UpdatedFri, May 7, 2021 at 11:08 am ET
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Twenty-four candidates for City Council and School Committee had returned signatures as of May 6. (Neal McNamara/Patch)
WORCESTER, MA An important milestone in the 2021 Worcester city election is coming up on with candidates under a Tuesday deadline to submit signatures to qualify for the November ballot.
As of Thursday, two dozen candidates had already submitted enough signatures to get on the ballot, including all but two incumbents and a slew of challengers.
Although many candidates have been campaigning for months, some surprising new contenders have emerged recently.
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Two police officers have gathered enough signatures, including state police Sgt. Gregory Stratman and Worcester police union leader Richard Cipro known for clashing with city officials, and co-administering a Facebook page that often features right-wing memes.
WORCESTER The city Friday said it intends to implement a police body camera program by 2022 at the latest, and will start scheduling meetings to get community input shortly.
“The city is committed to a body camera program, and will soon be engaging in community conversations on what that would look like,” spokesman Walter Bird wrote in an email to the Telegram & Gazette on Friday.
“I’m grateful for the announcement from the city today,” James P. McGovern, the city’s longtime Democratic Congressman, said in a telephone interview, adding that federal COVID-19 relief funds should ease the program’s cost.
Worcester wonât fight lawsuit aimed at diversifying school committee
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The Great Divide is an investigative series that explores educational inequality in Boston and statewide. with story ideas and tips.
By deciding not to fight a voting rights lawsuit, Worcesterâs elected officials became the latest in Massachusetts to abandon an electoral method that constituents called discriminatory.
Worcester City Council committed earlier this month to changing the cityâs all-at-large system of electing school committee members in response to a suit filed in federal court in February.
âThe trend is clear, which is toward more representative government and away from electoral systems that pose structural barriers to communities of color,â said Oren Sellstrom, litigation director for Lawyers for Civil Rights. The nonprofit legal organization championed the Worcester suit and others that have nearly extinguished all-at-large voting in large Massachu