DEC 17 2007 Roy Bercaw Speaks to City Council

Speaking as the Assistant Chief of the Mid Cambridge Society to fool all the people all the time not just some of the people all the time, Roy Bercaw asks why pay an English artist $10,000 to teach music in North Cambridge. What ever happened to Cambridge First Buy Local? Does Cambridge need an Hypocrisy Commission? He again suggests that the hot wind generated each week by the City Council be captured and used to melt the snow and ice on city sidewalks.

Dec 10 2007 Roy Bercaw Speaks to City Council

Speaking as the Chief of the Mid Cambridge Emergency Committee for a Home Rule Petition to legalize recreational drug sales by City employees within the city limits using energy efficient vehicles, Roy Bercaw suggests for Policy Order # 6 that the City Manager capture the hot wind energy generated by the City Council each week and use it to clear the sidewalks of ice and snow. For City Manager report # 4 Bercaw warns that invasion of the Giant Rats is coming to Cambridge. He reminds the City Council that New York City Dept of Parks is using rakes, not leaf blowers to clean Central Park. Regarding the City Wide Neighborhood Crime Task Force Final Report he again notes that persons with disabilities were excluded from participating in the study, and objects that the Task Force states that disability is a cause of crime contrary to reason.

Harvard University Noise Violations 3

Cambridge MA has an ordinance which prohibits pick ups and deliveries between 9:00 PM and 7:00 AM. Nonetheless there are many violations. The rear of Harvard University's Fogg Museum has a loading dock for the many fund raising events held at the Museum.On Saturday evenings after the events some of the contractors pick up their furniture and supplies and left over foods which they can use at other events the next day. If they had to wait until legal hours they might not be able to use the same furniture two days in a row. It is a business need. Harvard cooperates with their contractors. But they make noise which affects my quiet enjoyment of my residence. That is the purpose of the noise ordinance. Currently the City solons debate an amended noise ordinance to prohibit use of leaf blowers during some periods of the year and times of day. They think that the ordinance will be enforced just because it is law. That is what politicians do, they write laws.

Tour Buses Idling for 90 Minutes at Harvard University

Harvard University attracts many tour buses. Some students complained that they were idling near their dorm windows along Mass Avenue near Harvard Square. City officials noted this and wondered about enforcing the state law against idling vehicles for more than 5 minutes. Some of the bus drivers looked for other less prominent places to wait for their passengers. Some of them found the block on Broadway between Quincy Street and Prescott Street across from my windows. It is a No Stopping Zone. Seldom are laws affecting Harvard enforced in Cambridge. Who would dare to give a summons to a University with $35 billion?
I noticed the bus idling at about 4:15 PM on Friday December 7, 2007. I went to the Senior Center to pick up the agenda for the City Council meeting on Monday December 10, 2007. When I returned at 5:45 PM the bus was still there still idling in a No Stopping Zone. I called to the police dispatcher explaining that it was 90 minutes since I noticed the bus idling. He said he would send someone. That does not mean that he would. They always say that. I suspect that there are some dispatchers who answer telephones and others who dispatch the patrol cars. Each of them has discretion what to do with the calls. At about 6:00 PM 105 minutes after I noticed the bus idling it was gone. This bus had a telephone number on it with an area code for Ohio. I'll bet he did not know about the idling law.

December 3, 2007 Roy Bercaw Speaks to City Council

Speaking as the Chief of the Emergency Mid Cambridge Boy Scout Protection League and to Improve the Image of the Cambridge Election Commission, Roy Bercaw asks why the City Council is unable to ban leaf blowers. He reads from a report in the December 2, 2007 New York Post which reveals that the New York City Parks Department is using rakes instead of leaf blowers in Central Park which is about as large as half of Cambridge. He describes a cartoon by Ted Rall on support for the Troops. Finally he asks why the city needs a 24 hour social worker. If the state and US Courts can take care of all the problems in the country from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, or more like 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM why should there be any need for a night social worker? People should not have problems at night he suggests.