Mayor Carlo DeMaria’s salary is an outrage.
The city council’s acceptance of his salary and its endorsement and approval is also an outrage.
The mayor makes more than the mayor of Boston and the mayor of Springfield and Worcester…and more than every mayor in the state of Massachusetts.
The mayor’s salary here is also OK’d by the city’s officious CFO Eric Demas.
It is believed Demas, the architect of the award winning city budget, is the architect of the $40,000 a year longevity payment to the mayor.
Demas and the budget creators have somehow managed to have the payment made to the mayor without making the record of it accessible to the public in the city budget.
Such a public accounting move in a Massachusetts municipality is truly award winning.
Nearly everyone inside city government and out understands the city charter intended the payment to be $2,500 each year for every term served by a mayor.
The mayor has received $160,000 in longevity payments during the past four years.
According to his cousin, Councilor Anthony DiPierro, nothing can be done to change this even if the council wanted to until four more years have passed.
In other words, the city government can take it up in four years, after the mayor has received an additional $160,000. This is pure rubbish and DiPierro and his colleagues know this.
DiPierro’s audacity in favor of his family member is reminiscent of how things went in Chelsea shortly before that city was sent into receivership by the state in the early 1990’s.
Councilor Rosa DiFlorio’s utter and complete ignorance about what the mayor is being paid is an embarrassment to city government.
She spoke at Monday night’s council meeting and boldly and angrily told her colleagues that DeMaria is getting paid what everyone gets paid as mayor.
With all due respect, she had no idea what she was talking about.
She said she believed the mayor was being paid $10,000 a year longevity when he is being paid $40,000 a year in longevity.
DiFlorio should get her figures straight. She needs to be slightly more accurate when supporting the mayor’s fleecing of Everett’s taxpayers.
She said a study should be done.
We would direct her to read the front page Boston Globe piece which we have reprinted in today’s edition which details the ugliness and the reality of the mayor receiving $40,000 a year more than he should be receiving.
If a study is done, it should be about councilors like DiPierro and DiFlorio supporting the mayor’s longevity when it is nothing but a fleecing of the taxpayers.
But for one or two lonely voices on the council, there is little to no interest nor the will to alter, reduce, change or strike the $40,000 a year longevity giveaway to the mayor.
The only voice in the darkness Monday night was Councilor Mike Marchese.
He suggested that the questions about the mayor’s $40,000 a year longevity payment should go to the Attorney General.
We agree.
Law enforcement should look at the city budget and the $40,000 a year payment.
Until such a look is taken and a legal ruling made, the $40,000 a year longevity payment to the mayor will go on and on, and presumably, will grow larger and larger.
To what end?