Linkage

To The Editors of The Crimson:

Each morning at 8 o'clock, I enter the Council Office in City Hall. The first thing I go for is the Harvard Crimson. The Crimson has always been my friend. On Monday, Nov 4, I went for the Crimson and turned to the special Cambridge page and Lo and Behold! I found my name to be in the Harvard Crimson Editorial column. I came across a paragraph that said "Incumbent Councilor Alfred E. Vellucci's unique brand of populism includes crucial support for rent control--he provides the outgoing Council's fifth. "swing" vote to protect the system. Vellucci, however, opposes the CCA candidates' effort to create a "linkage" program that would help alleviate the pressures of development by requiring large-scale builders to add to the stock of affordable housing." I read the paragraph which concerns Al Vellucci two times through, and I have come to the conclusion that the members of the staff have erred. It's a fact! Councilor Alfred Vellucci is and has been and is presently strongly supporting the Linkage Program in Cambridge. It's a fact that Councilor Al Vellucci has caused developers to come up with "commitments amounting to $4.5 million. Did you know that Al Vellucci has obtained dozens of low and moderate income apartments and homes from East Cambridge developers for people? That was all done without a Linkage Program in place. Did you know that Harvard and M.I.T. killed the Linkage Program in Cambridge? Like Al Smith said in '28, "Let's keep the record clean." P.S. I'm a friend to P.B.H. Alfred Vellucci   City Councilor