Farewell, Mayor Duehay

A Harvard graduate who has served his hometown for over 36 years, Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 will step down from his post on January 2,2000 and retire from politics. Duehay began his career in politics a scant eight years after graduating from Harvard College.

While town and gown have often been at loggerheads, Duehay was well suited to mend the breach between his alma mater and the town in which he grew up. Indeed, Duehay served in a variety of positions at the University, from being a fellow at the Institute of Politics to directing Harvard's program to train school superintendents.

Duehay has been on the city council since 1971, and instead of seeking higher office, he chose to stick to what he knew best. Duehay found his work in city council "interesting and rewarding," saying that he considered running for higher office only once. He made the decision not to run for state senate when Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. decided to run in 1980 Other than this brief flirtation with state government, Duehay has remained throughout his life a dedicated and tireless servant to his city.

Duehay has worked to find ways for local, state and federal government to work together more effectively. He is on the Board of Directors of the National League of Cities and used to chair the League's Committee on Economic Development.

Duehay truly served the people in Cambridge, shepherding them through such monumental changes as desegregation and the rise and fall of rent control. Even as rent control became less popular, Duehay fought to provide affordable housing to the low income Cantabrigians.

He has sought to preserve the character of Cambridge not only by providing some of its oldest residents with the means to stay here, but also by preserving the kind of parks and open space that would otherwise by bulldozed over by developers.

Duehay presided over the creation of the Open Space Acquisition fund for which $2.5 million has been identified to purchase land under threat of development. More recently, the Green Ribbon Open Space Committee was formed by the council in order to establish criteria for acquiring these kinds of property.

We honor our more famous political alumni with plaques, with speeches and with honorary degrees. But even if yet another Harvard alum is elected to the White House seat next year, it will do nothing to diminish the stature of this local hero.

Duehay epitomizes what local government does right--local people working to find local solutions and lending their expertise and advice to national efforts.