Duehay was the first councillor to take a hard look at Scheme Z, a gigantic highway interchange slated to be built in East Cambridge. Even before councillors from East Cambridge stepped in, Duehay raised important questions about the highway's aesthetic and environmental impact. Those questions eventually led to a decisive council statement against the project.
Because of his leadership on these issues and because of his support for efforts to promote affordable housing, traffic solutions and zoning improvements, we urge the voters of Cambridge to give Frank Duehay their no. 1 vote on the ballot today.
IN ADDITION TO DUEHAY, there are several other candidates who deserve support tomorrow.
The first is Alice K. Wolf. As mayor for the past two years, Wolf has been a powerful voice of reason on both the council and the School Committee. Wolf is particularly committed to Cambridge's gays, women and children.
Wolf also formed a special committee on town-gown relations. Created in the wake of the new in-lieu-of-tax agreement, the commission gives city servants and administrators from Harvard and other local universities a chance to discuss ways to work together and address problems of the city.
Edward N. Cyr also deserves your vote. Cyr has a good handle on the city budget problems and has effectively led the council and Cambridge citizens through the tumultuous budget process.
Cyr is a strong defender of neighborhood issues, the elderly and the homeless. His biggest contribution to the council has been his ability to bring in new ideas. Cyr has taken a hard look at using the money in the affordable housing trust fund and has created a land bank. Both programs will hopefully convert vacant city lots into low-income housing.
Kenneth E. Reeves '72 also merits consideration. Reeves is not a perfect councillor. He has a temper and a tendency to make long-winded speeches. More important, we question Reeve's decision to retain his rent controlled apartment. We do not know his salary, but as a private lawyer and a city councillor he clearly makes a good living. He does not need rent control.
Yet Reeves has made an effort to get students involved in the city through his continued involvement with Phillips Brooks House Association. Reeves, a strong progressive voice on a variety of issues, has had the courage to lead the fight to reform rent control and to develop more affordable housing in the city. In addition, he has provided a voice for the concerns of minority constituents in Cambridge.
THREE CANDIDATES particularly unworthy of your support.
William H. Walsh is an able voice for business interests in the city, but his own business dealings are hazy. He has been sued by former employees and former real estate partners. Walsh's law firm represents many of the city's largest landlords, and as a city councillor he regularly makes decisions that could affect these dealings. Because of the many conflicts of interest that surround Walsh and his political and business activities, we urge the citizens of Cambridge not to vote for him.
For most of the 1970s and early 1980s Walter J. Sullivan received more votes than any other politician in the city. But Sullivan is no longer an effective councillor.
He rarely casts crucial votes, never speaks during council meetings and never articulates a clear policy. Sullivan is the epitome of patronage politics, and lacks a vision of the larger problems and needs of the city. Sullivan cares deeply about the people of Cambridge, but has ceased to be a leader.
The final candidate that we urge people not to support is Alfred E. Vellucci. Vellucci, the council's senior member when he stepped down in 1989, is attempting to return to the council this year running on the same ideas that won him so many terms on the council.
But those ideas are outmoded, and the anti-Harvard rhetoric he spouts has grown tiresome. Vellucci was a maverick, an Independent who supported rent control and other liberal causes and loved to be the swing vote. But he brings nothing to the council, which is controlled by progressives today. His patronage politics and lack of energy and vision he displayed during his two years on School Committee and during his campaign indicate that he should be retired along with Sullivan.
WITH 1300 VOTERS on campus this year, Harvard students can make a difference. Those votes are more than enough to elect one candidate in Cambridge's system of proportional representation. We urge everyone to pay attention to today's city elections, and we urge everyone registered in Cambridge to vote.