SPRINGFIELD—Returning from its summer lull, the City Council faced an agenda that stretched their Monday meeting into midnight. Although the body notched some wins, the laborious agenda and procedural snafus mangled some items. Moreover, the meeting marked the beginning of a transition with Thomas Ashe
SPRINGFIELD—Amid a flurry of financial orders for the closing fiscal year, the City Council acted on several items Monday night, many it had considered recently. Most notably, it advanced the chief diversity office (CDO) ordinance to the mayor, prompting executive freak out. The stated reason
UPDATED 6/9/18 10:07PM: To reflect a correction on the incineration ban. Springfield will levy fines of $1-5k for first offenses. Repeat offenses yield fines up to $10k. SPRINGFIELD—The City Council Monday night took long-awaited action on two highly anticipated ordinances even as the underlying issues
SPRINGFIELD—Scheduling conflicts prompted a rare regular Council meeting only a week after the last one. Consequently, the agenda was spare especially when compared to the last few. Nonetheless, it included potentially significant staffing items on a key Springfield commission and in the Finance Department. The
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
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
SPRINGFIELD—The first regular City Council meeting coasted to a quick finish Monday night, a consequence of its small, uncontroversial agenda. Timing likely played a role in the slim to-do list. The body was only sworn in last week and submissions for this week’s agenda were
SPRINGFIELD—Amid frigid temperatures, rare New Year’s Day inaugurations formally installed new councilors two of the region’s largest cities installed last week. Both Chicopee and Springfield swore in their city councils Monday. Council races were the highlights of both cities’ elections and the beginning of the
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