Stephanie Martins – Everett Leader Herald

“I’m not going to renovate Pope John”

Mayor changes his mind opts out of Pope John

By Josh Resnek

Mayor Carlo DeMaria rejected the need for Pope John to be rehabbed into classroom space Monday night in a surprise announcement to the city council.

He told the city council unequivocally, he will not allow the Pope John rehab to be done.

He reversed his public promise to abide by the wishes of the city council to rehab the former Pope John High School to relieve overcrowding in the public schools.

The mayor revealed no work is being done on an RFP for Pope John.

He rejected the widely held belief that overcrowding relief was needed post haste. He reinforced that mindset by reminding the city council that overcrowding is a problem everywhere in Gateway City public schools. He said class sizes were larger when he went to public school in Everett more than 35 years ago.

Everett’s public schools are 84% Black, Brown and Hispanic in a city where the lack of racial equity is now being investigated by the US Attorney’s office and the Department of Justice.

“We need something right now,” Councilor Stephanie Smith told the mayor during a strained exchange.

“Another school is a necessity,” she repeated to the mayor.

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Lease For Devens School Discussed; Possible Purchase Of Building, Too

By Josh Resnek

School Department officials discussed with the city council the improbabilities about the future of the Devens School on Church Street.

It was sold some years back to an investor by the city council for $960,000. Now the city is believed to be considering buying it back at a cost of anywhere from $10-$15 million.

The School Department lease of the two story brick structure which serves as a school for some of the system’s most challenged students ends in 2023.

Presently, the lease is $580,000 a year.

According to school officials Dr. Brian Wallace and Superintendent Priya Tahiliani, the owner apparently has indicated he would like to sell the property back to the city or to develop it, or to renew the lease with the School Department, but very likely at a much higher monthly rent.

‘The owner wants to engage in a discussion about a new lease,” Tahiliani repeated to the council.

She said she did not know what kind of numbers the owner was suggesting for a renewal and hesitated from making assumptions before discussions had taken place.

Several councilors wondered if the city should buy the property back.

It was sold about twelve years ago for $960,000 – a sale engineered and approved by the city council.

Buying the property back could cost the city in the $10M TO $15M range Councilor Mike Marchese estimated.

“Why was it sold to begin with?” Councilor Stephanie Martins wanted to know.

“I’m for buying it back. We need the space but why was it sold?”

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Martin’s Effort To Indict Marchese Fails; She Misled Her Colleagues

By Josh Resnek

Three councilors misled by Councilor Stephanie Martins on a measure intended to embarrass Councilor Mike Marchese asked for their names to be removed from a Martins initiative to condemn Marchese to take the heat off her boyfriend, Councilor Anthony DiPierro.

Councilors Stephanie Smith, Irene Cardillo and Richard Dell Isola made the unusual request to have their names stricken from Martins measure after voicing complaints it did not fit their view of the situation.

Martins was attempting to drag her colleagues unwittingly into a trap she set to take the heat off DiPierro by pretending to mount an assault on racism.

The council couple has been romantically involved for about six months.

To date, Martins has chosen not to comment publicly regarding DiPierro’s racist anti-Black memes, revealed by the Leader Herald and written about widely in the Boston Globe and revealed on television stations and at GBH.

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A Big and Messy Course Correction

The meeting of the city council Monday night points to a city that is careening toward rock bottom. Probably a hard but necessary part of the metamorphosis, as Everett’s leadership ecosystem cleanses itself. It’s a divided place, with one half clamoring for real representation and ombudsmanship and the other happy and willing to pawn the mayor off as a Fortune 500 CEO whose earning power is so great as to make a potentially illegal longevity payment nothing more than another Christmas wreath on Broadway.

The Good Side is fronted by Stephanie Smith, whose only motivation appears to be that she doesn’t want to sound, or vote, like a complete and utter pawn in the mayor’s rigged chess game. She represents the Everett that we all know to be decent, street smart, and hard working. She belongs to that large group who will call an oil slick an oil slick, even if the administration takes to Facebook to label it a rainbow. She gets from A to B real quick, and her reasoned brevity might end being the biggest adversary the mayor’s office has ever faced. Stephanie Martins revealed that she is not owned by the mayor and that in this case, she did what was right and just for the people.

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Martins to host re-election kickoff party

Councilor Stephanie Martins takes the oath of office during the City of Everett’s 2020 Inaugural Ceremonies at City Hall on Monday January 6, 2020. (File photo by Joseph Prezioso)

Councilor Stephanie Martins invites residents to a virtual birthday celebration and re-election Kick-Off

Steph is turning 33!

You are invited to join a virtual reception via Zoom on April 6 at 6:30 PM to wish Steph a happy birthday and support her re-election campaign.

Steph has been working non-stop putting the people of Everett first. With your contribution, she will be able to buy the materials necessary to spread her message to our voters.

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