Waltham Patch Candidate Profile: Cathyann Harris, Ward 8

WALTHAM, MA — There will be several contested races in this fall's election, including a citywide vote for the six at-large city council seats, and three school committee seats that come up for election every two years. Patch asked candidates to answer questions about their campaigns and will be publishing candidate profiles ahead of Nov. 5.

There are six at-large seats and eight candidates are running. Then there also are nine ward councilor seats open and of those, there are contested races in Ward 1, where Councilor Dan Romard is not running again, and in Ward 2, as Councilor Bill Fowler steps off the council. There are also races in Ward 3, 6, 7 and 9.

Cathyann Harris,50, was elected in 2017 as Ward 8 councilor. This year she is running unopposed to keep her seat.

She moved to Waltham in 2001 from Newton. She's lived on Hovey Road for the past 15 years with her parner Brian Kane, who was originally from Georgia.

Harris grew up in a blue collar household, her father worked at Bath Iron Works and her mother was a nurse. She is the oldest of five girls and grew up in rural Litchfield, Maine before moving to Massachusetts. With five girls and one bathroom, she said she often jokes this was where she learned politics.

Cathyann was the first in her family to go to college. She attended Southern Maine Community College in Portland, Maine and studied Nursing and Cardiovascular Sciences. She moved to Boston and pursued a bachelors in information technology at Boston College at night and worked at the Cath Lab during the day.

She has some 24 years experience working in Healthcare sector, on the clinical side and in the research and technology side.

"I learned in every aspect of my career it is all about TEAMWORK," she told Patch.

Although she is running unopposed, Harris said took time to answer some questions Patch sent candidates. Her answers have not been edited.

Read this, too: Waltham's Biggest Issue, According To City Council Candidates

Waltham 2019 Local Elections: Candidates, Polling Location, Hours

Are you running for office ? Contact Jenna Fisher at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com for information on being featured in a candidate's profile and submitting campaign announcements to Newton Patch.

The single most pressing issue facing our (city, schools, etc.) is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

I feel the most pressing issue this year is to bring the city together around the Waltham High School Project at 554 Lexington Street. In my role as City Councilor I will listen to concerns, work to advocate for ways where middle ground can be found and build consensus where possible around the most pressing issues/concerns of this project. This project in many ways has divided the city and this concerns me. As leaders, we need to set the tone to come together to listen and problem solve on behalf of our constituents. This would be true for any project and this definitely applies to our most strategic projects including the Waltham High School. Abutters have special concerns as well as all Waltham residents of this great city. These concerns/issues need to be understood and worked to a compromise so that when the Waltham High School is built all issues and concerns have been addressed and all can come together around this project. I will support listening to concerns, good communication, teamwork and getting issues clearly defined to find common ground for residents and this project. We will need to work together to bring this project to fruition for future generations of Waltham.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

My whole career I have worked as part of team working toward a goal. Sometimes I lead that team and sometimes I play a role on that team to bring a project to successful completion through compromise and good listening skills. It's this unique experience in the role of Project/Program Manager that allows me to bring the independent advisor perspective to many situations. On a daily basis, I am asked to work to bring together large organizations to identify goals, action plans and resolve/compromise that address issues/conflicts while managing to a timeline and a budget. That's what I know and what I put to work in my 1st term as City Councilor for Ward 8. My team in this role comprises of the residents of Ward 8, Mayor, City Council and City Departments. With this approach we were able to accomplish together the following campaign promises and achieve the following goals for Ward 8:

1. Safe School Drop off for Whittemore Elementary
- Executed on Traffic Master Plan for Hovey Rd becoming a one way and building a dedicated drop off lane. Working well, parents like it and we continue to monitor for improvements.

2. Moody Street Fire Station
-Young building was demoed on time, Groundbreaking was Monday 8/5/19. Project on track for building a new fire station by Dec 2020. Huge thank you to Waltham Fire Dept and Mayor for all their dedication to making this project happen on time.

3. Traffic Light and Safety Improvement for High St/Joyce Rd/Hamblin Rd
- New signal appropriated on 8/5/19
- Start date April 2020 ; looking to finish 160 days from start date

4. Affordable Housing Legislation – Supported the change from 10% to 15% affordable housing for new units created and of the 15% - 5% is at 50 % median income.

5. Pedestrian Improvements in Ward 8
- RRFB on High St and Parmenter
- New Signage and Crosswalk Stripping at Woerd Ave and Crescent St
- New Crosswalk striping and signage at Lowell Ave and Ash St
- New Signage at Orange and Crescent St

6. 74 Rumford Ave – Demo of this building is key public safety concern, demo was completed in Oct 2019. All hazardous materials in the structure will be remediated and site cleared by Nov 2019. Next steps after demo and removal will be a Public Input Project with Residents and Owner to brainstorm use and remaining hazardous materials abatement

7. Woerd Ave Bridge – Project Kicked off in Aug 2019 and 2 week updates will continue. Project is on schedule to complete in 2021

8. Paving and Sidewalks:
Based upon Ward 8 neighborhood meetings attended with Mayor McCarthy the following Southside plan developed
- 2018 – Sidewalks were repaired on Fuller St, Arlington Rd, Ash St
-2019 – Paving and Sidewalks: Berkshire Rd. Brown St. and Cherry St. With these street paving sidewalks will be repaired. Orange St will get new sidewalks this year 2019 , paving for next year in 2020,

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)? If you're an incumbent, what is still on your to-do list?

Here's what is on the To Do List for Ward 8 this term:

1. Continue with Whittemore School Safety – Monitor and Improve based upon feedback.
2. Continue Moody Street Fire Station – work through FFE appropriation and track progress keeping everyone informed.
3. Continue Traffic Improvements through public input
4. Continue Woerd Bridge project continues through 2020 and bi weekly updates to neighbors is ongoing with DOT.
5. New project: Develop Plan for Fitch School – working with School Department develop a plan for use for Fitch School in 2019/2020. Once a plan is in place work with neighbors to engage on project and move forward with a plan for Fitch School.
6. New Project: Woerd Ave Dump – Working with the Mayor’s Office develop a plan to transform the Woerd Ave Dump into a greenspace and park project for the Southside and residents of Waltham. The time as come for big green space on the Southside and this is a perfect location for such a project.
7. Zoning change on Moody St and Modification to table of uses. There are 7 empty storefronts from Maple/High St to Newton line. Most of the issues with empty spaces have to do with no ability to bring in a small café/coffee shop without a special permit which costs $75- $100 K just to get a permit to open this type of business. This is a very high cost and barrier to small business. Legislation is in committee. Public Hearing is in the works before the end of the year.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform:

I am here for the residents of Ward 8. Running unopposed is not a time to rest, to be successful in this endeavor it will take a very strong and dedicated grassroots support and lots of teamwork. Our journey to re-election to the City Council for Ward 8 as “Your Neighbor, Your Voice” starts now. I humbly ask for your vote on Nov 5th as the City Councillor for Ward 8.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I would site the accomplishments achieved for Ward 8 working with residents, Mayor and City Departments. It has been a real team effort that we will continue into this next term with new goals planned.

The best advice ever shared with me was ...
I got advice from an experienced Ward 8 resident shortly after being elected. Here it is: "Stick to your ward, listen to residents, prioritize your work based upon what people want and always be their voice." I took this to heart and I am always trying to improve ways to engage residents and communicate and their priorities into action plans that we can accomplish together. #goteamward8

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

Candidate left this blank

Your public social media info (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook)

Facebook: @VoteHarrisWard8
Twitter: @cathyann_8

My favorite aspect of this city is...
Moody Street and the Charles River are truly gems of the city.

What's your take on all of the development projects across the city?
There is an affordable housing issue in Waltham; there is not enough of affordable housing stock to meet the current needs of residents.

At the same time, building and over development are becoming a concern to all residents due to traffic, parking, and loss of neighborhoods perspective.

We want a Waltham that everyone can afford and want to live in. We want the traffic addressed where cars/bikes/public transportation co-exist and there are options.

There are many ways to address this and the 1st step I took while on the council is to support the Affordable Housing Legislation this past year where I voted Supported for the change from 10% to 15% affordable housing for new units created and of the 15% - 5% is at 50 % median income.

When new housing stock is created it will create affordable housing at these new rates. I also supported and signed on to the legislation proposed by Councilor Darcey and McMenimen to increase from 15% affordable housing to 20% increase for housing stock created that meets the criteria.

As far as concern with development, there is a need to look at modernizing zoning that allows for development that is right sized for neighborhoods to stay neighborhoods.

Overall, there is a need for the Planning Department working with the Mayor and City Council to take on a role in helping review these special permit developments programmatically, and assess their impact to traffic/parking.

Also I would like to see the Planning Department working with the Mayor, and Ward Councilors come up with some options for additional public transportation and expanded access/schedules.

We can't ask people to look at public transportation as an option for work/recreation if there are too few options for after hours during the week and the weekends especially. I support public input into the process so that we work across all departments with the Mayor and the community to shape Waltham's sustainable growth for the years to come.

More Patch coverage:

Waltham Mayoral Candidates McCarthy, LeBlanc Face Off In Debate

Waltham's Biggest Issue, According To City Council Candidates
Waltham 2019 Local Elections: Candidates, Polling Location, Hours

Waltham Candidate Profiles

• Lizzie Gelles - Ward 1
• Heather May - Ward 2
• Caren Dunn -Ward 2
• George Darcy - Ward 3

• Sean Durkee - Ward 6
• Robert Logan - Ward 9
• Jonathan Paz - Ward 9
• Colleen Bradley-MacArthur - At Large City Council
• Tom Stanley, At Large
• Steve Lydon - At Large
• Randy Leblanc - At Large
• Marisa Diamond - School Committee
• John Graceffa - School Committee
• Margaret Donnelly - School Committee
• Jeannette McCarthy- Mayor
• Diane LeBlanc- Mayor

League of Women's voter guide:

Waltham Voter Guide