The real mayor of Encore reveals himself and it isn’t Mayor DeMaria
By Josh Resnek
Unforgettable is how I would describe Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s speech on the day that the casino opened. He cried, he was so overcome with the enormity of the moment.
Those watching this spectacle believed then he was the mayor of Encore in every way.
Maybe he was then but he isn’t now.
The Mayor of Encore is a retired Watertown firefighter and former Armstrong Ambulance Service, according to a full report published in the Boston Herald recently.
“Stroll through Encore Boston Harbor’s lobby and Tower Suites and you’ll likely encounter Dan McDermott or, as some people call him, ‘The Mayor’” it was reported in the Herald feature.
There was no mention of the name DeMaria or that he is the mayor.
When I told several people that Carlo was no longer the mayor, some Everett people looked at me and said: “Are you kidding. If Carlo isn’t the mayor, then who is?”
“Dan McDermott is the mayor at least that’s what he’s being called at the Encore casino and hotel,” I replied.
“I thought the mayor of Everett was also the mayor of the casino and hotel?” a supporter of the mayor said to me.
“I don’t know this guy McDermott but he shouldn’t be calling himself the mayor of anything, let alone a casino and hotel located in Everett,” she replied.
Maybe I should refer to McDermott as the unelected mayor of the casino and hotel, as the mayor tends to believe he either owns, or controls everything having to do with the city of Everett.
Did McDermott get his job from the mayor?
You’d have to ask the mayor about this. As a rule he doesn’t speak to me about such things.
As for McDermott, he is a friendly type with no visible tattoos or face hair, two requirements he needed to meet in order to become the mayor.
“I think if you like what you do, you tend to be good at it and I think people can feel that energy,” McDermott said. “I get a lot of positive comments, and every one of them I appreciate.”
I thought about what the mayor might do when he learns he is not the mayor at Encore.
I figure he’d tell Encore officials that “I am the real mayor. This other guy is an impostor.” That’s my thinking about what he might be saying to himself before giving a visit to Encore.
“Besides,” he might add. “I am thoroughly qualified. I have no face hair or tattoos,” he might be inclined to point out.