At a recent rally at the Polish-American Citizens Association in East Cambridge, Vellucci wasted no time in coming to his favorite topic. "We've seen Harvard University pull off a lot of stunts here in Cambridge. The time has arrived when Harvard must pay its fair share of Cambridge taxes. Christopher Columbus was here before Harvard." Vellucci said.

"We in the city of Cambridge are powerless to keep Harvard from expending. It's on the books they say. Well, if the laws are on the book, let's change the laws...They built the overpass at the foot of Kirkland St. to protect the lives of poor students. But then they took Kirkland St. and added it to Memorial Hall. They said, 'The pilgrim fathers gave it to us 200 years ago and we've been lending it to Cambridge--now we're going to take it back.'"

Vellucci also attacked the heads of public utilities who he said are getting richer and richer at the people's expense. And absentee landlords also came under fire: "The only way to lick the rent problem is to build housing for the people. Then the people will say. 'To hell with your worthless firetraps, because the City and state are building housing for us.'"

The speech ended with a plea for strong representation in the Legislature. "We don't want to send any bowl of jello over there, or any jelleyfish. The times are changing and we must change with the times."

In a later interview, Vellucci said he does believe that the tax-exempt status of Harvard and other universities is vulnerable. "I think the mood of the people is that they're fed up with high taxes. We're dealing with bread and butter. They (Harvard) are dealing with turning out artists and lawyers," Vellucci said.

Vellucci, Toomey and Lombardi will be competing for the conservative vote, mostly centered in Wards One and Two. Amato and Blanc will probably divide the votes of young people and professionals in Wards Three and Four, making some inroads with the voters in the other two wards because of general dissatisfaction with incumbent politicians.

Lombardi is the more vulnerable of the two incumbents. Although he is vice chairman of the Joint Legislative Committee on Counties and fought for the legalization of Bean'o and liberalized pensions for city workers, he has been hurt by a gambling scandal. Lombardi was arrested in November 1970 and charged with violation of the gaming laws. He was found guilty and on December 22, 1971 he was given a suspended sentence of three years and fined $1000.