Caesar hath wept. (WMP&I and Google images)

The September 21 meeting of the Springfield City Council concluded a lingering drama that had split the body for weeks. By a 9-2 vote, councilors finally approved a Community Preservation Act (CPA) grant for a housing subsidiary of the New North Citizens Council (NNCC).

At-large City Councilor Justin Hurst had alleged an ethical conflict existed because the City Clerk, Gladys Oyola-Lopez, is an officer of the NNCC. The evidence was circumstantial and Oyola-Lopez, as clerk , had not appeared to have taken discretionary actions usually necessary to trigger state ethics law. While the Council passed the grant, more turbulence may lie ahead. Hurst announced he was now the subject of an investigation.

Ward 4 Councilor Malo Brown was absent. Councilors Victor Davila and Maria Perez participated remotely.

On September 8, Davila had recalled the $100,000 CPA grant, which would help fund the redevelopment of the Brightwood School into apartments. The grantee was Brightwood Elderly Living Loving Assistance LLC, (BELLA), which the NNCC controls. The Council had referred it to General Government, which Hurst chairs, on June 22. Davila could act unilaterally because the item had been in committee for more than 30 days. After 120 days in committee, the item would have died.

The Council declined to pass it the night Davila recalled it. Rather, councilors referred it back to committee, this time to Finance. Finance Committee chair Zaida Govan promptly scheduled a meeting on September 14. During and after that meeting, it became clear that the Council would advance the item at its next full Council meeting.

One idea? Making the Columbus North Garage Strong with low fees. (via SPA)

Councilors had a modest agenda to plow through first. They received a presentation from the Springfield Parking Authority (SPA). The SPA, an independent government body, owns Springfield’s municipal garages. In recent years, it has taken on management of on-street parking. The SPA’s consultants urged the city to tweak parking rates to encourage changes in parking habit among workers and those with short, infrequent visits to downtown.

There was no substantive item for the Council to vote on pertaining to parking.

Councilors approved an honorary street designation for Cornell Forbes along a stretch of Colonial Avenue. Forbes, an immigrant from Jamaica, was praised as a pillar of the community who had supported local initiatives in Upper Hill.

The Council greenlighted requests from Eversource to excavate parts of Dwight, Oakley and Plainfield street for equipment upgrades.

To maintain access to a drainage pipe, the body approved an easement between 74 and 82 Crystal Brook Drive in 16 Acres. Ward 7 Councilor Gerry Martin, who represents the area, said after speaking with the Outer Belt Civic Association that the issue was not controversial.

The Council also took final action on changes to the Youth Commission, as part of a bid to revive the defunct panel. Councilor Hurst, whose committee reviewed the bill, welcomed Health & Human Services Commissioner Helen Caulton-Harris and Shenell Ford, the city’s Health & Racial Equity coordinator, to offer remarks on the bill.

The Council had approved first step on September 8. The Council and Mayor Domenic Sarno agreed to revisions that would restore and expand the Council’s presence on the panel. The City Council President will remain a member—or designate somebody in his/her place—and the full body shall vote for three of the 11 youth members.

Shenell Ford, along with her boss Commissioner Caulton Harris, drove the revival of the Youth Commission. (still via YouTube/Focus Springfield)

“I’m just excited for our youth to be able to amplify their voice because it’s not our job to give them their voice. It’s our job to provide an opportunity for them to use it,” Ford said.

Caulton-Harris said the process of selecting the youth members would roll out soon.

Councilors welcomed the final touches on the legislation and embraced its mission. Councilor Govan said the issue was important because simply calling young people the future isn’t enough.

“We need to be acting like it,” she said.

Although praising the bill, at-large Councilor Brian Santaniello noted that many boards and commissions have vacancies. Perhaps, he suggested, this was an opportunity to look at slotting young people into those empty positions.

“We should be looking for our youth to be on those boards and commissions because every time a nomination comes before us, it seems to be the same old same old,” he said. “And I think that’s got to change.”

Second and final step on the Youth Commission legislation passed unanimously.

Govan, the Finance chair, opened the debate on the CPA grant. At the September 14 meeting, her committee heard from NNCC and BELLA’s counsel who explained the structure of both entities and City Clerk Oyola-Lopez’s role. Govan’s Committee had also heard from former City Clerk Anthony Wilson, who had the Council’s attorney at one time. He indicated that Oyola-Lopez’s role as City Clerk lacked a participatory function that would implicate state ethics law.

This had been enough for Govan to recommend a vote on the item. Still, she asked Hurst what he had learned since he said he would seek another legal opinion. The Council had voted down Hurst’s motion to seek outside legal advice on the NNCC/BELLA grant in July. Hurst and others, namely City Council President Tracye Whitfield, have said they did not trust assurances that voting on the grant was legal. City Solicitor Stephen Buoniconti declined a request to issue formal legal advice.

However, after reiterating his belief that the Council should not vote on the grant, Hurst stated he could not reveal what advice he had received, ostensibly from the State Ethics Commission.

Hurst would not say what ethics advice he had received. (still via YouTube/Focus Springfield)

“Unfortunately, I’m not able to speak to what it is that I’ve received,” he said. “The reason in which I’m not able to speak to what it is that I’ve received, is because for doing what I think we all are charged to do, which is to represent and advocate on behalf of the residents of Springfield, I am now the subject of an investigation.”

Hurst did not indicate who was investigating him. However, the city’s personnel office is a potential candidate. In June, amid Hurst’s objections to the grant and after other formal confrontations between him and Oyola-Lopez, the City Clerk filed a complaint with HR/Labor Relations Director William Mahoney. In late July, Oyola-Lopez’s attorney, Zack Vargo, released the filing to reporters after warning his client was considering legal action.

Despite repeated attempts from his colleagues, Hurst would not discuss any ethics report he received. He did say he had retained counsel.

It is possible that Hurst had received an opinion from the State Ethics Commission. The state agency provides advice to state and municipal officials. A commission spokesperson told WMP&I it does offer opinions to municipal bodies, not just individual officials. Such a request would not require a vote or motion from the full body.

Nevertheless, most councilors expressed satisfaction with what transpired at Govan’s committee meeting. Santaniello said the NNCC’s attorney said Oyola-Lopez had no interest in the project. At-large Councilor Jose Delgado, citing his work on nonprofit boards, focused on how the City Clerk does not “participate” in decision-making. He also cited former City Clerk Wilson’s input before the committee.

“You have to have participation in that to be able to have, I guess, a conflict,” Delgado said. “So, [Wilson] said is there’s nothing for her to recuse or disclose.”

President Whitfield ceded the said to Delgado, the Council Vice President, to join the debate and announced she would vote no. Whitfield’s own ethical travails were a context to situation. Earlier this year, Whitfield had, in effect, “participated” in a street discontinuance that would affect property she owns through a corporation.

The tempest (in a teapost?) around City Clerk Oyola-Lopez has passed. (via WAMC/James Paleologopoulos)

That triggered ethics investigations and opinions from the city Law Department. Whitfield contested some—although not all—of those opinions’ conclusions.

“I don’t trust the law department for the city of Springfield and I’m definitely not going to trust the law department of the New North Citizens Council who is actually going to say everything that they need to say in order to get this passed,” she said.

Whitfield tempered her opposition by explicitly saying she harbored no ill-will toward Oyola-Lopez. (At the September 8 Council meeting, she suggested that she worried Oyola-Lopez might face ethics investigation). Rather, the Council President described it as a question of fairness.

“This does not have anything to do with the city clerk’s character,” Whitfield said, praising Oyola-Lopez’s work and communication. “She does a fantastic job and I like working with. But when it comes to ethics, I think that it should the process that I went through.”

Councilors jostled over the issue a bit more, but the outcome was becoming clear. In the end, only two councilors—Hurst and Whitfield—out of 11 voting, opposed the grant. Councilor Perez, a long time figure at the NNCC until recently, abstained.

The vote closed this chapter on the City Council that had riled the body for three months—to a point. Funds for the project will flow. Yet, as Hurst revealed, the story is not over.

(WMP&I)

It is not clear how far an investigation can go. While there are exceptions, councilors do have legislative privilege akin to the speech and debate clause Congress enjoys. The outcome, however, may matter less than how this fits into the broader strife on the Council in 2026. That strife could affect—or define—the municipal election next year.