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There was nearly uniform disappointment on Monday night from the City Council due to the choice by the new Diversity, Equity and Inclusion director’s decision to forego Chelsea and to live on Revere Beach. City Manager Tom Ambrosino informed the Council of a residency waiver at the Monday meeting.
Candace Perez, who comes from New York and is eminently qualified for the job, had requested a residency waiver from the City due to relocating from New York to Revere Beach. Already, the Council has grown weary of City employees almost weekly requesting waivers to live outside of the City, and said they were getting concerned about it at the previous meeting. With the new director, who is to be immersed in the culture of Chelsea, five councilors Monday night questioned her dedication due to the decision to live in Revere.
Even when the City was in total crisis mode a year ago within the original and deadly surge of COVID-19, the economic impacts on City coffers was already in the back of minds of many local leaders.
In a year’s time, revenues from airport and hospitality industries have plummeted, and the joblessness from it all has gobbled up millions in emergency relief – much of it paid for by the City. Now, the City has been assured of several million dollars in aid from the American Rescue Plan, and more importantly, from an allocation from Gov. Charlie Baker – totaling perhaps as much as $40 million in the first direct federal aid funds for municipalities.
City Councillor Giovanni Recupero could be investigated for alleged Civil Rights violations by City Solicitor Cheryl Fisher Watson after complaints lodged with the Council were forwarded to her Monday night – with the charges stemming from an incident where Recupero allegedly verbally harassed a 17-year-old member of the Youth Commission in the City Hall parking lot Feb. 23 following a controversial vote on removing the Christopher Columbus Statue.
Giovanni Recupero Jr. spoke to defend his father, saying, “Do I look like the creation of a
white supremacist?”
Complaints came in quickly after the Feb. 23 meeting in regards to the tenor of comments from Recupero and Councillor Toddy Taylor – both of whom voted against taking down the statue in Chelsea Square – when Youth Commission members Brandon Garcia and Richard Flores gave testimony as part of their high school class and Youth Commission advocacy. Students and Chelsea High Teacher Ilana Ascher said they felt dismissed
More than 60 candidates applied for the new Diversity Director position within the City of Chelsea – a new department that will have high-level status and will be charged with making City government more inclusive and welcoming.
It’s a department proposed by City Manager Tom Ambrosino and Councilor Leo Robinson last summer in the wake of the murder of George Floyd, and in response to a list of demands from young people in Chelsea. Earlier this year, the City put together a Hiring Committee chaired by City Attorney Cheryl Fisher Watson. That Committee is currently interviewing candidates, and reportedly has some great options.