As Everett's mayor deals with the fallout from a Massachusetts watchdog's finding that he was overpaid by $180,000, city councilors unanimously came against him in a no confidence vote Monday.
Inspector General Jeffrey Shapiro said last month that Mayor Carlo DeMaria had erroneously been paid the extra money over several years, citing a subtle change in language before an ordinance was approved in 2016.
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In a letter to Everett City Council President Stephanie Martins, he said the body should recover the money and return it to the city's treasury.
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At a meeting last week, city councilors demanded DeMaria repay the funds.
Those councilors voted 9-0 Monday night that they had no confidence in DeMaria.
"The residents of Everett deserve proactive, responsive leadership that prioritizes the issues most important to our community, not political theatrics," the mayor said in a statement on social media in response to the vote. "As Mayor, I have consistently worked to find solutions and drive positive change for Everett, while members of the City Council have focused on agenda items that are irrelevant to the real needs of residents."
The dispute over funds dates back to 2016, when the city council approved an ordinance paying the mayor a longevity bonus. Before it passed, Shapiro found, a revision was made in its language: Instead of saying the mayor would receive $10,000 "after each completed full term as mayor," it was amended to read "for each completed full term as mayor."
"During the meeting, councilors stated that the ordinance would put the mayor's salary on par with the mayors of other communities," Shapiro wrote. "Councilors did not discuss or ask questions about how the city would calculate the longevity payment or the frequency of payments. Nor did they discuss the word change from 'after' to 'for.' The council voted 10-1 to enroll the ordinance. The OIG has not been able to determine who changed the wording of the ordinance from 'after' to 'for.'"
Shapiro added that none of the city councilors his office interviewed "were aware of the change in language."
The inspector general said his office received a complaint in February of 2022 about $220,000 DeMaria had received in longevity bonus payments between September of 2016 and April of 2021. The watchdog found that $180,000 of that money was improper, and that his office concealed the payments from the city council and from the public.
Read Shapiro's full letter:
