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Councilor Catherine “Cathie” Zusy has established herself as a moderating voice in an ambitious, pro-development Cambridge City Council — despite only serving for a year. Now, she’s running for reelection to increase affordable housing while preserving neighborhood character.

Zusy is the only councilor running for reelection who has not served a full term. She took office following the death of Councilor Joan F. Pickett in September. She had narrowly lost to Pickett in the 2023 election.

Zusy openly admits that filling Pickett’s seat and adjusting to the Council in the middle of the term was a challenge.

“I’ve been serving on the Council for almost a year now, and I will tell you, there’s a lot of coming up to speed when you join the Council anyway,” Zusy said. “It’s a humbling experience.”

Zusy was a museum curator — and later a neighborhood organizer — before taking her seat on the Council. She earned the moniker “Magazine Beach lady” after she co-founded a group and raised $8 million to restore Magazine Beach in Cambridgeport.

“I was seen as the neighborhood association president for many years in Cambridgeport. Most of us that run have been invested in our specific neighborhood,” she said. “But as a city councilor, I’ve really been thinking about the whole city.”

Zusy has adopted a distinct pro-affordable housing bent since assuming the seat just over a year ago. She voted in favor of rezoning 320 Charles St., a project that opened the door for BioMed Realty to build a new, multi-story facility in exchange for $20 million in community benefits.

“I think housing is our most difficult problem to solve in the city. I’m well aware of the need for young people and families, and our workers to be able to afford to live in the city, which is one of the most expensive in the country,” she said.

But unlike many on the Council, Zusy does not see zoning reform as the solution to Cambridge’s affordable housing problem. She was the only member of the Council to vote no on the landmark zoning overhaul that ended single-family zoning in the City earlier this year.

Zusy, who was endorsed by the anti-development Cambridge Citizens Coalition, said she does not believe the ordinance was an effective way to address the city’s housing crisis.

“I just don’t think the multi-family housing ordinance was the tool we needed to solve that problem, and, in fact, I think that it will make it worse,” Zusy said.

The ordinance allows for four-story buildings to be built on any property in Cambridge, and for up to six stories on certain inclusionary housing projects. Zusy said she was concerned about this upward development, preferring to maintain skylines and open spaces in the City.

Instead, she proposes adopting a Housing Production Fund, where residents would be given low-interest loans to build homes in the city from donated and municipal funds.

“We should think about a Housing Production Fund, which would allow lower interest loans, short-term loans to developers, so that they wouldn’t have to be borrowing at 7 percent, they could be borrowing at 3 or 4 percent, which was lower construction costs,” she said.

A homeowner in Cambridge for more than 30 years, Zusy said she feels “lucky” to have purchased her home when prices in the city were still affordable — and wants to make this a reality for the next generation of Cantabrigians.

“I’m incredibly sympathetic to young people that want to live in this great city, and it’s a great city to live in, but this isn’t what’s going to get there,” Zusy said.

Zusy said her time on the Council has been a rewarding — and consuming — experience, and hopes to continue moderating intense debates over housing affordability in a future term.

“If you’re doing the job well, you’re doing the job all the time,” Zusy said.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer

—Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.