At a special meeting of the City Council held this past Thursday, the council took the step of enrolling a new ordinance that will clarify the issue of longevity pay for the office of mayor.
The council voted 6-5 in favor of the measure, which had been proposed by Councilor Anthony DiPierro.
Enrollment is the formal term for the first step of a two-step process by which the City Council approves new city ordinances.
Before the vote, several members of the public in attendance voiced their opposition to the ordinance.
Sandra Juliano, the owner of JRS Properties, told councillors that she was opposed to the longevity bonus.
John Puopolo said, “I would like to see a ‘no’ vote on longevity.”
Before the vote, Councilor Jimmy Tri Le noted that the longevity bonuses that had been already paid in previous years have been sent to state authorities to render a legal opinion as to whether the bonuses collected over the last few years were appropriate.
Councilor Anthony DiPierro, the sponsor of the enrolled ordinance, noted that Mayor Carlo DeMaria is a five-term mayor and has been elected to various offices for more than 28 years.
“I believe that a five-term mayor is worth more than a one-term mayor,” DiPierro told his colleagues. He also noted that the City Clerk, Assistant City Clerk, and the Council Legislative Aide can earn up to $5,000 in longevity bonuses per year.
DiPierro noted that the mayoral offcie’s longevity pay is less than these figures.
The full text of the ordinance, by Councilor Anthony DiPierro, that was put forth and approved reads as follows:
AN ORDINANCE REDEFINING THE MAYOR’S ANNUAL LONGEVITY BONUS PAYMENT
Whereas: The interpretation of the current ordinance governing the mayor’s annual longevity bonus payment has come under dispute; and
Whereas: Clarification of said ordinance is necessary to bring it into line with what a consensus believes was the original intent of said ordinance.
Now, therefore, by the authority granted to the City Council of the City of Everett, Massachusetts to make ordinances:
Be it Ordained by the City Council of the City of Everett, Massachusetts that the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett be amended as follows:
Section 7-167 of the Revised Ordinances of the City of Everett is hereby amended by deleting the entire current text of said section and replacing it with the following new text.
(a)On the first business day following January 14 of each year, the city shall pay any person currently serving in the office of mayor an annual longevity bonus of two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) if such person has four (4) or more years of current consecutive service in said office.
(b)In 2022, the first year of the implementation of this version of this section, the payment date of the current mayor’s annual longevity bonus shall be the business day following the effective date of this new version of the section.
This ordinance shall take effect upon passage by the City Council and subsequent approval by His Honor the Mayor.
The ordinance was approved with councillors Hanlon, DellIsola, Martins, Lattanzi, DiPierro, and Cardillo voting in favor. Council members Tri Lee, Marchese, Nguyen, Matewsky, and Smith voted against.
The second step in the process of approving an ordinance will be taken up at the March 14 meeting of the City Council.