Analysis: At-large Debate Confirms Springfield Has Some Competitive Races…
SPRINGFIELD—There may not be much debating in the mayoral contest with the incumbent resisting public accountability, but the City Council races are far different. At least three at-large...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Déjà Vu et Déjà Dit…
SPRINGFIELD—With MGM off its docket after weeks of reviews and hearings, the City Council returned its focus to its normal duties. Greeted with a lengthy and technical agenda on bond authorizations and...
View ArticleEditorial: Agnosticism on Residency, Zeal for the Rule of Law…
When Springfield at-large City Council Justin Hurst released his General Government Committee’s Thursday agenda, there were signs that the Council was inching toward a Rubicon. The meeting will discuss...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Halt & Catch Fire Chiefs…
SPRINGFIELD—City Councilors here turned back an already-expired labor pact covering only ten employee in the latest battle over the issue of residency for city employees. The pact covered a four-year...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Setting the Board for Commission Confrontation…
UPDATED 8:35PM: The Republican reports that Sarno has vetoed the ordinance. Tells paper on his flip-flop from 2007, “Quite frankly you learn that campaigning is much different than governing.”...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Sarno Taken for an Override on Police Commission…
SPRINGFIELD—City councilors called Mayor Domenic Sarno’s bluff and overrode his veto of an ordinance reviving a commission to oversee operations of the city’s police department. The veto had come...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Gotta Keep on (Food) Trucking…
SPRINGFIELD—Emotion and politics ran high at Monday night’s City Council meeting as a labor pact with district fire chiefs failed and the food truck ordinance returned to committee. Both items faced...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Firefighters Now Residing with Compliance…
SPRINGFIELD—Last Monday the City Council dispatched two big issues that had been hovering over it for weeks and even months. A revised version of a public safety measure aimed at reassuring...
View ArticleAnalysis: Fewer Incumbents Waving Their Banner All over the Place…
UPDATED 10:02PM: To add quotes published in The Republican. This is the first of two-part series on the impact of retirements on the 2017 Springfield at-large Council race. Capping off the longest...
View ArticleAnalysis: Two Open Council Seats…Who Will Be the Champions?…
This is the second of two-part series on the impact of retirements on the 2017 Springfield at-large Council race. SPRINGFIELD—Only hours before the deadline to pull papers, word hit the City of Homes...
View ArticleCourting 36 Court: Residency, Transitions Stand out for Hurst…
Courting 36 Court Street is a series of quick interviews with Springfield’s at-large candidates. **All interviews are edited and condensed for length.** Justin Hurst says Springfield residents have...
View ArticlePreliminary Glimpse Favors Lederman, Ryan in Springfield…
UPDATED 9/21/17 11:28AM: To include a quote from Ryan. SPRINGFIELD—Amid anemic turnout, voters in the 413’s largest city narrowed its unusually large at-large fields for City Council and School...
View ArticleLearning in Springfield—and Beyond—At-large: Denise Hurst…
This post is the fourth of several profiles of Springfield at-large School Committee candidates. School Committee members run for four-year terms and in that time a lot can change. Since she was on the...
View ArticleEndorsements on Parade: Effective Council in Springfield 2017…
Springfield has a unique opportunity with so many open seats, all at-large, in this year’s election. It represents a paradigm shift away from the pre-ward representation Council. With nearly all of the...
View ArticleTake My Council Please: To the Riverfront of the Line…
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...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: But Will They Notice Me…?
SPRINGFIELD—The skimpiness of the evening’s agenda was no impediment for a lengthy and at times Byzantine City Council meeting. Though subjects like tax rates, snow removal and parking bans are...
View ArticlePolitics as Usual or Broader Shift in Ramos Assignments…?
SPRINGFIELD—Eight days after beginning his second term as Council President, Ward 8 Councilor Orlando Ramos made clear 2018 would be different. Some councilors were uprooted from longtime committee...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: The Show That Never Ends…
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council’s first February meeting, lasting about four hours, made up for the meager agenda at the last regular meeting. The stage was set for breaking the logjam on the district...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: It’s Fun to Vote for the Y-M-C-A…
SPRINGFIELD—The same night the City Council enacted a new rules for tax incentives, it turned one proposed break back. The moves on tax incremental financing (TIF) were unrelated and yet inextricably...
View ArticleTake My Council, Please: Don’t Stop Thinking about Ordinances…
SPRINGFIELD—A bevy of ordinances and several financial items greeted the City Council Monday night. The broad range of the policies under consideration ranged from rules for signs to outdoor dining....
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