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Decker is first-ever victor in Cambridge write-in campaign

by: Bob Neer

Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 22:46:26 PM EST


Cambridge City Councilor Marjorie Decker made history tonight when she became the first write-in candidate in the city's history to win election. In a statement on her website the long term incumbent wrote:

I am humbled by the overwhelming show of support I received. I'm grateful to those who chose to believe in me and provided me with this opportunity to continue serving the people of Cambridge," said Decker. "Thank you to everyone who came out and voted for me. I'm especially thankful to my friends and supporters, who put their hearts and souls into this campaign. Without your help, this victory would not have been possible.

A testimony to the importance of a motivated base in politics if ever there was one.
Bob Neer :: Decker is first-ever victor in Cambridge write-in campaign
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Decker is first-ever victor in Cambridge write-in campaign | 17 comments
Incredible win for Marjorie Decker (5.33 / 6)
Hat's off to Marjorie Decker and her friend Jeni Wheeler who stepped in as campaign manager to orchestrate a grassroots sticker and write-in campaign in Cambridge. Only the most cock-eyed optimist would have predicted they could carry this off especially with the weighted balloting system used in Cambridge. But, they did it the old fashioned way marshaling a small army of volunteers who phoned, canvassed door-to-door, educated voters on the write-in process and covered the polls. It restores your faith that people can still be a strong force to be reckoned with in an age where media advertising and no-touch voter contact prevails.

Bravo, Marjorie Decker...you get a second chance...you earned it. And a standing ovation to Jeni Wheeler and the hundreds of troops who did the work and reminded us that grassroots volunteers can still carry the day.  

Sad day for Cambridge (4.00 / 4)
Majorie Decker has the worst record of any City Councilor, her resolutions frequently waste time by forcing pointless debates over national and international political issues that the council has no jurisdiction over, she has absolutely no grasp of the actual issues affecting Cambridge and seems befuddled by basic parliamentary procedure. She votes in lockstep to raise councilor salaries, perks, and taxes while keeping in a City Manager who, while he has a decent record, is clearly too secretive, too old, and overpaid for his position and has cost the taxpayers dollars with his racist hiring scheme. Decker represents all that is wrong with Cambridge politics-complete ignorance of the limitations and responsibilities of local government and focus on issues of importance only to the far left of the political spectrum at the expense of addressing resident concerns. The fact that she didn't even get her signatures on time, consistently and arrogantly halts council meetings because she is ignorant of the rules or to grandstand on pointless issues, demonstrates she is not qualified for the job. Tonight Cambridge lost a great public servant (Joe Grassi) and retained really poor ones (Decker, Reeves on Council, Harding and Terkel on the School Committee).
Sour grapes are bitter fruit. (6.00 / 1)
She must have done a heck of a lot of good for a lot of people to have so many voters not only volunteer on her effort but be willing to vote by sticker or write-in for her.  
[ Parent ]
Well let's just say (6.00 / 1)
that her supporters seem to disagree with your assessment.  Whatever your views on her work on the city council, it's hard to deny the impressiveness of her feat of winning a write-in campaign in Cambridge's absurd election system.
[ Parent ]
Certainly (3.00 / 1)
Its hard to deny the system is absurd and its definitely hard to deny that her supporters came out. Just like the crazy right wing evangelicals delivered the 2004 election for Bush, the crazy far left wing kooks and benefactor of Decker's personal patronage have kept her in office too. Just because someone wins an election does not mean they have done a good job or will do a good job. Hopefully her near miss will teach her that her base is thin and narrow and she should instead focus on expanding it to include more Cambridge voters by taking her job more seriously, focusing on city wide issues, and really trying to gain some basic institutional knowledge that will go a long way to making her more effective instead of a bomb thrower. I won't hold my breath but I also have some hope that maybe she can change.  
[ Parent ]
Heh. (6.00 / 2)
I don't follow Cambridge politics very closely, so I don't have much to say about Decker's work on the council.  But this seems off to me:

Hopefully her near miss will teach her that her base is thin and narrow and she should instead focus on expanding it

I think what her "near miss" will teach her is (1) next time, be sure she gets her name on the ballot; and (2) far from being "thin and narrow," her base is actually of decent size and well-energized, otherwise she could not have won a write-in campaign.  I'm sure she would like to expand her "base," like any elected official would.  But I don't see the obvious moral of this story being the one you suggest.

[ Parent ]
Plus it stands to reason... (0.00 / 0)
...that if she had gotten her name on the ballot she would have received even more votes.
[ Parent ]
A nice post. (6.00 / 1)
I don't agree with it, but it was substantive, free of 5th grade name calling, relevant to the topic, and demonstrated insight.  I gave it a 6.

HLPeary's was substantive, free of 5th grade name calling, relevant to the topic, and demonstrated insight.  I gave it a 6.  You gave it a 3.  Strange.

[ Parent ]
Told ya (6.00 / 1)
so.
this is impressive. However, it's nice to see some new blood on the City Council. (5.00 / 1)
Leland Cheung managed to get elected. Hopefully he is a worker like Seidel and Kelley, because the others just sit on their asses.

Tim Toomey doesn't even bother to campaign because he can count on his East Cambridge base to get out and vote. This is just a second paycheck for him-he is useless as a city councillor. The problem is that these low-turnout, off year elections guarantee that the council will barely change.


"None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down and helped us." ~Thurgood Marshall

"Facts are stupid things."-Ronald Reagan

Definitely (0.00 / 0)
With the exception of Kelley I did not vote for a single incumbent. I am disgusted with most of the members of this council and feel that if Cambridge wasn't so damn apathetic we would have a much better system. Hopefully those 8-1 votes will no be 8-2 and 8-3. Change comes slowly but its gonna come-we can't afford anymore of the same.  
[ Parent ]
Me neither-except for Kelley and Seidel. (0.00 / 0)
I'm probably more liberal than you, but I'm sick of the focus on issues external to Cambridge. We've got enough problems here.

I wonder if Henrietta will get to be Mayor this time. Rumor is that the rest of them hate her.  

"None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down and helped us." ~Thurgood Marshall

"Facts are stupid things."-Ronald Reagan

[ Parent ]
Agreed (0.00 / 0)
Is this Kathy Podgers by any chance? If so I would be enlightened to hear about your experiences as a candidate last cycle. If this is another Kathy no worries. I am liberal compared to most of the country but suspect my moderation alienates me from the far left of most of Cambridge. I mean I am all against the Iraq War, the Afghan War, the death penalty, nuclear proliferation, human rights violations, Guantanamo, the Patriot Act, etc. I just feel that the City Council is not the proper body to debate these issues and a Councilor who makes her name for herself by deliberately ignoring local issues for years and grandstanding on national issues for which she has no real power to affect is not the kind of person we want running our city. Kelley and to a lesser extent Seidel and Maher understand that the city has potholes that need fixing, street and traffic ways that are dangerous, affordable housing that is desperately needed, not to mention schools that are expensive and under performing and a crime problem that is getting out of control in some quarters of our city. Those are real issues that affect citizens whose names aren't Henry Louis Gates, and it is time those issues are addressed. Kelley does that. He is the most approachable councilor by far and was really helpful in making Rindge Ave safer both for pedestrians and my house which has been repeatedly hit by cars. Decker not only ignored our calls she voted against the work order that would have protected our property and the school children waiting in front of our house for buses, without saying why, while continuing to support money pits like the Peace Commission, Kids Council, and Nuclear Disarmament Committee. We need an outsider to do a performance review of our government and we need that person to examine Healy's effacacy. Kelley supports such a review, none of the other councilors do because it rocks the boat too much. Anyway Im rambling but Decker is a terrible councilor.  
[ Parent ]
Re: Mayor (0.00 / 0)
as for Mayor who knows who gets that position. What I wonder is why a position that has no more power than a councilor gets an extra 30k a year in salary, an extra staffer, a free car and all sorts of unreasonable parking and travel perks throughout the city. Either have the people elect it, if it is a position deserving those perks, or eliminate the perks. Having councilors play musical chairs to get the perks every two years is distracting a waste of time.

Oh and kudos to Kelley for biking to Council meetings and giving up his parking space to my handicapped father. For some reason the City Manager gets three parking spaces right next to city hall but there are no handicap spots at all.  

[ Parent ]
Not Kathy Podgers but I've seen her at Council meetings and on the Chron message board (0.00 / 0)
if you haven't been to wickedlocal.com/cambridge and read the political comments, it's like venturing over to Free Republic without a hazmat suit!

"None of us has gotten where we are solely by pulling ourselves up from our own bootstraps. We got here because somebody bent down and helped us." ~Thurgood Marshall

"Facts are stupid things."-Ronald Reagan

[ Parent ]
Curious (0.00 / 0)
I find myself a tad bit astonished by all of the posts I have read here pretending Ms. Decker to somehow be left-wing or progressive. Guess again.

She's no further now to the left than she was twenty year years ago. She has demonstrated herself entirely too welcoming of political repression.

Her despicable embrace of the Patriot Act during the so-called Lafayette 8 debacle demonstrates an all too frightening intolerance for dissent.

Her history demonstrates an aversion to rent control and protections against condo conversion. And a $500,000 taxpayer funded bailout of Harvard and MIT?

Good grief! I keep hoping for more from my old STPEC classmate

Maybe...  someday

Apparently Cambridge Voters Disagree with your Assessment (0.00 / 0)
Winning the first ever sticker campaign in Cambridge is a far more significant with regard to Ms. Decker's abilities on the City Council than snarky posts and personal attacks with no factual backup.
[ Parent ]
Decker is first-ever victor in Cambridge write-in campaign | 17 comments



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