Restructuring of key leadership positions and pay
By JOSH RESNEK
Key jobs have been reassigned and key personnel have been moved to take the place of others as the administration at city hall led by Chief Financial Officer Eric Demas prepares for the slimmer tax revenue year coming up.
Jerry Navarro has been named the new Director of Public Works.
Robert Moreschi will be serving as the new Procurement Officer and also as Highway Superintendent.
Kevin O’Donnell, formerly the mayor’s chief of staff at $80,000 a year part-time, has been named as the city’s Human Resources Director and manager of the Labor Counsel with a nice raise.
Sabrina Firiciano has become the Executive Director of Health and Human Resources.
Lara Ammouri, formerly the head of Human Resources, will serve as the Director and Manager of the Labor Counsel.
The Coronavirus has wreaked havoc on the city budget here, and everywhere else in America but that does not count for anything as Everett must still pay its bills.
Demas is struggling to make ends meet given short- falls in income from the state and the federal government adding to COVID-19 expenses and unforeseen costs.
City property tax payments were put off for almost four months and Encore Casino and Hotel has not yet paid its money to the city which it owes.
That $10 million has apparently been paid to the state by Encore in a new twist that startled city officials. The state will likely be reimbursing the city – at least that is what state officials and Encore executives have told the city.
In Everett’s case, expenditures are outpacing revenues which calls for fiscal conservatism in order to stave off what is perceived as a serious cash flow crunch.
The great economist Adam Smith, wrote in his book, “The Wealth of Nations,” …that those who spend far more than they take in doom themselves to inevitable bankruptcy.
Trying to stave the inevitable, Demas has been attempting to cut down exorbitant city hall staff expenses.
It is a game of musical chairs/merry-go-round type of employment reassignment with the highest paying city hall employees in order to cut expenses, to combine certain jobs titles, while placing some employees with new job designations at much lower salaries and others at higher salaries.