"I'd like it to be less divisive and less about one upmanship," Sullivan says, adding that the current problems of crime in the city and lack of development are more important than political maneuverings.

Sullivan says although his supporters will include proponents of his father, he also hopes to draw from the younger generation.

Although Sullivan says Harvard has been unresponsive to the needs of the city in the past, he feels relations have improved in recent years.

"Harvard and MIT have attracted a number of companies--they are an economic benefit," Sullivan says.

Harvard students, he says, also work to be good citizens.

"A lot of students give back what they receive," Sullivan says, "They are working to reach out."

Lawyer and civil right activist Katherine Triantifillou says she decided to run for a council spot because she was worried about the absence of a progressive woman on the council.

Concerned with issues of safety in her North Cambridge neighborhood, Triantifillou says she began to investigate the death of an Alewife woman on the railroad tracks and found that the city had been negligent.

Triantifillou says she has led Cambridge in other capacities, first by working on Cambridge's domestic partners ordinance and secondly by serving as a spokesperson and arbitrator for the gay and lesbian community.

Triantifillou says most of her support will come from the gay and progressive community.

"What I intend to do is be the person who speaks for persons who do not have access to the system," Triantifillou says.

If elected, she says she work hard to combat domestic violence in the city and to make North Cambridge's train tracks safer.

Harvard Square resident Thomas P. Weed has come up with a solution to the city's fiscal problems--taxing the non profits.

"I want to tax Harvard University and MIT. I support State House Bill 4042 that would allow towns to tax land occupied by non-profits," Weed says. "We're in the middle of a fiscal crisis, and we have to explore fair alternatives."

Weed also supports rent control and is endorsed by the Cambridge Tenants' Union.