Mayor Galluccio Upset at City Slight

Cambridge Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio said this weekend he was “surprised” and “disappointed” that University President Lawrence H. Summers’ inaugural speech missed a few key phrases.

“I didn’t hear the words ‘public education.’ I didn’t hear the words ‘affordable housing,’” said Galluccio, who sat on the stage during the installation. “I didn’t hear the words ‘city of Cambridge.’”

Evoking the city’s rocky dealings with Harvard under former Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs Paul S. Grogan, Galluccio called a Crimson executive just hours after the speech to vent his frustrations.

“After going through what I went through with Paul Grogan and being burned for being a nice guy, I was disappointed with what went on today,” Gallucio said.

Galluccio—who was the lone holdout on such anti-Harvard council votes as putting a development moratorium on the Riverside neighborhood—has in the past made special efforts at being diplomatic in his dealings with the University.

“We obviously would like an opportunity to work with Harvard,” Galluccio said.

And although local officials did not consider the speech a great omen for improved community relations, they said that Summers had started off on the right foot, with moves such as meeting with the City Council and personally attending the graduation of the Harvard-sponsored Summer Academy at local Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.

And on the Harvard side, one senior University official said Cambridge relations will be a priority for the Summers administration.

“President Summers and other leading administrators are very focused on Cambridge,” said the official, who declined to be named. “That is the number one priority for the new Vice President [for Government, Community and Public Affairs Alan Stone], and something that is very important to the University’s long-range future.”

But especially because Summers discussed building “a new campus” on Harvard’s undeveloped land in Allston, a mention of Cambridge was called for in his speech, Galluccio said.

“We think [expansion into Allston] is necessary, we think it could relieve real estate tension,” Galluccio said. “What really surprised me is that [Summers’s]pitch for expanding in Allston wasn’t balanced.”

While many rumors have swirled about what specific part of Harvard might be transferred to Allston—with the law school generally considered the most controversial option—Galluccio explicitly said Cambridge does not want to lose the law school.

“Harvard Law School and the personalities there are very intertwined with the Cambridge community,” Galluccio said, adding that what should move across the River is not a decision for Cambridge to make.

Galluccio said he just wanted Summers to make a “token” respectful statement about Cambridge.

“Obviously, and appropriately, it was an academically-focused speech,” Galluccio said. “I also realize that town-gown relations are not a focus.”

Councillor Kathleen L. Born, one of two current councillors not seeking reelection this year, said that unlike some other councillors she talked to at the installation’s reception, she didn’t perceive a slight in Summers’s speech. Instead, she said she found it “inspiring.”

“I thought the speech that he gave was about the academic priorities for the University and that he wasn’t attempting to talk about government relations,” Born said.

And Born perceived discussion of Allston to be a matter of real estate and not a community relations statement, she said.

“Frankly I was relieved that he didn’t put expansion in Cambridge at the top of his list,” Born said.

Superintendant of Schools Bobbie J. D’Alessandro, who also sat on the stage, echoed Born’s assessment of the speech, as well as Galluccio’s desire to bury the old hatchet of tense Harvard-Cambridge relations.

“I thought his speech was visionary and important,” D’Alessandro said in an interview yesterday. “I feel [Summers] shows a committment [to Cambridge]. I was hoping to hear a little of that in his speech.”

Gallucio said he is hopeful that the relationship between Harvard and Cambridge will move forward, he said.

“I was surprised because I’ve had excellent conversations with President Summers about Harvard recently,” Gallucio said. “My surprise comes out of my optimism.”

—Staff writer Andrew S. Holbrook contributed to the reporting of this story.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu