We got the vote wrong last week.
The vote was 8-2 to send a resolution to the State House to allow for a home rule petition to have the mayor of Everett appointed as a voting member of the School Committee in perpetuity.
That’s a big move.
The mayor engineered it with speed and the skill of a scammer.
He professed to care about education, which he doesn’t.
What the mayor cares about, and it is abundantly clear to everyone in this city who pays close attention to the goings-on at city hall, is perpetuating his hold on the government, the budget, the workforce, and his ability to raise political contributions from those he gives city jobs.
His place as a voting member on the School Committee will allow him to hire and fire – not as a right – but as an imperative backed by his iron will based in greed and quid pro quo.
Whomever he hires must pay a campaign contribution consistent with the size of their salary.
His ascendance to the School Committee now pits the mayor against Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani.
The mayor has already assured his acolytes that Tahiliani will be no match for him.
“I’ll get her before she gets me,” he told a close associate recently.
Whether or not this is true we shall all wait to see.
This we know, the utter and complete politicization of the School Department is now underway with the mayor leading that pack.
The School Committee must be resolute in doing what is right for the kids and the employees not what is wanted but the mayor.
Wanting to vote on the School Committee is a simple, old-time power grab by a mayor who is becoming a bit behind the times as every month passes.