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Take My Council, Please: What Lies Beneath?…
(WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—A quiet quick meeting for the Springfield City Council dispensed with numerous housekeeping measures. However some items sent to committee portend either broader conflicts...
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On Transparency and Finance…#Quinning…?
UPDATED 2/12/13 2:38 PM: For grammar & accuracy and to include responses from the mayor’s office & councilors. NOTE: The original time stamp of this post was 2/11/2013 6:00 PM, but has been...
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Briefings: Overriding Objections of a Veto…
Councilor Michael Fenton (WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—Determined to revive the city’s moribund residency ordinance, a Council committee announced it would ask for a vote Monday to override Mayor Domenic...
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Take My Council, Please: When the Opposition is Resi-dense…
(WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—The Springfield City Council opened its meeting on a high note with effusive praise of the tornado-damaged Cathedral High School, but quickly descended into acrimony and a...
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Proposing a Monday Night Massacre…
Edited for Clarity This is a developing story, more details will be added when we have them. Could Springfield be in store for its own Saturday Night Massacre Monday? (photo composed with photo from...
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Take My Council, Please: Band of Brotherhood of Police Officers…
(WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—In a victory for organized labor, the City Council unanimously approved an arbitration award, securing a contract between the city and it’s the International Brother Hood of...
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Take My Council, Please: Allow Us to Clarify…
UPDATED 8/26/14 1:04AM: For clarity and for confirmation of the mayor’s signature on the home rule petition and to note Councilor Ramos’s abstention. (WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—The City Council awoke...
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Take My Council, Please: We Didn’t Start the Fire…
UPDATED 9:52 PM: NEPR reports confirm Mayor Sarno has signed the casino ethics ordinance. (WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—Amid some uncertainty about details in the new contract, approval of the city’s pact...
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Take My Council, Please: Thrown under the School Bus Funding…
(WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—Cameras and unfunded mandates were the order of the day at the City Council Monday night. These two items dominated much of the agenda with the remainder of the agenda...
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Take My Council, Please: With Great(ish) Power, Comes Great Responsibility…
(WMassP&I) SPRINGFIELD—Breaking its summer fast, the City Council returned for its sole scheduled regular meeting in July and August. The agenda ranged from reports and grants to more consequential...
View ArticleAnalysis: The Rusting Rule of Law in Springfield…
UPDATED 9:17AM: For grammar & clarity. Last week the Springfield City Council stood up and demanded that Mayor Domenic Sarno (as well as other appointing authorities) fulfill their obligations and...
View ArticleEmployee Residency Battle Ignites Anew in Springfield…
UPDATED 10:26AM: For grammar & clarity. Touching off a fresh battle in a politically fraught issue, the Springfield City Council voted to strengthen the city’s employee residency ordinance Monday...
View ArticleBriefings: Council Calls Sarno’s Bluff, Overrides Residency Veto…
This story is developing. A fuller account of Monday’s meeting will be posted soon. SPRINGFIELD—In a strong rebuke to Mayor Domenic Sarno, the City Council here overrode a veto of a law intended to...
View ArticleEditorial: Agnosticism on Residency, Zeal for the Rule of Law…
When Springfield at-large City Council Justin Hurst released his General Government Committee’s Thursday agenda, there were signs that the Council was inching toward a Rubicon. The meeting will discuss...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Halt & Catch Fire Chiefs…
SPRINGFIELD—City Councilors here turned back an already-expired labor pact covering only ten employee in the latest battle over the issue of residency for city employees. The pact covered a four-year...
View ArticleAnalysis: Fruitful Discussion Possible after Non-Fatal Police Misconduct…
Amid the current national climate of community-police relations, Springfield has been relatively lucky. Tensions are often high, but since Melvin Jones, there have been no Charlottes or Tulsas caught...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Welcome to the Kwik-E-Meeting…
SPRINGFIELD—A short agenda sailed through the City Council’s Tuesday meeting here without any banality or vainglorious interrogatories. In addition to the usual financial housekeeping and grant...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Gotta Keep on (Food) Trucking…
SPRINGFIELD—Emotion and politics ran high at Monday night’s City Council meeting as a labor pact with district fire chiefs failed and the food truck ordinance returned to committee. Both items faced...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Firefighters Now Residing with Compliance…
SPRINGFIELD—Last Monday the City Council dispatched two big issues that had been hovering over it for weeks and even months. A revised version of a public safety measure aimed at reassuring...
View ArticleAnalysis: Once Totaled, Residency Ordinance Firing on (Most) Cylinders…
SPRINGFIELD—On December 3, 1990, amid disputes over the bargaining process, a grim City Council voted 8-0 to approve a contract awarded after “interest arbitration” that ended city cops’ obligation to...
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