Everett’s Top Stories in 2024 – Mayor Wins, Tahiliani Rejected, Marchese Crushed Again

By Neil Zolot

The year 2024 is over and a number of news stories, for good or ill, stood out above others.

A years-long drama just came to an end in December when Mayor Carlo DeMaria received $1.1 million in damages from the Everett Leader Herald newspaper and its owner Matthew Philbin and publisher/editor Joshua Resnek for their knowingly publishing inaccurate stories from 2019 to 2022 to defame him. Articles, which Resnek later confessed to be untrue, alleged DeMaria had solicited and taken kickbacks and stolen money, among other things. Depositions alleging sexual harassment by DeMaria given by former City of Everett employee and secretary in the Mayor’s Office (and now Councillor-at-Large) Guerline Alcy Jabouin, with no specified dates, were used by Philbin and Resnek to fabricate false allegations against the Mayor. DeMaria said the fake and inaccurate stories and the negative impression they left took a toll on him and his family.

Part of the settlement involved the Leader Herald closing its doors, leaving the city with two weekly newspapers. In return, DeMaria agreed to drop a defamation lawsuit, which was scheduled to begin January 21 in Middlesex Superior Court.

The last local election was in 2023, but 2024 was a presidential election year. Republican Donald Trump won the presidency in November, but most Everett voters supported Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, although by a lower margin than Joe Biden carried the city against Trump in 2020. In the presidential primary in the spring, Biden won among Democrats before he dropped out of the race and Trump won the Republican primary.

In races for state offices and seats in the state legislature in the September state primary and general election in November, most incumbent Democrats won. The highest profile race was between incumbent Joseph McGonagle and Councillor-at-Large Michael Marchese in the Democratic primary where McGonagle garnered 1,478 votes to Marche’s paltry 704 votes in the state Democratic Party primary for the 28th Middlesex County District seat. McGonagle won and, with no candidates in the Republican primary, he was reelected without opposition in November.

Everett voters followed state trends by voting in favor of a ballot question to eliminate the state Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) test as a requirement to graduate from High School. DeMaria, the City Council and the School Committee all expressed their support for the measure in October. Councillor-at-Large Katy Rogers, who is young enough to have taken the test to graduate from High School, was particularly vocal.

Turnouts for the elections were low, around 20%, except for the presidential election, which brought out over half the voters.

In various City Council meetings, if and when to appropriate over $70 million to renovate portions of the old High School to house 7th and 8th grade classes was a topic of ongoing and only semi-conclusive discussion. In June, Everett Public Schools Superintendent William Hart presented a plan to the relocate 7th and 8th graders out of overcrowded neighborhood schools for $72 million. It has since risen to $79 million while the members have debated and reviewed how it will happen, where current occupants of the building will be relocated in it or elsewhere and how reactivating the building as a school will affect the neighborhood. Plans are still up in the air, but in mid-December the Councillors seemed satisfied that Mount Vernon Group Architects could come up with a viable plan to reconfigure the building for classrooms and other occupants.

The City is also involved in a process to build a new High School, possibly in Rivergreen Playground, but that will take years and cost who-knows-what. An overarching idea is to then convert the current High School to a three- or four-grade Middle School. What would happen to the old High School at that point is unknown, but it would be used as a school for a number of years in the meantime.

City Council President Robert Van Campen represents Ward 5, in which the school is located. During discussions he often relinquished the Council chair to other members to participate.

Earlier in the year, the Council also bandied about a request from DeMaria for over $10 million just to fix the roof on the building to keep it in usable shape and retain insurance coverage. In August, the Council approved using American Rescue Plan Act funds for the task.

Discussion about the plan also came up at School Committee meetings, with members somewhat frustrated but hopeful things would work out.

Also, a topic of discussion at multiple City Council meetings were plans to reconfigure some streets and sidewalks to make Everett Square more user friendly and suitable for civic events. In April, May and June, members balked and ultimately rejected a $3 million request from DeMaria, which was to be used in conjunction with $2 million in aid.

Under Chairperson Jeanne Cristiano, things at the School Committee calmed down after a tumultuous 2023 due to allegations of misconduct by then Superintendent Priya Tahiliani. She was placed on paid leave and Hart was hired as interim and then permanent Superintendent in late 2023. In January 2024, the School Committee voted to not reinstate Tahiliani, a de facto vote to keep Hart. Tahiliani was hired as Interim Superintendent in Brockton in July.

It wasn’t all smooth sailing, however. Member-at-Large and Vice Chairperson Samantha Lambert, elected in 2023, announced her resignation in July prompted by an increase in her rent that forced her to move out of the city. Per regulations the seat was offered to Cynthia Sarnie, who got the greatest number of votes of candidates not elected in the at-Large race. She declined and the next highest vote-getter, Kristin Bairos, accepted. In August, Member-at-Large Samantha Hurley was chosen to be the new Vice Chairperson.

In a detail worthy of Everett’s characteristics, Lambert was renting from former School Committee Member Thomas Abruzzese. He ran for the Ward 6 seat in 2023, but lost to Joseph D’Onofrio.

The School Committee also took legal action to ban resident Paula Sterite from speaking in Public Comment, as she did at virtually every meeting (and City Council meetings, too), or attending meetings at all because she directed a student to take a picture of another student and publish it on social media.

Everett also got new police and fire chiefs in 2024. In June, Paul Strong was appointed police chief to succeed Steve Mazzie; in November, Joseph Hickey was elevated from Acting Chief to Chief in the Fire Department.

In November, the community lost a friend and advocate with the death of Jon E. Norton. Mr. Norton was a tireless supporter of the community and its residents, as well as a beloved friend to many. He volunteered his time in many other ways, including the River’s Edge Advisory Board and the MWRA Advisory Board. He was also a member and frequent Chairman of Everett’s Conservation Commission.

In December, the city mourned the loss of Louis Charles “Chuck” DiPerri, a City Councilman for 14 years, who served as President in 1996 and 2000.

The election for city offices will be a big issue in the New Year. The issue of renovating the old High School will, hopefully, be resolved before costs go up again and plans to open it up for classes in late 2026 or early 2027 slip away. Perhaps something may be done in Everett Square in time for summer to enhance its appeal, starting with the rundown Bouvier Building. Enjoy the issues as they come up. Progress in Everett may proceed slowly, but the process is never dull.