Van Campen Talks Priorities, Stadium Plans and School Crowding in NBC10 Interview

By Neil Zolot

Mayor Robert Van Campen was interviewed by television station NBC10 Boston on their At Issue Sit Down, which they stylize as “@Issue Sit Down,” Sunday morning, March 28. “I was happy to sit down and discuss my first couple of months in office,” he said.

“I’m getting my feet on the ground, and we’ve put together a really experienced senior leadership team,” he said in response to initial questions from interviewer Matt Prichard about what was going on and how things were going. “I’m starting to rebuild boards and commissions and taking a hard look at financial transparency. Residents want to see a government that serves their interests, follows through on projects and spends their money wisely.”

Among the projects is the proposed 25,000-seat soccer stadium by The Kraft Group to host New England Revolution soccer games on a 43.1-acre parcel on Alford Street, across Lower Broadway from the casino and across the Mystic River from Charlestown. “We have to make sure transportation issues are addressed comprehensively and pedestrian issues are addressed comprehensively,” he told Prichard in reference to issues of access to the stadium in light of plans for it to have only 75 parking spaces. “These issues have to be addressed to perfection to succeed.”

The interview was conducted on the recently repaired roof of the old Everett High School, 548 Broadway, which is being refurbished for classroom space for some Middle School students. The location dovetailed with questions from Prichard about school overcrowding, although use of the building will not affect overcrowding at the current High School at 100 Elm Street adjacent to Glendale Park. “The High School was built for 1,650 students, but now houses 2,200,” Van Campen acknowledged. “Would I like to build more classroom space in the next one or two years? Yes. That’s my ideal.”

He added that federal aid money was used to fix the roof, and he is pursuing other aid money to “stabilize the building. We’re in the early stages of discussing a new High School, but I want to make sure if we do it on a quick timeline, it’s done in proper fashion.” (Over his last two years as Mayor in 2024 and 2025, Carlo DeMaria talked about a new High School, possibly with a vocational component, somewhere in the city, possibly Greenwood Park/Playground, and converting the current High School to a Middle School, which would move 6-8th graders out of the neighborhood K-8 local schools and into the Elm Street location.)

He also told Prichard being on the roof provided a view of virtually the entire city.

For better or worse, Everett has been the subject of regional and national news reporting, in The Boston Globe and New York Times, often as a result of allegations against DeMaria about anywhere from $180,000-$261,000 in unwarranted longevity pay. “Your predecessor was facing an audit for salary overpay. You told me you were going to make sure that continued,” Prichard said to Van Campen before asking, “What is the City’s role in the audit right now? Do you feel the residents are paying attention and still want to follow through with it?”

“What I’ve conveyed to my colleagues in government is to allow the state process to play itself out,” he answered in reference to investigations by the state Inspector General. “As a community we will make a decision as to what the best outcome for the community is. We recently met with Inspector General Jeff Shapiro and had a great conversation about putting in the right systems to ensure that type of financial issue doesn’t happen in the future.”

Van Campen also reported he has spoken with DeMaria since taking office. “We’ve had conversations,” he said. “Some of his economic legacy is intact and if he has nuggets of wisdom, I’m glad to receive them.”

Prichard also asked Van Campen what the easiest and hardest part of being Mayor is. Somewhat humorously he answered that the easiest part of the job is his commute to City Hall, a reference from him living behind the old High School, only a half mile, three-minute drive or 10-minute walk from City Hall. More seriously, he said the hardest part is “being responsible for making decisions that will affect the lives of every single person in this city.”