By JOSH RESNEK
The stakes are high.
The political infighting and intrigue are intensifying.
Fred Capone and the mayor have never worked as hard at an election as this one.
The mayor cannot afford to lose.
He has been irascible and uptight since scoring the weakest vote in his political life.
Gaining only 45% of the vote in the primary indicates the mayor’s favorability has tanked and is continuing to tank.
The mayor has acted accordingly, veering dangerously from a campaign strategy dedicated to having him act and appear like a leader of the people and to not be come involved in fighting or answering of any kind.
He is spending enormous amounts of money from his campaign account to ensure a victory.
However, some things cannot be bought.
The mayor has nowhere to go. He needs a victory to maintain his city income which is estimated at $250,000.
At least this is what the W-2 would reveal regarding income that has been listed with the IRS.
The mayor has nowhere to go.
Capone is the good guy in this race, the honest man of integrity and transparency, the lawyer with a substantial Everett law practice on Broadway.
The mayor is fighting a checkered existence that has been documented in legal papers, lawsuits, interviews, and investigative reports.
Capone doesn’t need this win in order to survive financially.
Just the same, his day-to-day regimen since announcing in June is not a sprint aimed at a quick win. It is a marathon.
Capone continues to tour the city from the early morning until the late evening in an effort to meet as many voters as he can. Capone is matching the mayor step for step with a vigorous, all-out campaign.
In a Leader Herald interview with Capone last week, he separated himself from the mayor with truthful answers to a wide variety of questions about his private and public life.
In that interview, Capone acknowledged he has never been charged or accused of sexual harassment or violence against women – and that he has not paid a woman to buy her silence.
By contrast, the mayor’s record with allegations of sexual harassment over the years of his service is detailed exquisitely in a series of Boston Globe investigative reports, official police reports, and in interviews with the alleged victims.
The mayor last week wanted but did not receive the endorsement of the Everett Fire Fighters Union at a union meeting the mayor attended.
Capone has promised to hire more firefighters and has questioned the efficacy of the new EFD ambulance service that is being formed.
The fire union apparently declined to make an official endorsement.
Capone’s efforts to bring to the public the mayor’s longevity payment of $40,000 yearly, he is pressing the issue.
Capone has also expressed the desire to employ more police officers to deal with the realities caused by the city’s exploding population.
While the mayor continues a no prisoners taken scorched earth policy with rampant development throughout the neighborhoods, Capone’s is a more studied look at easing the pitfalls of over-development without stopping development.