Editorials – Everett Leader Herald

Integrity

If Councillors Fred Capone and Gerly Adrien run for mayor, as we expect they will, the mayor will hard-pressed to account for his past actions and allegations of sexual harassment and alleged payoffs in return for municipal favors done during his twelve years in office.

In the present political and social environment, integrity, above all, is what ought to matter when it comes to who serves the people of the city in public office.

Popularity, too often, is the chief reason politicians are elected and re-elected over and over again.

In today’s highly polarized political environment, the political careers of some politicians and businessmen, and women can be ended in an instant without them stepping inside a courtroom.

Today, the public judges guilt and innocence by what is reported in the media or by the courts. Perception is everything.

The public and private lives of the president, governors, senators, congressmen, and mayors are scrutinized very closely these days.

It is the same with prominent businessmen and women.

We are on borrowed time

On March 22, the city council was informed by the fire chief that it was going to cost approximately $1.25 million to replace the aging arial Ladder 1, a 1995 Pierce heavy-duty ladder truck.

Aerial 1 is out of service.

The old Ladder 2 truck was sold many months back for $5,000.

This leaves only Aerial ladder 2 in working order. It is housed in the Ferry Street fire station.

Councilor Mike McLaughlin asked the chief to give an overview of the ladder truck situation.

“We are on borrowed time,” the chief replied.

Who is on borrowed time, we all should wonder?

Is it the people of Everett who rely on the rapid response of the fire department who are on borrowed time?

Is it the firefighters who need working equipment when it comes to matters of life and death when a building is on fire? The city has one aerial truck to rely on right now. The second ladder truck is out of service and so is virtually and physically useless.

A year lost is a year lost

Let’s face it, the school year 2020-2021 has been a bust. The pandemic ruined the year.

A year of personalized in-class learning was replaced with video learning. Never have we come to realize just how important in classroom teaching is to our children and the well-being of the Everett Public School System.

The year has essentially gone down the drain.

The disadvantages confronting students and teachers were manifold.

Nothing will be recovered by complaining about the year lost.

A year lost is a year lost. There is no way around minimizing such a loss.

Easter 2021

MARCH 19: Immaculate Conception church on Broadway. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

This Easter, more than any in modern world history, reflects the symbolic resurrection of the world coming out of the pandemic now.

The resurrection was preceded by 52 Black Fridays during March 2020 – March 2021.

The uplifting of the spirit that comes with Easter, following the low points of so many Black Fridays, cannot be overestimated this year.

The traditional belief is that Jesus was resurrected from the dead as the Son of God to grant Christians entrance into the kingdom of Heaven.

During these revisionist days when so many people have left religion for materialistic comforts, the resurrection of Jesus as a fact is left to scientific and ecclesiastical discussion among millions of believers.

You do not have to be Christian to celebrate Easter, to gain knowledge of the symbolic power of the Kingdom Jesus left to all of us, should we care to take it on as our own belief system.

Stop wasting money on Norwood St. sidewalks

MARCH 19: A streetlight and the steeple of Immaculate Conception on Broadway. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

The replacement of sidewalks on the right side of Norwood Street heading toward the square is a nice touch.

However, the redoing of sidewalks planned for the opposite side of Norwood Street is an incredible waste of money and symptomatic of the mayor’s mania to spend money when it is unnecessary to do so.

The mayor, we understand, cannot control himself when it comes to spending money, whether it is his own or the cities.

That’s a problem that needs looking into – not what he does with his own money – but rather, how he wastes the city’s money on projects like replacing sidewalks that are in perfect repair.

Who does such things when keeping cash on hand is so important to the city’s financial well-being?