Worcester City Council Agenda Preview: July 15, 2025
Rental costs, parliamentary procedures, boards and commissions
The City Council meeting is Tuesday at 6:00pm. The agenda is here.
Zoom link: https://worcesterma.zoomgov.com/j/1613631913
Natale Cosenza Settlement: The meeting agenda includes the brief minutes of an executive (private) session the Council held back in February at which the Manager informed them of a $2 million settlement agreement the city had reached with Cosenza. This is the case of a man who was convicted of assault and burglary in Worcester, served 16 years, then had his conviction vacated because of how the police questioned the victim to pin down a suspect, especially the way they presented her with a “photo array.” Prosecutors initially intended to retry him, but eventually decided not to. Cosenza was able to sue the police officers and was awarded $8 million; the city’s settlement with him was finalized in June.
Zoning: There’s a request to extend the “general business” zoning near 308 Belmont Street and the Reactory Biomanufacturing Campus to cover an area that’s currently zoned for “light manufacturing.” This will go to the Planning Board for discussion. There’s also a request for the nearby Adaptive Reuse Overlay District to be extended to the (I think vacant) lot at 31 Harlow Street. The AROD allows flexibility around zoning to encourage rehabbing old factory buildings and the like.
Turtle Crossing: There’s a request for a “Turtle Crossing” sign near the entrance to Broad Meadow Brook, for the protection of snapping turtles and painted turtles.
Speed Tables: There’s a request from Councilor Pacillo and resident Sarah Blodgett to install “speed tables,” which are like very wide speed bumps, on Burncoat Street.
Boards and Commissions: The Manager is appointing Anahit Marutyan to the Human Rights Commission. The Council will vote whether to appoint Michael Abelson, Jules Trobough, Marc Guinette, Ann Harvey, Tasia Cerezo, and Douglas Arbetter to the Advisory Commission on LGBTQIA+; Sienna Ablorh, Derrick Casey, Magdelene Barjolo, Miriam Nyante, Kwesi Foster, Chris Nelson, and Miles Goodwin to the Advisory Commission on African American and Black Affairs; and Jenny Cao and Aliya-Marie Melville to the Advisory Committee on the Status of Women.
Supermajority: In response to a request from the Council, the City Solicitor has a report noting that unless otherwise specified, any Council vote requiring a “2/3 majority” needs 2/3 of all Councilors (8 in the current case) and not 2/3 of the Councilors at the meeting where the vote is taken (these days there are 10 Councilors at meetings, meaning a supermajority would be 7).
Holding Under Privilege: Any Councilor can ask that a vote “adopting any measure” be postponed until the next meeting (with a few exceptions). On June 17, it was proposed that the Council request a report from the Manager. Councilor King, objecting to this idea, first moved to file the proposal, losing by a narrow vote, and then asked to “hold it under privilege” as the one-person postponement is often called. The Solicitor has a report on “holding under privilege” and notes that a literal interpretation of the description of this in the City Charter “leads to incongruous results” and so it probably needs to be interpreted in a more limited manner. Under her interpretation, you’d be able to postpone motions to approve ordinances or loan orders, but not be able to postpone motions to adjourn, recess, table items, suspend the rules, etc. She also doesn’t think the postponement was proper in this situation. I am not a lawyer, but here’s my sense of the problems she sees here: the chair should be told of the intent to postpone before voting on the item begins (even a vote to file); and that a request for information may not be appropriate to be held under privilege.
Billboards: In response to a proposal to install a billboard near Indian Lake, Councilor Mero-Carlson would like a report on billboard regulations and whether additional billboards can be banned.
Tax Breaks for Affordable Landlords: The Mayor wants a report from the Manager about whether we should opt-in to a 2023 law (Ch. 59 Sec. 5-O) that would allow the city to give landlords renting out “affordable” units a lower property tax rate. I would be very curious to see the numbers on this, like how big a tax break does it take to create or preserve one additional “affordable” unit in Worcester?
Sprinklers and Rental Costs: The fire chief would like the Council to adopt a state law requiring new and substantially-rehabbed residential buildings with 4+ units to install fire sprinkler systems. The Council has been considering it. Councilor Toomey would like a report on how much this will cost property owners, and how much that would increase rents.
Petitioning Officials: The Clerk has a report on whether some other cities in the state put resident petitions on their City Council agendas automatically, and whether members of the public are allowed to speak at regular Council meetings. Boston says you have to get a Councilor to sponsor your petition to get it on the agenda, and the public can speak at hearings (often of subcommittees) but not regular Council meetings. New Bedford likewise requires Councilors to sponsor resident petitions, and has a special meeting monthly for public comment. In Revere residents can submit some sorts of petitions, but need Council sponsors for many others, and “any citizen of Revere” can speak for 2 minutes at a Council meeting. Cambridge requires 2 Councilors to sponsor most petitions from the public, and allows public comment at most meetings. As regards signs at a meeting, Boston prohibits demonstrating at meetings, while Cambridge requires signs to be kept outside the Council chamber.
