Tracye Whitfield did not think she would be on the Springfield City Council in 2018. She had run last year, hoping to catch the wave of elected women. Yet she placed sixth in the race for the city’s five at-large Council seats. However, under Springfield’s
SPRINGFIELD—Returning from its summer lull, the City Council faced an agenda that stretched their Monday meeting into midnight. Although the body notched some wins, the laborious agenda and procedural snafus mangled some items. Moreover, the meeting marked the beginning of a transition with Thomas Ashe
Following state approval of Denise Jordan’s selection to lead the Springfield Housing Authority, Mayor Domenic Sarno has announced her replacement as his chief of staff. Thomas Ashe, an at-large city councilor, will take over as Sarno’s top aide. As Ashe is expected to resign his
UPDATED 9:39PM: To add statements from Councilor Williams. The Springfield City Council, during a special meeting Wednesday night, failed to override Mayor Domenic Sarno’s veto of the chief diversity office (CDO) ordinance. The proposal, which would create a new office to oversee programs and initiatives
SPRINGFIELD—Amid a flurry of financial orders for the closing fiscal year, the City Council acted on several items Monday night, many it had considered recently. Most notably, it advanced the chief diversity office (CDO) ordinance to the mayor, prompting executive freak out. The stated reason
UPDATED 6/9/18 10:07PM: To reflect a correction on the incineration ban. Springfield will levy fines of $1-5k for first offenses. Repeat offenses yield fines up to $10k. SPRINGFIELD—The City Council Monday night took long-awaited action on two highly anticipated ordinances even as the underlying issues
SPRINGFIELD—A bevy of ordinances and several financial items greeted the City Council Monday night. The broad range of the policies under consideration ranged from rules for signs to outdoor dining. The Council also sought to leverage Springfield tax incremental financing (TIF) programs to ensure tax
SPRINGFIELD—On Monday night, the City Council delivered a blow to Mayor Domenic Sarno’s efforts to bully a church out of shelting an undocumented woman. The body unanimously passed an order to halt expenditure of city funds to interfere with South Congregational Church’s provision of sanctuary
SPRINGFIELD—Scheduling conflicts prompted a rare regular Council meeting only a week after the last one. Consequently, the agenda was spare especially when compared to the last few. Nonetheless, it included potentially significant staffing items on a key Springfield commission and in the Finance Department. The
SPRINGFIELD—The same night the City Council enacted a new rules for tax incentives, it turned one proposed break back. The moves on tax incremental financing (TIF) were unrelated and yet inextricably linked. A power struggle lay behind legitimate concerns about a TIF connected to the