SPRINGFIELD—Every schoolchild in America hears about separations of powers and checks and balance. They exist on all levels of government. In Massachusetts’s third largest city, however, another phrase wins out: “Plan A,” often shorthanded as strong-mayor. The city charter and other state laws do endow
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council inched closer toward another round of complex and fraught legislating as it signaled plans to reform the city’s beleaguered responsible employer ordinance. The law, intended to provide minimum standards of employment for workers employed by city contractors, has been buffeted by weak
More than a hundred years later, Springfield City Hall remains a solid piece of construction. Even as maintenance of the larger Municipal Group to which it belongs has waxed and waned, the strong stone construction remains a tribute to the city’s brighter past. However, 36 Court
SPRINGFIELD—In a quiet meeting Monday the City Council mostly handled bookkeeping issues, a welcome respite from the more tempestuous gatherings of September. However, there was a vigorous debate about a retail project at a major intersection for traffic—and the divisions within the city. Aside from
UPDATED 7/26/15 1:11AM: For grammar. SPRINGFIELD—What looked like a dull election season now seems primed to be a more spirited affair as additional challengers pile onto the race for mayor and City Council. As of 3pm Thursday, the second to last day to pick up nomination
SPRINGFIELD—Entering another competitive election for his seat in Ward 3, Councilor Melvin Edwards formally touched off his bid to remain in office for another two years. Surrounded by supporters and friends new and old at Samuel’s in the Basketball Hall of Fame Thursday night, Edwards
The prospect of running against an incumbent mayor apparently bolstered by a milieu of progress and strength is not deterring challengers in Springfield. Between MGM and a flurry of largely disaster-funded construction, the conventional wisdom is that Mayor Domenic Sarno is bulletproof, but that has not calmed
SPRINGFIELD—Entering after a rousing introduction from his political mentor E. Henry Twiggs, longtime city activist Jesse Lederman, a McKnight neighborhood resident, formally kicked off his bid for City Council at-large Wednesday night. Promising to bring a smarter, more innovative direction to 36 Court Street, Lederman called
SPRINGFIELD—Lighting a menorah on Court Square in downtown, a 35 year tradition, seemed unlikely to make world news. Local rabbis joined city officials, the mayor and US Rep Richard Neal to mark the first of eight days the temple menorah burned with only a day’s
Barring an earthshattering upset, it is all but certain that Springfield will send two Latino representatives to Boston come January. One of them, Carlos Gonzalez, will replace Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, in the 10th Hampden, which, due to encompassment of the North End has been pegged as