The Springfield City Council held the equivalent of a double feature Monday night. A regularly scheduled Hearings meeting, during which the council approves or denies permits, followed a special meeting where numerous items were debated. City Council President Jose Tosado had scheduled the meeting to
**This post has been updated to reflect new information obtained from the governor’s office.** Councilor Rivera (Facebook) It is always hard to measure what impact scandals will have on a politician. Nobody seemed to care that Rick Perry received a $25,000 donation from Ken Lay
Councilor Rivera (WMassP&I) The numbers out of the Election Commission indicate plenty of interest in the citywide races slated for this November. At last count thirteen interested candidates have qualified to compete for the city’s five at-large seats and three candidates have qualified for mayor.
(WMassP&I) Today we debut a new series, “The Great Experiment,” a look at the transition that has begun at City Hall since the switch to Ward Representation in the City of Springfield. In the coming weeks and months, it is our goal to investigate the
(WMassP&I) Tonight a somewhat strange thing happened at 36 Court Street. The City Council fulfilled one of its legal obligations and actually did so by substantial majorities. Through relatively few votes, the Springfield City Council cut more than $2.8 million dollars from the budget the
(WMassP&I) After all of the drama, all the testimony, all the passion, the Springfield City Council voted this evening to deny a permit for a used car dealership on Newhouse Street in the City’s Outer Belt Neighborhood. Yes, the tension and the anxiety over what
(WMassP&I) In many ways, we have abdicated our responsibility on the Biomass issue. When the permit was rammed through the city council on a 7-2 vote in 2008, it was hailed as a jobs creator period. Since then there has been a growing movement to
**Programming Note** WMassP&I will be live-tweeting today’s BioMass Meeting. Check out Hashtag #Biomass or visit our Facebook page or Twitter Feed. (WMassP&I) Yesterday’s City Council meeting in Springfield had some wind taken out of its sails when three potentially contentious issues were unceremoniously withdrawn from
Monday was a night of stunning defeats and equally stunning chutzpah. A dozen or so cops filled the council chamber ostensibly as a show of solidarity ahead of the civilian review vote. Other measures up included the trash fee, a petition to extend council terms
Today we start a new series on WMassP&I called “The Insight” consisting of interviews of politicians, officials and other newsmakers within the Greater Springfield universe. Councilor Rivera (Facebook) Springfield, like many cities, has long been a place where politics is a contact sport. Campaigns can