Cambridge officials to prioritize development to further the city economy

CAMBRIDGE, Md. – The City of Cambridge’s new Mayor Lajan Cephas is focusing on development to build a powerful landowner’s economy.

Mayor Cephas said the city wants to continue its momentum from the previous administrations. “The city has been doing well over the last 4 years, working towards promoting home ownership with the homeowner work initiative, so the plan is to continue building on that. We plan on having more code enforcement officers, and more opportunities for residents so they can become homeowners.”

In a ceremony earlier in January, Mayor Cephas and her constituents were sworn in. Officials in the city have started strongly to preserve its strong housing economy.

Ward 1 City Commissioner Brett Summers, told WMDT there have been discussions on new tactics regarding development. “We’re talking about a vacant property real estate tax, so we can motivate owners to get some of these vacant properties sold or renovated.”

The initiative isn’t just focused on home ownership, Summers and his fellow officials have ideas to help mitigate issues with property rentals. “We’re hiring a tenant advocate to work with tenants in our community who are having issues with landlords or conditions of their building.”

Mayor Cephas expects community engagement during this project. She believes this will be the most beneficial for the city in the future.

“For us to move any project forward, we must get more community involvement. I would recommend anyone to go to the City of Cambridge website and sign up for text message alerts. Pretty soon, we will reach out to residents to see if there’s anyone interested in serving on boards or maybe future commissions.”

You can learn more about text alerts here.