You think Fall River is bad… come over to Everett
By Josh Resnek
Dear Andrew Lelling:
You’ve been having a lot of fun in Fall River lately.
I’m inviting you to Everett.
You and FBI Agent Elio need to take a close look at the obvious. Kickback Carlo DeMaria is in his tenth year of organized, obscene, uniquely disguised municipal theft and greed.
Everett isn’t Fall River.
The mayor won’t allow marijuana here.
He can’t trust himself to decline huge cash payments from marijuana businesses wanting to locate here.
But he brought a casino here.
That was worth something to him as he does not do things that fail to reward him personally.
“What’s in it for me,” is his mantra.
According to a law suit now winding through Federal Court in Boston, he received a sizeable kickback in return for delivering the land used for the casino and hotel site to Steve Wynn.
I’ve talked with a number of people with knowledge of the kickback, including one who says he can identify how Kickback Carlo was paid, exactly how much he got, and who aided him in executing the arrangement.
One fellow I know well has promised to tell all at some point in the near future – a bad development for Kickback Carlo, but a great development for you, Mr. Lelling.
Everett has formed its own brand of municipal corruption during the past decade.
Our mayor is the highest paid in Massachusetts.
He rarely appears at city hall.
He claims to be working by cell phone.
I estimate he took 70-90 days of vacation out of the country this year – pretending to be working on city business while visiting Italy, Aruba, Arizona, and at other locations where he was absolutely, incontestably vacationing.
Lawyers tell me you don’t care about this, Mr. Lelling. It doesn’t matter to you that Kickback Carlo cashed his pay checks to vacation on the taxpayer’s tab.
If the voters are angry, justice will be served up to him.
But what if the mayor of Fall River had taken 70-80 days of vacation on the city’s tab?
Would he have yet another problem with the US Attorney’s office? You bet he would.
Two months ago Kickback Carlo came before the city council and
badgered the council into awarding him a $12,000 stipend so he could rent an automobile to drive around the city with.
He didn’t just badger the council. He threatened the council.
“After all I’ve done for the city you are challenging me on this ,” he said angrily to the council when he came before it to ask for the stipend. “You challenge me on this you’ll see what I do with your budget. You want to start with this with me? Do you? You want me to look into your budget?”
Since that time Kickback Carlo has not rented an automobile.
He has taken the stipend as a pay raise of $1,000 a month while at the same time using city employee’s private vehicles to drive around in or to be driven around in.
If the mayor of Fall River was found to have done this, he’d have yet another problem wouldn’t he?
Yes, indeed.
Kickback Carlo gets away with it all.
Come on down to Everett, Mr. Lelling. Come on down to the mayor’s mansion at 4 a.m. with your boys from the FBI.
Pound on his front door. Rouse him out of bed. Put some cuffs on him. Read him his rights. Let him know you’re on to him.
Let him know his time has come.
Toss him in the back seat of your car. Drive him to the Chelsea headquarters for some debriefing about the kickback he accepted.
I’m told by those who know it was a great piece of change. Press Kickback just a bit.
He will tell you everything you need to know.
This is a guarantee.
He will give up everyone involved to save his own skin.
It is a routine you know so well.
It is a routine Kickback Carlo has already become a part of when he signed the US Attorney’s office proffer several years back.
You’ve got him, if you want him.
He is another mayor of Fall River just waiting to be indicted and arrested.
Kickback Carlo is a caricature of what a mayor of Everett ought to be. He has built a fragile house of cards for himself during the past decade. You, Mr. Lelling, can return Everett to honesty in the running of its city government.
Come on down to Everett, Mr. Lelling.
You won’t be disappointed.