Picking City Leadership

The City Council shake-up never happened last week. Neither the renegade Republican nor the precocious student won a place on the council, meaning that it is likely to be business as usual in Central Square. The two open spaces were filled by political veterans Marjorie Decker and Jim Braude while incumbent Katherine Triantafillou was bumped out in a narrow race with School Committee member David P. Maher.

The council lost a progressive voice in Triantafillou, but her challengers were hardly right-wing. The lack of excitement or initiative for change was most poignantly illustrated by the fact that the voting was done by less than half of the city's registered voters. Few students showed up at the polling booths even for one of their own, at least if you take it from the lack of support for MIT student Erik Snowberg's candidacy. Snowberg finished 14th in the pool of 24 candidates, a sign that students still have little interest in Cambridge politics. However, Snowberg's campaign doesn't prove that student representation is a hopeless cause--his 429 votes show potential for future student-led campaigns for local office.

The issue of the City Manager is probably the most important one the new council will face. The City Manager Robert W. Healy's contract is up for extension next year and Triantafillou was one of his major opponents. Under the current weak mayor system, the manager is more powerful than the council. He writes regulations and controls public works, public safety and city financing. Healy has successfully navigated the turbulent waters of city politics for 18 years, but he has fallen out of favor with several city councillors because of his lack of action to secure low-cost housing for city residents. Triantafillou was one of his most outspoken critics, but newcomer Braude is also in favor of putting more power in the hands of the council and so the election is not likely to influence the factions.

However, this issue is one that the council must discuss with care. They cannot simply ship Healy out without creating the impression of a negative working atmosphere for his successor. And Healy has an impressive record to rest upon, having made Cambridge one of the best-run cities in the country. If he continues to work as city manager it is important that the council and manager cooperate on civil terms. The council has as much to lose from Healy's experience as they do to gain from the sort of "rubber-stamp" city manager some of its members desire.

In fact, the council has shown itself to be remarkably inept in recent years in reacting to the rising rents and housing shortages that have pushed long-time residents out of the city. The council has yet to put together a comprehensive forward-looking plan to deal with the issues of gentrification and the loss of rent control. If the City Council wants to wrest control away from a demonstrably efficient and fair city manager it must prove itself to be worthy of the responsibility.

The new mayor of the city council may well be current vice-mayor and top vote-getter Anthony D. Galluccio. Galluccio is one of the more business-friendly and conservative (by Cambridge standards) members of the perennially liberal council. He would make a good mayor, having served under the traditional liberal mayor Francis H. Duehay '55. Galluccio has shown that he is not afraid to face up to the changing reality of Cambridge while other members have their hearts set on bringing rent control back and their heads stuck in the sand. The support Galluccio has received from Cambridge voters is an indication that he would be a strong candidate to lead the council with guidance and vision.