Medford Council Restores Partial Law Department Funding After Standoff

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.