SPRINGFIELD—For only the third time since the city adopted the Community Preservation Act (CPA), the City Council here thumbed through and approved the recommendations. Councilors love the program as it lets them approve projects beyond the ambit of mayor. Meanwhile anybody—including some city organs—can suggest
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—In its last full meeting before the November 5 election, the Council tackled principally financial items. More contentious ordinances and interventions, many of which were sent to committee at the last few meetings, remain on the backburner. Instead, grants, perks and tax breaks were on
SPRINGFIELD—Once again, the City Council logged some mileage to get through the agenda. This past Monday, it was worth it. More than a dozen items were approvals of recommendations from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC), the panel that develops spending plans under the state Community
SPRINGFIELD—Queasiness about the city’s marijuana process had seemed set to dominate Monday’s meeting of the City Council. However, ratification of the first four host community agreements (HCA) flew by with little trouble. Instead, the struggle to reform police oversight stormed back to the fore, exposing
SPRINGFIELD—A proposed effort to bolster voter turnout here, if not cure its anemic state, cleared the City Council Monday night. The victory was short-lived. Mayor Domenic Sarno quickly vetoed the measure, offering a garbled explanation. However, it would not be his nonsensical valley this week.
SPRINGFIELD—Days before Thanksgiving, the City Council ingested parts of its massive agenda Monday night while leaving some leftovers for later. Although the sprawling to-do list included myriad financial items and orders, the legislative prerogatives had the most attention. Some were continuation of prior approvals while
Over the last few years, the Springfield City Council has expressed increasing boldness in its lawmaking power. Discarding the long-believed and largely false trope that the Council is principally a land use body, councilors have now put forward legislation regarding diversity, police management, and the
UPDATE 11/21/17 1:21AM: The Springfield City Council approved the bond 12-0 on Monday November 20. SPRINGFIELD—Fresh from elections that returned all incumbents seeking another term, the City Council returned to a session full of finance and riven by accusations of inequity. Among the financial items