A month after City Councillor William H. Walsh was removed from office following his federal sentencing, his successor will be decided today by the Cambridge Board of Election Commissioners.
The recount was scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. today, following two unsuccessful attempts by James J. McSweeney--who came in 10th in last November's race for the nine-member council--to have the city's complex proportional representation voting system declared invalid.
If the recount takes place today, McSweeney is expected to lose to Anthony D. Galluccio, who came in 12th in the election but is expected to receive more votes after the votes from Walsh and other defeated candidates are transferred.
Walsh was convicted last month on 41 federal charges of bank fraud, conspiracy and making false statements, and was removed from office as required by Massachusetts law.
Middlesex County Appeals Court Judge Rudolph Kass yesterday denied McSweency's motion to extend a restraining order blocking the election board from recounting the paper ballots.
But McSweeney said last night that he plans to appeal Judge Kass' decision today to the Supreme Judi- Under proportional representation--a voting system unique to Cambridge--candidates for the nine City Council and six School Committee positions must reach a certain quota of votes to win a seat. Voters mark up to nine candidates--in order of preference--on their paper ballots. Ballots are essentially resdistributed in a series of recounts, as candidates with the fewest votes are gradually defeated and the runners-up on those ballots receive the vote from the defeated candidate. "Cambridge is the only city in the country that uses proportional representation for both city council and school committee [seats]," said Teresa S. Neighbor, the election board's executive director. A seat vacancy results in a recount of the ballots from the candidate leaving office. This last happened in 1985, when Mayor Leonard Russell died in office. At one point in last year's election count, McSweeney trailed Walsh by only 47 votes. But after the final transfer of votes, Walsh had 2182 ballots, McSweeney 1861 and Galluccio 1262, according to Neighbor. Walsh's 2182 ballots will be transferred tomorrow to the runners-up. Court Challenge McSweeney had obtained a restraining order November 18 from Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Wendie I. Gershengorn blocking the recount. But last Thursday, Gershengorn issued a ruling upholding the proportional representation system. She denied McSweeney's claims that the procedure violated the state's constitution, and that a 1972 state law had nullified proportional representation. "The procedure used by the city of Cambridge to fill the vacancy on the city council is constitutional," Gershengorn wrote in her 11-page ruling. "This court finds that the procedure...does not substantially impact the voters of Cambridge." Read more in News
