The city’s Chief Financial Officer Eric Demas and City Solicitor Colleen Mejia should both be called before the city council and questioned aggressively about the $180,000 the mayor received under the disguise of a longevity payment that was not included in public editions of the city’s award winning budget.
In other words, the payment of $40,000 a year to the mayor was a sneak payment that might have gone on for quite some time had not former Councilor at Large Gerly Adrien revealed it during last year’s mayoral election.
Award winning budgets do not include hidden $40,000 yearly longevity payments that should have been $2,500 yearly.
When asked about them, the city solicitor not only told the council it was legal and just but that the city was required to make such a payment.
Such tainted and flawed legal reasoning from a member of the bar is frankly incomprehensible given the reality of the situation.
We wonder what the Board of Bar Overseers would ask Mejia if she was made to appear before them?
We wonder if they might ask her if she understands the difference between $2,500 a year and $40,000 a year, and then they might ask her if she was concerned it wasn’t listed in the city budget – a small matter for Everett’s city solicitor.
Such an appearance before the Board of Bar Overseers would justifiably petrify Mejia, who really should know better than to do the mayor’s bidding with such blind enthusiasm.
Demas is not a lawyer. He’s supposed to be a trained accountant.
What trained accountant knowingly hides or mistakenly leaves out a $40,000 yearly payment to the mayor he is working for?
We know what kind of accountant does such a thing, and Demas is just that type of accountant.
He is another one paid by the mayor to do things that are not quite what they should be in the hope and the belief no one will be smart enough to notice.
Dermas cannot be trusted to be the architect of the city budget.
No CFO who hides a $40,000 yearly payment to the mayor that shouldn’t be made should be this city’s CFO or any city’s CFO.
Maybe the council should ask Mejia for a ruling on Demas’ action hiding the mayor’s longevity payment of $40,000 a year.
Here’s what she would likely say:
“Not only should the mayor receive the $40,000 but he should be receiving more than that.”
Councilor Al Lattanzi would agree.
Councilor Anthony DiPierro would also agree.
Councilor Richie Dell Isola would plead to the crowd that he is confused, and then he would agree.