WORCESTER – A citizen petition dominated the Worcester City Council meeting for the second straight week on Tuesday, Oct. 22, with councilors voting 7-4 to end its meeting after 40 minutes. The council also took a recess during the 40 minute meeting.
Protests began in the council chamber after Mayor Joe Petty ruled comments made during public speaking time out of order. The speaker sought to address a citizen petition submitted to the city council but rejected from being placed on the agenda.
A multi-faith group submitted a petition seeking the city council to endorse a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the war in the Gaza Strip. The resolution called for an immediate ceasefire, the return of all hostages and detainees, and the enforcement of existing US law prohibiting sending US taxpayer funds to foreign militaries involved in human rights violations.
Over 1,500 Worcester residents had signed a petition endorsing the resolution. Around 200 attended Tuesday’s city council meeting.
The Worcester City Clerk’s office rejected the petition, ruling that it violated the council’s rules by addressing an issue outside the city’s jurisdiction.
The City Clerk’s office told the petitioner by email that “on October 15, 2024, the City Council reiterated the importance for the City Clerk to follow Rule 11 even more closely.”
Rule 11 enables the city clerk, in consultation with the city solicitor, to determine if an item is suitable for the council’s agenda.
The clerk’s office also advised that they could file a petition to ask the council to suspend the rules to allow speaking about the resolution in a future meeting. If that vote failed, speaking about the item would be prohibited.
Allie Cislo, a protest organizer and co-coordinator of the Worcester Havurah Jewish community said: “We submitted our petition on time and followed the appropriate procedures; we should have been heard on time as is precedent.”
There are several examples of the city council taking up resolutions on issues outside of its jurisdiction.
Comments from the public dominated the meeting during the previous council meeting on Oct. 15. That petition sought the council to change the city charter to require naturalized citizens, immigrants who became citizens, to submit additional information showing their citizenship status.
As This Week in Worcester previously reported, City Solicitor Mike Traynor, who makes the legal determination on the propriety of city council agenda items, told the city council he did not find the petition unconstitutional on its face. He said he found it within the purview of the city council to decide on the petition.
This Week in Worcester spoke to three local attorneys about the petition language. Each spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid involvement in city politics.
All three reached the similar conclusion that the language would never survive judicial review, but would likely never get that far, as they saw no chance the state legislature would approve these requirements for a charter amendment.
On Oct. 17, 2023, city council took up and passed a resolution that condemned “the recent barbaric and inhuman taking of hostages in Israel, including a number of American citizens, and prays for their immediate and safe release and return to their loved ones.”
On March 8, 2022, the city council adopted a resolution that, in part, called “upon our federal leaders and our nation to make nuclear disarmament the centerpiece of our national security policy and join the global effort to prevent nuclear war.”
Multiple police officers were inside the council chambers, on the third floor and in the parking garage of city hall. After adjourning the meeting, several councilors received police escorts from the council chambers and into elevators at city hall.
No arrests took place in the council chambers or on the third floor of city hall during the council’s meeting. Multiple attendees told This Week in Worcester they did not witness and weren’t otherwise aware of abusive behavior or language used by protestors during the council’s proceedings.
