The city solicitor defended her turf fiercely Monday against a City Council policy order exploring getting its own budget for outside legal research, with at least one councillor and some outside observers saying she went too far by insinuating jail time could follow for what she deemed a violation of the city’s charter.Sobrinho-Wheeler reacted Tuesday. “During discussion of the policy order on adding a legal research budget item for the City Council last night, the head of Cambridge’s Law department threatened city councillors with jail time if they voted for it. I don’t think this kind of intimidation is supposed to happen in a democracy,” he said.
In addition, he found “the section of the city’s 1940 charter that was indirectly referenced” as underlying the potential for fines or jail time “was designed to stop councillors from trying to covertly fire city employees, not prevent budget consideration requests. It was disturbing to see it invoked here, moments before a vote,” Sobrinho-Wheeler said.
Nancy Glowa, the city solicitor (who is hired by the city manager), is notorious for not responding to or explaining decisions to the city council (which is elected), much like the city manager (who is hired by the council for four year terms).
Everyone under the city manager seems very, uh, comfortable. The council model of government implies some air of enlightenment, but we've ended up with a somewhat Daley-esque organization here.