The Incumbents

Tom Coates has achieved an admirable record in getting jobs for black people in the city government, and his campaign literature notes that well, pointing out in a brochure entitled, "Tom Coates: A Man and His Record," that "no man in the Cambridge Black community has done more than Councillor Coates to help the black community gain its proper place in their city's government."

However, Coates has achieved a different sort of record in obtaining jobs for friends of his, a record which has cast him in a rather unfavorable light.

According to the Phoenix, Coates came to City Manager James Sullivan to ask that his friend, Norman Watson, be appointed to a job with the Cambridge Housing Authority. Sullivan refused, and Coates, like four other councillors, voted for his firing, and later voted for present City Manager John H. Corcoran. The Phoenix also states that two other Coates' associates have been hired by the city: George Thompson, brother of Coates' 1969 campaign manager, and Gloria Waddie, a close friend.

Ralph "Stodie" Ward, the paper reports, a black Youth Recreation Coordinator, ran for City Council in 1965. Coates, who was running for a second term, was the only other black man in the race. The day the election results were announced, City Manager John Curry fired Ward and replaced him with a friend of Coates', Leroy Johnson.

Coates said in an interview that he felt the Phoenix story was "riddled with inaccuracies," but refused to comment any further. He said that he didn't know why Stodie Ward was fired, that he had "wondered why himself." "You'll just have to ask Curry," he added.

With the presence of two relatively strong black candidates in this year's race, it appears certain that Coates will have a much harder time winning back his seat.