Setting a Standard: What It Means to Get Things Done (Quietly)

By Mayor James Sweeney — Village of Cambridge, NY

I tell people that I'm a recovering introvert. It's only half a joke.

In truth, like many people in Cambridge, I tend to keep my head down, do the work, and not make a fuss about it. That probably makes me a strange candidate for local government, where the spotlight can feel constant and the pressures public. But I'm learning that leadership isn't always about volume. Sometimes it's about clarity. Consistency. Standards.

So this isn't a post about a big celebration or ribbon-cutting. It's about something quieter: how we as a Village are working to set a standard.

This week, we submitted a federal report that had been overdue for more than two years. I want to be clear: this delay wasn’t for lack of effort. My predecessor Carman Bogle worked for years to gain access to an increasingly complicated federal portal, through no fault of her own. I, myself, had to go through voice and facial recognition just to register. The system isn’t user-friendly. But this month, after a final push, we were able to get it through.

It wasn't glamorous work. It was spreadsheets, emails, missing files, and a tight deadline. But we got it done. Not because someone told us to. Not because there was a headline in it. We did it because accountability matters. Especially in a small town.

In Cambridge, when we say we're going to do something, we do it. Even if it's hard. Even if it's late. Even if the paperwork was buried in a drawer no one's opened since 2021.

That idea, of showing up, following through, and finishing what we start, might not make a lot of noise. But I think it's the foundation for trust. And trust is the quiet engine of local government. It doesn't shout. It builds.

Setting a standard doesn't mean being perfect. It means being consistent. It means not treating integrity like a seasonal offering. It means owning what we can fix, and fixing what we can own.

And it starts here.

So if you're wondering what we're up to at the village offices on a random Tuesday morning, it might be something small: reviewing a policy, closing a compliance gap, answering a resident's question in plain English. The little stuff isn't little. It's the scaffolding of a well-run community.

We're not trying to impress anyone. We're trying to build something solid.

And that, I think, is how you set a standard. And in Cambridge, that’s exactly what we intend to keep doing.

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James Sweeney
Mayor, Village of Cambridge, NY