She draws on personal, political experience

Mayor Simmons to keep service issues in forefront

New Cambridge Mayor Denise Simmons, at the MIT Museum last Saturday, understands the historical impact of her tenure. (Wendy Maeda/Globe Staff)

Denise Simmons received a burst of national attention when she became mayor of Cambridge in January, but says her 25 years of political involvement have taught her that change comes slowly.

"I was looking at a document that goes back to 1945, where the city was grappling with issues of employment, housing, police-community relations, education," said Simmons, who is believed to be the nation's first black and openly lesbian mayor. "We're in 2008. What are the issues? Employment, housing, police-community relations, education."

In an interview last week, Simmons said the purpose of her swearing-in ceremony last month was partly to provide historical perspective on her tenure as mayor. In Cambridge, "women and politics go back to 1880," she said. "Unfortunately, it was 100 years later before a woman of color would be elected to be in public service, but even to say that, for people to know it and understand it is important."

Boston, she said, "which is an extraordinarily progressive city like Cambridge, has never elected a woman of color to the Boston City Council."

Those who have worked with Simmons say that she has been effective behind the scenes for years.

"We did a lot of work a couple of years ago to get a trash ordinance passed because of the problems with the rats," said Marian Darlington-Hope, former chairwoman of the Area IV Neighborhood Coalition. "As many groups, we sort of get loud and nasty, and while that's good . . . she paid attention to the concerns people had in ways that were helpful and effective.

"There's something about being the first that people sometimes have higher expectations than is sometimes reasonable," Darlington-Hope added. "As the first anything, woman, African-American, in her case first black woman, there's a sense of, 'Oh, we want to see all these things happen.' "

Simmons's political experience, including four terms on the City Council and a decade on the School Committee, points to the potential for change.

"Probably as mayor now she has the most school experience we've had in a long time," said Darlington-Hope, a professor of human services at Lesley University. "I think she's the one who really brings both pieces together in recognizing the importance of both school and city and can bring education back to the forefront for the entire city."

As mayor, Simmons chairs the School Committee, a body split over the suitability of Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn. Just after Simmons became mayor, the committee voted, 4 to 3, to extend Fowler-Finn's contract, with Simmons casting the swing vote. Some critics have suggested that her vote for the superintendent, despite her previous criticism of the persistent achievement gap in Cambridge public schools, was meant to gain support from supporters of Fowler-Finn on the City Council.

Political commentator Rob Winters observed on his blog that "some (and this includes me) felt that Simmons' vote was tied to her getting the votes of her council colleagues to become mayor," adding that the committee's failure to complete negotiations on Fowler-Finn's contract after two months of talks points to the need for Simmons to take the lead.

Simmons declined to comment on the matter because of negotiations, but said that once the School Committee establishes its mission, the role of the superintendent, "whoever he or she may be, is . . . to make sure that happens."

For Simmons, a lifelong Cambridge resident and mother of four children, many of the concerns expressed by parents about the city's education system mirror concerns that led to her political awakening and decision to run for election.

"By wanting to have things better for my own children, wanting to have the educational system better for all children, particularly children of color and poor children who seem to be languishing in our school district, by inventing a way of having that, in so doing I invented myself, if you will, as a leader."

A genealogy buff who has traced her family's history to her great-grandfather's emancipation as a slave, Simmons's experiences provide her with a sense of purpose.

"When you're a woman, a person of color, openly gay, business owner, you bring all that with you to the table," she said. "I've been that woman with the kids going to look for an apartment and watch the person walk by me once they saw who I was. . . . I had those very real experiences, and so it does influence what I do. No one has to come and tell me about it. I know."

Her goals as mayor include increasing public participation in the city's policy making and its services, as well as establishing a housing policy that is welcoming to larger families.

"This is a window of opportunity for me to shed light on important issues to women, to families, to same-gender families, to the community of color," she said.

"It's an opportunity to have some control and make sure these issues stay at the forefront of all of us as policy makers."