Crooked sheriff Jimmy DiPaola's legacy: a crony that worked for DiPaola now council president
Isn't
it interesting that in the committee of the whole last night, November
26, the election was held and Paul Camuso emerged as Council President
(receiving $30,000.00 per year, that's a three thousand dollar raise)
with Rick Caraviello Vice President
1)The councilor with the most amount of absences
(14
on record; 15 if you count the night that Camuso left early when Mr.
Sack from Lawrence Memorial Hospital was speaking) will get a 3K raise
2)Voting usually occurs at these committee of the whole meetings at or around the last meeting of the year, with a public "vote" by the council, usually at the first meeting of the new year. Why this advance vote three weeks after the general election?
3)The
Boston Sunday Globe's Kathy McCabe story on councilor pay noted that
out of 19 communities in northern Massachusetts, Medford councilors were
paid the most.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/regionals/north/2013/10/19/payday-varies-widely-for-city-councilors-and-aldermen-north-boston/9jMtxLjSTUzDwyRDMKmJyN/story.html
4)The
Medford Transcript notes that there are approximately 40 council
meetings a year. At an average of 200,000.00 in pay that's at a cost of
approximately $5,000 per meeting. A councilor not in attendance for
15* of those meetings, or almost half of the annual meetings*, will now preside over the council.
*the 15 absences were not in one year. But with no term limits,
it is important to show Camuso's lack of attendance against his uncle, Bob Maiocco's sterling attendance record. The complete 15 absences collected from a number of years could happen in 2014, which would actually be a good thing for the city of Medford. We hope Camuso takes all 40 meetings off!! Let Rick Caraviello be the de facto president!
_____________________________________________
Mr.
Camuso has been a lightning rod arguing and filibustering. How will he
handle the presidency of the council? In my opinion, it's a very odd
choice.
City councilors earn $26,700 per year with an extra $1,200 for vice president and $3,000 for the president. In turn, they are expected to attend about 40 meetings each year
Read more: http://www.wickedlocal.com/medford/news/x1803287038/WHOS-HERE-Medford-City-Council-attendance-records-reviewed#ixzz2lo35yOAY