Supporters point to his enduring popular- ity. Thompson did not even face a challenger inthe 1994 Democratic primary for his currentoffice, and won the election in a landslide.

Reeves, who sees Thompson as a valuablepolitical supporter, says the representative'spopularity is hardearned and deep-running. "He'sbeen, for me, an extraordinary ally," the mayorsays. "In politics in Cambridge, you work withwhat the people send, and he has been the people'schoice."

But Koocher, the political analyst, says "Alvincould be vulnerable to an attack from the whiteliberal left."

"The white liberal left has always wanted tospeak for the minority community [rather than]having the minority community speak for itself,"he says.

Koocher notes that Thompson's political supporthas depended on the high concentration of minorityresidents in the neighborhoods he represents.

"He has a good strong base of support in theBlack community," he says. "The question is, doesthe district extend far enough outside the Blackcommunity so that the anti-Alvin whites [couldnot] take it?"

Still, Koocher concedes that Thompson "might beperceived to be very close to the cityadministration" because of his School Departmentjob.

Lee believes Thompson will be vulnerable nextNovember, the first election since rent control'sabolition.

"As long as he does his constituent-servicework, he's o.k." Lee says. "But wait until somemajor issues come up, then he'll be in trouble."

Koocher disagrees, saying he does not believeThompson is vulnerable on the rent-control issue.

"He did the right thing by his constituents,"Koocher says. "He was among the ones who tried tofind some element of reasonableness in the midstof a strident political crusade" by both landlordsand tenants.

"Anyone that wanted to beat Alvin would have tonit-pick [his record] and basically say, 'Vote forme, I'll be better [than Thompson] in thefuture,'" Koocher says.

Diversity and the Black Community

Thompson, however, says his focus is onprotecting tenants, providing a new supermarketand increasing the diversity of the city workforce, not on re-election.

The representative has been an outspoken criticof the city's efforts to enforce an affirmativeaction program and hire more minority managers.

Thompson faults personnel director MichaelGardner, who works in the city manager's office,for not trying hard enough to hire minorities.

"The [statement] they always give is, 'We can'tfind the candidates,'" Thompson says. "Everyoneelse can find the candidates, but Cambridgecan't?"

Thompson says he is also concerned about thefuture of the city's Black community, saying thenew immigrant communities--Haitians, Indians andBrazilians especially--are "moving way ahead ofthe Black community."

"We should be going on the same track also,"Thompson says, adding that some Blacks are "alittle bit lazy." Along with the older Blackpopulation, many members of the city's Blackpopulation are recent immigrants and face problemsranging from access to education and job trainingto language barriers.

As for future elections, Thompson refuses tomake any predictions, saying his strategy is to"stay in the community and work for yourcommunity."

"Nobody's ever [completely] satisfied withanybody," Thompson says. "People can vote you outwhen they want to.