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 (incorrect) institutional memory about the Council’s weakness fading, there is a real possibility
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 Committee. Incumbents seeking reelection romped in their races, leaving most of the action among who those
Courting 36 Court Street is a series of quick interviews with Springfield’s at-large candidates. **All interviews are edited and condensed for length.** Three of five current at-large councilors predate ward representation. Two of them are retiring. Thomas Ashe started just as the new council format
SPRINGFIELD—Ahead of its summer slowdown, the City Council ripped through a potpourri agenda featuring new ordinances, support for added rail service and derailment of a labor contract. Earlier in the evening, the City Council had unanimously passed Mayor Domenic Sarno’s budget without any cuts. Similar
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 undocumented immigrants passed unanimously. Meanwhile, the Council approved the first public safety labor contract
SPRINGFIELD—The mobile food truck ordinance swerved around an unexpected obstacle that appeared in its path at the last moment. Abutting property and business owners attended Monday’s Council meeting with the hopes of slowing down the ordinance’s momentum. Despite sympathetic councilors’s efforts, it passed with a rare
UPDATED 8:47AM: To reflect a correction. Gilet grew up in Nanuet, N.Y., not the Bronx. SPRINGFIELD—Standing only yards away from a success his opponent highlights on the trail, Kency Gilet formally launched his Council bid with an eye toward better connecting residents with City Hall.
SPRINGFIELD—Since becoming the first ward representative for Ward 2 since the dawn of the Kennedy era and the city’s youngest city councilor, Michael Fenton has faced no opposition. Every remaining ward councilor from the class of 2009 has nevertheless faced opposition of some kind. Fenton’s
SPRINGFIELD—The steady drumbeat of the at-large Council race grew a bit louder with the formal kickoff of Kelli Moriarty-Finn’s campaign Tuesday evening. The prospect of a vacancy among the five at-large seats has drawn a sizable and growing field. Both returning challengers and newcomers are
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 months or even years of anticipation. The rejection of the labor pact with the