May 18, 2009 City Council Agenda Highlights
The central item of business is the vote on the FY2010 Budget. Even though this was supposed to be “a tough budget year,” this year’s Budget sailed through the Finance Committee’s budget hearings like green corn goes through the new May. The Council will likely take up the Budget vote (Committee Reports #1-3) early in the meeting before taking up the rest of the agenda. There are a few other items of interest, such as:
Order #2. That the City Manager is requested to make available adequate funds to the City Council so that the City Council can hire its own legal expert to review relevant issues in pending litigation. Councillor Kelley, Mayor Simmons and Councillor Reeves
This is a serious Order with potentially serious consequences. The City is dealing with the consequences of a jury decision to award an absurd amount of money to a former City employee (Malvina Monteiro) who went fishing for cash and reeled in a big one. The City appealed the jury decision, but the latest appeal was denied. Other lawsuits against the City filed by the same lawyer (Ellen Zucker) are waiting in the wings and the City is continuing to spend cash for outside legal counsel in the Monteiro case. Some city councillors have suggested that the City should just pay out this ridiculous jury award, cut its losses, and not pursue any further appeals. The City Manager has stated that he has no intention of paying a dime toward a legal decision he and others in his administration feel is without merit.
One has to wonder how this City Council would go about deciding who its “legal expert” would be if this Order were to pass. Would Councillors Kelley, Simmons, and Reeves make the call? Could there be five votes for someone they could all agree on? The truth is that we have a City Solicitor who is a good lawyer who is very well-versed in the Monteiro case as well as the other pending cases, and it’s likely that the city councillors heard an earful at last week’s Executive Session on this matter. Could it be that the 3 sponsors of this Order simply didn’t like what they heard in Executive Session? It will be VERY interesting to see if this Order gets 5 votes in its current form.
Order #5. That the City Manager is requested to work with the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department to disseminate information to bicyclists through various methods of communication reminding them of the “rules of the road” pertaining to bicycles and that their adherence is important to the safety of motorists, pedestrians and fellow cyclists. Vice Mayor Seidel
Been there, done that.
Order #9. That the City Manager and the Mayor are requested to report to the Council on the status of the Harvard Senior Picnic. Councillor Decker
It should be pointed out that the Harvard Senior Picnic has always been a prime campaign spot for City Council and School Committee candidates. Heaven forbid that the rumor turns out to be true and the picnic is not held this year. Perhaps Harvard could lay off a janitor or two to cover the costs of the picnic. – RW