City Official Says President Failed To Develop Relations

Cambridge city officials had mixed reactions to President Neil L. Rudenstine's planned resignation, saying his minor interaction with the Cambridge community made it difficult to form strong ties during his tenure.

While most councillors said they liked Rudenstine as a person, they described his relationship with the council and Cambridge as similar to the one he enjoys with undergraduates--distant at best.

"I liked his nonchalant and affable personality, but sometimes it came off as being shy," said Councillor Michael A. Sullivan. "When you are the head of major university, there's a need to have a relationship with the [city] government."

Sullivan said while former President Derek C. Bok had "an active relationship with the previous council," Rudenstine depended on others within the University to handle community relations.

"He has relied on the government and community relations department," he said. "He hasn't developed personal relationships with anyone, which is not good."

Rudenstine said yesterday he thought he has had a positive relationship with the council but said some University initiatives have hampered the relationship.

"I think that it's never a question of the individual person or what the community in the larger aspect thinks or feels," Rudenstine said. "My own relations have been on the whole very, very good, but institutions are another matter because they affect large populations and not just individual government officials."

Despite little direct involvement with the city, Rudenstine said he would like to see key development projects in Cambridge approved before he finishes his tenure next June.

The most prominent projects currently seeking approval are the proposed Knafel Center for Government and International Study and a new art museum on Memorial Drive--but both have drawn heavy criticism from Cambridge residents fearful of Harvard's continuing growth.

"Those are two that I would very much like to see approved so we can get on with the job," Rudenstine said. "We're going to keep trying to make the case and see what adjustments can be made for the community without damaging the projects."

Sullivan, however, doubts the projects will be approved any time in the near future.

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I was him," Sullivan said.

Rudenstine also plans to continue plans on the University's development of land in the Boston neighborhood of Allston.

The University is currently trying to acquire 48 acres of land in Allston near the Harvard Business School, with the possibility of relocating a graduate school to the area (please see related story, page 5).

Several council members have also criticized Rudenstine's stance on a living wage for University employees.

In an April rally on the steps of University Hall, City Councillor Jim Braude said the living wage issue would become a stumbling block that would hinder the University in other council matters.

"If Harvard wants to build a new building and comes to the City Council, all nine of us will say, 'Implement a living wage, and we'll talk,'" Braude told a 200-person crowd.

And while Braude was joined by fellow councillor Majorie C. Decker, other councillors are reluctant to stymie Harvard development based purely on its living wage stance.

Rudenstine recently approved recommendations to increase benefits and training to employees while side-stepping the $10 wage standard the City of Cambridge has adopted for its employees. He had previously met with Decker and Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio to discuss wage levels.

But despite differences of opinion on development and labor issues, the council plans to continue working to improve relations with the University beyond Rudenstine's tenure.

"My approach is one more of partnership than quid pro quo," Galluccio said earlier this month. "[I want] Harvard not reacting to the city, but Harvard joining the city."

And last week, the council approved a policy order calling for the development of an annual town- gown report on relations between the city and Cambridge's universities.

Councillor Henrietta Davis, who proposed the order along with Kenneth E. Reeves '72, said open communication with the University was the main objective of the order.

"It's in the spirit of continuing discussion so that there will be no misunderstandings about where a university is going and growing," she said.