By Stephen Pinto
The city council appears to be waffling on the mayor’s longevity.
Monday night’s meeting was a farce.
Now we must wait until Thursday for the council to hopefully strip the mayor of much of the longevity.
By paying the mayor any longevity rewards the mayor for mishandling taxpayer money.
The mayor knowingly took 190k of taxpayer money even though he wasn’t entitled to it. And he knows this, as any of us would know this if we found an extra $40,000 a year in our checking accounts when we knew it shouldn’t be there.
The mayor and Chief Financial Officer Eric Demas – a true master of deceit – made certain these funds were not made public in the budget.
Demas told the council recently, “the mayor never asked me to do anything.”
I get that. Does the council get that? I don’t think so.
Demas told us he did this on his own – but when the mayor found an extra $40,000 in his account he did not question it – and why should he have? No one knew he was being paid that money because it wasn’t listed anywhere the public could find it.
Demas and the mayor duped the hapless city council.
The mayor knew the city council wouldn’t care.
The city council still doesn’t care.
Kudos to Demas for his outstanding bookkeeping practices. In my book his tampering with the city’s books amounts to criminal behavior.
And now the council is going to reward the mayor for it? Isn’t it nice to take money that doesn’t belong to you only to be rewarded for doing so.
What happened to our city council? What happened to right vs wrong?
What happened to good vs evil?
Elected officials should not even consider getting longevity pay.
This mayor has already received numerous pay increases. The mayor also receives cost of living increases. He also receives travel expenses and a car allowance and unlimited vacation pay. What gives the council the right to be so carefree with taxpayer money?
Taxpayers are voters. We need to fight for what’s right. If we don’t before you know it other elected officials will start demanding longevity pay. And if one gets it then they all should.
Where does it end?
It ends with voters sending a strong message to our elected officials.
Enough is enough. Time to put our elected officials on the unemployment line.
What’s wrong with these people?
What is the mayor feeding them?
No longevity pay for any elected officials.
Stop rewarding criminal behavior.
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Stephen Pinto comments on politics and Everett issues. He is a longtime resident of Everett.