Davis Is Council's Only New Member

Cambridge School Committee member Henrietta A. Davis will join eight incumbents on the Cambridge City Council, as unofficial results in Tuesday's municipal elections announced early yesterday morning.

Davis's election, which culminated in the six-day process of hand-counting more than 19,000 ballots, ensures that the council will be evenly split between progressive Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) candidates and conservatives endorsed by the Alliance for Change.

Mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72, a former CCA candidate who ran without endorsements from either group this year, garnered the most votes of all 18 candidates and will occupy the ninth seat on the council.

Davis will join the eight incumbents when the new City Council convenes during the first week of January.

The incumbents re-elected to the council are CCA-endorsed Francis H. Duehay '55, Kathleen L. Born and Katherine Triantifillou. They will be seated along with Alliance-backed Anthony D. Galluccio, Sheila T. Russell, Michael A. Sullivan and Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.

CCA Surprise

Davis's victory garners her the seat held by retiring Councillor Jonathan S. Meyers, a definite boost to the CCA, an organization which observers said had lost influence after the abolition of rent control by statewide referendum last November.

"The future of the CCA was on referendum," said member Chuck R. Colbert. "We surprised a lot of pundits this week."

Many observers had predicted that the tidal wave of conservatism which swept the nation last November would filter down to Cambridge this year and finally shift the balance of power on the City Council.

It did not happen.

Despite disappointing voter turnout in traditional CCA strongholds, the progressive group was able to effectively mobilize its constituents.

"I am very happy because the signs were very ominous--a tremendous conservative tide in this country, the loss of rent control, the low voter turnout," said CCA affiliate and Agassiz Tenants Union Co-Chair Randy Fenstermacher. "We are very pleased that we stood our ground."

City politicos said yesterday that the transfer of votes possible under Cambridge's proportional representation system helped the CCA to victory.

Proportional representation allows citizens to rank their choice of candidates in order of preference. Once a candidate meets a quota of "number one" votes, his or her excess votes are transferred towards the next numbered candidate.

The transfer of votes from Reeves and CCA-endorsed Lester P. Lee, Jr. proved decisive in propelling Davis to victory over conservative James J. McSweeney.

Davis received 301 transfers from Lee and 50 votes from Reeves. McSweeney, however, gained 35 of Lee's votes and a scant six from Reeves.

In addition, Alliance transfer votes were spread among a variety of candidates, including Davis and others endorsed by the CCA.

"The Alliance people still don't know how to vote the slate," Colbert said.

Colbert added that personal disagreements with Galluccio resulting from Galluccio's appointment to fill a vacancy on the council last year also "hurt McSweeney terribly."

What's Next?

At its first meeting in January, the newly-elected council will choose one councillor to serve as mayor and ex-officio chair of the school committee for the next two years.

Reeves has said he will seek an unprecedented third term as mayor, but Duehay and Russell said they also are interested in the position.

"It's time for a woman in there," said Russell, a 10-year council veteran.

The final tally of votes at Longfellow School coincided with a national conference in Boston held to discuss the merits of proportional voting.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (DGa.), who has introduced legislation which would modify a 1967 federal statute and permit the use of such balloting in congressional races across the nation, observed the vote count Saturday night.

"Proportional voting encourages increased voter turnout because people have more at stake in the outcome," McKinney said in an interview with The Crimson. "It improves the opportunity of women and minorities, and it does it in a way that does not inflame Southern racial animosity as we've experienced in the past."

McSweeney, however, has filed a lawsuit asking the Massachusetts Supreme Court to rule the procedure unconstitutional because it violates the provisions of "one man, one vote."

The courts are expected to rule on the case sometime in December, according to McSweeney

"I am very happy because the signs were very ominous--a tremendous conservative tide in this country, the loss of rent control, the low voter turnout," said CCA affiliate and Agassiz Tenants Union Co-Chair Randy Fenstermacher. "We are very pleased that we stood our ground."

City politicos said yesterday that the transfer of votes possible under Cambridge's proportional representation system helped the CCA to victory.

Proportional representation allows citizens to rank their choice of candidates in order of preference. Once a candidate meets a quota of "number one" votes, his or her excess votes are transferred towards the next numbered candidate.

The transfer of votes from Reeves and CCA-endorsed Lester P. Lee, Jr. proved decisive in propelling Davis to victory over conservative James J. McSweeney.

Davis received 301 transfers from Lee and 50 votes from Reeves. McSweeney, however, gained 35 of Lee's votes and a scant six from Reeves.

In addition, Alliance transfer votes were spread among a variety of candidates, including Davis and others endorsed by the CCA.

"The Alliance people still don't know how to vote the slate," Colbert said.

Colbert added that personal disagreements with Galluccio resulting from Galluccio's appointment to fill a vacancy on the council last year also "hurt McSweeney terribly."

What's Next?

At its first meeting in January, the newly-elected council will choose one councillor to serve as mayor and ex-officio chair of the school committee for the next two years.

Reeves has said he will seek an unprecedented third term as mayor, but Duehay and Russell said they also are interested in the position.

"It's time for a woman in there," said Russell, a 10-year council veteran.

The final tally of votes at Longfellow School coincided with a national conference in Boston held to discuss the merits of proportional voting.

U.S. Rep. Cynthia McKinney (DGa.), who has introduced legislation which would modify a 1967 federal statute and permit the use of such balloting in congressional races across the nation, observed the vote count Saturday night.

"Proportional voting encourages increased voter turnout because people have more at stake in the outcome," McKinney said in an interview with The Crimson. "It improves the opportunity of women and minorities, and it does it in a way that does not inflame Southern racial animosity as we've experienced in the past."

McSweeney, however, has filed a lawsuit asking the Massachusetts Supreme Court to rule the procedure unconstitutional because it violates the provisions of "one man, one vote."

The courts are expected to rule on the case sometime in December, according to McSweeney