Everett is Overcrowded and over Budget

A resolution offered by Aldermen Mike Marchese and Sal Sachetta demanding that department heads should not overspend their accounts was referred back to committee Monday evening at the Aldermanic meeting.

The resolution, a veiled attempt at stopping spending for the public schools – spending which is mandated and required by three state and federal government, sought to stop department heads from asking for more money as well as putting into effect a system of accounting that requires the mayor’s office to provide monthly burn rates, that is spending rates, for every department, including the schools and city council members as well.

The motion reads thusly:”That no department head, including Mayor and Superintendent of Schools, shall not come looking for additional monies in the event they overspend their budgets, and that cuts automatically are to be made to respected budgets except for natural disasters like snow removal, with a recommendation to refer back to Sponsor with a further recommendation to request that the Mayor’s office provide the monthly burn rates for all City departments including the Schools to members of the City Council.”

There has been a recent concern about the overspending of Everett’s public school budget, as a consequence of a growing student population. Aldermen Marchese and Sanchetta advised that the budget should be looked at closely in order to see where the money is being spent, and what cuts can be made.

“They should be staying within their budget,” Marchese said. Sanchetta agreed, adding that, “Department heads shouldn’t be overspending their budget, and if they do, it should be in a dire emergency.”

The issue was referred back to Sponsor, and the board moved on to the unfinished business of the city’s overcrowding situation. Aldermen Robert Van Campen, Mike Marchese and Sal Sachetta proposed that in order to properly address the impacts of residential overcrowding and its impact on already strained city services, that the city of Everett should enact a moratorium on the issuance of permits for any new residential development for one year, and link the moratorium to a study of the city’s longterm housing needs.

“We can’t meet the demand to create more housing,” Van Campen said. “I think we should be limiting housing in Everett, not expanding it. We need to look at a limit on this activity,” he added.

However, setting limits on the public school population is an impossibility. No such limit can be put into effect. It would be patently illegal.

Stopping development to stop school population expansion is another impossibility.

Although it would be unfavorable to stop all development, board members were in concurrence that a plan to study a more corrective way of providing housing needs for the city should be enacted, and the order was referred to the Finance Committee where a more thorough plan will develop.

The city of Everett is constantly evolving, and the Board of Aldermen help mediate its progress. But sometimes, it’s nice when certain things stay the same, such as the re-appointment of city officials who keep doing right by Everett and its citizens. At the Board of Aldermen meeting, Nancy Koury was re-appointed to the Planning Board for a term to end in March of 2018. Fred Cafasso was also re-appointed to the Planning Board for a five-year term, and Steven A. Mazzie was re-appointed as the Chief of the Everett Police Department for a term of three years. Everett is a great city because of people like them who continue to make it a great city.

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