WORCESTER—The Worcester City Council meets Tuesday, April 8, with a full agenda that includes education funding, community investment proposals aimed at local colleges and universities, and ongoing discussions about public access television and cable services in the city.
Among the education-related items, the council reviews a request for a report detailing how much the city is reimbursed under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which ensures homeless students can stay in their schools of origin and receive transportation. Another item asks for an update on a 2007 Memorandum of Understanding between the city and the Worcester Public Schools (WPS). A separate item recommends placing on file a request for WPS and city finance leaders to present the Fiscal Year 2026 school budget at an upcoming Education Committee meeting.
Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson is introducing a set of proposals targeting the role and responsibility of Worcester’s private colleges and universities. One would place a non-binding ballot question on the November 2025 municipal election asking voters whether these institutions should contribute 0.5% of their endowments annually to a locally administered community impact fund. Other proposals include requiring colleges to appoint a Worcester resident to their boards and holding annual meetings between university leaders and the city manager.
Mero-Carlson is also requesting the city consult with the Worcester Regional Research Bureau and Greater Worcester Community Foundation to identify best practices from other community investment funds across the country.
Local activist David Webb alleges a March 26 meeting of the Municipal & Legislative Operations Committee, chaired by Councilor Morris Bergman, may have violated the Open Meeting Law. Webb says the meeting was not properly listed on the city calendar and may have been scheduled with less than 48 hours’ notice—something he claims has happened before.
He also argues the committee focused on a single item to amend the city charter for recall elections, despite 55 other pending matters, and introduced rules he called “functionally retaliatory to a city councilor.” Webb criticized the timing of the meeting, which he says coincided with an event many supporters of the councilor in question were attending, and called on the city to “ensure meetings do not happen without public awareness even if public engagement would be inconvenient to the intention of the meeting chair.”
Other highlights on the agenda:
- Spotlight on local cable services: Three separate items under business under suspension deal with Worcester’s cable landscape. These include a request for more funding for the city’s cable department and WCCA TV, a call to investigate possible legal action against Spectrum on behalf of seniors allegedly defrauded, and a report on whether laid-off Spectrum workers have received federally mandated employment services.
- Great Brook Valley infrastructure upgrade: A resident petition asks the city to approve new public improvements — including sewer, water, drainage, lighting and conduits — in support of Phase 2 of the Curtis Apartments Redevelopment Project.
- Parking meters at colleges? Councilor Donna Colorio wants the city to explore installing a metered parking system around local college campuses, with examples from other cities included in the analysis.
- Just how many potholes? Colorio is also asking for a full count of pothole-related calls made to Worcester’s 311 system since it launched.
- Early morning dumpster noise: Councilor Bergman is seeking a report on how many complaints the city has received about private trash pickups happening before 7 a.m.
Worcester City Council meets on Tuesday, April 8, at City Hall in the Esther Howland (south) Chamber at 6:30 p.m. It is also live streamed on the city’s website.
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