SPRINGFIELD—The City Council wrapped up 2024 with a brief two-item agenda and its usual caucus to select the body’s officers for next year. With so little to consider there were few surprises. Free street parking for veterans achieved final passage. Council President Michael Fenton will have another year leading the body, though there will be a new Vice President.
Tragedy and the march of time itself undermined two ordinances before the City Council on Monday. Before the body was a proposal to automate electeds’ raises and another to double the time new hires have to move into the city. A majority of councilors present
A week before the Springfield City Council was to consider tax rates for residential and commercial properties, members briefly clashed over funding to close deficits from prior years. There was another mayor-Council flashpoint last week, albeit one that took the guise of old school political territorialism. The removal of the historic Stearns Square bench had reached the Council. However, the body punted on a resolve at the request of one councilor.
The Springfield City Council advanced major changes to the city’s solid waste policies on October 21. The policies Public Works czar Chris Cignoli presented are fairly comprehensive and run a wide gamut of garbage in the city. However, the changes also include a cost element,
The Springfield City Council gave what appears to be the final greenlight to a major reconstruction of the X intersection in Forest Park at its meeting this past Monday. The approval for takings and underlying funding was not without its fireworks, though. Some councilors objected to the items appearing on the agenda only to have their arms’ twisted to deliver prompt action.
SPRINGFIELD—Returning from its summer slowdown that comes every August, the City Council confronted a phalanx of financial and property orders that made for a hefty agenda. However, a different kind of hefty may have defined the most compelling and complicated issue was before councilors on
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.
SPRINGFIELD—The Community Preservation Committee’s (CPC) recommendations for the coming year constituted much of the City Council agenda on June 10. However, consideration of the projects did not invite the rancor the other items before the Council did.
A transfer of free cash to reserves veered off-topic and became heated. By contrast, the sale of a city-owned railroad parcel prompted a barrage of accusations and nonplussed the chamber.
SPRINGFIELD—Eons ago on Monday, before the meltdown with the outgoing school superintendent, the City Council held a relatively uneventful meeting. What occupied the most attention was the Community Choice Power Supply Aggregation (CCPSA) Plan. The city entered the program on the initiative of former Councilor Jesse Lederman and is now lumbering toward realizing its goals.
SPRINGFIELD—Despite a lengthy debate and reasonable fears about how the city’s principal revenue stream affects residents, the City Council approved the fiscal year 2025 budget. It passed last week with no modifications and no dissent. This was also the first annual spending document presented under the new Chief Administrative & Financial Officer, Cathy Buono.