From the moment the contest began the subtext of the Hampden Senate District’s Democratic primary would be who could represent it best. Therefore, it was probably fate that the battle between Senator Adam Gomez and Springfield City Councilor Malo Brown would take a nasty turn. That happened mid-August.
BOSTON—On June 18, Massachusetts Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro grabbed headlines with a call to put the Cannabis Control Commission into receivership. The legislature did not advance Shapiro’s proposal, but his office had another significant impact earlier in the year.
Hispanic Latino Leaders Now Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee (HLLN) is no more. The first SuperPAC to seriously intervene in Springfield elections dissolved as part of a disposition agreement with state campaign finance regulators.
Generally, when the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) comes up in Springfield, it is about the Community Development Block Grant program. At worst, it is usually middling news, such as a lower Congressional appropriation. On July 25, however, HUD came knocking
Five months after the Springfield City Council and Mayor Domenic Sarno forwarded an age waiver for now-Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers, the bill has finally passed Beacon Hill. What is moving to Governor Maura Healey’s desk is not what city officials passed in February.
Democratic Party politics and the presidential contest experienced upheaval Sunday when President Joe Biden announced he would decline the nomination for president at the party’s national convention next month in Chicago. Biden immediately turned to his vice-president, Kamala Harris, who has already won the support of delegates who will represent the 413 in the Windy City.
As summer heats up, the Springfield City Council begins to slow down, holding fewer meetings than during the rest of the year. The body’s July 8 sitting was its only scheduled regular meeting until September. Despite the policy and finance-heavy agenda, there was little of major controversy before councilors last Monday.
The two surprise legislative races anchored in Springfield may yet rock political foundations in the city. However, on the fundraising front, the races are proceeding more or less typically for incumbent challenges. Both State Senator Adam Gomez and State Rep Bud Williams maintain healthy fundraising leads.
After years of stuff reductions, farming out of printing to Springfield, and closure of its physical newsroom, staff at the Hartford Courant have received some good news of their own. The Courant Guild secured a contract with Tribune’s owner, Alden Global Capital, that will guarantee raises and retirement benefits.
On Monday, the Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Service reported out the age waiver to allow Springfield Police Superintendent Lawrence Akers to serve until age 70. As WMP&I reported last week, the Committee redrafted the home rule petition, which the Springfield City Council and Mayor Domenic Sarno had forwarded in February. The Committee’s changes essentially reverse those the city had made.