City Council President Robert Van Campen has implemented a change in the location from which speakers on matters before the Council will deliver their remarks.
At Monday’s meeting, the first of his term as the new president, Van Campen asked that speakers deliver their remarks from the podium at the front of the chambers as opposed to the desk located inside the Council seating area.
Erin Deveney, Chief of Staff to Mayor Carlo DeMaria, was one of the first speakers to address the audience from the podium when she gave a thorough explanation of the mission of the Everett Fire Victims Fund at the request of City Councilor Peter Pietrantonio.
Van Campen has reasoned that all Council business-related speakers should be facing the audience while delivering remarks. In the past, speakers would have their backs to the audience in the Chambers.
It was an impressive debut for Van Campen, who graciously recognized the freshman councilors who were participating in the Council’s first full meeting of the new year.
And in a nice gesture that did not unnoticed, Van Campen accorded new Everett Police Officer Kevin Pereira the honor of sitting in the president’s chair during the traditional photo following Pereira’s oath-taking ceremony.