THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 2021 Page 3 City Council opens budget hearings By Christopher Roberson A s the budget process for fiscal year 2022 moves forward, department heads recently began pitching their requests to the City Council’s Budget Committee. This year, Mayor Carlo DeMaria recommended that Everett Community Television (ECTV) be funded at $587,687. This figure represents an increase of $82,219 over last year. In response to the recent challenges that ECTV has encountered, Communications Director Deanna Deveney said $85,000 is being requested to hire a senior video producer. “As everyone knows, there have been significant issues over the past year with ECTV,” she said during the June 2 hearing. “My team, at this point, does not have the technical capacity to fix these issues on their own.” Deveney said this is a fulltime position created by a prior resignation. “I’ve interviewed more than 10 people,” she said, adding that this would be a lateral move for the candidate she has in mind. Since it is a new position, Ward 1 Councillor Fred Capone made a motion to reduce the salary to $75,000. However, Councillor-at-Large Richard Dell Isola said cutting the salary could be detrimental in terms of hiring the right person. “I don’t want to cut it short and then we’re searching again,” he said. Capone’s motion did not receive a second; therefore, a vote was not taken. DeMaria has also proposed to establish a Transportation Department to be funded at $490,100. The department would be run by Jay Monty, who is currently the transportation planner in the Planning and Development Department. In this new role, Monty is slated to receive an annual salary of $110,000. A junior director, an individual who recently completed graduate school, would also be hired at a salary of $70,000. “That’s a modest rate for that position,” said Monty. “We’ve done a lot with very little over the past few years.” For the Everett Public Libraries, DeMaria suggested a budget of $1.2 million. This figure represents an increase of $207,480 over last year. Interim Library Director Matthew Lattanzi said this year’s budget request is in line with a recommendation from the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners. In addition, Lattanzi Mayor declares June 4 as National Gun Violence Awareness Day said $92,000 is being requested to fund the director’s position. The overall salary line item for the library is $737,839 for this year compared to $583,223 last year. He also said four library employees were furloughed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they were all given the opportunity to return to the library, Lattanzi said, two employees did not accept the offer; one of them chose to retire and one of them passed away.
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