Council Approves Assistance For Tenants

The Cambridge City Council made further efforts on Monday to increase the availability of affordable housing in the city.

The Councillors unanimously voted to spend $100,000 in financial assistance for tenants formerly protected by rent control, which was abolished in 1994.

According to City Manager Robert W. Healy, the money would be used to assist low-income tenants in several ways.

With the new funding, the city's Department of Human Services (DHS) will help tenants who have run into temporary financial difficulties pay rent.

DHS will distribute most of the aid to elderly and disabled residents and to children under 18 years old, Healy said.

The funds will enable tenants who are forced to move to make the last rent payment on their current residence and the first rent payment on their new housing.

After adopting the affordable-housing measure, the Council moved on to discuss the damage caused in the city by last week's heavy snowfall.

According to Healy, 3,000 to 4,000 trees in Cambridge were damaged by the storm.

Healy also estimated that it would take several years to repair damages in the city.

"This will be a multi-pronged and multi-time-framed effort," Healy said.

The city has brought in foresters and private contractors to assist in the process of clearing away fallen trees.

The councillors expressed concern over the amount of time that the city's Department of Public Works (DPW) had taken to clear the streets after the storm.

Healy defended the DPW workers, pointing out that the workers had to wait for fallen trees and live wires to be moved out of the way before the plows could clear the streets.

Noting the precautions that DPW workers had to take in the face of potentially live wires, Healy said,"The general rule of thumb is don't touch the wire."

Despite their criticisms of the DPW, at the end of the meeting the Council members expressed their hearty congratulations and thanks to the city workers for all their efforts.