A mayoral candidate in Everett is being dishonest, blaming his opponent for problems he shares personal responsibility in causing.
He claims the city’s finances have gotten worse over the past eight years, but he served on the city council for four of those, serving as chair of the budget committee. Last year, council had the guts to ask voters for a modest property tax increase after over 20 years of municipal revenue growth held to 1 percent (much lower than inflation.) This candidate crowed that it was a 44 percent tax hike, when in fact it was 8 percent. Because he and his wealthy supporters were successful in tanking the levy by lying to you, our mayor was forced into several impossible choices, including cutting the park rangers.
The candidate says he’ll fully staff the police department but on Aug. 26, 2020, while serving on the city council, he turned his nose up at a $6 million grant to reimburse costs incurred in hiring 16 officers. It required no matching funds, and was pursued at the mayor’s direction, but internal politics and an opportunity to make her look bad superseded our city’s best interests. The Everett Police Department is under-staffed because they have been unwilling to lower hiring standards, wisely holding firm in selecting the very best candidates. The paramount characteristic? Honesty.
What do you call a wealthy white man who owns homes in multiple states, likes to golf, and doesn’t tell the truth? I won’t accept “our mayor” as a correct answer.
Tyler Rourke
Everett
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