New Police Chief Appointed; Paul Strong Succeeds Chief Mazzie

By Neil Zolot

Paul Strong was appointed and sworn in as the new Police Chief at the City Council meeting Monday, June 10. “Thank you for this opportunity to serve the city,” he said in remarks in the City Council chamber filled with relatives, friends and colleagues.

Before speaking, Strong asked the large audience to pause for a moment of silence in memory of police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.

He also thanked retiring Chief Steve Mazzie for his 32 years of service, including 20 as Chief. “You always looked out for the officers and made sure they had what they needed,” he told Mazzie. “Enjoy your retirement. You’ve earned it.”

Strong’s term will start July 1 and run to June 30, 2027. He is currently a captain and has been on the force 35 years, after having grown up on Veterans Avenue and graduating Everett High School in 1985.

At a reception in the Mayor’s Conference Room before his inauguration by City Clerk Sergio Cornelio, Strong said, “I’m looking forward to serving the citizens of Everett.”

Mayor Carlo Demaria also thanked Mazzie during the reception “for treating everyone with respect regardless of where they came from. You made my job easy.”

“I’ll miss the people I’ve worked with, but its feels good to have an end date to move on,” Mazzie said. He also said he tried to bring respect, pride and professionalism to the department to deal with an increasingly diverse population. “Not that it didn’t have it, but things weren’t firing on all cylinders,” he recalled. “I’m from the city and knew what people wanted.”

His success was confirmed by Strong’s sense that the department is in good shape.

Mazzie also recalled getting calls at all hours of the day and night as Chief. “It’s not a 9-5 job,” he said.

Before the regular meeting, the Council held a Public Hearing on the Fiscal 2025 budget, including the Capital Improvement Plan they reviewed and rejected June 3 on the grounds it’s incomplete. The hearing lasted less than an hour with no discussion from Councillors and no significant remarks from attendees.

Since June 3^rd, the Councillors had not received any additional information on the CIP. “I’m hoping to have something to complete it,” Council President Robert Van Campen said. “We know the old High School needs money.”

The building houses a boxing club, a pre-school and the Eliot Family Resource Center. It desperately needs a new roof, among other things.

Eventually, the Council needs to accept, but not necessarily approve the CIP so it can be filed as a working document. “I’ll add to it,” Demaria told The Advocate. “The numbers for the old High School aren’t concrete.”

The Council will take up CIP items individually as they come up for approval and appropriations. “I’m waiting for the administration to come to us for separate appropriations,” Councillor At-Large Stephanie Smith said. “They’ll come before us when they decide to pursue a project, so I’m approaching this on a case-by-case basis.”

In other business, a request to appropriate by borrowing $2 million fund the Massachusetts School Building Authority New High School Feasibility Study, envisioned for the Rivergreen Playground area, was referred to the Ways and Means Subcommittee for study.

Funds would be expended under the direction of the Everett High School Building Committee for the Feasibility Study. The City may be eligible for a grant from the MSBA. Their grant program is a non-entitlement, discretionary program based on need, as determined by the MSBA, but any costs the City incurs in connection with the Feasibility Study in excess of any grant approved by and received from the MSBA shall be the sole responsibility of the City.

In Public Participation, resident Frank Parker encouraged its passage. He said he felt that a new High School should be built and the current High School converted to a Middle School, which he called a two-school solution. “Using the old High School (548 Broadway) and Pope John (888 Broadway) won’t address overcrowding issues long term,” he said in regard to ideas one or the other or both could be used as a working school.

The long-term plan is to build a new High School, complete with a vocational program, and convert the current High School into a Middle School, but the funding, approval and building process could take years, if it happens at all.

A new building won’t be cheap. The current cost to build a new Northeast Metro Regional Vocational School in Wakefield is $314.4 million. Wakefield is building its own new High School, without a vocational component, at a cost of $273 million, including $60 million from the MSBA, about 21% of the cost.

Everett might get a higher percentage of aid, but the building will cost much more.

A request for School Superintendent William Hart to discuss existing and foreseeable space needs throughout the entire district at all grade levels, including potential use of Pope John and the former High School was delayed until Monday, June 24. At the May 21 meeting he said he would present a plan during the summer.

A request for the administration to provide an update on the current use and future plans for Pope John was also pushed to June 24.