On May 11, during an otherwise ordinary meeting of the Finance Committee to discuss the 2022 Cambridge budget, a dispute erupted between City Manager Louis A. DePasquale and Councilor Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler, highlighting a common fault of conflict in Cambridge government.
Sobrinho-Wheeler suggested that, for the 2023 budget, the city conduct âtransparentâ and âmore engagingâ hearings with a longer timeline. He cited Bostonâs public working sessions, which allow the budget to change âaccording to the wills of the elected body.â
âI have to respond to that,â DePasquale interjected.
âThis is a city manager form of government, and as much as the council sometimes feels it isnât, it is,â DePasquale said. âYou either work with the city managerâs position, or you remove it and go to a different function, but you canât change the government that you have.â