Council to Consider Resolution Further

Any would-be city councillors with felonry in their hearts can breathe easier for a bit now.

In a meeting last week, the Cambridge City Council voted to send a proposed resolution banning convicted felons from city office to several political bodies for further consideration.

The proposal as passed was altered from its previous form through amendments proposed by Councillor Michael A. Sullivan.

Under the proposed resolution, elected city officials convicted of a felony would be forbidden to finish their terms in office.

While the resolution cannot be made retroactive, it was inspired by the case of Councillor William H. Walsh.

Walsh has refused to resign his seat after being convicted on 41 counts of bank fraud and making false statements in march. Walsh could be punished with up to three and a half years in prison when he is sentenced on September 21.

As amended, the proposal will be and sent to the city attorney, the city clerk and the council's Committees on Rules and Operations and on Government Operations.

Sullivan said that he had been mulling over some sort of compromise, but had not discussed it with his fellow councillors.

"I think it had too many holes in it," he said "I had time during the [City Council] meeting...to think about some way to address the problem."

The bill will next be considered by the council when it is brought up by the Committee on Rules and Operations.

No time has been set for this, according to council members.

Sullivan said that he called for the further consideration not to kill the bill, but to make sure that it would stand up to any legal tests.

"The committees can decide...whether it's something that's a change in rules or that needs legislative action," he said. "This is an opportunity for all nine councillors to deliberate."

But Councillor Katherine Triantafillou, who originally supported the resolution, voted against the amended version--as did the three councillors who supported the proposal before its amendment: Kathleen L. Born, Jonathan S. Myers and Francis H. Duehay '55.

"We felt it was so outrageous that we voted against it," Triantafillou said yesterday. "This was our resolution they amended...it was essentially gutted."

Triantafillou said, thought, that neither she nor the other three opposing councillors plan any further attempts at limiting convicted felons' terms in office.

"Nobody has anything in mind," she said. "Since we're recessed for the summer, we probably won't think about it until the fall."

One of the supporters of further consideration of the bill was Walsh.

"Their original bill was just aimed at trying to aggravate me at this time," he said. "The council came in with a compromise and decided to consider it."

The bill would have to be approved by Cambridge voters and the Legislature in order to become law.