Editorials – Everett Leader Herald

Political signs should be banned

Political signs stand tall on Everett homefronts. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

Many communities who regard political signage with disdain have banned outdoor political signage.

Everett ought to seriously think about doing the same.

The city is coming to take on the look and feel of a political sign receptacle.

The mayor’s over-the-top outdoor signage is typical of his arrogant and outlandish behavior. He’d like to see a DeMaria sign on every home and apartment house in the city.

Capone and Adrien have intensified their outdoor signage efforts, so they don’t appear outdistanced by the mayor.

The sign wars are a waste of time and energy.

Over-development

There isn’t a homeowner in the city or an apartment dweller who isn’t inconvenienced in their lives by the over-development now taking place in every neighborhood in the city.

Capone spoke about this during a campaign rally Saturday.

He said the over-development needs to be controlled.

He is spot on about this.

If it cannot be controlled, then it needs to be guided by the mayor, or better yet, by someone interested in the well-being and the future of the city rather than an elected public official looking for quid pro quos at every corner, and on every street from developers looking to make a buck off the back of the city and its quality of life.

Development is important.

City hall employees deserve a break

Since Carlo DeMaria became the mayor, city hall employees have been required to hold signs for him, to wear his bumper stickers on their automobile biles, to plant his signs in front of their homes, and to make contributions once or twice a year.

For what?

To keep the mayor from firing them, demoting them, castigating them, and making their work lives miserable.

If you don’t work at Everett City Hall it is difficult to imagine the requirements that must be met to keep the may- or from taking their jobs away from them and ruining their lives.

City hall employees have already received their marching orders.

When they are ordered to hold signs, there is no way out.

Doesn’t matter if you have something to do with your kids or your parents, or a summer activity, you must show up to hold a sign or go door to door handing out literature or you could be fired or disciplined.

This is a way of life that has come to pass here that is not just against all the rules of civility but is against the law.

Donating to the mayor’s campaigns because you hold a city job is a requirement here. It has been for 14 years.

Which will it be?

This election year is quite like no other that has come before.

This election is appearing more complicated and filled with unknowns.

There are many new facts of the matter to discuss about where the city is heading and whether or not change is in the air or that nothing is going to change.

This is what the political experts in this city are all discussing among themselves when the topic arises.

Every election is idiosyncratic, that is to say, each election has an energy of its own.

A city election 20 years ago is as different from the election coming up as the city’s population make-up compared with that of 20 years ago.

The comparison is that of night and day.

Senator Sal on National Task Force

Senator Sal DiDomenico has been chosen by the National Council of State Governments to serve on their 2021-22 Healthy States National Task Force. This is a bipartisan group of state leaders from all three branches of government tasked with providing resources and recommendations for state governments on how to best address current state challenges, including those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Members include State Senators, State Representatives, Lieutenant Governors, Secretaries of State, and Judges from throughout the United States and U.S. Territories. The National Task Force will focus on four key policy areas during this two- year process to provide states a holistic policy strategy for their shared challenges.