UPDATED 10/10/13 3:32PM: Comments from the Council’s Public Safety Committee Chair Thomas Ashe added; clarification between last month’s defeated pawnbroker ordinance and the one referred to committee; and confirmation as to when the old holding period was shortened to the current 10 days. SPRINGFIELD—With elections
SPRINGFIELD—During a marathon session Monday night that was largely driven by the sheer weight of the agenda and not the outsized volume of councilors’ egos, the Council digested a massive list of financial orders and considered several ordinances. The meeting opened with a Audit Committee
Edited for Clarity This is a developing story, more details will be added when we have them. SPRINGFIELD—In defiance of Constitutional concerns and contractual obligations, at-large Councilor Jimmy Ferrera will introduce an ordinance Monday that would cancel existing waivers and potentially lead to a flurry
SPRINGFIELD—The Springfield City Council opened its meeting on a high note with effusive praise of the tornado-damaged Cathedral High School, but quickly descended into acrimony and a display of dysfunctional government. Councilor Tim Rooke was absent from the meeting. The meeting was technically two. The
SPRINGFIELD—Determined to revive the city’s moribund residency ordinance, a Council committee announced it would ask for a vote Monday to override Mayor Domenic Sarno’s veto of an ordinance designed to limit the use of waivers to city employee residency requirements. Other actions will appear on
SPRINGFIELD—Speaking before a crowded hall at the Cedars on Island Pond Road after delaying the start to his campaign several months, city resident and activist, Ernesto Cruz kicked off his bid Thursday for one of the City Council’s five at-large seats. In a speech capped
UPDATED 7/24/13 10:44PM: Additional comments from City Solicitor Ed Pikula added. SPRINGFIELD—To the surprise of many and for legally shaky reasons, Mayor Domenic Sarno vetoed the City Council’s attempt to reform the city’s residency ordinance. The veto was Sarno’s first according to the City Clerk’s
UPDATED 7/18/13 12:29PM: To reflect a quote from Councilor Fenton. SPRINGFIELD—Returning to the chamber for one of two summer meetings on Monday, the Springfield City Council finally moved several issues long-festering on its docket bringing closure after months of indecision. Despite a substantial passage of
Twelve days after the Springfield City Council suddenly veered off course from an assured passage of common sense, if painfully realistic residency ordinance reform, how it happened should get as much attention as that it happened. The latest derailment of an agenda item came upon
SPRINGFIELD — Politics and its progeny populism were at play in Monday’s meeting which partially reignited an old debate while the other was just theater. An issue long ready to be put to bed was put off as last minute and uninformed objections led to