By Stephen Pinto
Too bad School Committeeman Mike McLaughlin wasn’t as aggressive as a councillor as he tries to appear to be as a school committee member.
But he grew increasingly afraid of Carlo and now Carlo owns him. He was so afraid that he refused to vote on the mayor’s longevity bonus while still a councilor.
Jeannie Cristiano is out to make things as tough as possible for Superintendent of Schools Priya Tahiliani.
If she and McLaughlin wore a DeMaria mask you’d swear it was his words they were speak- ing.
They all need schooling and legal directives on how to be a school committee member.
Especially when it comes to what the rules and policies are and what their obligations legally are.
When Frederick F. Foresteire was superintendent, McLaughlin had nothing but praise for the Everett Public Schools. He wouldn’t say boo to FFF. He always supported FFF and the committee. Now he’s clearly on a mission to tear it completely down.
He has become, to my dismay, and to the dismay of many others, just another tool for the mayor in that inner circle who are afraid of a strong independent woman of color like Tahiliani.
Cristiano will not fall on the sword for the mayor. She’s smarter than that – and besides – she’s got a great reputation in the city she does not want to ruin.
I’m not really sure what and who Cristiano represents.
Carlo’s attempt to take over the school committee will destroy EPS and is giving Everett another black eye.
About the longevity payment to the mayor – now we have four councilors that believe the mayor deserves a 40,000 a year longevity payment when he should be legally receiving $2,500. At least some sanity has been shown by the council which voted to reduce the mayor’s longevity payment to $1,700.
Councilors Anthony Dipierro, Richie Dell Isola and Alfred Lattanzi Lattanzi believe the mayor is being cheated out of what he is owed for being mayor. Maybe if each of them feels so strongly about this, they should give the mayor a check for $10,000 from their own checking accounts.
Many residents are up in arms and growing vocal over backroom deals like the mayor’s longevity payment and the effort to stack the school committee with DeMaria votes.
Lattanzi believes the casino is a great cash register for Everett. I haven’t seen many rewards for Everett so far.
Every host agreement payment has only been used to stabilize the tax rate.
Taxes certainly haven’t decreased in such a way as residents were led to believe they would. Between the casino and all the new growth we experienced, taxes should be lower than any community in the state of Massachusetts.
Instead, we have the highest paid mayor in the state, higher than the mayor of Boston!
Everett was also short changed by Wynn. The host agreement is minimal as to what it could have been.
And it was the Everett residents that approved the casino. The mayor was not the only driving force.
In fact Everett was Wynn’s third choice. He was turned down in two other locations before he settled for Everett.
And now the casino is turning out to be a black eye for Everett. It actually was from its conception. Lawsuits over suspicious land deals. Rumors of payoffs. And sexual harassment. But that’s politics I guess. And it’s now a hotbed of criminal activity. Much of which gets buried and we never hear about.
Lattanzi talks as if the mayor should be canonized because of the casino. Yet practically the entire Lattanzi family are now living off Everett taxpayers. Maybe that’s why he believes the mayor should be entitled to a $40,000 a year bonus.
Maybe as a newly elected councilor Lattanzi and Irene Cardillo should find out why Everett taxes are still as high as they are. Budget time will be very interesting. It’s time for these fakers to serve their constituents and not just one person.
Everett residents are starting to stand up and call for an end to injustice.
We all need to fight for what we believe is right when our elected public officials are unable or unwilling to do this.
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Stephen Pinto comments on politics and Everett issues. He is a longtime resident of Everett.