New City Body Will Focus On Universities

Relations between Harvard and the city of Cambridge are often tense and high-profile. But never before has the city had a formal body specifically and solely devoted to “town-gown” issues.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to create just such a subcommittee. The new body, to be made of up of five city councillors and chaired by Councillor David P. Maher, will primarily discuss long-range planning, including development issues and how universities compensate the city for their tax-exempt status.

In his inauguration speech earlier this month, newly elected Mayor Michael A. Sullivan said improving town-gown relations would a main priority of his term—and promised a new town-gown committee as a key aspect of his plan.

“We need the recognition that we’re all neighbors. Three-family homes are next to 20-plus story dorms,” said Sullivan, who grew up in the Riverside neighborhood near Leverett and Mather Houses.

Sullivan said the committee will give Cambridge officials a way to represent city-wide concerns to Harvard and other universities. In the past, he said, neighborhoods and other small groups pushed their own “wish lists” but broader city interests were ignored.

“In the past, people could get what they wanted by just going and individually pressuring the university,” Sullivan said.

He said the new committee “is not about the ‘I,’ it’s about the ‘we.’”

When Sullivan proposed the town-gown committee earlier this month, Harvard officials said they had no objection to addressing long-term plans with the city.

“I actually think there’s no reason it won’t work,” said Alan J. Stone, Harvard’s vice president for government, community and public affairs.

The idea of a city body to address relations between universities and the city is not new. Although council members had explored the idea in previous sessions and Maher had submitted a proposal on the matter, Sullivan took credit for finally bringing the issue to a vote.

“I’m the mayor and I can do that,” Sullivan said.

All nine councillors approved the creation of the committee without any discussion or debate of the proposal. But after the meeting one councillor voiced reservations about who will sit on the body.

Councillor Marjorie C. Decker said the town-gown body should have included residents, university officials and other city officials—not just city councillors.

If university officials were appointed to the committee, she said, they would have to take responsibility for what the group did. But she says the present arrangement means the universities have no “accountability.”

In response to Decker’s criticisms, Sullivan called the committee a “starting point” and said he does not rule out the possibility of a more inclusive committee in the future.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the council discussed Harvard developments in the Agassiz neighborhood that abuts the Quad.

“It’s clear that the Agassiz neighborhood is overwhelmed,” said Councillor Anthony D. Galluccio. “They are being outnumbered by architects and planners from Harvard.”

The council also approved a resolution urging Harvard administrators to “negotiation compassionate and living wages for the custodians of Harvard University,” as the Service Employees International Union Local 254 continues contract negotiations for Harvard’s unionized janitors.

—Staff writer Stephanie M. Skier can be reached at skier@fas.harvard.edu.