Proper Transition For Rent Control

The recent emergency housing act signed by Gov. William F. Weld '66 is a conscientious method to case price-fixing itself out of our community. This reprieve provides a two-year adjustment period for the elderly and those in dire financial straits who inhabit rent-controlled apartments.

As such, we support the compromise. The rent control system was ill-conceived and consistently mismanaged. Its disappearance will, we think, be in the long-term best interest of Cambridge. It is clear, though, that rolling back rent control will have social costs. The system has been in place for years in Cambridge; people have come to rely on its presence.

This is not a reason to keep the system, but it is a reason to support the moderate measures that Weld's action provides. The two-year grace period protects those most in need of protection.

Among those not protected by the new legislation are students living off-campus. The same rules must apply to them that govern all other renters, as they are not elderly, handicapped or necessarily poor. If students choose not to live in University housing, the community as a whole has no obligation to support them. They should consider themselves lucky to have been able to exploit the system until now.

Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 and his allies were mistaken and misguided in their price-control posturing. Rather than pushing for a local exemption from the abolition of rent control, the camp should have lobbied for an transition measure like the one that was enacted. This position would have complied with the will of Massachusetts voters. At the same time, it would have accommodated those members of the community who have depended on the system that is being phased out.

Perhaps the best part of the measures passed last week is the long-awaited and final elimination of all forms of rent control by the end of next year. Terrence P. Morris, executive director of the Cambridge Rent Control Board, explained the changes simply by saying that "all controls expire December 31, 1996. Everything."

The emergency act protects those most in need of protection without disobeying the will of Massachusetts voters. We are glad to see the legislature and the governor agree on this reasonable termination to a flawed policy.