THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, JunE 10, 2022 Page 5 THE CITY CLERK MUST RESIGN! The Truth Demands It! Dear Everett Residents, The City Council has a big decision looming over its head. The decision to reappoint current City Clerk Sergio Cornelio will be coming up for a formal vote in the very near future. I’m writing today not only to request the city council to not reappoint Cornelio, but to also inform you as to why Cornelio should resign immediately. I want to begin by saying I heard our residents loud and clear, especially our youngest voices. The hurtful and insensitive racist dialogue that I engaged in was not to be tolerated and I resigned as a result to hold myself and others accountable. In hindsight, I wish I had resigned sooner. On the receiving end of each and every message published was City Clerk Sergio Cornelio, who most often replied with a “LOL”. He was also present in each video that had been released; however, his face was conveniently covered. Cornelio must be held to the same standard of zero tolerance. If we truly are to eradicate systemic racism within our local government, we must call for his resignation. I’ve learned that being an anti-racist means calling out racism every time we see it, not just when we choose to as a matter of political convenience. In 2011, the voters of Everett ratified a new city charter, eliminating lifetime appointments in the City Clerk’s office. In 2017, Sergio Cornelio was appointed City Clerk. Barely through the first half of his term, Cornelio made the push for a charter change to reinstate lifetime tenure for his position. Although the measure received more favorable than unfavorable votes, a 2/3 majority was not secured to pass the change; however, Cornelio, acting unethically and deceitfully, took it upon himself to hand deliver the paperwork to our State Senator’s office and gave the impression it had passed, setting the course for the passage of a home rule petition by the state legislature. If not for the then Council President catching it, who knows how far through the legislative process the piece would have gone. Over the past five years, Cornelio has plagued his office with mismanagement, greed and disturbing behavior. Cornelio’s base salary is $124,285. His predecessor, who had over two decades of public service, retired from the position at $96,000 annually. Cornelio also receives a $14,350 annual stipend to clerk the City Council meetings, most of which he has missed since September. Such stipend is limited by Mass. General Law not to exceed $4,000 annually if a city clerk serves as the clerk of the council. Under Cornelio’s leadership, a measure was passed to circumvent that law, enabling him to decide his level of compensation. He also receives an additional $10,500 stipend to serve as the Chair of the Election Commission. Another stipend was received so he could act as the city’s record access officer. In addition, it is estimated he receives an additional $30,000 annually for officiating weddings, the majority of which are performed on city time. It’s unknown whether or not Cornelio claims the wedding money on his finances, as most of it is cash. Include longevity and that is an estimated $180,000 in annual compensation. He just might be one of the highest paid City Clerks in the Commonwealth. As if that level of greed isn’t bad enough, it has been widely speculated that Cornelio has manipulated his office payroll on multiple occasions. There have been countless times Cornelio has been out of the country, on golf trips or moonlighting as a snowplow operator for a local contractor while claiming to be working from home. In my honest opinion, the level of alleged fraud here doesn’t get any more blatant than that. The former city clerk, the late Michael Matarazzo, worked extremely hard to establish Everett’s election commission, separating the clerk’s office from elections to ensure their impartiality. Cornelio worked twice as hard to dismantle that and made himself the chairman of the election commission in order to have a direct role in the election process. Last September, Cornelio made public claims that Mayor Carlo DeMaria had extorted him in a real estate partnership. He made these blatantly false claims weeks before the preliminary election, nearly six months after he and DeMaria parted ways. This was intentionally done in an effort to influence the Election, and thus destroyed the notion of impartiality attributed to the office of City Clerk. In the aftermath of his public claims, Cornelio disappeared for several months. He claimed to have been on paid paternity leave, although the City of Everett has no such policy. He abandoned his office in the middle of the most contentious election the city had seen in nearly two decades, leaving his co-workers to scramble to figure things out. That being said, Sergio Cornelio has disgraced the Office of City Clerk. On a final note, the Everett City Council will be doing the residents of Everett a great disservice if they vote to automatically reappoint Cornelio. I’ve realized that the days of automatic reappointments and political favoritism have gotten us to where we are. I sincerely regret my support of Cornelio’s appointment as Everett’s City Clerk. I now ask the City Council to open up the process – seek a qualified pool of candidates and make the most qualified decision for Everett’s next City Clerk. You owe it to the people. Very truly yours, Anthony N. DiPierro (Paid Advertisement)
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