Word: cca
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...strongest CCA slate in many an election was taking on an Independent ticket depleted by the retirement of one member, Kevin P. Crane '73; the city's demographics had been getting better for liberals year after year; in short, it appeared an ideal election to pick up the fifth seat and end the long reliance on Alfred E. Vellucci for the vote that keeps rent control and the condo ordinance intact...
...brought to a boil by a variety of city developers, notably attorney William Walsh, many tenants turned prospective condo owners began to show up before the city council pleading for exemptions. And, faced with the prospect of the condo ban melting away beneath a flood of special cases, the CCA councilors did what they had to do and upheld the law, most recently about two weeks before the election...
That decision to uphold the law provided the fuel for Wilkes' fire; a stream of leaflets, all printed on legal size white paper, and all anonymous, circulated throughout the city, accusing the CCA candidates, and in particular tenant activist David Sullivan, of conducting a "reign of terror" through their vigorous attempts at enforcing the statute. Wilkes denied responsibility for the leaflets, and they certainly did not match the slick tone of the rest of her campaign; whoever put them out, though, helped her efforts. And the Independents wooed her supporters--a group calling itself the Cambridge Condominium Network endorsed Wilkes...
...question, though, is whether the CCA could have done any better by doing anything differently, and the answer is probably no. They would have been forced to face the condo issue in any event, if not by prospective purchasers angry at the restrictions than by tenants upset at eroding protections. And the indication from Tuesday's vote is that politically they would have been worse off to ignore the tenants. David Sullivan--who draws the vast bulk of his support from tenants--was for the second election in a row the city's most popular progressive politician. All five candidates...
...some ways, then, it was a small minority of condo owners that was able to beat the CCA's hopes for a fifth seat; they did it more by supporting Independents number two and three on their ballot than by backing Wilkes number one. Skillful organization by many paid off; Walsh, watching the vote count Friday, said "I'm very, very pleased with how it's going...