Cranston council refers two school bargaining ordinances to finance committee

The Cranston City Council on July 17 voted to refer two ordinances ratifying recent collective bargaining agreements for the school department to a special finance committee meeting set for July 24.

Council members moved to take Ordinance 7-25-01 and Ordinance 7-25-02 as a block and then to refer them to the finance committee for further consideration. Council vice president Wahl made the motion to refer; the clerk conducted a roll call and members responded in the affirmative. "Council vice president Wahl," the clerk recorded, moved that the ordinances be referred to the special finance committee meeting on July 24.

The two ordinances were introduced as measures ratifying the Cranston School Committee's agreements with the Cranston Teachers Alliance and the paraprofessionals unit, respectively. The council did not take final passage on the ordinances at the special meeting; instead it sent them to the finance committee, where staff and council members will review fiscal impacts and any needed appropriations before a later council vote.

A full roll-call was taken when the referral motion was decided. The clerk recorded multiple "yes" responses and the presiding officer announced that the ayes had it; no formal numeric tally was recorded on the meeting record provided.

The referral means the finance committee will schedule review and any committee-level amendments or recommendations before the ordinances return to the council for a final vote.

Ordinance numbers and the referral are now part of the council's docket for the special finance committee meeting on July 24.