Everett’s city council Monday night voted “no confidence” in the leadership of Mayor Carlo DeMaria and separately advanced a measure to set term limits for the office of mayor.
The unanimous no confidence vote was prompted by DeMaria’s refusal to pay back $180,000 in bonuses that the state inspector general found to be improper payments and that the city council demanded he return to the city treasury.
“My confidence in this administration is beyond shaken right now,” city councilor Robert Van Campen said, “You have to protect the public trust … and once it’s violated, hold those who violated it accountable.”
Council members briefly considered giving the mayor another chance to cooperate in returning the funds, but were ultimately persuaded to forge ahead by councilor Guerline Alcy Jabouin.
“He publicly said that he will not pay. I don’t think another week, another two weeks will make him think ‘oh maybe I can stop this madness, maybe I can stop dragging the city through the mud,’” said Alcy Jabouin.
Mayor DeMaria was not present at the meeting. In a Facebook post, the mayor called the “no confidence” vote “political theatrics.”
The city council also voted to eliminate “longevity bonuses” for elected officials, another recommendation from state Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro.
In February, Shapiro submitted his investigation , finding that DeMaria had worked with the city council to establish “longevity payments” to reward his years in office, received more money than he was due and concealed the overpayments from the council.
DeMaria is disputing the conclusions of the inspector general’s office, an independent agency that looks for fraud and waste in public spending. An attorney representing DeMaria has said he wants “due process” and a chance to challenge the findings.
The council also advanced a measure to set term limits for the office of mayor, a change that would ultimately need approval from the state legislature. Mayor DeMaria is now in his sixth term and is campaigning for re-election in November.
Everett’s city council previously tried to pass term limits in 2021 but it was blocked by DeMaria. City councilor Stephanie Martins, the council president, said it was necessary to reintroduce the measure in light of the battle over the bonus payments.
“It was previously vetoed by the mayor a couple of years ago, but it is extremely helpful to prevent issues such as what we are dealing with now,” Martins told GBH News.
Unlike in 2021, there are fewer members on the council who are outwardly supportive of the mayor, raising the prospect that a veto could be overridden.
The city council also took up the question of who is paying the legal bills for the mayor and his administration as they fight the inspector general’s findings. The council requested DeMaria’s administration provide copies of invoices for attorneys from the firms Paik Deal and Greenberg Traurig, who appeared on the mayor’s behalf at a council meeting earlier this month to dispute the inspector general’s findings.
City councilor Van Campen expressed regret at the amount of taxpayer money that will be spent to fight the mayor’s refusal to comply.
“This city has spent an exorbitant amount of money on legal fees over the last several years,” councilor Van Campen said, “and will unfortunately in this case will probably spend close to a million dollars in a fight over 180 thousand.”
