City Councillor Walter J. Sullivan emerged yesterday as the strongest candidate to become Cambridge's next mayor.

Sullivan received four of nine votes as a new City Council deadlocked over the selection of a mayor just a few minutes after being officially inaugurated. On the suggestion of Councillor Alfred N. Vellucci, the Council adjourned until next Monday.

Vellucci, who has held the key to the last three mayoralty elections, appeared to be assuming a similarly crucial role this time. In a ten minute speech, he placed his own name in nomination, declaring that he, his wife, and eight children "had been hoping that Councillor Vellucci would some day be mayor."

At the same time, Vellucci said that if he did not have enough votes, he would be willing to vote eventually for someone else, and he specifically mentioned Sullivan, "one of the grandest of fellows I have ever met."

Vellucci has held the balance of power between the two groups of councillors -- those endorsed by the Cambridge Civic Association and the non-endorsed "independents." Though Vellucci is an independent, on each occasion he has delivered victory to Edward A. Crane '35, a CCA-backed councillor and a long-time friend.

The situation in this race is different from the past three, however, because Crane has apparently removed himself as a contended. One of the major reasons for his withdrawal is a feud over the selection of the next city manager, an administrator who runs the city on a day-to-day basis.

Two of the CCA-endorsed councillors, Mrs. Cornelia B. Wheeler and Thomas Coates, have decided to back Joseph A. DeGuglielmo '29 over Crane's choice, current manager John J. Curry '19, DeGuglielmo currently has a majority of the Council, and Crane is thought unwilling to be mayor with DeGuglielmo as manager.

Confusion and conflict over the choices for mayor and mans seemed apparent yesterday. William C. Maher, the only new member of the Council, placed Sullivan's name in nomination with a short but firm speech.

Praising Sullivan as a "credit to his religion, family, and community," Maher recalled that Sullivan had received the most votes in the past four city-wide elections. Yet, Maher said, Sullivan had been passed over by the Council for mayor, and the time had now come "to let the will of the people speak."

Despite their close political alliance, however, Maher and Sullivan are split in the fight over the manager's position. Maher is supporting DeGuglielmo, Sullivan is backing Curry.

The five independents -- Maher, Sullivan, Vellucci, Daniel J. Hayes Jr., and Bernard Goldberg -- caucused for about twenty minutes before the Council's inauguration ceremony began. They could not agree on a unanimous choice, and according to one report, discussed the possibility of a "round robin": a different independent would receive four votes on each ballot.

Unanimity could not be reached on this, however, and it was decided that Vellucci would move adjournment after the first ballot. Another meeting of the independents will be held sometimes before the voting next Monday, reliable sources indicated last night.

The initial ballot also reflected the dissension in the CCA ranks. Crane and Thomas H.D. Mahoney, the two councillors backing Curry for manager, voted for Mahoney; Coates and Mrs. Wheeler (pledged to DeGuglieimo) voted for Coates.

In the past, Cambridge mayoralty elections have dragged on for weeks and months; the balloting two years ago went to 69 votes (more than two weeks) before Vellucci switched from himself to Crane