City Council Votes Against Housing Inspection Change in Second Ruling

In a turnaround from the last Council meeting, the majority of councilors on Nov. 13 were opposed to an amendment offered by Councilor Mike Marchese during Tuesday evening’s Council Meeting regarding a change in the housing inspection ordinance.

Marchese’s change passed the Council during the last meeting, and involved changing the word ‘must’ to ‘may’ so that the inspections for an occupancy permit became voluntary. After the vote, City Departments and Fire Chief Tony Carli sounded off on the change, saying it created a dangerous situation.

The ordinance states that the owner must request a legal use of status from the Building Department of the City of Everett.  Marchese proposed that property owners may allow inspection of a tenant’s unit as opposed to it being mandated.

While Councilor Anthony DiPierro expressed the desire to discuss the matter further, the vote proceeded without continued discussion, being defeated 3-7.

Councilors Mike Marchese, Wayne Matewsky, and Leo McKinnon were the only officials in favor of the amendment.

  • Meanwhile, the City Council officially approved the $2.5 million Chapter 70 funding on Tuesday evening, Nov 13, with a vote of 8-3.

The money has caused much debate since Sen. Sal DiDomenico’s efforts to obtain it in the State House came to fruition. Initially, Mayor Carlo DeMaria expressed wanting to use the funding to offset taxes throughout the city. In a previous School Committee meeting, Sen. Sal DiDomenico stressed the importance of allocating the money to the schools specifically in order to maintain a positive reputation going forward for Everett’s benefit in the State House.

Ultimately, Mayor DeMaria agreed that the money should be allotted to the school in order to hire teachers and staff to reduce the amount of students in overcrowded classrooms.

During the meeting, the vote proceeded swiftly without discussion.

In addition to opposition from Councilor Steve Simonelli, Councilors Fred Capone and Mike McLaughlin opposed the vote in favor of further discussing the matter on the floor.

Councilor Rosa DiFlorio stressed that the matter has already been discussed extensively, and ultimately, the majority of the council agreed to approve the money.

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