WORCESTER — After a two-hour stretch of public comments, the City Council declined Tuesday to take direct action on a petition calling for the city to urge the U.S. government to “facilitate and demand” a Gaza ceasefire.
Voting 6-5, councilors filed the petition, thus scrapping it, a move that immediately spurred words of frustration from a tightly-packed chamber. Some labeled councilors “cowards,” while others shouted “shame” in the council’s direction.
Those who voted for the petition to be filed were Mayor Joseph M. Petty, Councilors-at-Large Morris Bergman, Kathleen Toomey and Donna Colorio, District 3 City Councilor George Russell and District 2 City Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson. Councilor-at-Large and City Council Vice Chair Khrystian King, Councilor-at-Large Thu Nguyen, District 5 City Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, District 1 City Councilor Jennifer Pacillo and District 4 City Councilor Luis Ojeda voted against the filing…