UPDATED 9:52 PM: NEPR reports confirm Mayor Sarno has signed the casino ethics ordinance. SPRINGFIELD—Amid some uncertainty about details in the new contract, approval of the city’s pact with its firefighters—the first in years—was nearly derailed as officials scrambled to secure the details. While ultimately
SPRINGFIELD—A cautious, but generally supportive City Council approved the first step of a casino ethics ordinance Monday evening signaling more debate, discussion and possible amendment in the weeks ahead. Ward 2 Councilor Michael Fenton, the body’s president, and Ward 7 Councilor Timothy Allen introduced the
SPRINGFIELD—Lighting a menorah on Court Square in downtown, a 35 year tradition, seemed unlikely to make world news. Local rabbis joined city officials, the mayor and US Rep Richard Neal to mark the first of eight days the temple menorah burned with only a day’s
SPRINGFIELD—As it capped off 2014, the City Council formally and narrowly approved the tax rates for residential and commercial property following the annual deliberation over which group of tax payers were more in greater need of relief. On a 7-6 vote, the Council approved rates that
SPRINGFIELD—With a light agenda primarily of grants, routine ordinance updates and some borrowing, the City Council trudged through its meeting, although disposal of the items seemingly hit a few snags, limiting what could have been a more expeditious meeting. A bond for school infrastructure and a
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—Despite the best efforts of the its finest inertia, the City Council finally agreed to dip its toe into social media while tackling a budget that was more complex than it appeared. A slew of financial measures ahead of the new fiscal year and a
UPDATED 3/29/14 1:16PM: For grammar. SPRINGFIELD—The City Council’s brief meeting Monday night reflected well both the city broadly and the council’s difficult embracing technology and also the latter’s battle for respect as a branch of the city’s government. A light agenda greeted councilors including an
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
This post is the first in a series on the debate over Management of the Police Department in Springfield. SPRINGFIELD—At a rescheduled committee meeting residents pled their case for a return of the Police Commission while a few representatives from Mayor Domenic Sarno’s administration vehemently