Duehay Elected Mayor in Bizarre Vote

After weeks of byzantine vote-switching and back-room politicking, Frank H. Duehay '55 was elected Mayor of Cambridge on Monday evening.

Duehay's victory came only after fellow Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) member, Katherine Triantafillou, secured--and then lost--the five of nine votes needed to become the city's top executive.

In the first balloting of the elections, Triantafillou topped the list with five votes over competing Alliance for Change party member Michael A. Sullivan.

Cambridge's council of nine members is split evenly between the two parties, with independent Council member Kenneth E. Reeves '72, holding the swing vote.

Reeves declared his support for Triantafillou prior to Monday's council meeting and his vote, added to the CCA's four votes, was expected to carry Triantafillou into the mayor's office.

But as soon as Triantafillou supporters began cheering and the voting appeared to be finished, Anthony D. Galluccio, a member of the Alliance for Change party, switched his vote from Sullivan to Duehay, who previously had no votes.

Galluccio was followed by Shelia T. Russell, another Alliance member, who switched her vote from Sullivan to Duehay. Then, led by Duehay himself, all the CCA members (not including Triantafillou) shifted their support from Triantafillou to Duehay.

As vote after vote changed hands, the crowd, which had a noticeable Triantafillou bias, began hissing and booing and did not stop until the clerk administering the balloting asked for silence.

As Duehay suddenly gained the majority, Reeves spoke up and declared that he was reaffirming his vote for Triantafillou. Reeves' proclamation elicited cheers and applause from the crowd, but did not change the outcome.

After Duehay was sworn in as mayor, the balloting for the position of vice-mayor began.

As the clerk read off the list of council members, almost every vote of both parties was cast in succession for Galluccio, a member of the party that switched to Duehay. Only Reeves and, of course, Triantafillou voted for Triantafillou.

Visibly upset, Triantafillou cast her vote saying, "Well, I guess I'll vote for myself then, won't I?"

Amid boos from a shocked crowd, the clerkdeclared Galluccio the vice-mayor by a 7-2majority and adjourned the meeting, Reeves thenhugged Triantafillou and escorted her out of thechamber.

In an impromptu speech to a crowd of supportersafter the meeting, Triantafillou expressed shock.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I was assuredby my CCA colleagues at 5:15 this afternoon thatthey were voting for me," she said.

After Monday evening's theatrics, Triantafillouyesterday cut her ties with the Cambridgepolitical party.

"I have since written to the CCA anddisaffiliated myself from them," she said. "[Theyare] propelled by ambition andself-aggrandizement, and not dedication toprinciple."

After the voting, Galluccio and Duehay stoppedto talk to reporters in the council chamber.

Responding to questions about his cross-partyvote, Alliance member Galluccio pointed out that"It's important to remember that two years agoRussell was elected when Duehay broke party ranksto elect Russell. This year we did [the same thingfor him]."

Vice-Mayor Galluccio explained that he "wasconcerned about the voting process dragging on. Iwanted a compromise mayor that I could work with."He added that, "my job is to elect the best mayorthat is electable, I'm comfortable with what we'vedone."

In good spirits, Duehay rebuttedTriantafillou's comments, and declared that hewasn't acting for "personal gain" and pointed outthat he didn't lie to Triantafillou.

"I did vote for her, then I changed. When thevotes came to me, I decided to take them. When Italk to her, I'll say I did what was best for thecity," the new mayor told reporters.

When asked by angry spectators why he voted forGalluccio as vice-mayor instead of using Reevesand the other four CCA votes to electTriantafillou as vice-mayor, Duehay said that"he's not going to denigrate anyone," and thenconcluded with a remark that enraged spectators,"I voted for him because he voted for me."

With this, one angry woman shouted that thecouncil had "no integrity," and was just "a bunchawhite straight men," perhaps a reference toTriantafillou's openly lesbian lifestyle.

Another spectator, Maura Pensak, called thevoting "pretty pathetic," saying that she was"disturbed that there was obviously an agreementmade by Duehay to vote for another party becausehe voted for him."

Changes To The System

In an interview yesterday, Triantafillou spokeof her distaste with the present voting mechanism,by which a councillor needs a clear majority of atleast five votes to win.

"What it essentially means is that we've beenthrough a two-month process of haggling amongstourselves, and it's basically not a publicprocess," she said. "It's a lot of negotiatingbehind closed doors about who's going to vote forwho, and it's very destructive."

Triantafillou suggested either adopting apopular mayoral election, a debate betweencandidates followed by a council vote or a systemwhereby if no majority is reached by Jan. 1, themayoral candidate with the greatest support withinthe council would become mayor.

"I think it should be done differently. Theprocess needs to be open to some sort of publicscrutiny," she said. "This way it's an uglycontest of personalities.

Amid boos from a shocked crowd, the clerkdeclared Galluccio the vice-mayor by a 7-2majority and adjourned the meeting, Reeves thenhugged Triantafillou and escorted her out of thechamber.

In an impromptu speech to a crowd of supportersafter the meeting, Triantafillou expressed shock.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I was assuredby my CCA colleagues at 5:15 this afternoon thatthey were voting for me," she said.

After Monday evening's theatrics, Triantafillouyesterday cut her ties with the Cambridgepolitical party.

"I have since written to the CCA anddisaffiliated myself from them," she said. "[Theyare] propelled by ambition andself-aggrandizement, and not dedication toprinciple."

After the voting, Galluccio and Duehay stoppedto talk to reporters in the council chamber.

Responding to questions about his cross-partyvote, Alliance member Galluccio pointed out that"It's important to remember that two years agoRussell was elected when Duehay broke party ranksto elect Russell. This year we did [the same thingfor him]."

Vice-Mayor Galluccio explained that he "wasconcerned about the voting process dragging on. Iwanted a compromise mayor that I could work with."He added that, "my job is to elect the best mayorthat is electable, I'm comfortable with what we'vedone."

In good spirits, Duehay rebuttedTriantafillou's comments, and declared that hewasn't acting for "personal gain" and pointed outthat he didn't lie to Triantafillou.

"I did vote for her, then I changed. When thevotes came to me, I decided to take them. When Italk to her, I'll say I did what was best for thecity," the new mayor told reporters.

When asked by angry spectators why he voted forGalluccio as vice-mayor instead of using Reevesand the other four CCA votes to electTriantafillou as vice-mayor, Duehay said that"he's not going to denigrate anyone," and thenconcluded with a remark that enraged spectators,"I voted for him because he voted for me."

With this, one angry woman shouted that thecouncil had "no integrity," and was just "a bunchawhite straight men," perhaps a reference toTriantafillou's openly lesbian lifestyle.

Another spectator, Maura Pensak, called thevoting "pretty pathetic," saying that she was"disturbed that there was obviously an agreementmade by Duehay to vote for another party becausehe voted for him."

Changes To The System

In an interview yesterday, Triantafillou spokeof her distaste with the present voting mechanism,by which a councillor needs a clear majority of atleast five votes to win.

"What it essentially means is that we've beenthrough a two-month process of haggling amongstourselves, and it's basically not a publicprocess," she said. "It's a lot of negotiatingbehind closed doors about who's going to vote forwho, and it's very destructive."

Triantafillou suggested either adopting apopular mayoral election, a debate betweencandidates followed by a council vote or a systemwhereby if no majority is reached by Jan. 1, themayoral candidate with the greatest support withinthe council would become mayor.

"I think it should be done differently. Theprocess needs to be open to some sort of publicscrutiny," she said. "This way it's an uglycontest of personalities.