SPRINGFIELD—With the new year comes new committee assignments for the City Council. Ward 2 Councilor Michael Fenton, the body’s president, announced his choices to chair and sit on the various panels that investigate and review items referred to it by the full Council or on
UPDATED 9/12/14 4:18PM: To clarify that Sarno’s action does not, in itself, terminate the Council’s appeal. He may or may not authorize funds, but he does not have the discretion to authorize the appeal itself or not. SPRINGFIELD—In a decisive move to continue the battle against
SPRINGFIELD—A relatively quiet agenda Monday night made for a hefty number of speakers at the beginning of the meeting and then a fight over polling places. The Council’s few summertime meetings usually make for packed schedules, but overwhelmingly the items in play were small financial
SPRINGFIELD—Another light agenda greeted the City Council Monday night shortly after it city finance officials presented the budget for fiscal year 2015, which begins on July 1st. Few if any items engendered much discussion most had virtually no opposition ahead of the beginning of the Council’s
SPRINGFIELD—In a victory for organized labor, the City Council unanimously approved an arbitration award, securing a contract between the city and it’s the International Brother Hood of Police Officers, Local 364 through July 2016. Despite fears that the mayor’s office was maneuvering to kill the
SPRINGFIELD—The new City Council President moved quickly only a day after his election to appoint committees for the Council’s 2014 term. Ward 2 Councilor Michael Fenton shuffled the seats on the Council’s committee Tuesday and announced the formation of two policy-centric proactive committees, which will
SPRINGFIELD—The battle for Ward 8’s council seat is a familiar one. Incumbent John Lysak is seeking reelection and the challenger is Orlando Ramos, whom Lysak beat twice, sometimes very narrowly. Even if the race may seem like rerun, the players are anything but conventional in
SPRINGFIELD—If at first you don’t succeed try, try again. This age-old chestnut may aptly describe the upcoming race for City Council’s Ward 8 representative. Crossing swords for the third time in as many cycles, incumbent councilor John Lysak will again face Orlando Ramos in a
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 12/5/12 2:47PM: For clarification of John Lysak’s political affiliation and grammar. Campaigns for the City Council Presidency in Springfield are quite unlike many of the city’s big political fights. While several important issues go by unnoticed at 36 Court Street, where there is a