Medford Council Restores Partial Law Department Funding After Standoff
Medford Council restores partial Law Department funding after learning outside counsel billed the city $2.4 million since 2020.
City Council · Meeting of August 4, 2026
Medford Council restores partial Law Department funding after learning outside counsel billed the city $2.4 million since 2020. President Zach Bears and Councilor Scarpelli pressed the administration for months over an unanswered records request; the council ultimately approved $42,568.60 of a requested $425,076.33, roughly one month's funding, while demanding a written accounting and an update on hiring a city solicitor, vacant since November. "This is such a waste of everybody's time to spend six months arguing over this," Bears said.
Councilors also voted 7-0 on resolutions backing a Tufts graduate worker facing removal from her doctoral program and Tufts facilities workers' 32BJ SEIU contract campaign, tabled a $35,000 police chief search appropriation 5-2, and ordained a rewritten vacant-building ordinance 6-1 after Chamber of Commerce-driven fee amendments split the council.
In the full story:
- Who Was There
- Organizations And Documents Referenced
- The complete report — 4,469 words
Source: the City Council meeting of August 4, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.
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