Convention Urges Council To Enact Rent Rollbacks

The Cambridge Housing Convention, a group of 900 Cambridge residents concerned with the city housing crisis, sent a rent control proposal to the City Council and the Mayor's City Manager's Committee on rent control yesterday. The Convention's proposal calls for a four year rollback of rents in most rented housing in the city to the level of January 1, 1968.

The proposed ordinance provides for enforcement of the law by a citizen-elected Rent Board, with one member from each of the City's 11 wards. The board would be empowered to review annually increases in landlords' operating expenses and taxes in order to prevent general rent increases from exceeding five per cent in any year.

Excepted under the proposed law are public housing, two and three-family owner-occupied buildings, and hotels. The first general rent adjustment would take effect on January 1, 1970 and would take into account inflation in operating costs and increases in the tax rate since January 1, 1968.

The City Council will take no action on the proposed bill until the City Manager's Committee has had a chance to review it and make its own recommendations.

The Council also received last night a copy of a letter sent by President Pusey to James A. Reagan, Chief of the Cambridge police force. Pusey thanked the Cambridge police for their assistance on April 9 and 10. He wrote, "this was not an easy decision to make and we appreciate everything you did to minimize injuries."

Councillor Alfred E. Vellucci blasted President Pusey for not having paid the policeman promptly for their services and said that the policeman have still not been paid.