SPRINGFIELD—After a years-long pursuit, the City Council approved funding for the institution of body-worn cameras for the Springfield Police Department. The funds, in the form of a bond, were among the final steps necessary to begin the program, which will require officers to wear cameras
UPDATED 3:15PM: To include apparent confirmation the mayor supports the bill. SPRINGFIELD—After months of debate and false starts, the City Council approved a moratorium of sorts on the city’s use of facial recognition software. After a marathon session at the last meeting, the body set
SPRINGFIELD—The growing ambition of the City Council beached itself onto the body’s widening political gulf, amid procedural and substantive disagreements on civil liberties and a public works project. While the Council ultimately voted to kill an order that could frustrate the X intersection project, it
SPRINGFIELD—If sparks were flying at the first City Council meeting of the year, they had manners. Equipped with three new members after last year’s elections, the Council moved ahead on a now-moratorium on facial recognition software. The body also formally requested the help of the
At the beginning, 2019 felt like it had all the fixings of a great year for the City of Homes. The Council was resurgent. The East-West rail study was (finally) moving. The region’s congressman ascended to one of Congress’s top posts. MGM was entering its
UPDATED 9:53AM 12/20/19: To note Sarno’s veto of the order on the X intersection. UPDATED 8:39PM 12/18/19: To clarify Councilor Ryan’s comments about the X project and to include comment from MassDOT. SPRINGFIELD—In the final meeting of the year, City Councilors saw off their retiring
SPRINGFIELD—The City Council returned from its Election Day hiatus to a relatively tame agenda. The items most prone to discord did not get an airing. A separate reserve servicemembers program has support, but councilors agreed more financial information was needed. However, a new tax work-off
SPRINGFIELD—In its last full meeting before the November 5 election, the Council tackled principally financial items. More contentious ordinances and interventions, many of which were sent to committee at the last few meetings, remain on the backburner. Instead, grants, perks and tax breaks were on
SPRINGFIELD—Once again, the City Council logged some mileage to get through the agenda. This past Monday, it was worth it. More than a dozen items were approvals of recommendations from the Community Preservation Committee (CPC), the panel that develops spending plans under the state Community
SPRINGFIELD—Queasiness about the city’s marijuana process had seemed set to dominate Monday’s meeting of the City Council. However, ratification of the first four host community agreements (HCA) flew by with little trouble. Instead, the struggle to reform police oversight stormed back to the fore, exposing