SPRINGFIELD—The City Council Monday night issued a stern rebuke to Mayor Domenic Sarno, ordering the city back off South Congregational Church, which is providing sanctuary to a woman facing deportation. It came after Sarno demanded city officials inspect the church for code violations. He also
UPDATED 4/2/18 7:31PM: To reflect an update. The debate on the Council’s order to halt action against South Congregational has been postponed to April 9. SPRINGFIELD—For a time, with the plunge of Donald Trump’s approval rating, so too had ebbed Mayor Domenic Sarno’s flirtation with
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
Members of the Springfield City Council have identified their next target in the battle for control of—and relevance to—city government. For much of the city’s time under Plan A and particularly over the last 30 years, the Council has lingered in the lane of land
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council’s first February meeting, lasting about four hours, made up for the meager agenda at the last regular meeting. The stage was set for breaking the logjam on the district fire chiefs. A solar farm tax deal advanced. The body confirmed Auditor Yong
SPRINGFIELD—Eight days after beginning his second term as Council President, Ward 8 Councilor Orlando Ramos made clear 2018 would be different. Some councilors were uprooted from longtime committee assignments and whole committees were dissolved and their duties reassigned. The list of assignments was released quietly
For Springfield, 2017 seemed a year that confirmed some of the assumptions about the city. Despite a rare double-retirement at-large, voters did not turn out. But the changeover was consequential. Like the rest of the world, Donald Trump left an impact on Springfield, too. In
SPRINGFIELD—The annual tug-of-war between residential and commercial property owners and their tax rates ended slightly in favor of residents this year. Each year, the City Council must set the rates, which distribute the property tax burden. The total amount to be collected was already determined
All the fixings were in place. The table was set. Surely, this would be the year Springfield voters would awaken to scarf down the opportunity two open at-large Council seats presented. But once all the ballots were in, turnout was just as disappointing than past cycles, if
If a misinformed Cantabrigian librarian had not done enough to catapult Springfield into the national spotlight, surely the eye-rolling imbroglio at the Dr. Seuss museum has launched the city further into controversy. Like clockwork, Mayor Domenic Sarno jumped feet first into the situation, prolonging the