THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – Friday, January 17, 2020 Page 5 City Hall offers virtual appeal hearings S By Christopher Roberson tarting on January 21, residents will no longer have to wait in line at City Hall to appeal a parking ticket or code enforcement violation as those hearings can be conducted using Facetime and Skype. “This new and innovative service will ease the burden of coming to City Hall to appeal a citation. Many individuals struggle to physically come to City Hall,” said Mayor Carlo DeMaria. “This new service will ensure due process is afforded to all.” Director of Communications Thomas Philbin said Everett is the only community in the state that offers this service. “We’re not aware of anyone else who does this,” he said. Chad Luongo, the city’s 311 director, said he will conduct parking hearings on Mondays and Thursdays, and Jennifer Gonzalez, a paralegal in the tual hearing at least 48 hours in advance. Hearings can be scheduled by emailing parkinghearings@ci.everett.ma.us and ISDHearings@ci.everett. ma.us. In addition, appellants are not required to be present for hearings as they can elect to have a representative speak on their behalf. At the time of the hearing, Luongo or Gonzalez will call the resident on Skype of Facetime to conduct the hearing. Once the hearing is completed, the hearing officer’s decision will be sent to the appellant electronically or through the mail. Chad Luongo, the city’s 311 director, uses his tablet to test the new virtual hearing service. (Photo Courtesy of the City of Everett) City Solicitor’s Office, will conduct code enforcement hearings on Mondays. Luongo said residents must file an appeal to schedule a virHe said the virtual hearings will help alleviate the long wait times at City Hall. “A lot of times, we have 30 people waiting to have their hearing,” said Luongo. Now, the same proceeding can happen from the comfort of a resident’s home or office. “They never have to come into City Hall,” said Luongo. Encore closes out 2019 with a bang By Christopher Roberson E ncore Boston Harbor continues to be the region’s most popular casino – posting an incredible $54.01 million in gross gaming revenue for December 2019. That figure surpasses the casino’s own sales record of $52.49 million, which was reported in August of last year, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission. Approximately $31.4 million of Encore’s December revenue came from table games and the remaining $22.6 million came from slot machines. The state will collect $13.5 million in taxes from Encore’s December earnings. In contrast, December was the worst month for MGM Springfield since that gaming venue opened in August 2018. MGM reported a gross gaming revenue of just $18.95 million, a 12 percent decline compared to the prior year. Plainridge Park Casino in Plainville, which opened in March 1999, reported a dismal $10.2 million in gross gaming revenue. December was the second consecutive month that Plainridge Park had revenues totaling less than $11 million.
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