“I’m very optimistic with Brian especially,” Winters says.

Murphy cites Stone’s new place at the helm of community relations as being key to a change in the relationship.

“One of the things that I’m hopeful about is, with Al Stone coming on board, I think there’s sort of a new beginning and a chance to recast the relationship,” Murphy says.

Murphy points to Stone’s mention of the need for “transparency” as a good start to the year.

“I was pleased to hear [Stone] mention the importance of transparency in the relationship,” Murphy says.

On his side, Murphy approaches Harvard carefully, shying away from taking stances on the most contentious University issues that face the city.

He will not commit to a side on whether it is appropriate for Harvard to build a museum in the residential Riverside neighborhood, instead adopting a wait-and-see approach.

“I think the first steps are building the relationships,” Murphy says. “One of the challenges of Cambridge is it’s always difficult to site anything anywhere in the city.”

The Way Things Used To Be

Current Councillor Born—who, after four two-year terms on the council, will be leaving this January—says that the relationship between the city and Harvard degenerated in recent years.

“Somehow in the last three to four years the relationship took a southward turn,” Born says.

Winters rates the current council’s relationship with Harvard as one of the worst in recent memory.

“The one thing I thought they were really just terrible about were these free shots at universities,” Winters says.

Murphy cites the recent “bin Laden” order—a motion sponsored by Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 linking Harvard’s money to Osama bin Laden and calling for University donations after Sept. 11—as an example of an unproductive move in the City Council chamber.

“I’m not sure how constructive it was for the relationship,” Murphy says.