Special to the Independent
Mayor Carlo DeMaria and his attorney have begun the process for a court ruling on the longevity bonuses that the mayor has received after the payments were approved by the Everett City Council in 2016.
According to a Boston Globe story, Attorney Leonard Kesten, representing DeMaria, was in Suffolk Superior Court Sept. 3 trying to resolve the issue. In that story, Kesten said DeMaria would return the money to the City of Everett if it was determined by a judge that the mayor’s interpretation of the ordinance was incorrect.
DeMaria believes the court will deem that his interpretation of the ordinance was lawful and that he is entitled to the bonuses.
“The attention of every public official should be on the needs of Everett families,” said DeMaria. “These last few months have shown that there is more interest in politics and not enough attention on the issues that impact the daily lives of residents. Our full attention has to be on the needs of our residents, so I am using private funds to prove once and for all that the longevity payments were lawful under the ordinance adopted by the City Council in 2016. I know I have done nothing wrong, and the court will confirm that. The court is the only place that will focus on just the facts and not politics.”
(Information from The Boston Globe was used in this story).