Cambridge City Council Asks For Local Government Review

The Cambridge City Council last night asked Harvard or MIT to undertake a study designed to determine if the council "is truly in control of the government."

Councilor Alfred E. Vellucci, who introduced the order, said he wanted to discover if the City Council's authority had been usurped by federal and state agencies or by administrators within the city government.

"I don't think we as elected officials should ever be told to mind our own business. I don't think any agency should ever usurp our powers," Vellucci said.

Vellucci, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of his inauguration as a city councilor this week, said he had "watched the power of government slowly slip away" over the years.

"I think we should make a complete and through study of the city charter; we must resolve never to surrender our powers," he said.

Government Department officials were unavailable for comment last night. Lewis Armistead, assistant to the vice-president for government and community relations, refused comment.

In other business, the City Council revised Cambridge's parking regulations to make it more difficult for college students to obtain parking permits.

The amended statute requires that a car be registered--"principally garaged" and excise tax paid--in Cambridge to quality for a parking permit.

City officials said the move was an attempt to close a "small loophole." One student had sued for a parking permit and won after claiming he "registered" his car with the police department simply by informing them that it was parked in the city regularly.

The permits are required for off-street parking in many areas of the city, particularly residential neighborhoods.