Residents press council for public after‑action report on storm response; council questions using executive session

Residents and councilmembers used the meeting to press for public answers about the city's handling of a recent, prolonged snow and ice event.

Public commenter Joan Hodowanitz asked the council to hold "a public caucus" with the mayor and the Department of Public Works director to review cleanup after the storm and learn lessons for future responses. Councilmember Sean McAndrew said he had requested a written post‑storm after‑action report and was concerned that the administration offered to present storm-related information to the council in an executive session rather than in open session.

“I would like to have the DPW director and maybe some of the supervisors in here, to have a caucus to answer some questions in general,” McAndrew said, asking for a public forum where DPW could answer constituent questions. Mark McAndrew warned that if the administration insists on an executive session, councilors would be unable to discuss or report publicly on the information presented: “If the administration was to present to us the after action report in the form of an executive session, we can't discuss it outside of that room or outside of that meeting.”

Council members asked the solicitor to research the council's subpoena powers and requested the promised after‑action report be provided in public or in committee where possible. The chair said the administration had offered an executive session and that staff had reached out to provide the report; council expressed a preference for a public summary and for a DPW caucus with director and supervisors in a setting that allows public accountability.

Separately, council and residents raised related operational issues: repeated complaints about temporary 'pave cut' restorations that have crumbled past the promised 30‑day window, requests for lighting studies at a dark alley where a pedestrian was killed, and calls to consider plowing so‑called 'paper streets' during extraordinary storms. Council asked staff to follow up with the pave‑cut inspector and the city engineer and to provide timelines for outstanding studies and repairs.

What happens next: council requested a written after‑action report, asked the solicitor to clarify subpoena authority and directed staff to schedule a DPW caucus or public briefing so the public can review the city's storm response and planned corrective actions.