Contract Renewed Over Objections

Politicos who had expected a simple partisan split in the Cambridge City Council's decision on renewing City Manager Robert W. Healy's contract must be in shock.

After months of arduous public evaluation and tense City Council meetings, the City Council voted six to three in March to extend Healy's five-year contract, which expires in June, for an additional two years.

Councillor Edward N. Cyr and Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72, both endorsed by the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA), voted with the four Independents on the council to extend the contract. CCA Councillors Francis H. Duehay '55, Jonathan S. Myers and Alice K. Wolf voted against the contract.

The CCA's position is that no city manager should have a contract, according to CCA President R. Philip Dowds. The split was significant because the organization's platform dictates that its members must act in consensus on the issue of the city manager.

In the past, neighborhood-oriented citizen groups have been at odds with the business community in Cambridge. The tension has manifested itself in a struggle between the CCA-dominated city council and the more development-oriented city manager.

This year the tension heightened when the city council sent out questionnaires asking Cantabrigians to rate the city manager and received a large number of responses from business groups giving Healy their unanimous support. This served to buttress the neighborhood groups' claims that Healy is only accessible to business interests in the city.

However, despite much early speculation that the public evaluations would be treated as a referendum and used to back whatever decision the council made, the manager's new contract was approved in one meeting. And the contract was based on a draft written by Healy himself.

Healy, who has been city manager of Cambridge since 1981, has said that he will accept the contract, which is similar to his previous deal. Healy's salary for 1993 is $121,302, making him one of the highest paid municipal officials in the state.