A Qualified Yes

WE agree with the majority that rent control is the litmus test issue for progressive (or less euphemistically, liberal) candidates in Cambridge races.

As liberals, we agree with the staff's endorsement of the candidates listed. But our endorsement is qualified.

We lament the absence of any progressive candidate who has the courage to reject the knee-jerk pro-rent control position and take a critical look at the inequities and inefficiencies of the current system. We believe that a truly progressive candidate would push for a more efficient and fair system for ensuring an adequate supply of affordable housing for the needy. We would like to see a progressive candidate who did not blindly defend a scheme that benefits rich free-loaders and pushes the costs of the system free ride onto those who cannot get rent-controlled housing.

Unfortunately, there are no such candidates. The anti-rent control candidates fail to distinguish themselves on other issues. Although we believe that the candidates endorsed by the staff are misguided in their uncritical advocacy of rent control, they are, on balance, the better candidates.

We endorse the same slate of candidates as the staff. But we hope that they would, as council members, look for more efficacious means to achieve the noble ends of affordable housing and economic diversity.