It was one o'clock in the morning, but Al Vellucci was still in fine form. "I'm sick and tired of playing; I'm sick and tired of paper; I'm sick and tired of blue-prints; I'm sick and tired of speeches. But I can stay here until five in the morning. I'm not a professional orator, but I can talk," Vellucci paused for breath and then sighed, "Let's get on with the City business."

On the morning of January 12, the "City business" was the firing of City Manager Joseph A. DeGuglielmo '29. As soon as Vellucci sat down, the City Council voted six to three against reversing the dismissal of DeGuglielmo which they had passed the evening before.

In Cambridge, the removal of a City Manager is no small thing, for the managerial post carries by far the most power in the City administration. The manager appoints all department heads and members of all City boards (planning, recreation, etc.). He prepares the City budget, from which the City Council can only delete items. He has some discretion in awarding summer jobs, civil service positions, and small City contracts.

The dismissal of DeGuglielmo surprised few observers of City politics. Ever since January of 1966, when he rounded together five council votes to fire the then City Manager John J. Curry '19, DeGuglielmo had been walking on a tightrope. A minority bloc of four councillors led by Curry's long-time friend and ally, Councillor Edward A. Crane '35--had made their dislike of the DeGuglielmo administration quite clear, hitting the Manager on issues ranging from the tax rate to the printing of the City's annual report.

The Events

Last November, two of DeGuglielmo's council supporters were defeated in re-election bids. After that, events moved quickly.

* Dec. 11--Six councillors, Crane, Vellucci, Thomas H. D. Mahoney, Walter J. Sullivan, and newcomers Barbara Ackermann and Thomas W. Danehy met privately and agreed to remove DeGuglielmo.

* Jan. 1--A representative of the anti-DeGuglielmo coalition visited the City Manager during a break in the council's inaugural ceremony. He told DeGuglielmo that a majority of the council was against him, and reportedly offered the City Manager a chance to retire, DeGuglielmo refused.

* Jan. 3--The council elected Sullivan Mayor. (In Cambridge the Mayor has little real power, save as chairman of the School Committee.) Sullivan, who received votes from two of DeGuglielmo's supporters, stayed out of the subsequent fight over the manager.

* Jan. 8--Crane introduced a motion calling for the dismissal of DeGuglielmo. He gave no reasons, and did not have to, unless the City Manager requested them. Hayes immediately exercised his "charter right," which allows any councillor to delay consideration of a new piece of business until the next meeting.

* Jan. 10--The council met in a special meeting called by Crane, Mrs. Ackermann, Danehy, Mahoney, and Vellucci to decide DeGuglielmo's fate. Before the meeting finally began shortly after 10 p.m., the five met for several hours in a private room at City Hall.

Mahoney--an M.I.T. professor who runs under the slogan "Professionalism in Government"--emerged from the caucus with a "Memorandum of Understanding" agreed to by the five. It called for a 90-day nation-wide search for a new manager, who would be required to have at least five years experience in municipal management.

An outwardly calm DeGuglielmo then appeared before the council. He read a prepared statement detailing the projects of his administration, and said that, if he was to be removed, he supported a nation-wide search for his successor. His only plea was that the council--instead of appointing an interim manager--let him remain in office until the new manager was found.

When DeGuglielmo finished, the vote was taken. Five councillors -- Crane, Mrs. Ackermann, Danehy, Mahoney, and Vellucci voted to fire the City Manager. Hayes, Bernard Goldberg, and Cornelia B. Wheeler opposed the removal motion. Sullivan voted present.

Fireworks