SPRINGFIELD—City councilors called Mayor Domenic Sarno’s bluff and overrode his veto of an ordinance reviving a commission to oversee operations of the city’s police department. The veto had come within hours of the Council’s initial approval of the changes two weeks ago, but Sarno has signaled
SPRINGFIELD—Every schoolchild in America hears about separations of powers and checks and balance. They exist on all levels of government. In Massachusetts’s third largest city, however, another phrase wins out: “Plan A,” often shorthanded as strong-mayor. The city charter and other state laws do endow
UPDATED 8:35PM: The Republican reports that Sarno has vetoed the ordinance. Tells paper on his flip-flop from 2007, “Quite frankly you learn that campaigning is much different than governing.” SPRINGFIELD—Edging closer to its second major rebuke of Mayor Domenic Sarno this year, the City Council
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council set the tax rates for the next year Monday night, rejecting Mayor Domenic Sarno’s recommendation and instead freezing residential rates at the current level. However, because the values of both residential and commercial property have risen, bills on both are likely to
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council inched closer toward another round of complex and fraught legislating as it signaled plans to reform the city’s beleaguered responsible employer ordinance. The law, intended to provide minimum standards of employment for workers employed by city contractors, has been buffeted by weak
SPRINGFIELD—The battle over charter schools dominated Monday City Council meeting, injecting the body into the fraught battle over the ballot question that would raise the charter cap in Massachusetts. But that issue did not monopolize councilors’ attention, as the body also spent a considerable amount
SPRINGFIELD—City Councilors here turned back an already-expired labor pact covering only ten employee in the latest battle over the issue of residency for city employees. The pact covered a four-year period ending this past June. That outstanding gap has been an impediment to future labor
SPRINGFIELD—Echoing demands from North End community leaders, the City Council made a dramatic call for upgrades to the German Gerena tunnel that many consider a public health risk to the vulnerable population that attends the school. The Council implored Gov. Charlie Baker to issue $3 million
SPRINGFIELD—Amid the City Council’s adoption of Mayor Domenic Sarno’s $616.6 million budget was a short, typical, but potentially significant regular meeting earlier Monday night. Financial measures awaiting approval for weeks passed as did legal changes that could impact direct democracy in the city. The Council
SPRINGFIELD—With its annual review of the city budget looming ahead, the City Council flexed its muscles Monday night turning back or sending to committee several financial orders. It may be too early to assume the Council will cut Mayor Domenic Sarno’s $616 million budget, but