We do not use the term “Kickback Carlo” lightly.
It is a term, a nickname if you will, that describes the mayor perfectly.
The mayor demands to be paid for whatever he does as the mayor, and for things he does as a private citizen because he is the mayor.
He has blurred the line between public service and municipal corruption.
One of the chief misfortunes of the city of Everett is that, for the most part, the mayor is ruling over honest people. One of the chief misfortunes of honest people is that they are cowardly.
What do we mean?
Honest people find it impossible to stand up to the mayor because he is so dishonest. He’s a bully. It is hard to stand up to a bully surrounded by the loyal bullies on his payroll.
About the alleged kickbacks…the mayor has conflated the notion that if he approves a development in the city, the developer owes him something in kind for receiving the city’s approval as though he had done the developer a favor.
This is part of the mayor’s essence. Many in Everett have accepted it as a way of life here.
Just as many are now busy rejecting such bad behavior.
Carlo DeMaria – Proven Leadership – wants his end every time.
He had to slow down a bit when the FBI was after him when his calls were being recorded by wiretaps and those doing business with him were subject to the same.
He’s gotten a free ride from the FBI in return for his coop- eration.
That situation doesn’t last forever with the FBI and the US Attorney’s office.
Over-development has changed all that.
The mayor has opened the money gates.
Developers have rushed to Everett to make their millions. Who cares if the city becomes unrecognizable, filled with strangers living in a strange place they will never come to know or to care about?
If a developer is going to make millions in Everett, the mayor believes he should share in the profits as the natural completion of the business deal.
“I do for you. You do for me,” is how this contretemps goes. In 14 years in the corner office, the mayor has made and spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars more than his salary as the mayor.
He spends more time on vacation at five-star hotels in Aruba than he does in his office as mayor.
He has done this at the same time the successful donut shops given to him by a family member have gone out of business because of his mismanagement, lack of business acumen, and poor work ethic.
Enter Gerly Adrien and Fred Capone.
Adrien and Capone are running to bring integrity back to city government.
They are as different as candidates as night and day.
Both of them are not running for mayor for personal enrichment.
They are not running to create a crime family or a dynasty.
They will not demand campaign contributions and order mandatory political assignments from city employees.
Nor will either of them demand blind allegiance to the mayor’s overtly corrupt practices.
Both have promised to erase the mayor’s brand of overt racism and misogyny from city government here, not as a matter of bringing down the mayor. Rather, but doing what is necessary and right.
They are running against Carlo DeMaria to bring honesty and integrity back to the mayor’s office.
Adrien wants equity for the majority of Everett residents.
Capone wants to stop over-development and to stop theft from the city by the mayor.
The mayor is as transparent about what he does as an emperor wearing no clothes.
To this end, the mayor’s proven leadership logo on his sig- nage is as much farce as it is personal fancy.
He fancies himself a king more than an elected public official.
He answers to no one but himself.
He is a user and an abuser, a liar quite often, and a harsh bully who threatens people who are forced to give their loyalty to him.
Adrien and Capone are fighting corruption and the absolute lack of transparency in Everett city government.
It is as if they are fighting a king.
As Shakespeare put it: Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.