Assorted Independents

Robert A. Romagna '74 is Harvard College's contribution to the Cambridge City Council elections. Only 19, he has lived in Cambridge all his life, and despite a hearty ambition which promises bigger and better things, he maintains that his dedication to overhauling the city government is a genuine one.

He does have one problem though. He's running in Mayor Vellucci's home area of East Cambridge, and it is doubtful that he will pick up any more than a few token number-one votes. And he really hasn't paid a great deal of attention to the student vote, small though that may be. He is in no way a serious contender but this year's campaign could pave the way for a successful showing two years from now.

His campaign literature has shown a forcefullness and dedication to eliminating corruption from the city government which has been all too absent in other "independents'" campaigns. And his candidacy has brought little enthusiasm from Vellucci--as Romagna put it himself, "I've gone out of my way to be nice to the Mayor but for some reason he doesn't seem to be returning it."

While his stand on corruption is tough, and he supports the firing of city manager Corcoran and city solicitor Cronin, Romagna takes an unusually friendly--for a Cambridge politician at election time--stand toward the universities"...they are good for the city," he said. "I'm not against any more expansion of the universities--the city will probably keep the same mix of rich and poor, and we just ought to face it, and start building the city up," he added. "I'm in favor of the university building high-rise, high-income condominiums along the riverfront, so the tax base will go up. How else are we going to keep this a first rate community?"

Asked if he would like to live right behind a high-rise apartment building himself, Romagna appeared flustered for a moment and answered, "Why, sure, I don't suppose it would do any harm."