Rideout, Harrington not running for reelection

CAMBRIDGE — Come October, Cambridge voters will not see the names Stephen Rideout or Jameson Harrington on their ballots.

The mayor and commissioner, respectively, have said they will not be seeking reelection for when their terms are up in 2025.

For Rideout, who is turning 81 this summer, this has always been the plan. He said when he ran in 2022, he only intended to fill the remainder of former Mayor Andrew Bradshaw's term.

Bradshaw resigned in January 2022 after being charged with 50 counts of distributing revenge porn on Reddit. In April 2022, Bradshaw pleaded guilty to five counts of distributing revenge porn.

In a June 3 interview with the Star Democrat, Rideout said part of the reason he ran was to help Cambridge see what a "weak mayor" should do. In a "weak mayor" government system, the mayor's power is limited.

Harrington, who was sworn into office in January 2021, said he made his decision not to run again about two years ago. He said he likes to volunteer and help, but politics is "just not my forte."

"I want to work with people that their only goal is to make Cambridge a better place to live for all," he said in a June 3 interview with the Star Democrat. "And unfortunately in politics, I've dealt with a lot of people that want to make it a better place to live only for themselves."

In his nearly four years as a commissioner, Harrington is proud of a lot of what the City Council has done. Three standouts, he said, are when former City Manager Tom Carroll was hired, when the town purchased a ladder truck for Rescue Fire Company and when the council passed legislation to establish the Land Bank Authority of Cambridge, which can take on, manage and sell vacant land in order to stabilize neighborhoods and encourage redevelopment.

Harrington said the creation of the land bank authority is something he had been hoping for since he took office.

"I wanted to see it through," he said.

One of the most important goals for the city moving forward, Harrington said, is hiring Cambridge's next city manager. Carroll announced in March that he would be resigning from the city manager position. His last day was May 3.

"You've got to have a certain background to be able to handle a city like Cambridge," Harrington said about the city manager position. "You're not coming in where everything's already in place, and you're just filling a slot. There's actual work to be done."

When it comes to the mayor's seat, Rideout said that the city's next mayor should determine what the community's needs are and encourage support or changes to get those needs met. He said that as mayor, he has worked to address gun violence and children's issues, like juvenile justice reform. Rideout said he has been working with the state to find a better funding stream system for children's programs in rural or less wealthy communities.

He said homelessness is one issue that still needs to be addressed.

"We need to do more to find solutions for them," he said about Cambridge's unhoused population.

Rideout said he is most proud of the successes accomplished by others in Cambridge. He mentioned nonprofits New Beginnings Youth and Family Services, MidShore Meals Til Monday, the Cambridge Empowerment Center and ALL4LOVE.

"All of those programs have really taken off because of what they're doing and because of the vision that their leadership had, (which) we've been able to support it one way or another," he said. "That's what's important. Not what I've done."

Rideout brought up the "positive" direction that Dorchester County Public Schools is headed in.

Five years from now, Rideout hopes Cambridge will have better housing, more jobs available for adults and teens and more high school graduates who want to stay in Cambridge or return after college.

Harrington said he hopes that five years from now, Cambridge will still be "on the up and up," even if that progress is slow.

"Just in my time in Cambridge over the past 12 years, I've seen a lot of good things happen," he said. "It's not in the same place as it was when I moved here. It's in a better place, and I hope it continues on that trend."

Harrington said progress will come from the city having a good city manager and a council that supports the city manager.

"I love Cambridge," he said. "It's a great town full of great people despite some of the issues. And I know there's a bright future ahead."