**This post has been edited for clarity.** Housing advocates and community activists breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday as United States District Court Judge Michael Ponsor killed a lawsuit by various banks to strike down Springfield’s new foreclosure ordinances. Ponsor’s ruling sided with the
For weeks now, tension has been building among city councilors over the mayor’s budget. Even before Mayor Domenic Sarno presented his budget two weeks ago, many councilors were almost livid over the process. Consequently, when the budget faced its annual scrutiny Wednesday evening, it was
This post has been updated to reflect confirmation from the Department of Revenue on the Hotel Tax. With tension high following last week’s release of the mayor’s budget, on Monday the Springfield City Council staked out its own position on the proposed financial plan and
The following Post refers to the 6/17/12 Council Meeting postponed from its originally scheduled date on 6/10/12 due to the death of Ofc. Kevin Ambrose on that day. We apologize for the delay in its posting. Less than twenty-four hours before Mayor Domenic Sarno released
First, a note to our readers. We apologize for failing to post on the last two city council meetings. On balance, there was not much lost in our failure, however, we still regret our failure. There is at least one issue that merited some further
Six months ago, as Springfield voted in the shadow of a year of bizarre weather that almost certainly affected the election, a potentially subtler electoral coup emerged besides Domenic Sarno’s landslide victory. Even as the weather had scrambled the predictions of the city’s punditocracy and
After a year defined by piece-meal measures of debatable effect to rein in crime in the City of Springfield, two councilors are propsoing arguably the most comprehensive approach yet when compared to other efforts. Early entertainment cessation and street closings have been the focus on
Monday was a day of minor victories, but also grim financial news and schizophrenic behavior at the Springfield City Council. With three members absent, councilors debated a host of resolutions, put off several measures to committee and even took some further steps on ordinances. Prior
Every now and then the Springfield City Council assembles and does little more than ministerial duties dressed up as discretionary acts. For example, the city cannot accept a grant or money outside of its own tax base or consistent with a general state law unless
(WMassP&I) Under normal circumstances, Monday’s meeting of the Springfield City Council would have been a quick one. There were few controversial items and councilors seemed in agreement about the diciest issues before them. Rather, since the council had not met since January, a huge amount