Everett is going to investigate every payment made to its mayor since 2016

Local News

The move comes after an investigation uncovered overpayments to Mayor Carlo DeMaria of $180,000.

Everett city councilors passed a slew of ordinances on Monday evening to reign in longtime Mayor Carlo DeMaria, who refuses to return $180,000 in allegedly overpaid longevity payments. 

The council voted to abolish the city’s longevity bonus ordinance, hire an independent auditing firm to examine payments to the the mayor over the last nine years, and demand that the mayor stop using city funds to pay for lawyers to challenge the state investigator’s findings regarding the longevity payments.

The councilors also convened in executive session to discuss strategies and anticipated litigation with the mayor. 

“I don’t care for the way he’s treating us. The taxpayers of Everett have a right to know what went where,” resident Mary Frontin said during a public comment. “Where’d the money go? There’s a lot we need to find out in an audit. Please do it.” 

On Feb. 27, the Office of Inspector General informed the city council that DeMaria’s administration misapplied the mayoral longevity ordinance, resulting in the city overpaying him $180,000.

From the investigation, the council learned that the mayor and his administration apparently concealed the payments from the City Council and the public. In addition, the report found that the city improperly paid the mayor $30,000 in retroactive longevity payments before getting the council’s approval. 

The OIG office’s report recommended that the City Council conduct an audit, recover the overpayments, and eliminate the longevity payments to elected officials. 

DeMaria has publicly stated that he would not return the money until he received “due process.”

Despite losing the confidence of the council, DeMaria announced last week that he would run for re-election during the November city election. Voters first elected him to the position in 2007. 

The Monday evening agenda had numerous line items aimed at returning the money to the city, preventing future fraud, and determining whether the mayor was using other city funds for his benefit. 

The councilors voted to hire an independent auditor to examine all payments made to DeMaria from Jan. 1, 2016, to the present. 

The councilors also voted to remove the longevity payment ordinance, clarifying that no elected official will receive longevity payments moving forward and that no one, except the mayor, would have to pay back longevity payments already made. 

In addition, the council voted to require the city’s finance team to undergo specialized training related to their fiduciary duties. 

The council also voted in favor of a resolution to “cease and desist” DeMaria’s use of public funds to challenge the OIG’s findings and recommendations. 

DeMaria’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the council’s actions.

Special counsel Christopher Petrini, advising the council, noted that it became clear at the March 4 meeting that the mayor had attorneys advocating for his personal and financial interests rather than the interests of the overall community.

Petrini said state law directs city funds to support the public, not private interests.

When the OIG report came out in February, Petrini said there was a “crossing of the Rubicon,” a “sea change” in which it was no longer proper for the mayor to use city funds to pay for his lawyers who were “adverse” to the city and the state agency. 

Petrini said they are investigating whether the mayor used city funds to pay for the lawyers since 2022.

Councilor Stephanie Smith, who chairs the city’s Ways and Means Committee, told the council that the law firm Young Paik billed the city $14,000 to represent the mayor at the March 4 meeting. The city has not paid the bill yet, she said. 

Smith also listed seven law firms the city hired in the past year for various uses, including for counsel on how to respond to the OIG report. 

“It’s scary what we pay out for law firms,” said Councilor Peter Pietrantonio. “Seven law firms. I think that’s a lot of law firms for the city.”

After questioning DeMaria’s use of the city’s money, resident Peggy Serino, during public comment, said, “Cities don’t collapse from the outside, they are taken down from the inside. I think it’s very apropos at this time to give that sentence a lot of thought.”