"I've never heard [a CCA endorsement] was an interest of his," Duehay says. "But I've never heard that it isn't."

If the CCA chooses not to endorse Reeves, the organization may endorse only a minority of incumbent councillors, almost ensuring a loss of political clout, says Winters.

"Proportional representation also translates into perpetual re-election," he says. "Unless somebody actually steps down, it's very hard for other people to make a show of it."

Candidates who may be endorsed by the CCA include incumbents Reeves, Duehay, Kathleen L. Born and Katherine Triantafillou as well as challengers Henrietta Davis, a member of the Cambridge school committee, Edward N. Cyr, a former city councillor, and Lester P. Lee, Jr., campaign chair for the Save Our Communities Coalition, Malenfant says.

The Alliance

Another factor complicating this year's election is the potential strength of the Alliance for Change, a local political organization viewed by its members as a viable, non-politicized alternative to the CCA.

The Alliance advocates no political position, says its chair Edward J. O'Connell.

"The platform is found in the positions the candidates stake out," he says. O'Connell says the group's mission is "to try to end divisiveness and gridlock in City Hall" while engaging in "dialogue and consensus-building."

In the 1993 municipal election, three candidates endorsed by the alliance--Vice Mayor Sheila T. Russell, Michael A. Sullivan and Timothy J. Toomey, Jr.--won council seats. A fourth candidate endorsed by the Alliance, Anthony D. Galluccio, was appointed to the council last December to replace William H. Walsh, who was sentenced on federal bank fraud charges.

Alan Steinert Jr. '58, chair of the Alliance's candidate selection committee, says the alliance will be "a force to be reckoned with" in this year's elections.

"We believe the CCA has caused divisiveness among the people," Steinert says. "We would like to end that."

Steinert says he expects the Alliance will develop positions on various issues this year but will not require candidates to adhere to Alliance positions.

"Some of the candidates will take that and run with it and run hard," he says. "Some of the candidates won't regard it as significantly as some of the other candidates. What we want is a group of candidates that will work collegially and civilly."

Russell says she believes it is important for Alliance candidates to adhere to some type of platform.

"People want to know what we stand for," she says. "It is an important aspect to any group to state what they stand for."