Brickbat: Masshole Mayor's Money

The Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General says the city of Everett wrongly paid Mayor Carlo DeMaria $180,000 in bonuses between 2016 and 2021, claiming DeMaria and his team twisted a city rule to get the money and then kept it secret from the public and city council. The rule was meant to give the mayor $10,000 after each term, but a word change before it passed in 2016 instead gave mayors $10,000 for each term. The change allowed DeMaria—then in his fourth term—to pocket $40,000 every year instead of $10,000 every four years. After the council found out in 2022 and cut the payments to $1,700, the inspector general demanded the money back, saying no other elected official gets such huge bonuses. DeMaria's team calls the report unfair and defends his honesty.