Five years ago, cheers broke out in the Springfield City Council chamber after councilors unanimously approved the city’s foreclosure ordinance. Ravaged by the foreclosure crisis and subsequent recession, Springfield had taken a notably bold step toward curbing the deterioration of neighborhoods littered with vacant, bank-owned
UPDATED 10/10/13 3:32PM: Comments from the Council’s Public Safety Committee Chair Thomas Ashe added; clarification between last month’s defeated pawnbroker ordinance and the one referred to committee; and confirmation as to when the old holding period was shortened to the current 10 days. SPRINGFIELD—With elections
SPRINGFIELD—Reversing itself fully from a meeting just two weeks ago, the City Council killed an amendment to its historic foreclosure ordinance and with it a settlement to a lawsuit launched shortly after its passage. The rejection on Monday was arguably the most significant actions taken
UPDATED 3/18/13 5:55PM: For additional details of special permit hearing. The below segment is a preview of key items on the upcoming Springfield City Council agenda. Full report in “Take My Council, Please” after the meeting. The March 18, 2013 agenda of the Springfield City
UPDATED 3/8/13 12:56PM: Photograph of current Springfield Senior Center added. SPRINGFIELD—During a particularly policy-heavy evening, taking form in both ordinance and other measure, the City Council confronted a host of issue from finance to foreclosures to bonding. However, while some of the more substantive debate
The below segment is a preview of key items on the upcoming Springfield City Council agenda. Full report in “Take My Council, Please” after the meeting. The March 4, 2013 agenda of the Springfield City Council includes ordinance revisions, Quinn Bill money transfers, and, approval
**This post has been edited for clarity.** Housing advocates and community activists breathed a sigh of relief on Tuesday as United States District Court Judge Michael Ponsor killed a lawsuit by various banks to strike down Springfield’s new foreclosure ordinances. Ponsor’s ruling sided with the