Attorney Cheryl Watson Fisher is one of four candidates at tonight’s Special City Council Meeting
By Alberto Vasallo, III
Monday, June 6th – Later tonight, at a special meeting, the Cambridge City Council will be voting on who will be managing the City of Cambridge’s finances. The Council will be selecting from four candidates to replace the current city manager, Louis A. DePasquale, who plans to retire in June.
All the candidates for city manager are people of color, which is important for a city who’s population growth in the past 10 years is almost completely due to an increase in the non-White and Hispanic populations.
According to the 2020 Census report, the Latino population grew by a third and now makes up 9.1% of the population of Cambridge (10,738).
One of the four finalists, attorney Cheryl Watson Fisher, recently told El Mundo she feels a special “kinship” with her many Latino friends, colleagues and family.
“I am not bilingual but I can understand the language and I read and write Spanish. Having grown up with predominately Caribbean Latinos (in Cambridge) and now living and working in a city with a large Central American Latino community (in Chelsea), I am very familiar with the nuances in the Latino culture.”
Watson Fisher has been the City Solicitor for the City of Chelsea since 2003 which, according to her, has given her the opportunity to learn to manage a diverse multigenerational workforce for a largely low income immigrant city which has taught her that “a city’s most vulnerable populations needs our attention first and then our entire community will thrive.”
Her tenure as the City of Chelsea’s attorney has not only given her access to all sectors of the City, but it has also put her in direct contact with the community and its leaders.
One of those leaders is Gladys Vega, Executive Director of La Colaborativa, the highly respected social service agency that has become the lead voice for the Latino community in Chelsea, which makes up almost 70% of the city’s population.
“I must admit that when I learned Cheryl might be leaving us, I was saddened. I know that Chelsea’s loss will be Cambridge’s gain. She is an unbelievable leader who has leveraged her influence and experience to be a fair, but firm professional”, stated Vega earlier this week to El Mundo.
«The thing I admire most about Cheryl is that she is a doer who gets things done. She was always accessible, listened and always acted in total transparency and if she brings those qualities as city manager for Cambridge, the city will be in good hands”, added Vega.
Another vote of confidence from our community for Cheryl came from former Cambridge Vice Mayor Dennis Benzán, who is now a partner in a local business in Chelsea.
“Cheryl Watson has a proven record of managing one of Massachusetts’ most diverse cities from crisis to success; she embodies everything we want from our kids, particularly those that have grown up in neighborhoods like the Port; Cheryl Will manage our City with great pride, fiscal responsibility, compassion. She will support the development of our Squares, our small businesses, and the talented people of our great City,” wrote Benzán in a text message to El Mundo.
Cheryl’s top priorities also align with the challenges facing the community in Cambridge.
“My top priority is increasing affordable housing and making housing a public right for all people. Cambridge has the tools to create new and affordable low income and middle income housing throughout the City,” explained Watson Fisher.
«My over 22 year career in municipal government as a city leader will bring results to Cambridge and not just discussions. I can bring balance to the Council goals and at the same time maintain the high level of services and fiscal management Cambridge is used to.”
Her work in Chelsea has not disconnected Cheryl from her home city. She has worked at her private law practice in Cambridge with high school friend and former Cambridge Mayor Anthony Galluccio.
She is a board member of the Central square Business Improvement District, sits on the Margaret Fuller Neighborhood House which is one of the longest standing non profit social service programs in the Port area of Cambridge, the diverse section of the city she grew up in.
In the past, Fisher has cited her strong personal connection to the city as a former resident and graduate of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.
“The truth is that my friends and family still reside in Cambridge, which keeps me very connected to all people of Cambridge. If they need legal advice or any type of advice I am there and I will support all of their causes,”, concluded Watson Fisher.
The other three finalists are: Iram Farooq, currently the Assistant City Manager since 2015; Yi-An Huang, currently the Executive Director of Boston Medical Center Hospital Clinical Operations since 2021 and Norman Khumalo, currently the Town Manager of Hopkinton, MA since 2009.
