When Kenneth E. Reeves '72 won the Cambridge mayoral reelection in January through the support of the city's four Independent councillors, the progressive mayor's traditional supporters--the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA)--felt betrayed.

"He has walked away from us," CCA President Philip Dowds says. "He doesn't want to talk to us."

Now, several weeks after Reeves' inauguration, CCA representatives and other Cambridge politicos are debating whether Reeves' political shift to gain office will also signal a change in the mayor's ideology and in his relations with the Council.

Reeves says no.

The partisan support he received during the election has absolutely no bearing on his own political leanings and will not weaken CCA-Independent relations in the Council, Reeves says.

At the same time, Reeves openly admits his break with the CCA.

"The CCA is...a paper tiger," says Reeves. "It wants to roar like a big lion, but it is not. Certainly [it is] not a representative one."

Reeves says he sought the Independent vote in order to bring the partisan interests of the Council closer together.

"For some reason, the definition has been narrow--either CCA or Independent," Reeves says. "The continuing melting of the CCA-Independent tension was my primary goal [in seeking re-election]."

But CCA officials say Reeves turned his back on the CCA in order to ensure his reelection.

"[Reeves'] need to be mayor exceeded all other considerations," Dowds says.

"In many ways, Ken Reeves was a fine mayor the first time he was elected," Dowds adds. "But his interests are taking him away."

Reeves responds that one of the main reasons for his seeking reelection was his desire to continue as the school committee president, an office the mayor holds ex officio.

"It's unfortunate that the school committee term is two years," Reeves says. "The school committee became a real educational forum...We operated as seven people not divided by the CCA."

Some say that Reeves wants the nonpartisanship of the school committee to extend to the Council.