Take My Council, Please: Cheers & Jeers...

(WMassP&I)

Monday was a day of minor victories, but also grim financial news and schizophrenic behavior at the Springfield City Council.  With three members absent, councilors debated a host of resolutions, put off several measures to committee and even took some further steps on ordinances.  Prior to the meeting, bleak numbers from financial officials cast a pall over a rare Committee of the Whole meeting of the City Council.  While digging into those numbers must wait for another time, the short version is cuts in services, increases in fees, flat wages for workers and other depressing news, absent a turnaround on state aid and property tax revenue.  

At-large Councilor Kateri Walsh, Ward 4 Councilor E. Henry Twiggs and Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen were absent due to personal reasons.

The agenda itself was a mix of routine announcements, paper pushing and substantive policy.  Reports from utilities were accepted from the council as were financial transfers within and to the fire department.  The Fire Department's Overtime budget has come in way over budget, partly a consequence of chronic underfunding of the department over the last decade.  However, the council also approved transfer of the city's fire-training facility to the commonwealth for $2 million.  The transfer will enable Massachusetts officials to train firefighters in neighboring communities nearby rather than sending them to another facility in Stow.  The city will continue to use the Grochmal Street facility, which will be rebuilt, at no cost aside from electricity and phone service.  City officials said the proceeds from the sale will go into the city's general revenue account.

Area Fire Chiefs Showed up to Support the Transfer of
the training center to the state (WMassP&I)

Two other property transfers in the city's South End were also approved by the Council.

The city also received financial reports for this year that indicate the city will retain about $2 million in free cash at the end of the fiscal year.  The council also approved, by a 10-0 vote an authorization for a bond necessary to cap Bondi's Island.  The bond is required under state law for the owner of any landfill and as the city's primary dump faces closure by the end of this decade, the city must maintain a bond under Department of Environmental Protection rules in order to assure the facility is properly closed.  

Another bond was authorized to pay for design work for Elias Brookings School, one of the school building damaged in last year's tornado.  Ward 2 Councilor Mike Fenton questioned the use of bonds, rather than free cash or stabilization reserves, but finance officials seemed to admit the objective was to preserve stabilization.  However, officials noted that the bond may not need to be used and payment for the design work could come from another source, avoiding interest payments.  Fenton cautioned against the use of this approach in the future, but backed the measure.

Two ordinances were also before the council (with a third brought up to get its second step passage).  The two ordinances on the agenda bulked up the large crowd, which was mostly present in support of one of the resolutions before the council.  The first ordinance, sponsored by at-large Councilors Jimmy Ferrera and Tim Rooke, sought to extend to thirty days from ten, the amount of time merchandise at a pawn shop must be held before it can be resold.  Several pawn shop owners turned out in opposition to the new rule, calling it an unfair burden on business.  Ultimately, on a motion from at-large Councilor Thomas Ashe, the measure was sent to committee before any step was taken.

Take My Council, Please: Pushing Paper...

Every now and then the Springfield City Council assembles and does little more than ministerial duties dressed up as discretionary acts.  For example, the city cannot accept a grant or money outside of its own tax base or consistent with a general state law unless the council approves it along with the purpose of the money.  Technically, the city can reject the money or disapprove of its purpose, but seldom does the city turn away money.  Monday was one of those meetings heavy on process and light on policy or politics.  Nothing that needed a recorded vote recorded any opposition.  However, rumblings of future trouble may lie in the background.

The rules of the city council dictate the order in which items may be brought before the council for debate, but that may be set aside if no councilor objects.  Last night featured this en masses as councilors bounced from items on economic development funding to grant acceptances to ordinance revisions.

On the agenda were transfers within departments to purchase a new event tent at the Barney Estate Carriage House in Forest Park, fund an economic development position and pay for additional office supplies in the audit department.  Bracket that last one for now.

Elsewhere the council approved a block of reports on utility work for Verizon and Western Massachusetts Electric.  Grants for the Dispatch department to maintain the facility, Fire Department training, at-risk youths (seemingly not the same as the one in the AWAKE controversy), health and human services, the library and for the construction of a parking garage at Union Station.

Pat Burns, the city Comptroller and a report from the Finance Committee both offered grim pictures for the next fiscal year, but the full details will not be known for a few more weeks.  The City Council also passed the first step of an ordinance to exempt livery vehicles who operate under contract from the state.  This would not apply to "for-hire" livery vehicles like taxis and limousines.  Rather it would apply to buses and vans used by private groups to shuttle people to and from events, for example.  The bill moved to the committee on ordinances where further discussion is expected.

Councilor John Lysak (WMassP&I)

Ward 8 Councilor John Lysak also offered a resolves calling on the Massachusetts to establish a provision in the state's property tax laws to enable to the city to collect a different (read higher) rate on dwellings with four or more units.  Lysak's reasons for the measure would be to relieve some of the upward pressure on business property tax rates.  Lysak also notes that it seems ridiculous that multiple family dwellings are taxed lower residential rates while businesses, also investments pay a higher rate.  He justified the higher rate on the thinking that multiple family dwellings also consume more city services than single family residences.  

The resolution drew opposition from some councilors and the Sears family, notable political Illuminati and owners of Sears Real Estate.  The measure was referred to committee, which is itself a somewhat absurd notion since resolves carry little if any weight.  However, Lysak was resigned to the resolve's fate and stated that he was merely looking to start a conversation.  Among the more bizarre aspects of this situation is that Lysak, allegedly the Council's only known Republican, is pushing for higher taxes, sorta.  However, it has also been stated by council insiders that Lysak is, despite his party identification, is to the left of other councilors confirmed to be Democrats.

The earlier matter to transfer funding in the Audit Department came about after the acting head of that department explained that money for salaries in her department were being used to office supplies.  The transfer was quite simple, but the money came from salary positions that went unfilled.  Indeed, the acting director described herself as the only employee in the Audit Department.  While much of the council seemed nonplussed by this fact, others expressed some concern that the part of the city charged with ensuring the city is spending its money responsible has less than a skeleton crew.

The other detail that raised some flags occurred during a discussion started after Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen suggested that the Council listen a to a report of the finance committee before taking financial measures out of order in the agenda.  By taking these measures out of order, the council often spent a great deal of time asking questions of officials that would be answered in the report.  At-large Councilor Kateri Walsh correctly noted that Allen could always object and force the agenda be maintained (unanimous consent is needed to go out of order).  At-large Councilor Tim Rooke, the chair of the Finance Committee then offered his report on finances.

(WMassP&I)

What was notable about that report was its suggestion to Allen or any interested party that one attend the budget hearings held before Mayor Domenic Sarno will present his budget.  Allen and others were more interested in budget hearings with department heads rather than just finance officials.  Except, those hearings have not yet happened.  The mayors office confirmed with WMassP&I that none had happened and that none were scheduled.  Thomas Walsh, the mayor's communication director, did intimate that they would happen, but not when.  However, it has been noted that at this time last year the budget meetings had already begun and the mayor will need to present his budget by mid-May at the latest.

There is a rising concern among councilors, or at least ones given to deep contemplation of city business, that the mayor's office may limit these budget hearings.  It is at these meetings that some of the most meaningful budget changes occur in contrast to the often blunter and less surgical cuts the council makes while approving the budget.  Combined with the administration's dire warnings about the FY2013 budget, this may suggest an effort on the part of the mayor to rush the budget and force the council to either unwillingly or blithely accept a budget that may endanger the city's solvency and rainy day funds.

The Outer Belt Comes Off, Lashes Council President...

 **The following is a follow-up to our Tuesday (1/10) bulletin about the Outer Belt Civic Association's letter condemning Councilor Ferrera's Council Committee Appointments.**

Councilor Ferrera (Urban Compass)

The pressure on Springfield City Council President Jimmy Ferrera continues to mount, but Ferrera shows no sign of buckling after igniting one of the city's highest profile personal political spats in several years.  Earlier this week, the Outer Belt Civic Association sent a letter to city officials and the news media condemning Ferrera's decision to dole out to two of the city's ward councilors meager committee assignments.  The OBCA is a neighborhood council for the city's southeastern corner.  Ward 2 Councilor Mike Fenton received no standing committee assignments, a situation without precedent in the council's recent history and Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen, who represents the Outer Belt, received one committee.  Other councilors received as many as five assignments.

The letter from the OBCA, signed by its president, vice-president, treasurer and three board members calls the appointments or lack thereof "childish" and a "slap in the face" to the people who voted Fenton and Allen into office.  The OBCA writes that it needs councilors that will listen to them, not ones that "slight us because we may not always agree."  The letter goes on to criticize the rather blatant political process by which Ferrera appointed councils, which, despite dictionary definitions, he claims was not "political."

In a phone interview, OBCA Vice-President Mary Dionne confirmed that her organization wrote the letter and described what brought the letter into being.  Dionne said she had already decided to do something herself, but fate would have it that an OBCA Board Meeting was scheduled for the Saturday after Ferrera made the appointments public on January 5.  At that meeting, the Board of Directors decided to write the letter after two hours of discussion.

Councilor Allen (Facebook)

Dionne emphasized, as the OBCA Board members did in the letter, that the most appalling aspect is the lack of communication.  "Our relationship with City Councilors has always been very good," she said.  There are always disagreements, but she continued, we move on from them with respect among all parties.  In this case, however, she and the others felt, Ferrera had gone too far and given no notice of what he planned to do.

Dionne explained that since ward representation had gone into effect, they tended to work through Allen first and worked their way out to other councilors from there.  The OBCA's concern with Allen having so few committee appointments comes from the important role committees play in council processes.  Since committees review measures and ordinances in addition to gather testimony and write legislation, it seemed that Dionne felt like their ward rep and Ward 2's rep were given second class status by being largely excluded from that process.  She and the OBCA were not happy with a scenario, as they saw it, where their representative was "not part of the real city council."

The OBCA demanded in their letter that the situation to be rectified and an apology given.  Dionne also said they would like to meet with Ferrera to discuss the matter.

"I Am Not a Committee!"...

**This post has been updated to reflect additional reporting and council committee statistics.**

The Title is a quote from Princess Leia
Played by Carrie Fisher (Wookiepedia)

Inaugurating a new city council in Springfield is more than just one day.  It is a process that in its way takes several days from the fanfare of the inauguration itself to the first formal meeting where several pieces are discussed.  Somewhere in the middle the committee assignments are doled out by the City Council President, who in 2012 is at-large councilor James Ferrera.  A former Associated Press reporter based in Boston once described former Massachuetts Senate President William Bulger's philosophy as this: government is to be used to help your friends and screw your enemies.  Despite Ferrera's claims to the contrary, it appears he did just that in assignment committees.

A reshuffling of committees and their chairs is not unusual.  As decentralized as the council presidency is compared to, say the Massachusetts Senate presidency, it does retain one prominent feature.  The council president selects the committee chairs and the councilors who serve on those committees.  Often committee chairmanships are doled out to those who support the president's nomination.  It is not uncommon for committee heads to have their chairs pulled out from under them either because somebody else has found favor with the president or because it is simply time to share.  However, in recent years a council president-elect has not gone this far.

While on a state level this practice is not uncommon as several supporters of House Speaker Robert DeLeo opponents from the 2009 speakers race can attest.  However, blatant snubbing of this kind among councilors is not a characteristic of Springfield’s otherwise often merciless political milieu.

Councilor Ferrera (Urban Compass)

An analysis of committee chairmanship assignments by Ferrera, however, appears that the council president plunged the knife a bit deeper into some of his colleagues.  Although Ferrera denied any vindictiveness in his assignments in a recent Republican article, it seems that several conventions and standing principles fell by the wayside. 

First of all Ferrera appears to have broken with a precedent going back to at least 2006 in which the council president does not serve on a committee.  Although both of his own assignments were on special, rather than standing committees, over the past six years the president officially served on no committees.  This custom may be due to the fact that the council's own rules define the president as an ex-officio member of every committee.  It is also possible that Ferrera kept both assignments for himself as the Green and Responsible Employer Ordinance committees have, to some extent, been pet causes of his.  Still, records show recent Council presidents Bill Foley, Jose Tosado, Kateri Walsh and Bud Williams did not serve on any committees.

There is no way to over state the fact that Ferrera’s decision to reshuffle committees is not at issue.  The problem is the distribution of the committee assignments.  Ward 2 Councilor Mike Fenton and Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen were given only one assignment while Ward 4 Councilor E. Henry Twiggs and at-large Councilor Kateri Walsh received only two.  None of that four were among Ferrera’s early declared supporters announced after the election.  Indeed, Allen had pursued the council presidency himself last year, but ended his efforts when it became clear that Ferrera had enough support.

"I Never put anybody in an awkward position,” Allen said and “stopped pursuing” the presidency when it was clear Ferrera had the votes.

At-large Councilor Tim Rooke, when asked about supporting Ferrera despite a connection to the probation scandal, told WMassP&I that an informal agreement made before the introduction of ward representation dictated his support.  At the time Rooke’s response, though apparently sincere, seemed partly a reaction to the questions raised about Ferrera’s employment.  However, other councilors say Rooke told them a similar story.

New Government, Old Faces...

The Mayor's Procession Line (WMassP&I)

In a tasteful, but crowded ceremony at City Hall, Springfield swore in its City Council and its Mayor Domenic Sarno for another term.  Sarno will be serving the city's first four year term following enactment of a ballot question in 2009 that extended the mayor's term.  The School Committee is on a different election calendar and therefore members of that body neither faced the voters last November nor needed to be sworn in.

Typically, the city's inaugurations are held in Symphony Hall, however the city still put on a show which included typical guests like Cong. Richard Neal and speakers on behalf of the Massachusetts Senate and House.  State Senator James Welch and Representative Angelo Puppolo spoke on behalf of their respective bodies.

Also in attendance were Sheriff Michael Ashe and District Attorney Mark Mastroianni.

The invocation was provided by Our Lady of Mount Carmel's pastor, Robert White while City Clerk Wayman Lee administered the oath of office to the council.

Cong. Neal in December, 2011 (WMassP&I)

Congressman Richard Neal offered words of support on behalf of the United States House of Representatives.  He waxed somewhat nostalgic about his own service as mayor of the city and as a councilor remarking that he had taken office in that same chamber some thirty-four years ago.  Neal also emphasized the continuity between the council and the public service careers that began as members of that body.

Welch, in his first speech before Springfield's organizational meeting as one of the city's state senators, offered an anecdote about how his mother told him to say "hi" to mayor Sarno as evidence of the mayor's personable demeanor and its benefit to the city.  He also insisted the area have no more storms.  The legendary weather events that plagued the Springfield area played a prominent role throughout the ceremony.

Puppolo, by contrast, offered more direct praise to Sarno, a former colleague of his.  When Puppolo resigned from the council in 2007, Sarno was still a councilor.  Puppolo conveyed his sense that Sarno had the respect and confidence of both governor Deval Patrick and House Speaker Robert DeLeo following the June tornado and October blizzard.

Sarno w/ Judge Mary Hurley (WMassP&I)

Former Mayor and current Chicopee District Court judge Mary Hurley administered the oath of office to Mayor Domenic Sarno along with City Clerk Lee.

In his remarks before the audience, Sarno struck a notably humble tone, noting that the decision by residents to enact a four year term for the mayor was made for a reason.  Specifically, he said that residents were likely looking for more vision and a capacity to limit the short-term impact of politics upon the mayor's office.  

Take My Council, Please: The Walsh Filibuster...

**UPDATED 12/3/11** Following a report by Maureen Turner posted to her Valley Advocate blog "On Springfield" on biomass & campaign contributions, the Republican today singled out Kateri Walsh's hundreds in campaign contributions from the Callahan family and their lawyer Frank Fitzgerald.  The same report notes that City Comptroller Pat Burns found ZERO financial implications to the city if the council appeals PRE's permits to the Board of Appeals.

(WMassP&I)

When Steven Desilets approved a building permit for Palmer Renewable Energy’s biomass plant off Page Boulevard, he had to know it would provoke a rebuke from the City Council.  Five months before he approved that permit, the council voted 10-2 to revoke PRE’s permit on the grounds that the project had changed considerably from its previous incarnation and would pose a threat to human health.  Desilets would approve the permit on the advice of the Law Department, which argued that PRE did not even need a special permit under the revised proposal.

On Monday the Council gathered for a special meeting to formally appeal the building permit.  Because the council is an integral part of the planning and zoning process of the city, it has standing under the umbrella state zoning law to appeal the decision.  It can appeal to both the city’s Board of Zoning Appeals and, if still unsatisfied, to court as well.  Indeed, it seemed as if the council would do exactly that last night…until one councilor made Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell proud and filibustered.

Councilor Fenton (Facebook)

Before the meeting began it was well-known where everybody stood.  Ward 2 Council Mike Fenton wisely requested a recorded vote on last week’s non-binding resolves and it revealed that at-large Councilors James Ferrera, Tim Rooke and Kateri Walsh were opposed to any further council action to oppose the biomass plant.  All ward councilors and at-large councilors Thomas Ashe and Jose Tosado were in favor of further action just as they were in favor revoking the permit.

Nevertheless, the opponents tried their best to derail the process.  Ferrera started first by trying to sow the seeds of confusion among the councilors with an assist from City Solicitor Ed Pikula.  Ferrera inquired into who would represent the council if it voted to appeal and Pikula argued that the Law Department may need to recuse itself because it would be obligated to defend the building commissioner.  Ferrera also asked about PRE’s existing suit against the city over the council’s permit revocation.  However, that remains, as Pikula described, a placeholder suit if a court or other board rules the special permit is indeed needed.

Ward 8 Councilor John Lysak took on Pikula’s position directly asking how the Law Department could be defending the city against PRE’s lawsuit on the revocation while maintaining the position that a special permit is not necessary.  Pikula argued that the two issues were parallel, but did not have conflict within each case individually.

At the same time, however, Pikula noted that the council cannot appropriate money on its own for a lawyer.  Though true, Pikula could also not deny that the council could finance counsel out of its own pockets, receive pro bono representation, or even go to court pro se.

However, Fenton noted that the council needed no lawyers to appeal to the Board of Appeals.  The board is an administrative body just like the City Council and like the City Council, appellants to the board appear without any council constantly.  Certainly a lawyer can represent an appellant before the board, but there are no legal documents to serve or actions taken that require a law license to be properly executed.  Thus, before the Board of Appeals, the council needs no lawyer and does not even need to contemplate the need to find money for one until and unless the Board rules against the council.

Take My Council, Please: Council Talks Turkey on Biomass...

(WMassP&I)

With the holidays around the corner, the turkeys of the Springfield City Council gathered Monday for a Thanksgiving week meeting to handle some issues that had been at a simmer for several weeks now.  Some of the hottest items were taken care of before they boiled over.  Others had the heat turned up higher for next week‘s special meeting.

Among the minutiae before the council was a series of utility reports, permit revocations for non-renewal, several property donations and grants.  The revocations were for underground storage tanks and parking lots permits brought up by the City Clerk because the permittees failed to respond to renewal notices.  The city formally accepted some parcels of property for public use and the council accepted grant money for Health & Human Services, Dispatch Services and tornado relief.

Bill Gibson of Springfield Speaks in Opposition to Biomass
Plant Permit (WMassP&I)

A speak-out before the meeting included several opponents of the biomass facility on Page Boulevard, which controversially received a building permit despite the council’s revocation of its special permit.  Among the speakers were local activist Michaelann Bewsee and a representative from the Conservation Law Foundation, a New England environmentalist group.  Kevin Sears of the Sears Real Estate Company spoke to oppose to the city’s Foreclosure Ordinances adding in an un-sourced claims of retaliation by lenders who would refuse to loan in the city (a legally suspect action, if true).

Budgetary updates showed the city more or less on target, but the monthly reports are off because City Hall was closed at end of the October when the city often receives tax money.  Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen requested more information on the Tornado and now October Snowstorm costs to the city.  Those numbers were not included in officials’ reports because spending for disasters is done in separate emergency accounts.  Budget officials promised a detailed report on disaster spending by the next meeting.  In a pleasant surprise, the city also clocked in a higher than expected surplus last year of $4.7 million.

Ward 2 Councilor Mike Fenton, chairman of the Finance Committee, also announced an end to the city’s budget drama with the transfer of $6.2 million from stabilization reserves to close the city’s budget deficit.  Fenton praised the council reduction to $6.2 million from $10.5 million from stabilization reserves used to balance the city’s budget.  The reduction was made possible through cuts and an increase in local aid to the city.  Fenton called it a “much more reasonable position,” for the city in light of still-unknown disaster costs, union contract negotiations and another deficit expected next year.  Fenton also alluded to using some stabilization to mitigate an increase in the property tax rate for the city.

Take My Council, Please: Anatomy of a Feud...

Sorry for the delayed post of this week's Take My Council, Please.  If it make you feel any better, part of the reason was due to the relatively minor items that were before the council.

(WMassP&I)

The Springfield City Council pulled out a quick meeting despite some divisiveness on non-binding issues and ordinance revisions  The meeting took place following a rally of Occupy Springfield and Take Back Springfield, two separate groups arguably focused on the same issues.  Many from those protests, who were on hand to support a resolve against Bank of America and technical changes to the city's foreclosure ordinance, filled the council chamber and milled around city hall.  Although the chamber and the hall were much fuller during the Biomass debates, police were deployed throughout the building.  Ultimately, the proposal fueling much of the crowd's interest was sent to committee deflating the crowd and causing them to release their anger in not-so-veiled, but somewhat overstated political complaints to the council generally.

Disposing of the minutiae, non-controversial ordinance revisions of the city's vicious dog and criminal disposition ordinances passed second steps.  Fire, Library, Health & Human Services and the Health departments all got approval to receive grants.  Director of the Health and Human Services Department Helen Caulton-Harris once again showed off her departments grant-writing prowess with a $100,000+ haul.  The council received reports from Ward 1 Councilor Zaida Luna on a literacy program and Ward 2 Councilor Mike Fenton on prior year bills.  Payment of the bills was approved without objection.  A permit and some zoning changes were approved and deed delivered to the developer of a tax-foreclosed property.

Councilor Rivera (Facebook)

Toward the end of the debate the council considered two resolves.  Once sponsored by Ward 6 Councilor Amaad Rivera called for the city remove its remaining funds from Bank of America and another calling for greater enforcement of the city's residency ordinance.  The residency ordinance encouraged the mayor to negotiate in residency to the upcoming employee contracts while working to see the spirit if not the letter of the residency ordinance is applied to non-bargained employees.  The city ordinance is rarely enforced and Mayor Domenic Sarno has not appointed the enforcement commission as required by law.  More to the point, he frequently uses its exemption provisions.  Councilors ultimately sent the resolve to committee to discuss broader options to enforce residency.  At-large councilor Jimmy Ferrera called for a home rule petition, but such a petition would require the mayor's signature and would almost certainly die in the legislature.  This was a point noted by at-large Councilor Tim Rooke, but he also pointed out the politics behind legislators avoidance of the issue.  However, neither point suggested a way to actually enforce residency broadly nor a recognition that legislating away residency as a negotiable item is political impossible in this political environment.

On the Bank of America resolve, Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen rose to ask the city's Treasurer-Collector how much money the city really had in the Bank of America account.  The treasurer said that the money is there because one payee to the city continues to wire the money into that account, despite continued protests to the contrary.  The treasurer went on to say that the only reason the city left the bank anyway was because they got a better RFP from Citizens Bank, a Scottish-owned firm.  Allen was uncomfortable singling out Bank of America, however much the institution deserved it, especially in light of the city's broader efforts of the city to  rein in renegade financial institutions.  Rivera, who sponsored the resolve disagreed and voted against an effort to send the resolve to committee, where it went.  The crowd overheated from the earlier rally attempted to call out "shame" for each councilor that sent the measure to committee, but Council President Jose Tosado squelched that.  The crowd exited chanting, "We'll be back!" as if the measure had died, which it did not.  Rivera said afterward that the dialogue of sending the measure to committee was a positive thing, although he would not have done so.

Intersection of Andrew & Wilmont...

City Council Chamber before meeting (WMassP&I)

Days after at-large Councilor Jimmy Ferrera offered his cynically and politically worded resolve before the Springfield City Council and Ward 3 Council Melvin Edwards slapped him down with a rhetorical stroke that summoned a cheer from the audience, irony struck.  In the period of less than a week, the city clocked in two homicides in as many days bringing a deadly total for the summer and pushing the city perilous close to a recent high in annual homicides.  Troubling still is that both victims, appear, according to press accounts, to be innocent bystanders.

Jonathon Tallaj was killed on Wilmont Street in the city's Forest Park neighborhood, a street that has had a particularly troubled history over the years.  Meanwhile not far away Kevin Gomez was murdered at a party on the one year anniversary of the murder of Cathedral student Conor Reynolds.  Another youth died from a gunshot wound on Washington Street this summer.  The murders frame, to some extent the roughest parts of Forest Park, vaguely defined by Belmont and Dickinson to the West, White Street to the East, Orange Street to the North and either Washington or Fountain Street to the South.

The city's other recent homicide victim, Carmen Melendez, 16, was killed on Andrew and State street seemingly the victim of a stray bullet.  She died near where the all too ironically named Sheldon Innocent was murdered by an escaped convict whose rampage included other victims, including cops, that survived their injuries.  All but three of the fifteen victims this year, have been under 40 and most were under 30.

Councilor Ferrera (Urban Compass)

It would seem that after the most recent barrage of gunfire that Ferrera was right and that more overtime and more money is automatically the answer.  The police need to get tougher and offer a display of force, some may say.  Such decisions can certainly be made after the council returns from its huddle with the mayor and police commissioner, the only tangible demand left credible from Ferrera's resolve after Edwards slapped his colleague down.

If the council, the mayor and Commission William Fitchet divine any insight from such a meeting, if it ever happens, we should hope knee-jerk reactions or the throwing money is not the result.  The answer to the city's crime problem will not, in itself, be more cops on the street or more overtime available to the police department.  It will not be more gunshot detection technology or cameras downtown alone.  The problems are simply to complicated to be solved with such glib answers.

As Edwards somewhat wryly put it last week, he could kill his wife in the privacy of his own home regardless of the number of cops on the street.  Likewise, is there anything that more police would have done to prevent the most recent back to back killings?  It is possible that were more police on the street or riding in a patrol car, their mere presence might have stopped the perpetrators from pulling the trigger.  However, that may have only delayed the bullets by minutes and different victims may or may not have been come to be.  As for the victims with known histories of drugs or violence, if their killers were determined not even the best policing the world could stop them.

Take My Council Please: Grocery Ills...

The Springfield City Council held the equivalent of a double feature Monday night.  A regularly scheduled Hearings meeting, during which the council approves or denies permits, followed a special meeting where numerous items were debated.  City Council President Jose Tosado had scheduled the meeting to complete the final steps to pass ordinances related to foreclosures.  However, like any meeting, councilors could and did tack on whatever they wanted.  As momentous as the foreclosure ordinances were, it did not provoke the same level of back and forth, among the councilors at least, as other items.

First the easy stuff.  The Council formally accepted the withdrawal of a petition for an electronic sign on Dorset Street for the Martin Luther King, Jr Charter School.  Reports came from the General Government and Audit Committee over progress at the Putnam High Construction site, specifically possible violations of the city's Responsible Employer Ordinance.  Also discussed, but ultimately referred back to committee was the agreement to a Tax Incremental Financing for a new warehouse for F.W. Webb, a plumbing supply company.  The TIF is a condition for the city to sell some of the remaining land on the city's Smith & Wesson industrial park.  There is a great deal of controversy over the shockingly low number of jobs the project will create and concerns that the developers will make little or no effort to employ city residents.

(WMassP&I)

The council also undertook the second and third steps necessary to approve two ordinances related to foreclosures.  The first ordinance requires the banks that own foreclosed homes to post a $10,000 bond that can be used by the city to maintain the property.  Presently, the city must cover the cost of maintenance necessary to keep the foreclosed properties from blighting the neighborhood.  This ordinance would transfer that cost, if any, to the banks.  They would recover the bond fully upon sale of the property.  The other ordinance mandates mediation between the bank and homeowner when foreclosure become likely.  Banks would be fined for refusing to attempt mediation consistent with the ordinance.  After the second step passed, many of the people in the council chamber in support of the bill erupted in cheers.  Little did they realize that the ordinance had not yet become law.  As they marched out of the chamber and onto the steps of City Hall the council debated several resolves before finally passing both ordinances with a pair of 13-0 votes.

The foreclosure legislation is believed to be a model in the commonwealth if not the nation as a whole.  There are some rumors that congressional Democrats have contacted City Hall for more information about the ordinance.

Some of the biggest fireworks, however, occurred over a resolve, sponsored by at-large Councilors Jimmy Ferrera and Tim Rooke.  The resolve, whose campy language could appeal to anybody favoring style over substance, called on the mayor, police commissioner and Chief Administrative and Financial Officer to meet with the council to find money to add to the police overtime budget to combat the rise in crime.  In short, the resolve wanted more police overtime money because that would reduce the city's crime rate.  Ferrera suggested that the city should raid its cash reserves and other backups immediately to fight crime, even though the city's overtime budget was left completely intact in the 2012 budget.



Councilor Edwards (Facebook)

Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards, however, was not amused or impressed.  In an impassioned, biting and articulate speech, Edwards slapped Ferrera down for advocating pouring money down a very specific hole to solve a problem as complex as the city's crime problem.  He asserted that he fully supported the police department and whatever it needed to keep the city safe.  However, Edwards rejected the notion that throwing money at the problem (or put another way, playing stat games) was the solution.  "If I choose to strangle my wife in the privacy of my own home," Edwards said, "it would not matter if there were a thousand cops on the street."  Even though Ward 5 Councilor Clodo Concepcion stood up in support of the resolve saying "We're scared,"  it was clear that Edwards speech had a deep and instantaneous impact.

Councilor Rooke, a sponsor of the resolve, quickly pivoted saying the call for a meeting with councilors should and must "look more broadly."  Other councilors also stood in support of the resolve, but with the intention of looking more broadly as Rooke suggested, mindful of their sense that the mayor does not include the council often enough in policy discussions.  When Ferrera spoke again on the resolve, it was clear he was on the defensive.  He hastily pointed out that his resolve called for a meeting and that increasing overtime for the police department was merely an idea.  He even pointed out that the city clerk and not he had put titled the resolve as one advocating more overtime.  Tosado acknowledged Ferrera's concerns and City Clerk Wayman Lee promised that the record would reflect it.  The resolve passed in a brilliant display of political theater.

Campaign High Finance...

**This post has been updated to reflect new information obtained from the governor's office.**

Councilor Rivera (Facebook)

It is always hard to measure what impact scandals will have on a politician.  Nobody seemed to care that Rick Perry received a $25,000 donation from Ken Lay and an Enron executive got a seat on the Utility Commission in Texas.  Likewise, prognosticators assessments notwithstanding, it is hard to know exactly what impact Ward 6 Councilor Amaad Rivera's failure to file his campaign finance disclosure forms will have.  Part of the problem is that there is an open seat and well-known names win.  Another complicating factor is that Rivera courts, more than virtually any at-large candidate has in recent memory, a segment of the electorate that has historically low voter participation rates.

However, the entire affair has spurred us to investigate, not Rivera's doings, but rather the municipal campaign financing in general.  As we have said for years, and especially during the Biomass debate, the same pool of donors tend to give to anybody running for office in Springfield.  However, what about the laws of disclosure themselves?  How have they changed and what impact do they have?  Just as important, what is the record of Springfield candidates generally?

McCormack Bldg, Boston (Wikipedia)

Campaign finance laws are administered by the Office of Campaign and Political Finance.  That agency, headquartered in the McCormack Building next to the State House, enforces campaign finance laws in the commonwealth.  Established in 1973, the office was among many that were established, nationwide, during and after Watergate amid concerns about the influence of money in politics.  While those concerns have erupted once more after Citizens United v. FEC and the Supreme Court's striking of a Arizona Public Financing Law, disclosure requirements, which exist in most states, remain a crucial, if shaky, foundation of efforts to clean up elections.

Chapter 55 of the Massachusetts General Laws, and nominally 55c, the commonwealth's emaciated public financing law, are the laws that OCPF enforces.  However, the office is also the "depository" venue for most candidates to file their fund raising, expenditures and other reports.  Under current law, all candidates for State Office, including the legislature, governors council and the executive constitutional officials, must file with OCPF. 

However, before January 1, 2010 only mayoral candidates and city councilors running for at-large seats in the commonwealth's five largest cities needed to file with OCPF directly.  Even if you were not required to file with the state, candidates raising money for their campaigns for any municipal office had to file reports with their town or city's clerk, or in the case of Springfield, the Election Commission.  Just as Springfield undertook its first ward-based elections in decades, whose candidates needed to file only with City Hall, the commonwealth's municipal campaign finance law received a major shake-up. 

Gov. Deval Patrick in 2008 (WMassP&I)

The laws that changed this came about amid scandals, resignations and public pressure.  After former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson was arrested for bribery, Governor Deval Patrick convened a task force to suggest changes to public integrity laws.  Ultimately the legislature and Governor Deval Patrick enacted legislation that would toughen the commonwealth's ethics, lobbying and campaign finance laws.  However, passage of that bill, along with reforms to pensions and transportation were in doubt until Patrick said he would veto an increase in the sales tax unless the reforms reached his desk first.  At the bill signing, Patrick said at the time, "This law demonstrates our firm commitment to governing with integrity, with openness and with the public's interest foremost."

The changes expanded the crop of municipal candidates who needed to file wtih OCPF.  On the first day of 2010—less than two months after the last municipal election—mayoral and all city council candidates in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Lowell, and Cambridge were required to file with OCPF.  Mayoral candidates with populations in excess of 40,000, too must now file with OCPF.   For example, a mayoral candidate in Chicopee needs to file with the Boston-based agency, but city council candidates in that city as well as mayoral candidates in Agawam, do not.

Another notable change, though one mostly irrelevant to Springfield, required that city and town clerks put online the campaign finance reports candidates file locally. All of the above revisions to campaign finance law were contained in Chapter 28 of the Acts of 2009.

Take My Council, Please: No One Leaves...Not Like That...

(WMassP&I)

In a rare display of expediency (or small agendas) the Springfield City Council breezed through its appointed task Monday night and in the process actually did a few useful things other than the typical housekeeping.  Items on the agenda included resolves opposed to the Federal Government's Secure Communities initiative and home foreclosure ordinances.  Because of those two items in particular the un-air conditioned council chamber was packed with supporters, further exacerbating the room's stuffiness.

Many of the agenda's items consisted of acceptance of funds for various departments within the city including the Library, Elder Affairs and Health and Human Services.  Much of the money accepted Monday for HHS was actually directed at the Thomas J. O'Connor Animal Control and Adoption Center.  Other moneys included an anticipated grant from the Springfield Library Foundation for the Mason Square Branch Library.

The council also granted the mayor authority to sell the School Department Building to a developer for the sale price of one dollar.  The nominal sale price was intended to be the only subsidy to the redevelopment of the school department building, which will otherwise be renovated using private money.  The plan is market rate condos that should yield the city thousands of dollars in tax revenue.  The vote was 10-1, with Ward 5 Councilor Clodo Concepcion as the lone no vote.  He told the Republican that the city should have waited for a better price.  At-large councilors Kater Walsh and Tim Rooke were not present.  The latter has made the cost of the school department's lease at the former federal building a crusade of sorts.  His absence kept the temperature on the issue fairly cool.

Another property on Tyler Street was also sold.  The present structure will be demolished and a new one built.

However, all this dry stuff came after the votes on the resolves against Secure Communities and the foreclosure ordinances.  The local branch of the Service Employees International Union had organized a large crowd, likely with the help of the local group "No One Leaves" that assists those facing foreclosure.  Both groups were likely there to support the ordinance, while SEIU, which represents many Hispanic workers, probably was there for the resolve, too.

ICE Badge (Wikipedia)

Secure Communities is an effort by the federal government to detect illegal immigrants, particularly those with a violent history.  This is undertaken by deputizing local law enforcement agencies to enforce federal immigration law to the extent that they can ascertain detained individuals legal status.  However, the program has come under fire for encouraging racial profiling and deporting largely non-violent illegal immigrants.  The second point notwithstanding, the initiative has been a band-aid on the broken leg of the nation's immigration laws and a poor substitute for true comprehensive immigration reform.  Moreover, it may have a negative impact on law enforcement.

The Great Experiment: From the Council's Mouth...to Mayor's Ear...

(WMassP&I)

Today we debut a new series, "The Great Experiment," a look at the transition that has begun at City Hall since the switch to Ward Representation in the City of Springfield.  In the coming weeks and months, it is our goal to investigate the changes that have occurred within the City Council and city government as a result of the somewhat dramatic change in municipal government.  That investigation will look into how councils work in Springfield's peer cities throughout New England as well.

For today, however, we are staying closer to home.  The City Council Finance Committee met today to discuss the remaining items on the budget that needed passage.  Specifically, there were questions about raising the city's hotel tax, increasing the demand fee charged to late and delinquent taxpayers and furloughs.  On top of that were questions about how much money from reserves would be used to cover the remaining gap in the budget.  The council's reasons for cutting $2.7 million from the budget was to limit the use of those reserves.

Councilor Walsh (Facebook)

Some councilors expected to walk into today's hearing, held in a sweltering council conference room, and find an impasse with Mayor Domenic Sarno over reconsideration of the furloughs enacted by his administration.  At-large councilor Kateri Walsh had put forward a proposal not long after the mayor announced furloughs, that would reduce the number of furlough days for lower paid city employees, mitigating the financial impact on their pay.  While the council did not exactly rally behind her proposal, there was concern among councilors that the lowest paid city employees were sharing a disproportionate level of the furlough's impact.

Instead, however, the city Chief Administrative and Financial Officer, Lee Erdmann told the council that the mayor had accepted the premise of the "tiered" furlough.  Erdmann presented a proposal that would reduce the financial benefit of the furloughs to the tune of $250,000.  Still, the furloughs would be redistributed more equitably.  Councilors in attendance, which included at-large Councilor Tim Rooke, Ward 2 Councilor and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Fenton, Ward 6 Councilor Amaad Rivera and Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen, received the mayor's proposal positively and were grateful for his decision to respond to their concerns.

Elsewhere, the council discussed raising the so-called demand fee charged to late or delinquent tax for the "demand" letter that politely reminds taxpayers they are either late or dirty rotten scoundrels.  This fee would rise to $12.50 from $5.00.  Councilors discussed the possibility of raising the fee more in order to eliminate the processing fee the city now charges taxpayers who pay their taxes with a credit card.  There were legal questions raised by City Solicitor Ed Pikula, but councilors promised to study it further.

Sweepstakes Terms and Conditions...

Internet Cafe elsewhere in the Valley (Spfld Intruder)

The Internet Cafe phenomenon in Springfield (and the region) continues to intrigue and test the limits of state and local law.  The trouble started when Attorney General Martha Coakley ordered Internet Cafes that were alleged to engage in Internet Gambling to shut down, including the 777 Cyber Center cafe at Five Town Plaza on Cooley Street in Springfield.  To not go through all of the history behind the Internet, we refer you to an excellent round-up by the Springfield Intruder.

However, the entire situation continues to be full of questions.  As Bill Dusty aptly puts it, running an Internet Cafe "means big money for those who operate them."  It has required some advertising acrobatics and the term "sweepstakes" to survive as long as the facilities have.  However, Attorney General Martha Coakley, using her authority under M.G.L. 93A §2a, issued emergency regulations in April that prohibited these "Internet Cafes."  During this period, the cafe on Cooley Street, nonetheless continued to operate.  According to a press release from the Attorney General, a Springfield Cyber Cafe (probably 777) failed to convince a judge to halt the Attorney General's regulation in May.

Last week, however, the Attorney General Martha Coakley issued permanent regulations (CMR 30.00) that mirrored the earlier emergency regulations.  Those regulations went into effect last Friday.  However, as of today, Cyber Center 777 appears open for business.  Additionally, the special permit decision of the City Council notes that only five of the facility's 30 units can operate without a permit.  Whether this continues to be case given that the facility does not have a permit (we'll get to that in a minute), is not known at this time.

A.G. Martha Coakley (Wikipedia)

Based on the Attorney General's regulations, it would appear that most of these facilities are not legal or no longer are.  The regulations use a weighing test based on whether the legitimate good/service (in this case Internet access) is clearly being outweighed by the sweepstakes chance.  The regulations also target sweepstakes in such a way to not allow the use of that term alone as a fig leaf for any gambling/game of chance establishment.  There is also consideration of whether those who pay get more of an advantage over those who do not.  Other factors include how the instructions explain the good/service over the sweepstakes/lottery/gaming and how the facility is marketed and/or decorated.

Why is the facility still open?  A guess may be that its owners continue to believe they are acting legally.  In their special permit application, 777 Cyber Center's attorney (itself a bone of contention) submitted a copy of the case Commonwealth v. Webb, a Massachusetts Appeals Court case (upheld by the Supreme Judicial Court) as evidence of the facility's legality.  However, despite city documents that do not find much of a difference between 777 and Webb, they are, in fact different.

Take My Council, Please: Fiscal Discilpline, 30 Years Overdue and Still Fresh...

(WMassP&I)

Tonight a somewhat strange thing happened at 36 Court Street.  The City Council fulfilled one of its legal obligations and actually did so by substantial majorities.  Through relatively few votes, the Springfield City Council cut more than $2.8 million dollars from the budget the mayor filed with the city last month.  Among the council's chief concerns, articulated by City Council President Jose Tosado and Ward 2 Councilor and Finance Committee Chair Mike Fenton, were the significant use of stabilization funds to plug the city's yawning budget gap.  That chasm was created through rising personnel costs, weak tax revenue and yet another cut to local aid from Beacon Hill.

Even with the cuts, the city will ultimately rely on roughly $7.5 million in stabilization reserves and another $5 million from an overlay account administered by the Assessors' Department.  Additionally, the city risks losing additional property tax revenue from damaged homes and businesses caught in the June 1st tornado.  Still, with next year's budget looking even more gruesome than this year's (and it will be paired with union negotiations with virtually all city bargaining units), keeping stabilization revenue intact is essential.

Tosado made some comments early on encouraging fiscal discipline only a year after he had refused to lift a finger to support cuts last year.  Still, the council president, perhaps knowing his mayoral aspirations remain dimmed by the tornado no doubt used the opportunity to jab the mayor, yet still doing what was right.

Councilor Tosado (Facebook)

Councilors kicked off the budget session with a vote to eliminate funding for vacant positions within the budget.  Although the mayor protested and even trotted out Police Commissioner Bill Fitchet to support funding for heretofore unfilled dispatch positions, the council rejected the entreaties and eliminated the positions.  Ward 5 Councilor Clodo Concepcion, who would become among the most reliable votes for the mayor's budget as is, attempted to play to councilors' political fear of cutting from public safety.  However, the council eliminated the unfilled positions.  At large councilors Jimmy Ferrera and Tom Ashe joined Concepcion in opposing the cuts.

Next the council proposed a broad cut of 5% to "other than personnel services" across city departments.  These items could be anything from support services to office supplies, basically anything that is not on payroll.  This cut elicited some minor protest for the mayor, but, representing more than a million and a half dollars all by itself, it passed the council easily 11-2. It made up the lion's share of other the budget reductions.  Ferrera and Concepcion dissented.

Ward 6 Councilor Amaad Rivera made an appeal to cut overtime budgets (which would largely come from police, fire and DPW) to save the jobs of eleven or so employees in the budget.  However, the political sensitivities could not be extended that far.  That cut failed 2-11, Rivera and Ward 3 Councilor Melvin Edwards casting the two yes votes.

Councilor Fenton (Facebook)

Whole swaths of the budget were cycled through without so much as a peep from councilors.  Ultimately proposals for cuts of $100,000 were proposed for Information Technology and Finance each, which will likely result in a handful of job losses.  Concepcion, Ashe and Ferrera were the three noes on the finance cuts.  Cuts to IT were much closer on a 7-6 vote.  Tosado, Fenton, and Ashe joined Ward 8 Councilor John Lysak, Ward 7 Councilor Tim Allen, Ward 1 Councilor Zaida Luna and Ward 4 Councilor E. Henry Twiggs to make those cuts.

Later on, Citistat, an office intended to find efficiencies in city government was all, but gutted by the council.  Although Citistat has made considerable progress for the city, it has been accused of hyping minor fiscal victories for the political benefit of city officials.  It died an ignominious death on a 10-3 vote, Rivera, Concepcion and Ferrera casting the votes to spare the office.