Two years of “political jockeying” loom

The decision this week by local voters to replace the current common council and board of aldermen with a new 11-member city council is destined to cause a lot of “jockeying” over the next two years by local “pols”. That was bound to happen, considering that the city will be eliminating 14 elected positions in the next municipal election. Without a doubt, there’ll be a lot of grandstanding and political posturing at council/aldermen meetings as the 25 incumbents try to enhance their public persona in advance of the 2013 “showdown” city election. While a few members will more than likely decide to gracefully retire after this upcoming term – the final two years of the bicameral system – we could see as many as 15-18 “incumbent” office-holders running for the new city council in November of 2013. Also in the field will be the usual challengers, with the “new council” atmosphere probably attracting more candidates than ever to jump into the fray. What an election that would be! And adding to the political intrigue and drama is the distinct possibility that an incumbent, or two, might choose to run for mayor – especially with the term being extended to four years. Yes, it certainly looks like the next two years are going to be extremely political ones indeed.

Panel recommends residency law for new police, firefighters  

The members of the city council’s rules and ordinances committee at their last session voted to recommend passage of a residency requirement for all local “public safety” employees hired on or after January 1, 2012. Under the measure, the new hires would have to live in Everett for the first 10 years of their employment. The proposal would not apply to lateral transfers from police or fire department in other communities and wouldn’t affect promotions. The only one on the committee to dissent was Ald. Sal Sachetta, who charged that the local police and fire departments were being unfairly “singled out” because the rest of Everett’s municipal employees and school personnel would not have to comply with the proposed residency law.

City getting new congressman

Under the congressional redistricting plan unveiled earlier this week, Everett will be saying good-bye to Ed Markey, its long-time representative in Congress. The city’s new congressman will be Mike Capuano, the former mayor of Somerville.