universities are not taxed.

9.
FM: Another important issue for Cambridge is sustainability. What can Harvard do in partnership with the city to become more sustainable?

EDS: Right now I’m working on a “green collar” policy. What we would really like from the University is their knowledge on developing green industry from an entrepreneurial perspective—helping us identifying and developing green jobs, and providing us support for the training in those jobs.

10.
FM: Historically, college towns have been shielded from economic crises. How do you think Cambridge will fare in the coming recession?

EDS: Cambridge as a municipality is in extraordinary good shape fiscally. We have been thoughtful about not spending down to the last dollar, so we have about $94 million in what they would call “free cash.” That puts us in a position where we don’t have to look at layoffs or cutting programs or services or increasing the tax that we levy on our residents. The presence of the universities, just in terms of the intellectual capital, the people that it brings into the city that take advantage of our goods and services, the growth potential really contributes to the tax base. Cambridge is in an extraordinarily good place in these trying times.

11.
FM: I’m sure you get this question a lot, but as the first black, openly lesbian mayor in the country, what are you and the city Cambridge doing for minority and GBLT individuals and families in Cambridge?

EDS: So that you can effect good policy developments, you need to hear [people’s] voices. I do that in a number of ways. I go to them where I find them in visiting the schools, the supermarkets and the coffee shops, as well as going to the churches. It’s really been about engaging people, putting together groups that represent those communities, talking with them so that they’re my eyes and ears into the community. Then I take that and talk to the council to say what policies or practices we do put into place. 

12.
FM: Just out of curiosity, what does the “E” in your name stand for?

EDS: My first name.

13.
FM: And what would that be?

DS: I’m not telling you.

FM: Really? Why not?

EDS: (Laughs) The funny thing about it is this: my family has always, without exception, called me by my middle name. I could’ve just called myself Denise Simmons, and no one would know. But I sort of wanted to honor my parents because they gave me that first name, and my initial should be the same as my father’s. But we were never really fond of that name, and it’s not a name anyone has ever called me. I don’t tell people, you know—don’t want to confuse them.

14.
FM: Okay, then how about this: which Cambridge school do you like more, Harvard or MIT?

DS: I’m a mother of four kids, and this is what I always say to them and this is how I feel about the universities: they’re all my favorites.
 
15.
FM: Finally, what advice would you give to students interested in public service careers?

EDS: I think there’s no better calling than public service. In college, sometimes I went back and forth and said maybe I should go strictly into business and do it through philanthropy. But I chose public service because it gave me a direct opportunity to have direct impact. This may sound silly, but I take pleasure in seeing that the streets are well paved, that we’re educating our kids—those things you don’t get on Wall Street.