On Monday, June 24, during its last regularly scheduled Council meeting until the fall, Council discussed several issues relating to City governance. All Councilors were present except for Councilor John McKinnon, who had a prior engagement.
•Recognizing City Clerk
Councilor John Hanlon took a point of personal privilege to congratulate City Clerk Sergio Cornelio for having been appointed by the Massachusetts Town Clerks Association (MTCA) as a member of its Legislative Committee, which drafts the MTCA bylaws and writes opinions that go before the state legislature. Cornelio was also selected as one of three members of the MTCA Board of Directors and is currently serving as a lobbyist in the interests of the organization.
The councilman praised Cornelio for what he has been able to achieve in less than two years as City Clerk, adding that Cornelio is also the youngest clerk in the state.
“This is a proud moment for him, for the City of Everett and for the City Council,” he said.
•Approval of CIP Budget
On Monday, June 10, Council held a special meeting to hear a presentation by the administration on its Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) for Fiscal Year 2020, in which it requested a total of $16.4 million for general requests through bond authorization across the City’s Police, Planning & Development, DPW Facilities Maintenance and DPW Highway Departments, plus an additional $2.5 million annually for fiscal years 2020 to 2023 for water and sewer.
At the June 24 meeting, Council voted to approve all of the funding.
•Reappointment of CFO
Council voted unanimously to extend the appointment of Eric Demas as the City’s Chief Financial Officer and City Auditor for an additional three-year term ending in 2022. Councilors spoke in glowing terms about the CFO and his contribution to the city.
“This appointment is a gift to our community,” said Council Michael McLaughlin. “I could not be prouder to be voting in favor of this. I only wish [you] could have a lifetime position.”
Councilor Fred Capone called Demas “a tremendous asset for this community.”
“Mr. Demas is an absolute asset to this city and us,” Councilor Anthony DiPierro echoed. “I’d vote for you for a 30-year contract.”
•School Review Commission
The Council had previously invited Demas to appear at Monday’s meeting in order to update Council on any recommendations that have been made by the School Review Commission.
Demas told Council that a draft had been received and was currently being fact-checked. He reported that the Council should be receiving a copy of the recommendations sometime over the summer.
•Sale of Everett Memorial Stadium
Councilor Stephen Simonelli invited Mayor’s Chief of Staff Kevin O’Donnell to update Council on City’s sale of Everett Memorial Stadium.
Specifically, Councilors wanted to know how a sale of the stadium would affect the World War II memorial located out front. The monument features the names of Everett residents who fought and died in the second World War and Councilors want to ensure that it continues to be a well-maintained and easily accessible monument and point of community pride.
“The memorial is an important piece of this discussion,” said O’Donnell. “There are veterans here on this Council. I don’t think there’s anyone in this chamber that doesn’t have a family member that’s a veteran.
“If we’re going to go forward, I’m sure there’d be quite extensive conversations with respect to [the memorial],” he continued.
He also expressed that a robust community input process would be undertaken to determine any future development of the stadium. A plan is in the works to move the sports stadium from the Parkway to the new RiverGreen park on Air Force Road.