But Dowds expressed some skepticism aboutwhether greater con sultation can be easilyachieved.

"One of the great dilemmas the CCA has that isalways difficult is how to combine being abroadminded, good-government organization withbeing a political party that supports specificclusters of candidates," he said.

"You might find one of your chosen candidatesis on the wrong side of the issue," Dowds added."Then what do you do?"

Duehay said the CCA must alter its politicalrole. "The major job of the CCA is to try to findcapable and diverse candidates and to recruit themto run for office," he said.

"I don't think the job of the CCA is to dictateto people whom they endorse, but I do think theCCA should be doing research, working within thecommunity to assist their public officials inbringing things to their attention," Duehay added.

'A Less Prominent Role'

Another issue Malenfant hopes to improve is theCCA's public image. The organization was sometimesseen as divisive, partly because of Dowds'high-profile role and his comments to the press,which were seen by some as impolitic.

"I think I will take a less prominent role thanpreviously has been the case," Malenfant said,alluding to his predecessor's visibility.

Dowds, however, defended his performance aspresident.

"My personal view is, the public business mustbe done in the public," said the Riversidearchitect. "For all I care, they can mount TV inthe [meeting] room and televise the discussions. Ipersonally don't think there's any way, andcertainly no good way, to do the public businessin secret."

"Virtually everything the CCA did, every publicposition it took, every action it initiated, wasdebated and approved by mostly the board [ofdirectors], and occasionally [by] the executivecommittee," Dowds said.

But he added: "In hindsight I think that mypresidency would have gone better if theorganization had paid more attention to out-reach,to new membership and to invigorating an interestin public affairs."

CCA members also praised Dowds' tenure aspresident. "I would not single out Mr. Dowds, whoI think worked very hard and very sincerely onbehalf of the organization, as particularly betteror worse than anyone else," Duehay said. "Heinherited the organization at a very difficulttime."

Lee, a member of the CCA nominating committeethat approved the slate of officers before thegeneral membership vote, agreed. "Historicallyspeaking, the presidency of the CCA is rotatedevery two years," Lee said. "That the CCA ishaving problems is well known, but I don't thinkthose problems lead as much [from] Phil Dowds as[from] the politics of the city and how they'rechanging."

As for the CCA's political future, Malenfantsaid the CCA must focus on public education anddeveloping a permanent housing policy for thecity. Lee said the group must examine theaffirmative action program implemented by CityManager Robert W. Healy, which he calledineffective.

"I think we have a great opportunity to affectdecision-making at the local level," Malenfantsaid.

Dowds plans to become more involved withCambridge Citizens for Livable Nieghborhoods, alocal policy group of which he was treasurerbefore becoming CCA president