Personalities Minimize Issues in City Election

Voters in Boston's mayoralty election tomorrow will choose either a "not strongly partisan candidate"--incumbent John B. Hynes--or State Senator John E. Powers, an "ardent Democrat," Robert C. Wood, assistant professor of Government, said last night.

This particular contest is only one of a number which will be decided tomorrow as voters in the area join the rest of the country in electing many local officeholders.

A recent development in the Boston mayoralty campaign was the statement issued by the heads of the University, Tufts and Boston University Medical Schools defending Hynes' "vigorous program" at Boston City Hospital. The statement, released by Deans George P. Berry, and Joseph M. Hayman of Harvard and Tufts, and Chester A. Keefer, director of the B.U. Medical School, answered the recent attack on the hospital program by powers.

Praises Hynes

Wood pointed out that Powers' attack was typical of the type of campaign being waged by both sides. He praised Hynes' administration and his ability to "maintain strong Democratic backing and the respect of Republicans."

"If there is a large vote," Wood said, "Hynes should win." But, he added, whoever wins will have to deal with "problems and troubles as acute as those in any city in the country."

In Cambridge, meanwhile, the Civic Association held its final rally last night before the elections. The main issue of the local campaign, which Hyman Pill city councilor for the last 22 years, calls the "most personal and the most intense" he ever saw, is the question of endorsement by the C.C.A.

Obligation to Vote

The 31 "Independent" aspirants for the nine seats in the City Council consider any connections with this group an obligation obstructing independent vote. One of these candidates charged that the C.C.A. represented only one small segment of the city, the Harvard Square area.

The C.C.A., on the other hand, claims a definite program which its nominees have followed in the past. The platform, with which few of the other candidates disagree, includes participation in the federal Urban Renewal Plan, more police protection, and a general improvement of parking and traffic conditions.