Jameson Harrington once wrote, “I have a passion for helping people and I’m not one to say no when someone asks me to lend a hand. Wanting to address the many problems my neighbors and friends in Cambridge face every day is what has pushed me to work in local government.” So, he ran for the Cambridge City Council four years ago and became the commissioner for Ward 3. However, following his one term, he decided not to seek another.
An Eastern Shore native, Harrington graduated from Easton High School in 2006 and then attended Salisbury University, where he studied Geographic Information Systems and Urban Planning. He is now at an engineering firm where he works with drones and uses information technology to solve problems. In his spare time he enjoys immortalizing the beauty of Cambridge through photography, which he also uses to support local businesses and events.
Recently, the Spy gave him the opportunity to speak his mind on a number of subjects, especially politics and government.
Tell me your positives of being on the City Council.
Let’s see. Honestly, it’s a great experience just to learn how local governance works. You would think most people would be already involved in that kind of thing or be on committees beforehand. But honestly, you’re not going to learn everything you need to learn in four years anyway, so it doesn’t matter. … So, it was interesting to me just to learn those things and then I apply them at the state level or federal level and helps me understand those things better. But also it’s just being part of your community and giving back, too. I’ve used it as more of a volunteer position than anything else because you get $10,000 a year. You don’t do it for the money, you have to give back. … It’s also nice to be able to use your skills and talents that you have to piggyback onto the give-back question or the answer in a positive way outside of your work environment.
How did your skills come into use on the City Council?
So, I was on the technology committee and, since I handle IT at work, some of those skills transferred over. One of the things, our focus on the technology committee was to replace some of our existing software and bring it up to more modern-day software that, you know, all the departments talk to each other. That way our code enforcement can now do tickets in the field much easier. Things like that, it’s streamlined and it’s like a force multiplier.
Back in June you told the Star Democrat that you had made your decision not to run again two years ago and that politics is not your forte. Did anything specific happen two years ago to bring you to that decision?
Part of it was I went through some health stuff. I had some major surgery and that kind of changed my perspective on things a little bit. Life is short, you know, and it’s, I’d rather be on the other side of the podium. I guess there’s still a lot of good you can do even if you’re not an elected official. Just volunteering for different things, paying attention, actually showing up to the meeting and asking questions. I mean, there’s just so many different ways that you can participate or give back or work with your community to make it better.
You also told the Star Democrat that “in politics I’ve dealt with a lot of people that want to make Cambridge a better place to live only for themselves.” Can you elaborate on that?
I don’t think this is just true of local politics. You see it all the way up. It’s not an easy job. When you are truly committed to making where you live a better place, you get frustrated easily because you want these things to happen. … Like I said, it’s a volunteer position. It’s stressful and I can understand why people with the skill sets to do this kind of stuff with the mindset… I think the job is more attractive to people that can get something out of it for themselves. It attracts people that aren’t wholly altruistic in their motives. Because, honestly, $10,000 a year. As a young person it’s hard to juggle, too. I mean, unless you’re retired, you’re sacrificing work time, family time in the evenings, and sometimes it feels like it’s for naught. So, I can see why it attracts the people it does.
You said one of the things you’re most proud of that the Council accomplished in your term was Tom Carroll’s hiring. How did you feel about the circumstances around his exit?
It was disappointing. I can understand his reasoning, but we thought we had someone skilled, talented, has worked in similar communities with similar demographics and we thought someone that was going to be here for the long haul. It’s very disappointing that he left, but at the same time we also got our assistant city manager Brandon Hesson out of having Tom here, as well, and he’s been a real blessing. He knows the city, he’s great with people, smart as a whip. We’re lucky to have him.
You endorsed Andrew Bradshaw for mayor this year despite the scandal he went through. Can you tell me why?
Simply put, most of all of my decisions are what’s best, I think, for Cambridge. That’s it. I think he would have been the better person, at least from a governance standpoint, to run the city. To be perfectly blunt, and I’ve told him this as well, I’d prefer neither one of them to be mayor. I wish we’d had other options.
So, there was an argument on Facebook, under one of Laurel Atkiss’s posts on the group Operation: Destination Cambridge, November 27th, where you got into an argument with Dion Banks about criticizing someone’s campaign activities. And I was surprised, considering how laid back you seem to be, how angry you got in that. And I was wondering, is that something you would have done if you had run for re-election?
That’s a good question. Maybe, maybe not. It’s hard to say because I haven’t had that mindset for a while. Obviously, at least towards the end, you get more comfortable in the seat with how you can act, and you’re not always scared to engage by the end of the term. And I was just acting as me myself, not an elected official. And that’s my personal account. And frankly, I saw a lot of things and we’ve heard a lot of things that just made me uncomfortable about some of the campaigns.
What city-related activities will you do now that your term is over? I suppose you’ll continue to volunteer.
Yeah, one of my favorite things is a trash clean-up. As simple as that sounds, it gets people out together. They get to talk, you get to know your neighbors a little bit better. You get exercise and you get a clean neighborhood, and that sends a signal. Other people might not be participating, but they’ll also see that and think, “Hey, maybe I shouldn’t throw my can out the street.” I mean, people actually care. It’s like low-hanging fruit like that that I really think is a big benefit to places like Cambridge.
You’ll continue doing your photography, because you like to take pictures of Cambridge.
Oh yeah, absolutely. Cambridge is a beautiful town with interesting people, interesting history. I almost brought my camera with me today on my walk here. That’s something I’d like to spend more time doing now that my mind is a little bit more free.
When did you get into photography?
Off and on since probably high school. That would have been 2006.
Did you train in doing it?
No, no, just all on my own. Keep going, keep practicing. I mean, for every 100 pictures you take, you might get an unbelievable one. It’s just practice, practice, practice, and trusting your own eye. You know, “Hey, I don’t like that, so I’m not going to post it. Someone else might like it, but it’s not for me.”
What do you love about Cambridge?
It’s always felt more like home to me than Easton, where I grew up. I work in Easton. I go there every day. And it just, it’s not the town I grew up with. That town’s gone. But Cambridge still feels a little like, you know, that time where I was growing up, and it feels like home. I mean, people are friendly, it’s walkable. It’s got character.
You told the Star Democrat that you hope Cambridge is “still on the up and up” in five years. Are you optimistic about that at this point?
Yes and no. Depends on what aspects we’re talking about. I think the city as an organization has really grown in the past four years. And I think it’s going to continue to become a more responsive organization to the residents in the city. There was a lot of mess when we walked in there four years ago. And we’ve changed city managers several times, but they’ve also all kind of left their mark a little bit, too. Tom made some improvements, now Glenn is continuing on in those improvements. Brandon’s, like I said, been instrumental in a lot of things, especially code enforcement. Yeah, I think there’s a lot of good there. And I think, you know, I look at downtown and it seems like there’s more shops open than there were when I moved here in 2011, 2012. I think it seems a lot more vibrant. I see more people walking around. You see these little changes here and there, too. It’s nice.
Anything else you want to reflect on as far as your participation in Cambridge publicly?
I just encourage people to be involved. You know, Doctor [Theresa] Stafford was somebody that scared me many times. I felt intimidated by her. And that’s okay. I think people, the council members sitting up there should be afraid sometimes, should be uncomfortable with questions that are asked. Because, if no one’s asking questions, what’s the point? I think the city needs more people to step up and be involved, be an active participant in your local government.