By JOSH RESNEK
It is well known in city hall circles that the city employs or has employed a number of convicted felons.
It is clearly against the law in Everett for a convicted felon to be employed as a municipal employee or to serve in public office in any capacity according to the Everett City Charter.
The City Charter states exactly “any person who has been finally convicted of a state or federal felony shall not be eligible to petition or to serve in any elective or appointive office or position.”
The City Charter also specifies without equivocation that its anti-felon employment policy would apply to “any mayor who has been finally convicted of a state or federal felony shall be deemed to have vacated said office and shall be disqualified from serving in any other elective or appointive or position under the city.”
While the mayor has not been convicted of any felonies to date, he has had a number of run-ins over the years that led to court and apparent cash settlements with allegedly aggrieved parties to stay out of trouble.
In fact, during the time the mayor was being investigated by the FBI and other state agencies before and after the land deal for Encore was finalized, he signed a proffer agreement with the US Attorney’s office – an unusual and highly questionable move for a sitting mayor, despite his attorney’s stated belief that signing such a document “proves his innocence from wrongdoing.”
An editorial in last week’s Leader Herald asking the administration to let residents know how many convicted felons are employed by the city right now and in what departments appears to have fallen on deaf ears with no response.
Efforts for comment from the mayor’s office remained unanswered.
It is a well-known best kept secret that the city employs convicted felons, several in high paying positions of responsibility, and that those positions are apparently held by friends and political supporters of the mayor.
A recent open letter to the mayor in the Leader Herald from an Everett woman claiming she was raped in 2019 by a former Everett firefighter who was a convicted felon for nearly the en- tire time has also gone unanswered by the administration.
The former Everett firefighter, who retired in 2016, was convicted of sexual assault and battery on an 8 year old girl.
“I am seeking justice so this never happens again in the city of Everett,” said the woman, whose name is being withheld.
“No one will answer me. The mayor will not speak with me,” I have been told, the woman told the Leader Herald.