“Look into the mayor’s longevity payments, please.”
By Josh Resnek
The city council wants answers from State Attorney General Maura Healey about the mayor’s questionable $40,000 a year longevity payments.
“This letter is a request that was made at our December 13th Council meeting for your office to look into the longevity bonus the Mayor of Everett is receiving,” wrote City Clerk Sergio Cornelio to the Attorney General.
“The City Council discussed an ordinance to delete longevity for the Office of the Mayor at the December 13th council meeting and the ordinance failed to pass. The members who asked for the deletion of the ordinance believe that the ordinance, which was passed in 2016, is being incorrectly interpreted and that the mayor has been receiving a larger amount and more frequent payments than is allowed by said ordinance,” Cornelio wrote.
The letter was signed by Councilor at Large Mike Marchese on behalf of the city council.
Cornelio counter signed the request. As the city clerk, and the official clerk for the city council, Cornelio was required to do so.
Marchese and several of his colleagues, including Fred Capone, expressed outrage about the mayor receiving a $40,000 a year longevity payment when he and other councilors believe it should be $2,500.
“This is not about the mayor personally. It is about what is right,” Marchese told the Leader Herald.
“Plain and simple, the mayor shouldn’t be getting $40,000 a year for a longevity payment. It should be $2,500 a year. This payment is not noted in the city budget. If it is not noted in the city budget, a back door bonus such as he is receiving isn’t right,” Marchese added.
Marchese believes the mayor has abused the longevity payment.
“It should be eliminated,” Marchese added.
Whether or not the Attorney General will reply to the city council’s request is a question mark.
The council made it evident at its last meeting discussing the longevity payment issue that a higher authority was needed to determine what the mayor should be receiving and whether or not he should be forced to pay back what he has already received – which is about $190,000.
At the council meeting Monday night, the mayor issued an announcement that he will not be taking the longevity payment in January until such time as the council decides what it is going to do.