Council Heads to Capitol For Conference on Cities

It's off to Washington, D.C. for Cambridge city councillors this week, as they head south for the National League of Cities conference.

All of the councillors except for Anthony D. Galluccio will be attending the four-day conference, along with four or five thousand other city councillors and mayors from around the country, said Mayor Francis H. Duehay '55.

Duehay, who was elected to the board of directors of the National League of Cities, says he will be busy during the trip.

"I will be meeting almost non-stop, Saturday, Sunday and Monday with the board of directors," Duehay said.

Duehay, a long time veteran of the National League of Cities, used to chair the Committee on Economic Development.

"I'm kind of a senior member now," he said.

Duehay hopes to meet with the vice president of the U.S. Postal Service to discuss the acquisition of the Central Square Post Office, which the council would then turn into a public library.

Duehay is also trying to arrange a meeting with Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Andrew Cuomo to discuss housing and homelessness. In particular, Duehay would like to talk to Cuomo about expiring use, the recent phenomenon of making available houses once reserved for affordable housing to market pricing, which has led to many evictions in Cambridge.

Other councillors have signed up for a variety of workshops on topics ranging from leadership to budgets.

Councillor Katherine Triantafillou said she will be attending two workshops titled "Resolving Controversial Issues" and "Guarding the Public Checkbook."

While the workshops and meetings are important to the councillors, they say the highlight of the conference is the chance to meet with members of Congress to lobby them on local issues.

"The best part of [the conference] is when we get to see the congressional delegation," said Councillor Henrietta Davis. "We really need them on housing and transportation issues."

Councillors will be meeting with Rep. Michael A. Capuano (D-Mass.), and Democratic Senators John F. Kerry and Edward M. Kennedy '54-'56. In preparation for the meeting, councillors will be briefed on the federal budget so that they know how the budget will affect cities and can structure their lobbying accordingly.

Real Estate Seizures Possible

Continuing their crusade for affordable housing at last night's meeting, the council also discussed the prospects of buying 929 House.

The apartment building was recently acquired by a real estate trust company, and the city fears losing affordable housing units that are even more valuable in the current housing shortage.

Triantafillou said the council's Housing and Community Development Committee will be discussing this morning the possibility of seizing the house and paying the owner, Grove Real Estate Trust, the market price. The city can legally seize the property under eminent domain law.

This is only the first of such plans to seize buildings that are eliminating affordable housing units. The council will also be looking into the seizure of an apartment building on 8 Bigelow St. whose tenants have faced mass eviction after a change in ownership.

Triantifillou requested a report from City Manager Robert W. Healy on whether or not the property could also be acquired by eminent domain.

When asked whether she thought the council would be successful in its attempts to seize properties, Councillor Born said she was optimistic.

"I wouldn't rule out eminent domain," she said.

Town vs. Gown

Kathy A. Spiegelman, associate director of Harvard Planning and Real Estate mailed a letter to the Cambridge city clerk on Jan. 28, registering an official protest by Harvard University to the proposed amendments to the Interim Planning Overlay Petition (IPOP).

The petition would delay the construction of any major projects for seven months after a hearing before the planning board, if the project were deemed to have a major impact on traffic flow and congestion. The amendments would include parking garages for 150 cars or more under the definition of major projects.

Harvard's letter was among the first of a host of letters the council has received registering a complaint against the amendments. Lyme Properties, which plans to build a 150-car garage in the near future and thus would be affected by the amendments, has sent a letter to major Cambridge property-owners, urging them to protest the proposed amendments.

At the earliest, the council will consider the amendments in two weeks.

The city's planning board will first implement IPOP at their meeting tonight. Two major Cambridge developers, Polaroid and Lyme, will be testifying at the hearing about their proposed construction projects.

Neighbors are expected to testify in large numbers against the buildings.

Councillor Triantifillou also requested a report from Healy continuing the council's investigation into the possibility of taxing Harvard property.

The council wants to investigate whether Harvard's affiliate housing property is tax-exempt. Triantifillou pointed to a recent article in the Harvard Gazette which reported a Harvard Planning and Real Estate's proposal to increase the rent on affiliate housing by 4 percent.

"If Harvard is going to charge market rate [rent] then they should be paying market rate [taxes]," Triantifillou said. "If these properties are being charged market rate there's no reason they're tax exempt."

This report request is similar to a report submitted last year by Healy regarding Harvard's non-profit, educational institution tax-exempt status as it related to profit-making activities on Harvard-owned properties.

Women's History Month

Early in yesterday's city council meeting, two Cambridge women were honored on the first day of Women's History Month. The first resolution, sponsored by Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves '72, honored Suzanne R. Green, a long-time Cantabridgian, teacher, activist and current member of the Cambridge Historical Commission.

Triantifillou presented a resolution to the Cambridge Women's Heritage Project in honor of Harriet A. Jacobs, author of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, conductor on the Underground Railroad and one-time Cambridge resident. Jacobs lived in Cambridge for five years in the 1870s.

The resolution recognized Jacobs' achievements. "Harriet A. Jacobs, African-American abolitionist, women's rights advocate, and author, deserves recognition as one of Cambridge's most remarkable women," the resolution reads.