City Glossary

A quick lookup for terms, acronyms, and names. This page is actively growing.


AHO / Affordable Housing Overlay – A zoning ordinance that reduces zoning restrictions for 100% Affordable Housing Projects.

(Meeting) Agenda – An official list of items for discussion at a city council meeting. Agendas for regular and special council meetings are published on the Thursday immediately preceding the Monday meeting.

Agenda Item – A specific entry for discussion on a city council meeting agenda. Actionable items on the agenda must be voted on during the meeting. A voted on action could be as simple as placing the item on record or as impactful as adopting the item as a city ordinance.

Awaiting Report – A place holder on the city council meeting agenda for a response to a policy order that the city has yet to create.

BEUDO / Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance – An ordinance with the goal of lowering Cambridge’s greenhouse gas emissions by, “requiring owners of larger buildings to track and report annual energy use to the City, as well as to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions on a schedule determined by the size and type of their building.”

BZA / Board of Zoning Appeal – The BZA hears cases when a construction project may violate a zoning law and the project runner believes that they should be able to proceed as planned. The BZA may grant a variance and allow the project to move forward either with the original plan or with modifications.

Charter Right – The ability of a city councillor to immediately halt discussion of an agenda item such as a policy order during a council meeting and bump it to the next meeting. An agenda item can only be “charter righted” once.

Cherry Sheet – An annual report, traditionally printed on cherry colored paper, from the Commissioner of Revenue which enumerates aid and assessments (taxes) to municipalities and school districts. The city’s portion of the annual cherry sheet contains information from the budget needed to make an accurate estimate of how much money it will need from the state vs how much it receives from other sources.

CHA / Cambridge Housing Authority – An organization that is separate from the city that manages public housing in the city

City Manager – The chief executive of the city. The manager is appointed by the city council typically for a term of three years. In Cambridge, the City Manager has executive powers and authority that a mayor would traditionally have.

City Solicitor – A legal professional who provides legal advice and representation to the city. The solicitor often provides legal opinions at the request of the City Council.

CDD / Community Development Department – The department of the city that is responsible for planning neighborhoods, squares, zoning, and housing.

CPAC / Community Preservation Act Committee

CSO / Cycling Safety Ordinance – “The Cycling Safety Ordinance (CSO) requires the City of Cambridge to build a network of separated bike lanes throughout the City”

DPW / Department of Public Works – The Department of Public Works runs many physical services throughout the city including public park management, road maintenance, and trash collection.

Meeting Agenda – See Agenda

PACE / Property Assessment Clean Energy Massachusetts is a statewide program to help
commercial, industrial and multifamily (5+units) property owners in Massachusetts finance energy
improvements for new construction and existing building retrofits

RFI / Request for Information – An RFI is a process for gathering information from potential partners, and is typically used when more information is needed to inform the development of a possible future solicitation. This RFI does not commit the City to issue a solicitation; it is mainly for information and planning purposes.

RFP / Request for Proposal – An RFP is a public solicitation for third parties and contractors to submit proposals for a project planned by the city. A RFP would be issued for projects such as street reconstruction, public park refurbishment, or similar other large infrastructure projects. A submitted proposal contains details on how the project will be implemented as well as a completion timeline and price estimate.

PO / Policy Order – An official opinion of the city council often in the form of a request of the city manager and staff. Policy orders are used to set priorities of the council that the city should use as a guide when making decisions.

STIR / Surveillance Technology Impact Report – An annual report on the use of surveillance technology as required by the STO

STO / Surveillance Technology Ordinance – An ordinance that regulates the use of surveillance technology in the city.

STR / (Cambridge) Short-Term Rental Zoning Ordinance – A zoning ordinance that restricts the use of short-term rental services such as AirBnB.

(On) The Table – An agenda item can be placed on the table to hold it indefinitely before the City Council without taking further action on it. An item is placed on and removed from the table by majority vote of the council.