Sumbul Siddiqui
She/Her
- Currently
- City Councillor
- Also
- Adjunct Professor at Simmons
- Election history
- 4th term in office, formerly Mayor
She/Her
Sumbul Siddiqui's family immigrated to the United States from Pakistan when she was 2, and they moved to Cambridge when they got a lottery spot in Cambridge's affordable housing system. While attending CRLS, she co-founded the Cambridge Youth Council (then the Cambridge Youth Involvement Subcommittee) as a way for students to engage with city government and policy.
Prior to her election, she was on the board of the Cambridge School Volunteers and was a member of Cambridge's Human Services Commission. Until she became mayor, she was an Attorney at Northeast Legal Aid, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance. In 2025, she taught a course on Social Policy at Simmons College.
She and Alanna Mallon hosted a podcast together from January 2018 to 2022.
Sumbul has been elected from raw number one votes in the last four elections.
Sumbul is generally a strong "yes" on housing, both market-rate and government-subsidized.
One of the sponsors of the Multifamily Housing zoning reform this session, she's been named, with Burhan Azeem, as Abundant Housing Massachusetts' Legislator of the Year.
The restrictive zoning was saying that you would only get about 350 units in the next 10 years. With this new zoning, what was estimated is that this could result in about 3600 net new units by 2040 — and of those 660 would be inclusionary.
Aside from zoning reform and tenant displacement, I have focused on elevating residents’ concerns, particularly around Cambridge’s affordable homeownership programs, including HomeBridge. Over the past few years, residents raised issues with the resale formula and inheritance policies, which limited wealth-building and prevented owners from passing homes to heirs without city approval. After extensive surveys, listening sessions, and discussions with the Affordable Housing Trust, the program was updated
We have a housing and climate crisis. I don’t believe because we are adding more density, our neighborhoods are less livable. We can be thoughtful about how we plan for greater density city-wide. There was an article by Brookings Institute titled “We can’t beat the climate crisis without rethinking land use.” .... If more housing in Cambridge is achieved by relaxing exclusionary zoning laws and prioritizing high-density housing development, it will have a vast positive impact on the environment.
I support developing an Open Streets program in Cambridge, starting with low-volume streets to minimize traffic disruption and build community support. Bow Street is a location we could pilot.
| Organization | Cambridge? | Union? | View |
|---|---|---|---|
| SEIU Local 509 | |||
| A Better Cambridge | |||
| Massachusetts Sierra Club | |||
| Greater Boston Labor Council | |||
| Cambridge Bicycle Safety | |||
| UAW |
Pedestrian and cycling safety, policy, infrastructure, governance
Pedestrian and cycling safety, policy, infrastructure, governance
Lengthy panel on progressive issues; largely yes/no questions; only 9 respondents. This is the first year this has appeared.
Lengthy panel on progressive issues; largely yes/no questions; only 9 respondents. This is the first year this has appeared.
Housing policy, development, governance
Housing policy, development, governance
Housing, zoning, governance, infrastructure
Housing, zoning, governance, infrastructure
Following the elimination of single-family zoning, Siddiqui called on the city council to take a “multifaceted” approach to encourage affordable housing growth in Cambridge.
“Obviously, the goal is for there to be more housing being built, but we’re also changing certain rules that exist in zoning that also make it harder,” Siddiqui said.
“It’s not just taking the headline and saying, ‘We’ve ended single family zoning’ — it’s a headline,” she added. “It’s going beyond, it's removing all some of these other requirements.”
April 9, 2025 — Christiana P. Foufas, Bryce C. Freeman, and Summer E. RoseFollowing the elimination of single-family zoning, Siddiqui called on the city council to take a “multifaceted” approach to encourage affordable housing growth in Cambridge.
“Obviously, the goal is for there to be more housing being built, but we’re also changing certain rules that exist in zoning that also make it harder,” Siddiqui said.
“It’s not just taking the headline and saying, ‘We’ve ended single family zoning’ — it’s a headline,” she added. “It’s going beyond, it's removing all some of these other requirements.”
In interviews over the last six months, they said Siddiqui undermined their self-esteem and jeopardized their future job prospects, behavior they say prompted people to leave her employment under difficult circumstances. The aides — half of whom are women of color, and most of whom are no longer directly involved in Cambridge politics — described experiences including the mayor berating them for small mistakes such as typos, commenting on their bodies, and denigrating them to other colleagues. Four of the employees also alleged Siddiqui retaliated against them when they accepted new jobs or sought to leave her office.
Six of the eight employees asked to speak anonymously for fear the mayor would hinder their careers or credibility.
Oct. 16, 2023 — Diti Kohli, Emma PlatoffIn interviews over the last six months, they said Siddiqui undermined their self-esteem and jeopardized their future job prospects, behavior they say prompted people to leave her employment under difficult circumstances. The aides — half of whom are women of color, and most of whom are no longer directly involved in Cambridge politics — described experiences including the mayor berating them for small mistakes such as typos, commenting on their bodies, and denigrating them to other colleagues. Four of the employees also alleged Siddiqui retaliated against them when they accepted new jobs or sought to leave her office.
Six of the eight employees asked to speak anonymously for fear the mayor would hinder their careers or credibility.
Siddiqui’s first term as mayor was mostly spent guiding Cambridge through the pandemic. During that term, Siddiqui helped forge an agreement to preserve more than 500 units of affordable housing at Fresh Pond Apartments.
She also established a guaranteed income pilot program, which gave eligible, low-income families $500, no-strings-attached monthly payments for 18 months. The pilot program became a full-fledged program in 2023 with the launch of Rise Up Cambridge during her second term as mayor.
Sept. 22, 2023 — Jina H. ChoeSiddiqui’s first term as mayor was mostly spent guiding Cambridge through the pandemic. During that term, Siddiqui helped forge an agreement to preserve more than 500 units of affordable housing at Fresh Pond Apartments.
She also established a guaranteed income pilot program, which gave eligible, low-income families $500, no-strings-attached monthly payments for 18 months. The pilot program became a full-fledged program in 2023 with the launch of Rise Up Cambridge during her second term as mayor.