It may not be as bad as the Congressional gridlock, but Cambridge is facing its own standoff as the City Council, which is responsible for choosing a mayor, has remained at an impasse for more than a month.

Cambridge has had to function without a mayor since Jan. 1, its longest deadlock since 1984, and city residents are getting restless.

"Who knows how long this will last?" asks Cambridge resident Gretna J. Bohn-Hayden.

Most of the mayoral votes cast in the past few weeks have resulted in 4-4-1 ties, with Francis H. Duehay '55 and Sheila T. Russell garnering four votes apiece and outgoing mayor Kenneth E. Reeves '72 obtaining the remaining one.

The mayoral standoff is a result of deadlock between the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) and the Alliance for Progress (the Independents). Each group comprises four members who cast their ballots for only those with "party" backing.

The CCA is made up of Duehay, Kathleen L. Born, Henrietta J. Davis and Katherine Triantafillou while the Alliance consists of Russell, Anthony D. Galluccio, Michael A. Sullivan and Timothy J. Toomey Jr. The CCA backs Duehay while the Alliance supports Russell.

Reeves, formerly a member of the CCA, broke with that party in 1994 to claim a second term as mayor with the Independents. Described by others as fiercely determined to win a third consecutive term as mayor, Reeves has cast the tie-breaking vote for himself.

In recent votes, other candidates have been named on the ballot, but no one has been able to muster the five votes necessary to win.

Cambridge's mayor, who heads the City Council and the School Committee for a two-year period, must be elected by a majority of the nine-member council.

Politics or Business as Usual?

Most councillors and Cambridge residents interviewed attribute the stalemate to partisan struggles.

Davis says she believes the mayoral standoff exists because of each councillor's loyalty to his or her party alliance.

In accord with her "party" alliance, Davis says she supports Duehay.

Cambridge residents agree that the partisan struggle is holding up the decision on a new mayor.

"Reeves keeps on voting for himself [because he] wants it his way, but the CCA wants it their way and the Independents want it their way," Bohn-Hayden says.