THE EVERETT ADVOCATE–Friday, September 6, 2019 Page 17 PRESENTS | FROM PAGE 1 want to consider making DeMaria a member, if not the chairman, of the School Committee. He said 29 other cities have already use this model. “We’re teeing it up to say that it’s out there; there is preceCAPONE | FROM PAGE 3 them where they put them – it doesn’t make sense.” Therefore, during the September 3 meeting of the council’s Committee of the Whole, Capone presented a resolution requesting “that a representative of the Mayor’s Office and Community Development appear at the next council meeting to explain the terms of the contract with Bluebikes and to discuss proposed locations within the city.” However, no one was available to attend the meeting. In response, McLaughlin took aim at Mayor Carlo DeMaria and his staff. “The administration doesn’t want to cooperate,” he said. “I was hoping to see someone here tonight.” Capone reiterated that the Bluebikes rollout was not supposed to happen without the council’s approval. “Nothing was ever discussed with this body,” he said. Capone also wanted to know if the bike kiosks would be removed during the winter months. However, the city has now entered into a three-year contract with the bike-share company. Capone said the contract requires that the city pay a capital expense of $325,000 as well as an annual maintenance fee of $88,000. Therefore, this year’s total expenditure will be $413,000. “We need to be conscious of every penny we spend,” said Capone. “We have other things we could spend $400,000 on.” Marchese echoed the sentiments of his fellow councillors. “I can’t believe that they didn’t come to us,” he said. “We should have had a say in this.” dent,” said Tyler. Ward 2 Councillor Stephen Simonelli believed the recommendations should not be optional. However, Thomas said it was not the intention of the Task Force to create a list of requirements. “It wasn’t for us to tell you exactly what to do,” he said. “We acknowledged that this is about people.” In addition to the seven suggestions that were made for the School Department, Tyler said, the Task Force made two more recommendations that apply to the city. The first recommendation is to use tax revenue from Encore Boston Harbor to fund the city’s Other Postemployment Benefits account. The second recommendation calls for additional Encore revenue to be “dedicated to ongoing critical needs of the city in its provision of operational and capital services.” “We looked at a number of other issues beyond just the school issue,” he said. “We’re at a point where we need to be careful about a downturn in the economy.”
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