The city council just voted unanimously to put an ordinance proposed by Sally Bagshaw that would “ratify” council president Richard Conlin’s signature on a supplemental environmental impact statement for the deep-bore tunnel on next weeks calendar for a vote.
Mayor Mike McGinn contends that the city charter only allows him to sign such a letter (he wanted another week to review the documents); Conlin says the city attorney’s office said he has the authority as well.
The legislation, as I reported this morning, will only serve as a safeguard in case of a legal challenge to Conlin’s signature, council staffers say. The council won’t be able to vote on the ordinance until next week; city law requires a week between the introduction of an ordinance and a vote.
It’s unclear whether McGinn ally Mike O’Brien, who opposes the tunnel but voted to put Bagshaw’s ordinance on next week’s voting calendar, will vote for Bagshaw’s legislation. This weekend, O’Brien told PubliCola he did not agree with Conlin’s decision to sign the document, and that he hadn’t heard anything about Bagshaw’s ordinance as of Saturday.
