"At present there is no representative of organized labor on the authority," one member of the Teamsters charged. "John Clinton, whose tern has expired, has purportedly been that representative."

City Solicitor Edward D. McCarthy, in an answering brief, said Gerald Clark is "a card-carrying member of the Seafarer International Union." McCarthy added that the question of Clark's eligibility is not a matter for the court to decide; rather the matter should go to the Secretary of State, who must issue a "certificate of organization" indicating the lawful organization of the CHA, he said. The court has not set a hearing date for the case.

The generally good news for tenants on the CHA front was offset a bit by developments surrounding state rent control regulations.

The State Legislature in June passed a nine-month extension of a current "local-option" rent control law, making the expiration date of the law January 1, 1976, instead of April 1975. The action drew the criticism of local tenant groups Hard Times and the Cambridge Tenants Organizing Committee and members of the state Rent Control Task Force, a coalition of tenant groups in Massachusetts.

The tenants had demonstrated in large numbers at the State House last spring to urge legislators to extend the local option law indefinitely. That law allows "middle-sized" cities such as Cambridge, Somerville and Brookline to impose rent controls. During one demonstration, the groups scored lawmakers for "postponing debate on the issue until after the gubernatorial election." They said a nine-month extension would remove the pressures for politicians to take a stand on rent controls.

Tenant organizers branded the legislative action "unsatisfactory" because of the short term extension, omission of controls for federally-funded housing projects and inclusion of an allegedly "irrelevant" study.

Lawmakers argued they need time to "study" rent controls because of the growing controversy over the issue, and said they felt a study should precede any action on proposals calling for lengthier extensions of the law.

A CTOC spokesman in June called the $50,000 appropriated for the legislative study "a waste."

Following the state action, Jeane Winner of CTOC said: "Tenant groups are sprouting up all over the state, and landlords are complaining everywhere that rent control is a troublemaker. They think if they kill the law they can kill the movement."

"They're trying hard, but there's a lot of opposition," she said.