Massachusetts General Law almost makes the case that the mayor can’t just take off 90 days and be in Europe or the Caribbean on perpetual vacation when he is supposed to be working here in the city, in his office at city hall, or wherever he is called to appear during the course of his tenure.
The law, over time, has been relegated to a back seat on the matter of the mayor’s vacation time.
The law of the political jungle, that is, wondering if the mayor has too many vacation days, is left as a matter of politics and ethics by the courts to the people who elect the mayor in the city where the mayor is serving.
The feeling as expressed by the courts here is that if the people don’t believe the mayor deserves 90 days of vacation and that he doesn’t appear at his office, then it is up to them to throw him out of office and get someone who will work everyday as they are supposed to.
The Ethics Commission is the most likely venue to test the mayor’s perceived right to be on near perpetual vacation while picking up one of the highest salaries a mayor is paid in Massachusetts.
It is unethical to cash a city paycheck for time one is spending on vacation out of the country.
The mayor of Everett is making a mockery out of vacation days by claiming he has none – and that he is working everyday no matter where he is.
This is plainly, incontestably, a joke and farce. The joke is on Everett taxpayers and voters.
It is a joke that cannot and will not go on forever.