REEVES' CHANGE OF HEART?

When Kenneth E. Reeves '72 won the Cambridge mayoral reelection in January through the support of the city's four Independent councillors, the progressive mayor's traditional supporters--the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA)--felt betrayed.

"He has walked away from us," CCA President Philip Dowds says. "He doesn't want to talk to us."

Now, several weeks after Reeves' inauguration, CCA representatives and other Cambridge politicos are debating whether Reeves' political shift to gain office will also signal a change in the mayor's ideology and in his relations with the Council.

Reeves says no.

The partisan support he received during the election has absolutely no bearing on his own political leanings and will not weaken CCA-Independent relations in the Council, Reeves says.

At the same time, Reeves openly admits his break with the CCA.

"The CCA is...a paper tiger," says Reeves. "It wants to roar like a big lion, but it is not. Certainly [it is] not a representative one."

Reeves says he sought the Independent vote in order to bring the partisan interests of the Council closer together.

"For some reason, the definition has been narrow--either CCA or Independent," Reeves says. "The continuing melting of the CCA-Independent tension was my primary goal [in seeking re-election]."

But CCA officials say Reeves turned his back on the CCA in order to ensure his reelection.

"[Reeves'] need to be mayor exceeded all other considerations," Dowds says.

"In many ways, Ken Reeves was a fine mayor the first time he was elected," Dowds adds. "But his interests are taking him away."

Reeves responds that one of the main reasons for his seeking reelection was his desire to continue as the school committee president, an office the mayor holds ex officio.

"It's unfortunate that the school committee term is two years," Reeves says. "The school committee became a real educational forum...We operated as seven people not divided by the CCA."

Some say that Reeves wants the nonpartisanship of the school committee to extend to the Council.

"[Reeves] hopes the City Council will work more like the school committee did in the last two years," says Richard R. Buery '92, executive assistant to the mayor.

But CCA officials say that Reeves' separation from the CCA will hinder non-partisan cooperation on the Council.

Dowds says Reeves' offense during the election was not that he sought votes with the Independents, but rather that he failed to make "suitable deals with the other CCA councillors." The effect, Dowds says, was to "trash working relationships" within the Council.

"There has been any number of cases where the election of mayor has crossed party lines," says Dowds. "But it's been very, very rare that the CCA splits on a matter of this importance."

Reeves was the only one of the five CCA-endorsed councillors who supported his reelection as mayor.

By doing this, Reeves broke the agreement he signed with the CCA, which states that CCA-endorsed councillors should reach a consensus on the election of mayor, city manager and superintendent.

"The CCA platform is to agree on [the three positions] 'if at all possible,' Reeves says. "That 'if at all possible' is very germaine."

Reeves says that although several of his colleagues told him he could have been reelected with more than the five votes he received, he "absolutely [does] not believe that."

"It was my own decision to accept the first five votes," Reeves says.

"I don't think that he deliberately didn't seek the votes of the people who supported him," says Charles R. Colbert III, a long-time Reeves supporter. "The people on the Independent side came through first."

But CCA-endorsed councillor Francis H. Duehay '55 says that although it is premature to assess the implications of Reeves' shift, the breach of agreement cannot be easily dismissed.

"This matter is a serious one because we expected that we would work together to elect the mayor, and we didn't do that," says Duehay.

Councillor Kathleen L. Born, who is CCA-endorsed, says that the lack of consensus among the CCA councillors could affect Reeves' relationship with them.

"Ken is no longer in the CCA loop. He's more in the Independent loop of information," says Born. "Or he's in his own loop."

And Born adds: "The CCA councillors don't have the same kind of relationship with Ken that they have with each other."

Reeves, however, does not foresee problems in his working relationships and says he is "fully prepared to work with anyone who will work with [him]."

But this open invitation does not seem to extend to the CCA.

Dowds says that right after the inauguration, the CCA invited Reeves to discuss ways to restore their working relationship, but the mayor has not responded to the offer.

"I was handed a letter in a summonslike fashion," says Reeves, adding that the letter had already been distributed to the press. "The whole thing had a kind of arrogance about it, and [I've been] too pressed with other matters [to respond]."

Though the CCA classifies Reeves' new ties with the Independents as politically motivated, others say the mayor's political direction has not really changed.

"I don't think that Ken is the sort of person who would put aside his basic beliefs to be elected mayor," Born says. "Ken Reeves is a progressive person, a progressive councillor and a progressive mayor, and I am counting on him to vote that way."

Born says there will be little change in the substance of Council discussions.

"[The deal Reeves made with the Independents] might change how things get done, but...not what things get done," Born says. "I hope it won't change what things get done."

"I think that there will be relatively few changes with regard to issues," former Cambridge mayor Alice K. Wolf says.

But the political manifestations of Reeves' deal with the Independents have already surfaced in the appointing of committee chairs.

"It's very clear...that the people who voted him in got their choices," Wolf says.

Reeves appointed Independent Councillor William H. Walsh, who has been charged with 59 counts of conspiracy, bank fraud and false statements to a bank, as chair of the Ordinance Committee.

Reeves also named Independent Councillor Michael A. Sullivan as chair of the Finance Committee.

Born questions whether the appointment of Walsh as Ordinance Committee chair is appropriate.

"Bill Walsh is innocent until proven guilty and I believe that," Born says. "But I'm not sure that I would have personally even thought of appointing someone who was facing such charges."

"What [Reeves] is ultimately doing is garnering more power for himself because it is hard for me to believe that Bill Walsh can be an effective chair of the Ordinance Committee," Born adds. "I don't think that Ken would compromise his philosophy of what good city government is."

But Wolf does not see the appointments of Independent councillors to two of the most important committees as drastically changing the political inclinations of the Council.

"It really depends on how people use the committees," Wolf says. "A lot of what does or doesn't happen depends on the initiative of individual councillors or groups of councillors."

Although Wolf says that historically the Independents have "tended not to have very active committees," these committees could be very influential if they are used with the initiative traditionally associated with CCA-backed councillors.

Though the appointments of the Independent committee chairs are a sign of the Council's new political realignment, the result may be less than drastic.

The new political configuration of the Council may just translate into a period of stable but relatively inactive government, says Wolf, who is now a fellow at the Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics.

"There may be an impact on how much new [policy] will happen as opposed to what will fall apart," Wolf says. "I don't think much will fall apart, but not much progress will occur."

The CCA agrees that the Council is not likely to show much initiative. "The council isn't going to be doing much for a while," predicts Dowds. "Certainly the CCA coalition has turned to pieces."

The political realignment, prompted by Reeves, will not change the traditional Independent-CCA split on most of the Council's divisive issues--including rent control--according to both Wolf and Born.

Reeves' strong progressive leanings, especially regarding the city's social problems, will remain the same, Born adds.

But having a mayor who fits into neither the CCA nor the Independent mold may introduce an element of uncertainty on how the Council might deal with new issues.

For example, Dowds predicts that the end of the recession in Cambridge will prompt a revival of the construction industry.

The traditional stance of the Independents has been pro-development while the CCA has supported neighborhood protection. Reeves, though noted for his progressive views, is also a strong advocate of business interests, particularly in Central Square.

Though the Council is still debating the implications of the last election, some say the new Reeves-CCA split could actually prove an important factor in the 1995 Council elections.

Says Wolf: "For future elections, it's going to be a lot dicier."