Nicola Williams
2021 Candidate for Cambridge City Council
Home address:
8 Brewer St. #5
Cambridge, MA 02138
Contact information:
website: https://www.votenicola.com/
e-mail: info@votenicola.com
Facebook: facebook.com/votenicolawilliams/
Instagram: instagram.com/nicolaa_williams/
Twitter: twitter.com/MsNicolaW
Send contributions to:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/electnicolawilliams
INTRODUCTION
My name is Nicola Williams and I am a small business owner with over 30 years of leadership, community organizing, and job-creating experience. As the founder and owner of the Williams Agency, a small marketing firm right here in Cambridge, I have led award-winning campaigns ranging from public health initiatives to some of the biggest events in the greater Boston area which some of you may be familiar with: the Boston Local Food Festival and the Cambridge Carnival. As a longtime resident I am on the board of five local non-profits including the Community Arts Center, the Sustainable Business Network and I am Vice President of the Harvard Square Neighborhood Association, on the government relations advisory committee of Cambridge Local First.
I am running for city council because as a longtime resident and business owner, I understand the needs of the community and I understand how we can address them. I am running a people-centered campaign that prioritizes the needs of the people before the needs of developers, prioritizing our youth and their academic success by advocating for universal Pre-K, vocational programs in our schools and expanding the Mayor’s summer program to a year-round fellowship for students to gain exposure to opportunities outside of the classroom. I want to ensure all residents, regardless of economic status, have access to clean and green spaces by preserving our tree canopy and advocating for our most vulnerable residents.
We need development that focuses on advocating for more affordable grocery stores in our communities. I want to see more tenants become homeowners and have the opportunity to own a home they can afford through my 50/20 plan and affordable down-payment program. We need homeownership programs that offer pathways for families to build home equity and the ability to pass down their homes to family members. My commitment to equity in our educational and economic systems, community empowerment, and environmentalism will deliver policies that create a Cambridge for all.
ENDORSEMENTS
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
Increasing affordable housing and pathways to homeownership for low and middle-income residents is necessary for retaining our continued racial and economic diversity in our city.
50/20 Plan: I will work to raise our affordability from 14% to 20% through my 50/20 plan. Currently, just 14% of Cambridge housing stock is considered "affordable". To maintain the diversity we all value, we need to raise that to 20%. Likewise, 35% of our housing stock is owner-occupied. Cooperative housing, social housing, community land trusts, and affordable down payment programs should be seriously considered and developed in meeting the goals of the 50/20 plan.
Affordable Downpaymentt program: More tenants want to become owners but the challenge for low- and middle-income families is not having enough money for a down payment. The HomeBridge program, the City’s current affordable home ownership program, does not allow individuals to build equity or pass down the homes to their families. In fact, you might as well call it a permanent rental program for homeowners. With the Affordable Downpayment Program, the City would offer a significant down payment of 30-40%, which would allow the homeowner to afford homes that they would not normally not qualify for or have any hopes of owning, including those who have Section 8 vouchers. Over time with the building of equity, the owner may be able to buy out the City’s stake and fully own the property. After 20 consecutive years the loan may be fully or partially forgiven which will discourage flipping of the property.
Rent stabilization program: In 1994, Massachusetts chose to eliminate rent control with 60 percent of Cambridge residents voting to retain the ordinance. Now, housing prices in Cambridge are at an all-time high and Cambridge’s position as one of the nation’s most expensive and inflated housing markets is pushing out Black and low-income residents and squeezing out middle-income families.
I believe that a plan that engages landlords as part of the solution is our best chance. I would like for us to model the New York Rent Stabilization policy where landlords are incentivized to offer a tax break for reducing their rents. This program was launched just a few years ago in New York, and today, 50% of the qualified landlords have taken advantage of this program. I am proposing that we pilot this program. It would have to pass a home rule petition, with approval from the state legislature. I have spoken with key legislators who are affordable housing activists in Boston and Somerville, and they like this program. I believe that if Boston, Cambridge and Somerville are on board with this Rent Stabilization model, we have a greater chance of passing it through the legislature.
Serving the Unhoused: We need pathways for transitioning residents as their income improves, so they are not displaced. Our city should develop policies focused on not just creating housing but retaining housing and improving housing stability for low- and middle-income constituents, including the unhoused. Under existing municipal powers I will fight to build new forms of social housing such as limited-equity co-ops and land trusts and publicly financed social housing on underutilized city-owned lots, and on top of municipal properties, such as certain libraries and municipal buildings.
I will support work to enact a Housing First policy to address homelessness, which has a low barrier to entry and provides supportive services, and does not require people experiencing homelessness to graduate through a series of programs or address behavioral health issues before they can access housing. This can include, but is not exclusive to permanent supportive housing models.
Livable and Sustainable Cambridge
My business of 25 years, The Williams Agency, has been certified as a Sustainable Business Leader. In 2015, I was recognized by then Mayor David Maher as a Cambridge Food Hero for my work in sustainable food. As a community organizer, I pushed the City Council to pass a tree-cutting moratorium and, as a candidate, I've advocated for a Cambridge Green New Deal. I was also an original signer and outspoken supporter for the Green Roofs Ordinance Petition, a revision to the city’s green roof zoning ordinance. I have been involved in environmental activism for decades and this work is sure to continue if I am elected to the Cambridge City Council.
Tree Canopy
The rapid decline of our tree canopy that has exacerbated the effects of climate change. Our tree canopy has declined 18% in the last decade, taking away from the beauty of our community and worsening the heat island effect that particularly impacts our seniors and low-income residents. I have fought for the environment in Cambridge for decades, particularly around protecting our tree canopy. As a community organizer, I urged the City Council to pass our tree-cutting moratorium in order to stem this tide and study its root causes. I've also advocated for and supported our green and solar roof-scapes policy and the Cambridge Green New Deal to help end the climate crisis – that will be impossible if we do not have the full weight of our city and its institutions behind us.
Sustainable Buildings
We must utilize efficient designs to expand net zero ready building requirements for new construction for not only municipal development, but also for private development. I will advocate to ban fracked gas consumption to rapidly reduce its carbon emissions. As a city councillor, I will monitor our city’s investments to ensure there is no support for fossil fuel companies. Our current climate crisis demands that we build a city that is a model for how to address climate change, and provide a healthy environment for our people.
Environmental Justice
I have advocated for strong environmental policies to protect our planet but also to protect marginalized communities who are at most risk of environmental injustice. Unfortunately, environmental injustice has drastically changed the way of life across Massachusetts, especially in my city of Cambridge. I am greatly concerned about Cambridge’s need for affordable housing, greener and more accessible modes of transportation, and education. All of these issues must be addressed if we are to have environmental justice, but they cannot be addressed by Cambridge alone. That’s why I’m committed to working with municipal leaders in neighboring cities to create a regional approach around housing and transportation. As city councilor, I will continue to be an advocate for the environment and environmental policies that promote the full inclusion of people of color and low-income residents to ensure a livable and sustainable environment as demonstrated by my commitment to sustainability, diversity and localism.
Equitable Outcomes in Education
As a mentor to high school students in the community, I believe it is vital for schools to undertake procedures that ensure they follow the right protocols to transition from the COVID-19 phase to a new normal. Covid has disrupted the education of tens of millions of kids, including the work of school faculty and staff, parents, and caregivers. Students already most at risk, specifically low income and the working-class, have struggled with remote learning and are falling further behind their peers. I would like a plan of excellence for every Cambridge child so no children are left behind. Additionally, I believe in meeting birth to preschool with universal preschool and equal access to after school programs as critical to educational outcomes to combat the student achievement gap. I am advocating to extend the Mayor's Summer Jobs Program to a year-round fellowship program to expose our children to potential mentors with local businesses.
Early gaps in academics have a lasting impact on our children and limit our children’s participation in an economy that demands increasingly higher levels of education. I want to develop opportunities for our students to gain exposure to vocational programs which can lead to well-paying jobs in the construction, culinary, and green job industries. Our most vulnerable students that I like to call the real missing middle, deserve the same opportunities to achieve educational success, and I will fight to ensure that our youth is a priority.
ACCESSIBLE MODES OF TRANSPORTATION
I will do the utmost as a City Councilor to make Cambridge safe and accessible for everyone. I have advocated for making our public transit system affordable, accessible, and equitable and supported a local pilot to offer free public transportation in Cambridge. Our current public transportation system is lacking as a result of poor infrastructure and minimal innovative solutions to dramatically transform and create more equitable modes of transportation. We also need more protected bike lanes with all of the stakeholders involved including pedestrians, businesses and cyclists, while further developing our transit infrastructure to ensure accessibility and safety to those who need. More and more options for affordable housing are being moved further away from job centers, and as a result, low-income residents suffer from the large costs for transit. Developing partnerships between transit-oriented development and its users would benefit both the MTBA and nearby riders. Additionally, I support a local pilot to offer free public transportation in Cambridge including free bus transit vouchers for those in need.
EQUITABLE ECONOMIC ECOSYSTEMS
As a proven business leader that is currently on the board of the Sustainable Business Network and Facilitator of the Cambridge-Somerville Black Business Network, I have mobilized diverse communities with diverse interests and skills. I harness my facilitation and negotiation skills for successful outcomes and solutions, bringing people together to accomplish big things. Covid revealed the depth of the structural inequities that our low income and communities of color face right here in Cambridge. However, these inequities, ranging from food insecurity to economic injustice, are not news to me. I have spent the last 25 years working as a small business owner on food justice and creating a sustainable business environment. I advocated for local businesses and nonprofits on a national level for PPP support and EDIL and and leader of CSBBN, and advocating for Black and brown businesses, got the City to agree to a Disparity study.
The upcoming COVID recovery phase gives us the opportunity to reimagine our business ecosystem, address inequities, and leverage our assets to create a vibrant local economy. We need to expand programs that will fill our vacant storefronts; develop new jobs; foster a pipeline for new business start-ups; support the food economy; stimulate the creative economy; and offer pathways for economic prosperity for those who have been left behind. The I have plans to ensure the completion of the City’s Disparity Study to assess the City’s trading with women, minority, and veteran businesses. This is our moment to learn from the past and chart a course for the future that is inclusive, diverse, and equitable.
RACIAL INJUSTICE
As a Black woman, Jamaican immigrant, and someone whose business focuses on social causes and progressive issues centered around equity and diversity, I am deeply concerned by the disparities that impact low income and communities of color. I will be bringing my lived experience and perspective to the table on the Cambridge City Council. Our Black residents are being pushed out of the city due to setting lower educational standards for Black students, ignoring housing affordability, and the persistence of the growing wealth gap.
Pledge to Vote Nicola Williams #1
CCTV candidate video (2021) 2021 MCNA Candidate Forum (Williams)
2019 Candidate Page CCTV candidate video (2019)