Anybody looking for drama in the midterm elections in Springfield last week only found disappointment. No incumbent seeking reelection lost their race despite several facing not-a-joke challengers.
The city of Springfield should thank Charles Ryan, at least partly, for having the breathing room to whether this mother of all crises.
SPRINGFIELD—With no prelim of its own this year, the general election for municipal races in Springfield is taking off after all other Western Mass preliminaries conclude. The lack of a preliminary here has not happened in two decades.
Springfield instituted an indoor mask mandate Thursday, effective September 13, amid high case rates and hospitalizations.
The highest court in the land—of Massachusetts at least—will hear and likely resolve one of the most vexing controversies in the City of Homes. On Wednesday, the Supreme Judicial Court accepted direct review of Hampden Superior Court Judge Francis Flannery’s ruling that Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno must appoint the Police Commission.
SPRINGFIELD—Despite roughly two hours of often passionate debate, the City Council here unanimously approved Mayor Domenico Sarno’s budget for fiscal year 2022 without cuts. With some help from the American Rescue Plan, the $756 million spending plan largely peels city government off the floor after going into a defensive fiscal crouch during the coronavirus pandemic.
SPRINGFIELD—Gladys Oyola, the head of the Springfield Election Commission, will be the next City Clerk after the City Council unanimously selected her. Last week, a search committee had slimmed down a field of 72 applicants down to three. On Monday, Oyola, an unsurprising though eminently qualified choice, prevailed.
UPDATED 4:30PM: An earlier version of this post indicated the Springfield City Council will vote to approve the budget this week. That vote will actually be later in June.
Springfield is set to emerge from the pandemic in relatively fiscal good shape as the city’s various organs come together to approve the budget.
Flux is returning to the Springfield City Clerk’s office after the current clerk, Tasheena Davis, tendered her resignation effective June 1. Mayor Domenic Sarno, in a press release, announced that Davis would return to her former employ, the city Law Department. More controversially, Sarno has
SPRINGFIELD—The wards were the highlight of Monday’s City Council virtual meeting. Early on, the Council considered a crush of utility petitions that received an unusual amount of scrutiny. Oddly most of these items happened to fall within Ward 2. Its councilor, Michael Fenton, raised the