Stephen Pinto – Everett Leader Herald

Running on Empty

By STEVEN PINTO

Clearly, Mayor DeMaria is not a proud and content mayor. He refuses to debate What is he afraid of? If he feels his accomplishments are so wonderful then why won’t he debate?

We have a mayor that is afraid to debate. If you want respect and want to act like a big city mayor then you must debate. This country was built on debating and still is.

A mayor that disbanded the library board of trustees. He gave these jobs to his friends and family.

A mayor that was accused of sexual misconduct.

A mayor that allowed ECTV to supposedly get hacked. Allowing the theft of a disgusting racially charged council meeting tape. A meeting where councilors openly attacked Gerly Adrien.

A mayor that laid out ten million to purchase Pope John. Not even telling anyone he wanted to do this. And he had no documentation discussing the purchase with the Archdiocese of Boston. According to the mayor, it was all verbal. That is a scary thought.

A mayor that wants to remove the new school superintendent. The mayor feels that Pryia Tahiliani has three strikes against her. One is being a woman. The second is her race. The third is she won’t put up with his BS.

A mayor who has utter contempt for his opponent Gerly Adrien. For the same reasons, he dislikes Pryia Tahiliani.

A mayor that had to be deposed by the FBI over the shady casino land deal.

Everett missed the boat on a new school, council oblivious to homelessness

By STEPHEN PINTO

Everett needed a new school five years ago. Now it’s going to take five years to have a new school approved and longer than that to get it built.

That puts Everett ten years behind the education process. Everett residents could easily be on the hook to repay 90 mil- lion or more in taxes for their share of a new school.

Especially with cost overruns and delays, the payback could be much higher.
This is a common occurrence when faced with a $400 million project of this size. But more so especially if you hire the wrong contractors.

The city could have easily saved tens of millions of dollars if they built a school five years ago.

I guess our politician’s main concern was building a casino instead. After all, how could the mayor award himself a 232k salary without the casino?

He needed casino dollars for that.

A debt I can never repay

Author thanks first responders for saving his life

By STEPHEN PINTO

Saturday, March 20th began like any other Saturday during a year of COVID.

I made breakfast for my mother.

APRIL 5: Everett Fire Engine 3 responds to a call. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

I made certain she had her morning medications. I helped my mom to get dressed and to be ready for the day.

A few days before, on the 16th of March, she turned 94 years.

I poured myself a cup of coffee and I ate some buttered toast.

My appetite didn’t feel too hearty that day less than one month ago.

Later that morning, I was feeling sick to my stomach.

I didn’t know really what to do. I went back to bed.

Thinking out loud

By STEPHEN PINTO

What does transitioning the Everett Fire Department mean? What is the mayor trying to do with the Fire Department? Why isn’t the Fire Chief resisting the change?
Reduction in staffing instead of hiring as promised? Closing stations?

Not purchasing or upgrading equipment or stations? Slower response time?
What effect if any would it have on mutual aid? Reduction or longer wait times for inspections? Putting lives at risk?

One slow year in fatal fires is great news but it should not automatically result in cutbacks or changes in operation.

If we turn our back on the fire department, there will be fatalities and injuries.

A city with a growing population and housing is not the time to take chances.

Too many Everett homes are built close together, easily allowing a fire to spread.

If we have firehouses responding to multiple injury or illness calls. what happens if a major fire were to then break out in the city? What if a second broke out at the same time? Ambulance calls can easily take up to twenty-thirty minutes while the patient is being assessed.

Has our image, reputation been tainted?

By STEPHEN PINTO

Interesting how the administration is having trouble attracting qualified professional people to fill top city jobs.

Has the word been passed around to stay clear of Everett and the current mayor?

Is this possible?

Yes, it is.

It is more than possible. It is likely.

We need someone to head the library system.

We need a planning board director.

We are missing a Director of Elections during, of all years, a citywide election year.

This position is absolutely crucial.

We also lost the head of engineering who also was in charge of the DPW.

He has been replaced but that was in-house. No search necessary.