Crane Elected Mayor; Vellucci Switches Vote

The Cambridge City Council reelected Edward A. Crane '35 to an unprecedented third consecutive term as mayor yesterday, ending 11 days of deadlocked balloting for the office. It was the vote of Councillor Alfred E. Vellucci which finally gave Crane a decisive majority.

Vellucci, who had voted for himself for the first 68 ballots, made his switch to Crane on the first vote yesterday. The Council then proceeded to elect Vellucci to the spot of vice-mayor by a 5-4 margin.

After Vellucci's shift, three of the four councillors who had voted for the independent choice, Walter J. Sullivan, reversed their votes to Crane. Sullivan's was the lone dissenting vote in the final 8-1 count for Crane.

In announcing his change, Vellucci noted that Crane had done the same for him on the 13th ballot. "Ballot number 69 responds to ballot number 13 by switching from Alfred E. Vellucci to Edward A. Crane," he said.

At that time Crane had added his vote to those of four independents to give Vellucci a 5-4 majority. But Councillor Bernard Goldberg switched his vote away from Vellucci at the last moment to deprive him of victory.

Vellucci has now figured prominently in each of Crane's last three victories. In both 1960 and 1962 he broke 4-4 deadlocks between independent councillors and the Cambridge Civic Association backed councillors by throwing his lot to the CCA's Crane. Vellucci is technically an independent, because he is not backed by the CCA.

Crane now begins his fourth term as mayor. He was first elected to the office in 1950, then again in 1960 and in 1962.

The Council's only real business yesterday, besides the elections, was the re-appointment of John J. Curry as City Manager by a unanimous vote.