City Council Forms Employment Office

The Cambridge City Council voted unanimously last night to create a Cambridge Employment Office to deal with the problems of unemployed and unskilled workers.

The decision was made in a response to a recommendation of the Council's Economic and Training Committee, headed by councillors Alice K. Wolf and Jonathan S. Myers.

The recently published Seltzer report, commissioned by the City Manager's Office, found that many area residents experience employment problems because of lack of skills.

The Council's decision to found an employment agency specifically for the citizens of Cambridge was met with criticism by Daniel Myers of the Mass. Department of Employment Training. Myers said his agency, which is located in Central Square, already provides many of the services planned by the city.

But Councillor Myers said the city's plan was necessary because residents are looking for improved services.

"People want to see some changes in how we approach employment and training issues in the city," Myers said.

Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 said the objections of the state agency speak to a frequent problem between Cambridge and the state.

"The city is looking to enhance services to Cambridge residents," Reeves said.

The mayor's emphasis on confining employment services to city residents is in line with the recent efforts of the council to restrict city employment to city residents.

The employment and training goals recommended included founding an Office of Work Force Training, improving the transition from school to work and giving the "hard to employ" employment priority.

Wolf, who introduced the recommendation, said the office "should be a center where people will come who need jobs, need training or don't know what to do."

Reeves said he favored the "school to work" element of the proposal because he believes that while many Cambridge students have no trouble entering college, they frequently leave without finishing their first year.

"Many kids who graduate from the high school go to college but don't finish, never go back, and never get real job," Reeves said.

In other business, the council went into executive session to discuss a possible lawsuit against the state Department of Transportation in protest of a proposed Charles River bridge crossing.