By Nick Stoico Globe Staff,Updated September 1, 2024, 12:59 p.m.
Cambridge City Councilor Joan Pickett died Friday following a brief illness, the city announced Saturday.
Pickett, 69, won a seat on the City Council last year. She was hospitalized over the summer and missed committee meetings due to her illness, as well as the city council’s special summer meeting Aug. 5, Cambridge Day reported.
“Councilor Pickett was a dedicated public official and a respected member of the Cambridge community,” the city said in a post on social media. “Please keep Councilor Pickett’s family, friends & colleagues in your thoughts during this difficult time.”
Mayor E. Denise Simmons said in a statement that information about a memorial service for Pickett will be released in the coming days. She said the city is working to determine who will fill Pickett’s seat on the City Council.
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“When there is news as to the mechanics of determining who shall fill this vacancy on the Council, and as to a timeline of that process, we shall work to get this information to the public as quickly and as thoughtfully as possible,” Simmons said.
“We thank you for your patience and your grace as we process the loss of our friend and colleague, and as we work to continue onward with the business of governing.”
Pickett was a New Hampshire native who lived in Cambridge for more than a quarter century. Before becoming a city councilor, she worked in finance.
She was among three new members elected to the City Council Nov. 7.
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In an email newsletter to her constituents and supporters following the election, Pickett said she got into the race “to make a difference in the way the city engages with its residents and businesses, and to ensure persons of all ages, races, abilities, and income are considered in policy decisions.”
“I look forward to bringing data, analysis and fiscal discipline to our decision making and I am ready and excited to get to work to achieve these goals,” she wrote.
Pickett was against the expansion of bicycle lanes in Cambridge. Before she was elected to the City Council, she sued the city over amendments to its Cycling Safety Ordinance that sought to add more bike lanes around Cambridge, according to the Harvard Crimson.
As a candidate for City Council last summer, Pickett wrote in a letter to the editor in Cambridge Day that she would not sign a pledge to “continue uninterrupted installation of separated bike lanes” in the city. She argued that the expansion would add more congestion on city streets and hurt businesses with the elimination of parking spaces.
“If you have driven in Cambridge recently, you know we have a transportation problem, and short-term it is not solvable by more people cycling,” she wrote in the letter, published July 24, 2023. “Some people cannot ride a bike. Many people have already reduced vehicle trips. Even cyclists use their cars occasionally. Reliable bus service would help reduce congestion, and without it people will still resort to driving.”
Pickett earned a degree in biology from Boston College, according to her biography on the city’s website. She went on to receive masters degrees in public health and business administration from Columbia University.
She started her career in New York City in commercial lending and municipal bond finance at Standard & Poor’s bond rating agency. She led the nationwide health care, higher education and not-for-profit rating group, her biography says.
She moved to the Boston area in 1997 and spent more than 20 years working with physicians and staff in strategic planning and business development at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
In Cambridge, Pickett previously served as president of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association and was chairman of Cambridge Streets for All. She also served as a board chair and finance committee chair of the Charles River Conservancy and was a founding member of Caring Canines Pet Therapy, according to her biography.
Nick Stoico can be reached at nick.stoico@globe.com.
https://www.cambridgema.gov/news/2024/08/statementonpassingofcouncillorpickett