One such newcomer is Bernard Goldberg, a young CCA-endorsed attorney. His problem, he says, is the lack of publicity. To win, Goldberg states he first needs a basic minimum of at least 1,500 first place votes to keep him in the count. He reasons logically enough that unless he can stay in the count after the obvious stragglers have been eliminated, he cannot possibly benefit from any second, third, or fourth choice votes he may pick up from being on the CCA slate.
These first place votes must come through Goldberg's initiative, after which he can probably gain seconds from surplus votes of other CCA candidates who reach the quota. Goldberg is optimistic, but within limitations. He thinks he might win "if things go well," i.e., if he gets votes from where he thinks his support lies, if he gets enough first place votes, and then if the seconds come through. Being on the CCA slate helps, Goldberg feels, since his name gets widespread publicity from a source outside his own office.
Basically though, all signs indicate the election will be routine and issueless. One possible debate, centering about fluordidation of the city's water supply, has been muffled because of the obvious emotional tinges such an argument would bring into the campaign. An active fluoridation wrangle would become an unsettling factor for all candidates; all else, even personality, might become subordinate. Hence, the issue has been kept reasonably quiet.
Urban renewal, vigorously favored by the CCA and past darling child of some candidates, has now bogged down because of the indecison concerning the belt highway route. Until authorities decide the route of the proposed road, urban renewal cannot be planned in the areas where is is needed most. Nearly all the incumbents support urban renewal as a worthwhile venture, but some, particularly Velucci, have voted against some specific renewal proposals.
Another new CCA candidate, Richard E. McLaughlin, has, in his advertisements, tried to create an issue on the loss of industries from Cambridge. Harvard has a particular interest in this issue, since a continued decline in the number of industries would leave the city government with very little valuable property on which to collect taxes. According to a recent study, 15 firms have left Cambridge in the past two years, nine of them going to Route 128. This meant a loss of some 1,750 to 3,800 employees now working in outlying districts. At this late date, though, it is quite doubtful that McLaughlin can raise many eyebrows or arouse much enthusiasm, despite the importance of this problem to the city's general development.
The School Committee campaign, as noted, lacks the fiery activity which sparked the election two years ago. A general tone of educational philosophy rather than any specific struggles lies at stake in this contest.
As in the past few years, the key to the direction of the School Committee is the Mayor's deciding vote. "We're not going to have a good School Committee unless we have a good Council, because it's all in the Mayor's hands," says William S. Barnes, assistant Dean of the Law School and CCA-backed candidate for the Committee. Thus, if the CCA really wants to implement its plank in both the Council and the School Committee, it must unite to win the mayoralty election.
For the past two years, the School Committee has been split even--three to three--between CCA and independents. The three CCA Committeemen, Judson T. Shaplin '42, associate Dean of the Graduate School of Education, Mrs. Catherine T. Ogden, and Edward T. Sullivan, had a fluctuating working majority. On many issues Mayor McNamara and Committeeman Daniel J. Hayes (another true independent who aligns himself with no group) made possible decisive majorities for the CCA's policies.
The general philosophy motivating CCA members of the School Committee is heavily infused with the University spirit. Shaplin is himself a professional educator and administrator, but has resigned this year, with the common knowledge that he asked Barnes to run in his stead. Barnes has his Harvard connection plus a wide background in taxes and budgeting, both of which points he is emphasizing.
Barnes said he has not encountered nearly the animosity he expected before he started to campaign, feeling that people do not mind a Harvard man on the School Committee. Cambridge is an improving city, Barnes believes, and everytime a new apartment house rises, the city comes closer to its ideal. That ideal, according to Barnes, is an educationally-oriented town, one in which "most of the population is engaged on the fore-front of learning and action." With the proximity of Harvard and M.I.T., Cambridge should be scientifically oriented.
Envisioning this type of city, Barnes feels the new Cambridge deserves an outstanding public school system. The CCA supports such programs as Harvard assistance in teaching foreign languages in the grammar schools, M.I.T. aid with physics, or Harvard instructors in voluntary high school Russian courses. Should an anti-CCA Mayor win the chair and put independent forces in charge of the School Committee, Barnes thinks their probably consequent actions would be detrimental to an outstanding school system.
The CCA hopes also to re-elect Mrs. Ogden and is placing its chief hopes to gain more seats with Charles M. Sullivan (presumably to replace Edward T.) and with Gustave M. Solomons, who barely lost in 1957.
In its approach to the School Committee, the CCA hopes to prevent the "family night raids" on the integrity of the system, as took place in 1957. The School Committee campaign has basically the same philosophy motivating it as does the Council--an elimination of what the CCA considers bad influences on good government. In turn, this CCA philosophy finds its roots in the overall tone the University attempts to create within the community.
Beyond the problem of good government rests the the one of town-gown relations. Over the past two years, the city administration's trend to throwing fewer bombs at Harvard faces a crossroads. If the University's public relations campaign, its planning office, and its good-will ambassadors continue to meet Cambridge halfway, then it hopefully can expect similar overtures from the city. The crucial test will soon lie with the new Council and Mayor to see what they do with Cambridge's oldest most famous, and certainly very valuable institution -- Harvard. Tuesday's election could make a great difference along this line.