It was not until four years into the Control Board that the legislature created the supra-departmental position of Chief Administrative & Financial Officer. Timothy “T.J.” Plante is not the first formal CAFO, but he held the position for over a decade after years in the city finance department.
It was just a line in The Republican’s election profile of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, but it was a reminder of one of his longest-running falsities. Sarno still “maintains the court order gave the commission power only over discipline, and not as an overall supervisory body.”
SPRINGFIELD—In the waning weeks of the preliminary campaign here, candidates for the five at-large City Council seats face a big challenge: standing out. Two Council retirements and a competitive mayoral race has yielded a historic 20 candidates for the September 12 at-large preliminary.
With $3 million on offer this year, the Springfield Community Preservation Committee (CPC) has released its recommendations for fiscal year 2024. The nine-member CPC reviews proposals for funds the city raises from a property tax surcharge and state disbursements.
Over $21 million in bonding was before the Springfield City Council last Monday, weeks after Mayor Domenic Sarno successfully pushed his budget through. Nearly all of these were normal capital projects that do not belong in the budget anyway.
On June 20, for the first time since the shroud of the coronavirus fell upon Springfield, city councilors confronted Mayor Domenic Sarno, faccie e faccie, in chambers as he presented his budget for new fiscal year.
Although meetings have become much more fluid since going hybrid last year, the Springfield City Council’s outing hit a snag on Monday. The body trudged through a permit for the Student Prince to close Fort Street during summers.
The Springfield City Council faced a light agenda this past Monday. Once more the Council held off on final passage of a historic district for the former Isolation Hospital. The body continues to meditate on the owner’s litigation threat. That limited the meeting to uncontentious items. Among them was a revote on the firefighters’ labor contract due to a drafting error.
During an otherwise unremarkable meeting, the Springfield City Council paused final passage of a new historic district amid doubts and legal threats from the owner. At their April 10 meeting, councilors gave initial approval to historic protection for the former Isolation Hospital on State Street.
The mayoral race in Springfield will not be the only one with a preliminary in 2023. Earlier this month, the city Election Commission certified incumbent at-large Councilor Sean Curran and 2021 runner-up Juan Caraballo for the ballot. They were the 12th and 11th candidates to turn in enough signatures for the at-large race. On September 12, voters will whittle the list down to 10 candidates for the November 7 general election.