2021: A Year of Recovery

YEAR IN REVIEW: Mayor Carlo DeMaria was re-elected to a historic sixth term in the General Election on Novem-ber 3. The mayor is shown with his wife, First Lady Stacy DeMaria, and their children – Caroline, Alex and Carlo III.

January

After a year of unprecedent-ed hardship triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, city offi -cials were eagerly looking for-ward to 2021. “2021 will bring new transportation initiatives, additional improvement to the city’s infrastructure and contin-ued support for our residents,” said Mayor Carlo DeMaria. “2021 will be a great year for Everett.”

Ward 1 Councillor Fred Ca-pone also shared his optimism for the New Year. “2020 was such a diffi cult year emotion-ally, physically and fi nancially. In addition, many of us experi-enced loss of friends and loved ones,” he said. “I am confident that we will emerge a stronger community even more dedicated to the needs of others.”

Matewsky voted City Council president

In a unanimous vote, the City Council elected Councillor-at-Large Wayne Matewsky to serve as its new president.

“He’s given his life to this city,” said Ward 3 Councillor Anthony DiPierro, who nominated Matewsky during the January 4 meeting. “He lives, sleeps and breathes Everett.”

Since he was first elected in 1981, Matewsky served with seven mayors, was president of the Common Council and the Board of Aldermen. He was also the state representative of the 28th Middlesex District from 2013-2015.

“Honesty, respect and fair-ness has always been what I strive to do in this Chamber and in my life,” said Matewsky. “You can make friends in this business and I have. I want to thank my colleagues who spoke and sponsored me. I’m very grateful; I appreciate your faith in me.”

DeMaria extended his congratulations. “I have known Wayne for many years and have always admired his work ethic and his deep connection that he has fostered with his constituents throughout the years,” he said following the meeting. “I look forward to working closely with Council President Matewsky and want to congratulate him for his election.”

After what had been a very difficult year with the pandemic, outgoing City Council President Rosa DiFlorio was more than happy to turn the reins over to Matewsky. “All I can tell you is I have a lot of candles and I’ll be lighting them for you,” she said.

At the time, no one could have known how true those words would be just two months later.

Parker leads School Committe

Regarding the future of the School Committee, Ward 3 Member Frank Parker was cho-sen as the new chairman. He said transparency needs to be at the forefront as well as ed-ucating residents about the school budget process.

The committee’s new vice chairman, Thomas Abruzzese, said he was anticipating the launch of the hybrid learning model, which he hoped would be the gateway to the return of in-person learning. Abruzz-ese also said he had the utmost confi dence in the committee’s chairman. “I am looking for-ward to a great year; we elected an outstanding leader in Frank Parker,” he said. “With Frank’s leadership, I am confi dent we as a group, along with the city government and our superin-tendent, will be able to contin-ue to provide a high-quality ed-ucation for all of our students.”

Mayor joins School Committee

On January 13, Governor Charlie Baker signed the Home Rule petition amending Ever-ett’s City Charter and allowing DeMaria to become a voting member of the School Committee. DeMaria said he looked forward to cohesively working with the committee while developing a record of accountability and allowing residents to know where he stands on important school-related matters.

Ground broken for mixed-use development on Broadway

On January 25, DeMaria hosted the groundbreaking of The 600 development at 600 Broadway. The city had worked diligently with the development team, A10 Associates, Volnay Capital and Context to get this project off the ground.

“It was very exciting to host the groundbreaking of The 600,” said DeMaria. “I have been looking forward to this day since the planning stages be-gan. The 600 will be located in the heart of the city and it will be a fantastic addition to our community.”

This mixed-use development remains under construction and is located at 594-602 Broadway. In addition to residential units, the development will feature retail space, restaurant space and a roof deck with outdoor kitchens. The project is expected to be completed in the spring of 2022.