Because a large number of candidates are vying for three open seats on the City Council, city officials say this year's election could be a watershed in Cambridge politics.

"The soul of the city will hang in the balance in the next election," says Bradley Desch, executive director of the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA), a liberal political organization in the city that supports rent control.

Saundra M. Graham, David E. Sullivan and Mayor Alfred E. Vellucci have all announced that they will not seek re-election next November, and a slew of candidates are already campaigning for their spots.

The debate will probably focus on rent control--specifically Proposition 1-2-3--with some candidates calling for an overhaul of the rent control ordinance and others seeking to refine its mechanics. Proposition 1-2-3 would give families who have lived in rent control units for two or more years an option to buy the unit, and councillors and candidates alike say the proposal will draw sharp criticism in the coming months.

"I think it's going to be an uphill battle as far as keeping rent control," says Graham, who, like the other retiring council members, has traditionally supported rent control. She adds that because all three of the seats are now occupied by rent control proponents, the CCA will have a hard time getting a majority in the council.

Alice K. Wolf and Francis H. Duehay '55, who are both seeking reelection to the council, are CCA incumbents.

"The election will determine not only tangible things, like how many rent control housing units we have, but what kind of city Cambridge is to live in," Desch says, adding that ultimately the election will hinge on who works harder--the independents or the CCA-endorsed candidates.

Desch says he estimates that his board of directors will endorse nine or ten candidates this year, as opposed to four or five candidates of previous elections.

The CCA has not had majority in the council since the 1970s.

But one candidate not seeking CCA backing, businessman Alan D. Bell, says he fears that the media and the publicity efforts of other candidates will blow the issue of rent control out of proportion.

In an open letter to the community, Bell calls the media "hopelessly polarized on the issue of rent control." He says he resents the division of the election into rent control and Proposition 1-2-3 proponents and detractors alone, adding that a number of other issues, such as development, face the council in the coming years.

Not all candidates say they have formulated firm stands on rent control.

"I'm listening to both sides, and there are parts of it I would agree with and parts I would disagree with," says candidate Timothy Toomey, a School Committee member who has not yet decided whether to ask for CCA endorsement. Toomey says he is considering developing an alterna-alternative plan that would combine elements of both sides.

In addition, rent control raises other housing issues that are threatened by large development efforts in Cambridge, observers say.

"The council needs to ensure affordable housing and quality of life to Cambridge citizens and to make sure the city doesn't strangle on its own growth," says Sullivan. He adds that the question of how much development the city ought to allow will be another election issue.

According to Sullivan, recycling, crime, "the efficient administration of city government and the delivery of municipal services," including police protection, will also come up.

Rena Leib, a candidate who is a single mother, says childcare and other family issues--"particularly [those affecting] single parents and families with low incomes"--should be addressed by the council as well.

"Cambridge should be one of those places that help alleviate the problems of poverty," Desch says.