City Councillors Fail to Elect Mayor at Inaugural Meeting

It was a new millennium, but the City Council was up to its old tricks on Monday, failing to elect a mayor at the 2000-2001 council's inauguration.

Just after the new council was sworn in amid music and ceremony, the councillors made their first attempt at electing a mayor, but no candidate received the necessary five votes needed for victory.

The leader after the first round of voting is Kathleen L. Born with four votes (hers and those of Henrietta Davis, Jim Braude and Marjorie C. Decker).

Michael A. Sullivan is second with three votes (his and those of Kenneth E. Reeves '72 and David P. Maher), while Anthony D. Galluccio has his own vote and Timothy J. Toomey Jr's.

The council will vote again at its Monday night meeting, and will continue re-voting until at least five members support one mayor. Until that point, senior council member Reeves will serve as acting mayor of the city.

The mayor holds relatively little power under the city's "Plan E" form of government. Beyond his or her ceremonial functions, he or she simply chairs both the City Council and the School Committee.

Still, the position is one sought after by local politicians, both as a jumping-off point for more ambitious political careers and as a status marker.

Monday's vote fell along party lines. The progressive Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) slate of Born, Braude and Davis and unaffiliated progressive Decker supported Born, while the more conservative but still left-of-center Independent vote--Galluccio, Maher, Sullivan and Toomey--was split between Galluccio and Sullivan.

Reeves is a former CCA member but is now unaffiliated.

Council observers said the outcome of this year's mayoral race is hard to predict.

"[It's] the most evenly split three-way race that I've seen in a long time," said Robert Winters, publisher of the on-line Cambridge Civic Journal. "It's a tough one to call."

Winters foresaw several possible situations: To break the stalemate, Galluccio or Toomey could give Born the fifth vote she needs; or the CCA might lend its votes to Galluccio in order to keep Sullivan from the mayorship.

The main reason that councillors might shift their votes, he said, is to prevent Reeves, "the wild card," from having the deciding vote.

Another local politico questioned Decker's commitment to Born.

"I don't take it as a given that Born's got Decker throughout," said Thomas S. Rafferty, one of the hosts of the political talk show "Cambridge Inside Out."

Rafferty speculated that Decker is interested in coalition-building, and as such, might support her fellow native Cantabrigians, Independents Galluccio or Sullivan.

Winters also said that Decker might vote for these two, even if it angers part of her electoral base, which is largely female and would support a qualified female candidate.

"She's not afraid to go against the grain," Winters said.

Despite the usual backroom politicking that has been occurring, both Rafferty and Winters said they expect the mayoral race to be resolved relatively quickly.

"I'd be surprised if it goes on more than three to four weeks," Rafferty said. "There's no great ideological reason why someone should prolong this."

"None of the councillors want this thing to drag out," said Winters, who added that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering was taxing on councillors.

"It's a real kind of twisted balancing act," he said.

Besides the unsuccessful mayoral vote, Monday's inauguration--Cambridge's 29th under Plan E--was a festive affair.

City Hall's 111-year-old walls were decorated with numerous red, white and blue banners and a large "Peace on Earth" sign. Inside, "ushers" (family members and close friends) escorted the councillors into an overflowing Sullivan Chamber, where they took the oath of office in between musical selections from the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School Vocal Ensemble.

As warm air wafted in through two large open windows, the councillors thanked their supporters and campaign staff in lighthearted tones.

Galluccio introduced his girlfriend, Melanie Kokoros, as the only one who has "made it through a council election," while Maher stumbled as he took his oath of office.

"I will support the Constitution of the Constitution," he said.