UPDATED 1/29/25 1:40AM: Voters approved the charter change 572 to 270 per unofficial results the Clerk released Tuesday night. The last time voters in the City of Holyoke had to trudge to the polls in the dead of winter was probably 2010. On January 19
Tragedy and the march of time itself undermined two ordinances before the City Council on Monday. Before the body was a proposal to automate electeds’ raises and another to double the time new hires have to move into the city. A majority of councilors present
The Springfield City Council is wading once more into the fraught waters of their own salaries. A bill appearing on Monday’s agenda would raise the annual salary for councilors, the mayor and members of the School Committee. However, the increase would not be immediate.
A week before the Springfield City Council was to consider tax rates for residential and commercial properties, members briefly clashed over funding to close deficits from prior years. There was another mayor-Council flashpoint last week, albeit one that took the guise of old school political territorialism. The removal of the historic Stearns Square bench had reached the Council. However, the body punted on a resolve at the request of one councilor.
The Springfield City Council advanced major changes to the city’s solid waste policies on October 21. The policies Public Works czar Chris Cignoli presented are fairly comprehensive and run a wide gamut of garbage in the city. However, the changes also include a cost element,
Generally, when the United States Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) comes up in Springfield, it is about the Community Development Block Grant program. At worst, it is usually middling news, such as a lower Congressional appropriation. On July 25, however, HUD came knocking
SPRINGFIELD—Despite a lengthy debate and reasonable fears about how the city’s principal revenue stream affects residents, the City Council approved the fiscal year 2025 budget. It passed last week with no modifications and no dissent. This was also the first annual spending document presented under the new Chief Administrative & Financial Officer, Cathy Buono.
MELROSE—Governor Maura Healey signed a bill on May 3 that dispersed the state’s annual Chapter 90 road funds. Named after its chapter of the general laws, the money is essentially a type of aid to cities and towns. Flanked by legislators and finance, transportation, and municipal officials in this cozy Boston suburb, with the stroke of a pen, Healey made available $375 million for transportation work statewide.
EASTHAMPTON—Despite years of involvement with Democratic politics, it is no secret that the 2016 election was a turning point for Nicole LaChapelle. Two reelections later, LaChapelle will not seek reelection as mayor here next year, although there is another presidential election before that.
“I was out at the Brass Cat and one of the bartenders is like, ‘Hey, Trump can be president again. Does that mean you’re gonna run again?’” LaChapelle recalled.
SPRINGFIELD—A relatively tame agenda before the City Council Monday quickly unraveled into much longer discourses. The body spent a considerable amount of time mediating on technical changes to legal documents. However, the body also had a pair of resolutions backing legislation in the legislature.
Former city councilor and now-Senator Adam Gomez appeared with Westfield Senator John Velis to discuss the firearm legislation.