After many years of criticism of his father and his family, Carlo R. DeMaria, the son of Mayor Carlo DeMaria, wasn’t surprised when there was negative speculation after he received a gift from a family friend and his confirmation sponsor recently.
As reported on June 24, the large basketball net that was in front of the DeMaria family home was given to Carlo Jr. because of his passion for the sport of basketball. This net was never intended to be a “gift to the City of Everett,” but rather it was meant to be a personal gift to Carlo Jr. After many misconceptions and rumors stewed around the gift, he decided that, rather than have his family face controversy, he would donate the hoop.
“It really began to bother me when people started driving by my house to look at the hoop. Some of them stopped and looked at us funny and at first I couldn’t figure out why. Then I realized it had to be because of the net. The lies in the story were bad enough, but strangers coming by my house to look at a gift I received even after I made the decision to donate it made me really uncomfortable,” said Carlo R. DeMaria.
After all the unnecessary commotion, young Carlo called Steve Kergo, the Executive Director of the Everett Housing Authority, to see if they would accept his donation of the hoop. Kergo was more than pleased to accept the gift on behalf of the Authority.
“The Everett Housing Authority is very appreciative of the donation of the basketball hoop from Carlo. I believe it will bring many hours of enjoyment to the youth in the Development,” said Kergo.
“Being an elected official, especially Mayor, you are consistently under a microscope. The net was a personal gift to my son, not to the City of Everett. Carlo made the decision to donate the net which I commend him for,” said Mayor DeMaria.
The Housing Authority is still deciding on an exact location to house the basketball net. Wherever it will be, Carlo Jr. said he hopes the residents of the Veteran’s Family Housing Development will enjoy it.