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
UPDATED 5/8/2013 10:45PM : To reflect a correction. An earlier version of this post attributed to John Lysak an effort to move the Boston Road bonding to committee, which was incorrect and attributed to a misunderstanding; for clarity and grammar; and to add new details
For the first time since Springfield abolished its old system of government and ushered in a strong mayor-council government, and possibly ever, the city will hold a municipal election without the mayor on the ballot. Boston is the only other city in Massachusetts with more
UPDATED 3/8/13 12:56PM: Photograph of current Springfield Senior Center added. SPRINGFIELD—During a particularly policy-heavy evening, taking form in both ordinance and other measure, the City Council confronted a host of issue from finance to foreclosures to bonding. However, while some of the more substantive debate
UPDATED 8:56 PM: For, clarity, grammar, and inclusion of links. UPDATED 2/28/13 3:09PM: For accuracy. SPRINGFIELD—Among the powers of the City Council, few bring about more unpredictable results than the exercise of its permit-granting authority. For whatever reason, the special-permit granting authority of the city
SPRINGFIELD—As warming temperatures and city crews were finally and fully conquering last weekend’s snow fall, City Councilors were taking Department of Public Works officials to task for a recovery called inadequate and “dangerous.” DPW Chief Allan Chwalek faced withering criticism and probing questions even as
SPRINGFIELD—The order of items on the City Council’s agenda is defined by the Council’s rules. Items that fall under certain categories are grouped together and then listed in a certain order, each item assigned a number. The Council may, by unanimous consent take things out
SPRINGFIELD—A quiet quick meeting for the Springfield City Council dispensed with numerous housekeeping measures. However some items sent to committee portend either broader conflicts or a healthy helping of grandstanding. Still recuperating from injuries sustained in August, Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards was absent from
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