The Everett City Council appointed Michael Mangan, its legislative aide for the past eight years, as assistant city clerk on Thursday, April 9, choosing him 7-3 over Caryn Antonelli, the assistant registrar of voters who Council President Stephanie Smith said has been running the elections office without the title for two years. Mangan was sworn in on the spot by City Clerk Sergio Cornelio.
Smith said the charter puts the hire in the council’s hands and described the process: 23 resumes came to the clerk’s office, which sits in the legislative branch and outside city HR; she, Cornelio and clerk of committees John Burley screened them; the Legislative Affairs committee interviewed seven candidates and sent two to the full council. Councilor Guerline Alcy Jabouin objected that anyone paid by the city should apply through HR and that the whole council should have seen every resume.
Mangan, of Walnut Street, told the council he has clerked meetings and taken minutes when the clerk was out, processed business licenses while the previous assistant clerk was on leave, and posted public hearings. “I’ve tried to work with each one of you to make you look good out here,” he said. Antonelli, a Suffolk business graduate who joined the city in 2010 and moved to the clerk’s office in 2020, said she has handled payroll, public records requests, agendas and licensing and is a notary and commissioner qualified to administer oaths. “I respectfully ask for your vote,” she said.
Councilor Michael Marchese nominated Mangan: “There’s a comfort zone. The work always gets done.” Councilor Peter Pietrantonio nominated Antonelli. Smith said she was voting for “who can do this the best on day one” and praised both, noting Antonelli holds a master’s degree and “consistently demonstrated a tremendous work ethic.” Jabouin, Pietrantonio and Smith voted for Antonelli; Michele Capone, Anthony DiPierro, Holly Garcia, Marchese, Wayne Matewsky, Vivian Nguyen and Katy Rogers voted for Mangan. Councilor Stephanie Martins was out of state.
Matewsky said the previous assistant clerk had worked out of the council office for two years, which he never understood. “The assistant city clerk belongs in the city clerk’s office,” he said, recalling a clerk and assistant clerk decades ago who did not speak for 11 years. Cornelio said the position has existed since 1922 and the new assistant will sit in his office.
Three residents objected before the vote. Peggy Serino asked why resumes went to the clerk rather than HR and whether the decision “has already taken place in the back room.” Paula Sterite called it “a do nothing job” that paid the last two assistant clerks $96,000 and asked why a senior post requires only a high school diploma. Maria Malchiono, who had just paid her tax bill downstairs, asked the mayor to freeze hiring.
Previous council meeting (March 24): Everett Council Enrolls a Wage Theft Ordinance 9-1 as Carpenters Pack the Chamber, Adopts a Three-Minute Rule for Public Comment and Buys a $780,000 Fire Truck
