Independent Challengers

Florence West

Florence West says that although she is inexperienced at running for office, she is learning a lot.

The mother of eight boys and one girl, West, 39, says she is running to increase the representation from Cambridge's Ward Four--one of the poorer areas of Cambridge.

West says she thinks Cambridge should offer more services to the needy in Cambridge--especially the elderly--but not if it would require an increase in city taxes.

"I think we need an increase in social services in Cambridge, but I also believe taxes should be kept down. I couldn't say exactly how to do that, though," she says.

West feels that there is a good chance this dilemma might be solved by acquiring more funds from the federal government and by eliminating duplication of efforts by various social service groups and agencies.

If elected, the job would be a fulltime occupation, she says--something that is not true of most present city council members.

Kevin Crane

Kevin P. Crane '71 is looking to carry on the family political tradition. He is the son of Edward Crane '35, former Cambridge mayor and city councilor. Young Crane is running his own campaign as an independent, and has not sought the endorsement of Cambridge Convention '77.

Crane supports vacancy rent decontrol. He says the purpose of rent control is to protect "low and middle income people, and elderly residents, who do not move around." Vacancy decontrol will not hurt these tenants, Crane says, but it will free up other apartments so that landlords can charge a fairer rent. These other apartments are now occupied by young professional people, "who can pay a fair market price," he says.

The candidate feels these are the major issues in the campaign. He also supports allowing cable television, "since people want it."

John A. Courtney

John L. Courtney calls himself a "reform candidate." He feels the present city council has been neglectful in serving the public.

For instance, Courtney says, "condominium explosion" must be curbed. He believes that expansion of condominium apartments, along with the growth of university building, is forcing poorer tenants into "dead end" neighborhoods.

Further, Courtney says other areas of city management have been mishandled. He cites a long list of corporations that have left the city since 1975, because of "poor cooperation between business and the city, poor transportation and poor planning by the city council." Tax revenue has been lost as a result, he says.

Courtney is against hiring a police commissioner. And he supports rent control, believing it is beneficial to poor and elderly tenants.

William Dreier

William Dreier usually votes Democratic but he says he wouldn't be indisposed to vote Republican if the circumstances demanded it. "I'm aware that most politics today is personalities. I don't think that's good."

A moderate, Dreier is convinced that there are solutions to the problems that face Cambridge, solutions that will be fair and acceptable for all Cambridge residents.

Dreier wants to provide better social services for the handicapped, poor, elderly, minorities and the young--but not at the expense of a major raise in taxes.

That may seem contradictory, but it's not, Dreier says. By reducing "waste and inefficiency" in city government, he plans to increase social services while managing to keep taxes down.

As for rent control, Dreier thinks the city needs a new "formula" to aid the small landlord who is being driven out of business or forced to neglect the upkeep of his property.

Carol Evans

Carol Evans, running as a member of the Socialist Workers Party, has all the right qualifications that a left-wing candidate should have: She was up to her neck in the anti-war movement; she was a founding coordinator of the Committee to Defend Abortion Rights, which supported Kenneth Edelin; she has long been involved in the struggle to desegregate Boston schools.

Her campaign slogan is "human needs before profit," and she attacks anything which hints of prejudice or inequality--homosexual discrimination, race bias, income stratification and sex discrimination.

Maria Da Rosa

Maria E. DaRosa is an active woman. A single parent with two teenage children and a job as an "office organizer," she still manages to go to evening classes in order to finish an earlier, aborted attempt to get a B.S. degree from the University of Massachusetts.

DaRosa considers herself a democrat, but only tenuously. She believes the main issues of the campaign for city council--issues that overshadow all others--are housing and unemployment.

DaRosa said she thinks rent control should be maintained or extended, even though landlords might be less willing to offer decent maintenance services as a result.