Dunphy Declines; City Still Lacks A City Manager

Cambridge still has no permanent City Manager.

City Councillor Thomas W. Danehy last night withdrew the name of Acting City Manager Ralph J. Dunphy from consideration for the post. Danehy had nominated Dunphy only a week ago, but the councillor said that he had talked to the acting manager since then and found that Dunphy was not interested in having the job permanently.

Danehy said that he had nominated Dunphy as a "compromise candidate," since no other applicant for the post appeared likely to get the Council votes needed for appointment.

He praised Dunphy's "coolness under fire." But, Danehy said, "Because Ralph doesn't have a string of degrees after his name, because he doesn't come from Albequerque, he isn't the fashionable man to get."

Councillor Thomas H. D. Mahoney, chairman of the Council's nationwide search for a new manager, objected that a "sick man goes to the finest doctor he can get, not to an old friend." Danehy then shot back, "This is not a medical show."

When the interchange ended, the Council voted 8 to 1 to allow Danehy to withdraw Dunphy's name. The dissenting councillor, Alfred E. Vellucci, said that he wanted a "native of Cambridge" such as Dunphy to be the new manager.