By Stephen Pinto
The mess of finding additional school space (modular’s) has now been dumped in the mayor’s lap where it belongs.
Everett’s school mess has been years in the making as the administration turned a blind eye to overcrowding.
The administration was more focused on sucking up to Steve Wynn and building a casino than in eradicating overcrowding.
We were told by our politicians that Everett taxpayers basically struck gold with Wynn.
Well that couldn’t be further from the truth.
When you have to take $7 million dollars of free cash to hold the line on taxes you know something is wrong.
That $7 million dollars could be put to better use for so many other issues in the city.
I’ll say it again.
The City Councilors needs to do their job.
Cut wasteful spending.
Be a watchdog for the voters.
Check the mayor’s excesses.
Back to the school mess.
There is something dark and something possibly running deeper with regard to Pope John.
The mayor is adamant about not renovating Pope John to help relieve school overcrowding. His reason is: it cost too much.
A few years ago he paid $10 million taxpayer dollars to buy the Pope John property. And he was going to give the school away for free to a developer.
Sounds dark to me.
The mayor doesn’t have a real cost on what modulars will be to install at five schools.
They could easily run more than what it would cost to renovate Pope John.
Why not sell the old high school to a developer for housing needs and renovate Pope John?
Why disrupt and throw five schools into chaos trying to retrofit them with modular units? Some of our school grounds might not even be able to fit a modular unit.
But just about everyone finally caved in. Some of our politicians will tell you they did it for the students and want to move forward. And while that may be true for some, it’s not everyone. And we know who they are.
ing money to remain open. The mayor said nothing. The mayor did nothing. He never lifted a finger to try to help or offer support to try keep the school open.
Then he makes a very quiet (back door deal?) with the archdiocese to purchase the building.
It’s a dark subject no matter how you look at it. Like most political issues in Everett are dark.
But there are certain people that know all the behind the scene details. Peeling back this onion is a real scary thought. We’ve seen many previews over the years. And they are as ugly as they can get.
Legal fees, litigation, outside attorneys, sexual assaults both verbal and physical, NDA’s, insurance settlements, hidden camera’s, racism, DOJ investigation, missing council meeting tapes, possible blackmail, possible embezzlement and the famous proffer agreement. And just overall bad behavior by employees and politicians alike.
There is zero transparency and accountability.
The city hides the cost and the evidence. Taxpayers foot the bill. But cannot get to see what they are paying for.
Sounds a bit like communism to me.
When is the last time you can remember our city clerk and our mayor involved in a contentious lawsuit against each other? When is the last time you can remember a city councilor resigning because he was a racist? These are dark times in Everett. I’ve never seen a city in such chaos until Carlo became our mayor.
Is this the new Everett? I hope not.
But it certainly is a wakeup call for why we need more residents to vote and why we need term limits.
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Stephen Pinto comments on Everett political and life in the city. He is a longtime Everett resident.