Despite low voter turnout prediction, candidates rallying for Tuesday’s election

By Neil Zolot

EVERETT – The stage is set for Tuesday, November 2, Election Day, when voters head to the polls in support of their candidates.

The Main Event is the race for five City Council at-large seats. In one corner are the incumbents – Irene Cardillo, John Hanlon, Michael Marchese and Stephanie Smith – who received the most votes in the September preliminary election. In the opposite corner are the challengers: Guerline Alcy, Maria Bussell, Angelmarie DiNunzio, Joseph Pierotti, Katy Rogers and David Senatillaka. With member Richard Dell Isola retiring, at least one will be elected, and with Cardillo having finished 7th in the September 19 Preliminary Election, others could be, too.

“Things are going well,” incumbent Smith feels. “I am continuing to get out and meet voters, going door-to-door every night and hearing good responses so far. I plan to continue to walk the city until Election Day. The people of Everett are vocal in that they want more affordable housing, to stop overcrowding in our schools and to find solutions to parking limitations and traffic.”

Newcomer David Senatillaka is trying to reach out to voters who may not monitor or even be aware of all the political events in the city or vote in every election. “I’ve noticed some people who are not into politics don’t even know there’s an election,” he said. “The challenge for politicians and candidates is getting the word out and doing a better job of explaining the importance of local elections. Most of the policies that affect day-to-day living are made at the local level.”

The undercard is comprised of ward races. In Ward 1 it’s between Kenneth Giannelli and incumbent Wayne Matewsky; in Ward 2, Joetta Yutkins and incumbent Stephanie Martins; in Ward 3, Darren Costa and Anthony DiPierro; in Ward 5, Robert Van Campen and incumbent Vivian Nguyen, and in Ward 6, incumbent Alfred Lattanzi and Peter Pietrantonio.

“I’m working hard and I’ve been getting positive feedback,” Lattanzi said. “I hope I’ve done a good enough job to win. We want to win this election and will find out when the votes are tallied.”

The race drawing a high level of attention is for the School Committee at-large seats. With only six candidates, no preliminary election was required, leaving incumbents Samantha Lambert, Joseph LaMonica and Cynthia Sarnie facing challengers Kristin Bairos, Farah Costa (wife of Darren Costa) and Samantha Hurley.

There’ll be at least two new ward representatives due to Michael Mangan stepping down as Ward 4 representative and Michael McLaughlin stepping down as the Ward 6 representative. Robin Babcock and James Mastrocola are running in Ward 4, Thomas Abruzzese and Joseph D’Onofrio in Ward 6.

In the other ward races, it’s between incumbent Millie Cardello and Margaret Cornelio in Ward 1 and Joanna Garren and incumbent Jason Marcus in Ward 2. Incumbent Jeannie Cristiano is running unopposed in Ward 4, as is incumbent Maroney Almeida-Barros in Ward 5.

A hot-button issue in School Committee meetings has been whether any decision regarding Superintendent Priya Tahiliani should be left up to a new roster of members, but current Chairperson Mangan said a decision will be made this year before any new members take office in 2024, although he’s invited any new members to sit in on interviews and deliberations. Given recent events Sarnie said she hopes “things get to a better place so the community can come together.”

D’Onofrio said his campaign is “going well. We’ve been holding signs, targeting the right people and getting the word out. I’ve gotten positive feedback. The work I put into this has been positive.”

Only 12% of approximately 22,000 registered voters in a city of approximately 49,000 people voted on September 19, and City Clerk and Election Commission Chair Sergio Cornelio expects it to be a still low 25% on November 7. “We have more voters but lower turnouts,” he said.

“Percentage-wise it’s gone down in municipal elections,” he said. “For the last decade, it’s been the trend.” He feels there will be more during the presidential election year next year.