Vellucci Eyes City Council Seat

Alfred E. Vellucci, the septuagenarian former Cambridge mayor and city councillor, said Wednesday he will vie for a seat in this year's city council elections, promising to run "even if my name doesn't appear on the ballot."

"A lot of people keep pushing me. So right now I'm pondering over the idea of running," Vellucci said. "You can tell your readers, 'He's going to run for city councillor. He may not be on the ballot, but he's running for city council."

Vellucci said the issue about which he is most concerned is the closing of the Stop and Shop grocery store in the city's Riverside neighborhood.

"The Stop and Shop closed the market without telling the people," Vellucci said. "It left the Riverside people without a market."

Vellucci said he has tried to open another market in the area.

He said he and two Cantabrigians who own food stores met with Mayor Kenneth Reeves '72 and city manager Robert W. Healy. The two owners were willing to open a market if the city could help them find 20,000 feet of available space.

The meeting was unsuccessful.

"If the city of Cambridge can build garages, they can build a market," Vellucci said. "I produced the men who would open the market, but they didn't produce the space."

Vellucci said he recommends using the ground floor of two factories which MIT purchased and converted into office buildings as possible locations for the market.

"That isn't too much, 20,000 square feet of land," he added.

Neither Reeves nor Healy was available for comment.

Vellucci said he will rely on his familiarity with Cantabrigians to win votes, just as he has in past elections.

"I didn't have to go around ringing doorbells," Vellucci said. "I go to all the multicultural festivals--I meet a lot of people. I have learned how to speak four languages. That's the right way to do it," he added.

To Harvard alumni and administrators, Vellucci is probably best known as the politician who several times in jest suggested turning Harvard Yard into a giant parking lot.

One of Vellucci's most recent efforts has been a campaign he began last fall to persuade restaurants such as Harvard's Faculty Club to stop serving biologically engineered food.

Eight of the nine incumbent city councillors are expected to vie for the nine open seats this fall. Jonathan S. Myers earlier this month announced his retirement from the council. Other candidates include current school committee member Henrietta S. Davis and Republican and gay rights activist Jonathan T. Spampinato.