"Please respect the vote of the majority of the people of the Commonwealth," said John F. Gomes, 29-year resident.
Young C. Kim, who has owned rent-controlled property since 1981, said the city's obligation lay in protecting all minorities. "In the city of Cambridge, landlords are a minority and they should be protected, especially the small landlords who are struggling to make ends meet and to provide for the future of their children," Kim told the council.
And Barbara Pilgrim, a vocal landlord activist who plans to run for a council seat in 1995, disagreed with tenants' claims that rent increases would damage the city's economic diversity.
"You're saying you believe in diversity, but what you're trying to do is keep Black people in the projects," she said. "Most of the people in rent control are white, middle- and upper-class."
Final Remarks
The hour before the council vote was marked by impassioned speeches from the councillors.
"I would be concerned that Cambridge does not become a city of haves and have-nots," said Myers, who insisted on a clause allowing building owners with 10 or more units to set aside some units for low-income tenants in exchange for decontrolling others.
"I believe this kind of a 'set-aside' policy works only moderately well," Born said. She said a similar program in Brookline had only one-fourth of qualified owners participating.
Duehay charged that Myers had been unhelpful during the council's week-long negotiations. Myers "has not been very easy to reach or talk to," Duehay told the council.
"Not one phone call came to our house last weekend," Myers disagreed. "If the answer to this is to blame one member of the council, I think that's wrong."
Outbreak of Violence
The meeting was preceded by one of the first outbreaks of violence over rent control. In the closing moments of a SOCC rally that started at noon, Al-WeQayan was subdued by five Cambridge police officers and removed in a police wagon.
Al-WeQayan had apparently struck John F. Natale, 60, a leading landlord activist, while Natale was being interviewed on camera by Channel 56, a local station.
The Kirkland Street resident placed a "Vote No on 9" sign in front of Natale, blocking the camera's view. "I was interviewing him and she interjected a couple of times, he shouted her down, then she waved the sign," said Harris T. Hartman '95, an intern for Channel 56 who was interviewing Natale. "I personally did not see the sign hit him, [but] I'm not saying it didn't."
"I don't think she intended to harm him," said Pat Durkan, the Channel 56 camera operator who filmed the altercation. "I think she was frustrated."
Natale appeared to have been hit by the wooden stick on which the sign was attached. He struggled briefly with Al-WeQayan, who was forcibly pulled away by Tom D. Sullivan, 35, a Boston resident who owns a rent-control building in Cambridge.
Al-WeQayan and Sullivan struggled briefly before police officers broke up the fight. After an interval of nearly one minute, Al-WeQayan apparently slapped Sullivan, and was subdued by the officers, who pushed her to the ground and handcuffed her. Al-WeQayan was placed in a police wagon which appeared soon after she was arrested at 1:10 p.m. by Officer Thomas Ahern.
She was charged with assault and battery and will face arraignment tomorrow, according to the police. Sullivan told The Crimson he planned to press charges