Healy's position of city manager, which he has held for 20 years, entails the day-to-day running of the city, much like the CEO of a company.

And, like the board of directors of a company, the city council chooses--and has the power to remove--that CEO.

In the last two years, that power of removal has come into play as the discrimination charges have been levied.

Healy's three-year contract expires in June 2000, but for some councillors, his term needs to end sooner.

"When we have eight people suing the city for discrimination, we have to look at who hires these people and who is responsible for day-to-day contact with them," Reeves said.

Triantafillou claims the suits are reflective of larger problems with the city manager. "I don't think that he's much of a visionary, and he's not the man to lead us into the 21st century," she said. "I've voted against the renewal of his contract all three times that I've had the opportunity."

"These discrimination suits are not good for the city," she added. "If the city manager can't change things then it's best to remove him, because litigating all of these complaints just isn't fiscally prudent."

But Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55 defended Healy, saying the manager's "undeniably positive record demonstrates the benefit of continuity at the top."

"No city manager is perfect and there are indeed problems," Duehay said, "but there's a question of whether or not these suits constitute a pattern, and we ought to be able to solve our problems without firing our city manager."

But Healy's detractors say the eight lawsuits are part of a definite pattern.

"Even if you come from Mars, you should be able to see that there are serious concerns given the number of cases, the fact that they're all women of color, and the similarity of complaints," Reeves said.

"How many cases would you have to have before you think that there's a problem?" he asked.

A Political Scheme?

But Healy and his supporters argue that the councillors are motivated by politics, not righteous indignation.

"Reeves has wanted Healy out ever since [Reeves] lost his position as mayor back in 1995," said Robert Winters, a city council watcher and former council candidate who is also a Harvard math preceptor.

"He's just trying to play the race card and cast the manager as a racist so that he can hire his own manager," Winters said.

Healy also dismissed the councillors' attempts to remove him. "These are the same three councillors that voted against me in 1997. This is just city politics," he said.

Healy, who as a defendant in the pending cases is not allowed to comment further, said he would say more "when there are five councillors who want to fire me."

But Reeves defended the three councillors, saying the lawsuits--not politics--were their motivation.

"When you have eight people suing the city for the same problem, I find it preposterous to ridicule the people who try to bring it to light," Reeves said.