By Josh Resnek
A small crowd began collecting inside city hall on the first floor in front of the city clerk’s office a few minutes before balloting stations in the wards and precincts closed their books on the 2023 Primary.
By 8:30 p.m., as a succession of Everett police wheeled their ballot boxers down the hall before disappearing into the city clerk’s office, a crowd of about 25 men and women were engaged in full political discussions about the results that were to be released – which did not occur until 9:45 p.m.
Behind the wall of windows, inside the clerk’s office, where the Election Commission operates out of, Danielle Pietrantonio and her staff rushed about to collect the figures and with the aid of City Clerk Sergio Cornelio and several other election officials.
In the corridor, Councilor at Large Stephanie Smith had already collected preliminary figures, without early voting numbers, which she shared with nearly everyone hoping to know who won and who lost at the earliest time possible.
Among the small crowd sharing lively conversations were Senator Sal Didomenico and his son, former councilor and candidate Anthony DiPierro, candidate Holly Garcia, City Councilor John Hanlon, minus his favorite companion, his wife, who was in the hospital at the MGH, School committee hopeful Joseph D’Onofrio, Councilor at-Large candidate Joseph Pierotti and followers of the local political scene, in particular, Paula Steriti, Sandy Juliano, the well known Everett real estate broker and a small number of others who seem always to turn out at city hall on Primary night. Faces one expects to see on such a night.
Inside the election office, activity was frantic but controlled and at 9:15 p.m., everyone learned from an official: “The results will be out in ten or 15 minutes,” and they were.
And as quickly as the crowd appeared on the first floor of city hall…it disappeared into the Primary night.