…But to what end? (WMP&I and Google images)

SPRINGFIELD—There is plenty of precedent for police officers to fill the City Council chamber. Usually, it is to oppose or support some substantive policy. This past Monday the room was full, if not packed with cops. Ostensibly, they were there to support Superintendent Lawrence Akers’s body camera financial package.

That is a bit simplistic. It seemed at least partly to ensure the other part of the package—tasers—passed uneventfully. It did. With so little drama around the ostensible marquee item of the night, had a grab bag. The Council approved some resolutions, confirmed the Director of Internal Audit to another term and widened the window for new employees’ compliance with the residency ordinance.

Councilors Lavar Click-Bruce and Zaida Govan were absent. Councilors Brian Santaniello, Kateri Walsh and Tracye Whitfield participated remotely.

The meeting began with reports of committee. The body received reports from the Audit, Finance, General Government, Health & Human Services and Maintenance & Development committees.

The Council confirmed Michael Langone to the labor seat of the Springfield Redevelopment Authority.  General Government Committee chair and Ward 6 Councilor Victor Davila introduced the nominee. Langone is the business manager for the Plumbers & Pipefitters, Local 104 in Springfield.

Audit Committee chair Jose Delgado previewed the confirmation of Yong No, the city’s Director of Internal Audit.

“I’ve had the pleasure of working with Mr. No for the last year as the chair of the Audit Committee. I think his work is on point he’s flagging a lot of really good stuff for us,” Delgado said.

Sometimes the answer is No. (still via YouTube/Focus Springfield)

No observed he had already held the role for 10 years and thanked Mayor Domenic Sarno for allowing him to continue to serve. The Director of Internal Audit is a mayoral appointee, but one of the few that required Council confirmation.

“I am passionate about serving the city and advancing the mission of the office of internal audit which is to help City departments improve their operations and to prevent and detect fraud waste and abuse,” No said.

No’s office audits several elements of the city regularly. However, as he noted at the meeting, they accept suggestions for investigations from both officials and the public. However, the office can only probe so many tips. At-large councilor Whitfield’s asked about No’s capacity to audit beyond mandatory examinations.

“We would love to audit everything, but we certainly don’t have the hours to do so,” No explained. “Again, we prioritize based upon the potential impact it has on the city.”

No’s confirmation passed the Council without dissent.

The Council accepted the November and December revenue and expenditure reports. Interim Comptroller Stephen Lonergan told at-large Councilor Santaniello that thus far the city has not experienced an interruption of regular funding due to federal government freezes that continued despite court orders. This presumably is apart from grants outside the normal budget, such as the $20 million Environmental Protection Agency grant the city received last year. The Republican has previously reported it was on ice.

The Council greenlighted Eversource work on Piedmont and Winter streets and Abbe Avenue. The Council accepted 14 grants under $100,000 in value for various departments including the Elder Affairs, Health & Humans Services, Police and Public Works departments.

At the motion of Ward 7 Councilor and Finance Committee chair Timothy Allen, the body considered the police items. Superintendent Akers presented three items for the cameras and tasers. There was approval of a five-year contract—contracts longer than three years require Council approval—and two financial items. A $2.5 million bond and a $1.5 million free cash transfer will fund the contract.

The package appears to go further than just cameras and tasers to include software. Akers explained, the record management system had not received a wholesale upgrade since the mid 90’s.

Shorter Akers: Smile, you’re on higher-tech body-cameras. (still via YouTube/Focus Springfield)

“What I’m looking to do is bring our department into the 21^st century,” he said.

The superintendent called the body-worn camera program a success and even helped reduce “our bad behavior.” Still, the time had come for a better product. Hence, the financial items and a new five-year contract. The existing cameras break down too often. The city would also have a larger complement of cameras under this new contract.

When Akers got to the tasers, he explained that the plan was to have enough for every officer. Presently, the city has far less than that, requiring them to be checked out. There was a sense that Pearl Street was nervous about potential objections. While tasers are obviously less lethal than firearms, they are not without controversy.

Ultimately, the debate was brief and all three items passed without dissent.

Returning to the rest of the agenda, the Council approved $184,721 in rural road funding. Public Works czar Chris Cignoli explained that this money was an addendum to the annual Chapter 90 road grant the state doles out. The state weighted these funds to rural roads, however Springfield has some streets that qualify. The body accepted the funds without dissent.

The body likewise approved $230,250 in complete streets road funding and $613,755 for library funding. Councilors also accepted the $1,247,412 for the Shannon grant to address youth violence and gang activity. Notably, the federal Health & Human Services grant for the city’s health center $2,362,888 was available for the city to approve. Records in the agenda indicate the city had secured the funding before January 20.

The final grant was $4,116,279 for improvements around Union Station. It, too, received unanimous approval.

The Council then came to final step of an ordinance that gives new employees two years to move into the city, double the current period. At the end of 2024, the body had amended the bill to include a sunset clause. However, at the top of Monday’s meeting, Davila, the Government Committee chair, announced that the City’s HR department urged the Council to remove the clause.

Delgado wanted to be sure the Council actually did reconsider this change in the future. (courtesy Delgado campaign)

The ordinance that doubled the window arose amid concerns that the city was having difficulty recruiting employees, in part, because housing was becoming scarcer in Springfield. In December, Councilor Delgado had been cool to the push because circumstances could change and demand may no longer outstrip supply.

HR/Labor Relations Director William Mahoney told the Council Monday that the language, as proposed, could complicate the city’s offer letters. In other words, he was not sure how his department would parse the language in offers that warn a new employee when they must move to the city.

Repeating his comments from December, Delgado called this was “a moment in time.” A sunset clause would force the Council to consider the situation again later on.

“I’m trying to be protective of the residency,” he said.

The amendment removing the sunset passed 8-3 with Councilors Delgado, Whitfield and Sean Curran in dissent. Those three also voted against final passage.

Davila suggested the city has more to gain with streamlined amendment to the residency ordinance. (WMP&I)

Davila, who had shepherded the bill through the Council, said the change would benefit the city.

“By extending to two years for new hires to move, it will ensure that we don’t lose time, talent, and money invested in training individuals that have not been able to secure housing in Springfield,” he said in a statement.

The Council also approved a $1,050,000 bond for schematic designs for school projects. The city will use these to seek Massachusetts School Building Authority funding.

Mahoney presented a labor contract with the United Public Service Employees Union. This covers various clerical workers across department. Mahoney explained that this was two contracts: one for one year and one for three years. The first, dating back to July 1, 2024, will a $1 raise and a $1,500 signing bonus. The second will include 2% raises for each of its three years. The contract also gives employees additional flexibility for sick pay and standardizes disciplinary language.

The Council approved the pact without dissent.

The evening concluded with a pair of resolutions. The first supported a bill the legislature and Governor Maura Healey recently approved. It allow for the use of cameras to ticket drivers who ignore the stop signs on school buses.

The other appeared to urge Congress to extend protections for Liberians in the United States. Ward 4 Councilor Malo Brown presented the measure in the context of Black History Month. He and a speaker from Boston, who addressed the Council, noted the United States’ role in the founding of Liberia and its obligation to refugees from there.

(WMP&I)

The cornucopia of items on Monday was such that nothing really stood out. It would be easy to overread Pearl Street’s presence in the chamber for the camera and taser items. The residency change had debate, but the December discussion on the matter went much deeper. There were sporadic hints about the looming threats from Washington, but nothing dominated the evening.

This potpourri agenda is not itself a sign that the Council is adrift. However, it could be a metaphor for the Council’s current state, taking whatever comes its way. Given how few items were of the body’s own initiative, it begs the question. Has the Council become a passive actor after a decade influencing the narrative of Springfield?