by Adam Bass Correspondent-Intern Springfield City Councilor Marcus William’s was officially sworn in as Council President on Monday afternoon, as the city begins its legislative session of 2021. Williams, who represents Ward 5 in the city, was elected unanimously by his colleagues as the city’s
SPRINGFIELD—For the first time in many years, the result of the year-end vote to nominate the next Council President was not a foregone conclusion. No contender had previously declared sufficient votes to be president in 2021. After their regular meeting, Councilors ultimately chose their colleague
UPDATED 12/7/2020 8:07PM: A previous version of this post incorrectly identified Williams as vice-president this year. He was vice-president in 2019. The conclusion of the 7th Hampden House race means an end to the 2020 cycle in the Pioneer Valley. However, part of that district,
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council virtually returned from August’s semi-recess Monday to find a massive pile of fresh items on the floor requiring attention. The vast majority were financial, but several were also complex. Others fell under the Community Preservation Act (CPA) demanding more scrutiny than the
SPRINGFIELD—The growing ambition of the City Council beached itself onto the body’s widening political gulf, amid procedural and substantive disagreements on civil liberties and a public works project. While the Council ultimately voted to kill an order that could frustrate the X intersection project, it
UPDATED 9:53AM 12/20/19: To note Sarno’s veto of the order on the X intersection. UPDATED 8:39PM 12/18/19: To clarify Councilor Ryan’s comments about the X project and to include comment from MassDOT. SPRINGFIELD—In the final meeting of the year, City Councilors saw off their retiring
SPRINGFIELD—It is a ritual that comes every couple of snow seasons. Following a hefty blanketing of snow, the plowing is inadequate, residents complain, councilors hold a hearing and Public Works pleads extenuating circumstances. With 36 hours of snow amounting to about 13 inches last week,
It is an odd time for the city of Springfield. There is yet another mayoral election of debatable competitiveness at a time when so much is amiss with our city. The Council race, already troublingly low-key, has been polluted by disqualifying behavior. At the same
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council named the new City Clerk to succeed the outgoing Clerk, Anthony Wilson, who has served since 2016. Tasheena Davis, an associate city solicitor and the Council’s legislative attorney, was elected on an 8-4 vote. She will take office August 1. Because Wilson
SPRINGFIELD—It could be easy to overstate the stakes of the City Council’s impending decision on a new City Clerk. Aside from opening another front in the simmering battle over separation of power in city government, the decision’s consequences are hard to fully parse. But both