Word: clem
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...Clem, who received the support of the Cambridge Convention in 1975, says that he is not abandoning progressive politics in striking out on his own, but only freeing himself from the slate's restrictions. His hands, he says, were tied by being associated so closely with CC '75. Clem feels it inhibited his ability to form coalitions on the council and limited his overall flexibility in dealing with the city's problems...
...Clem, the only incumbent who works full-time at the council, also thinks rent control has been blown out of proportion. He supports it in principle, but favors what he calls "conditional decontrol" of owner-occupied four, five and six family apartments (assuming owner participation in non-profit home improvement programs and certification that rent increases will not take rents out of the middle income range...
...straying from CC's rigidly anti-rent control stand has caused a good deal of bitterness in liberal circles. While a number of liberals--Harvard Law School professors James Vorenberg and Charles R. Nesson to anme two--have endorsed him, others go so far as to charge Clem has struck a "Faustian pact" with conservatives who lack concern for the poor...
That makes Clem angry. He cites his many years of work helping rehabilitate Cambridge housing stock as evidence of his committment to addressing low-income housing problems. And his initiatives on other liberal issues--gay rights, affirmative action and down-zoning for instance--clearly distinguish him from the other incumbents not backed...
...Clem's intensive campaigning pays off--if he is successful in convincing liberals to stray from the state and others in Cambridge to vote for someone they normally wouldn't--the future of Cambridge politics will be very different indeed...