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.
And she doesn’t even start the job until July 1.
“I did say I was disappointed that this person was relocating to Massachusetts and does not want to live in Chelsea,” said Councilor Leo Robinson. “I have some real concerns about that.”
Councilor Enio Lopez has been a vocal critic of the many resident waivers that have come of late, and said this one was unacceptable.
“I am against this waiver,” he said. “If this person is taking this kind of job, you should be in the City. How are you going to know what’s happening here? You’re going to go live in a nice beautiful place on Revere Beach where nothing happens. You just need to live here.”
Councilor Calvin Brown said it is only a mile from Chelsea, and the price ranges are about the same – if not less in Chelsea – and the quality of the building she is moving into is equal to any of the new buildings in Chelsea.
“It’s so close,” he said. “I just can’t believe she can’t find a place in Chelsea. What does that say about her commitment to us? We had four councilors speak and it’s all about not living in Chelsea…You want to come in and say what’s wrong with Chelsea, but you obviously don’t want to find out day-to-day what’s going on here.”
Council President Roy Avellaneda said it is very concerning to him. He said it’s not like a typical City job such as in Assessing or some other matter. As the Diversity Director, he said he would expect someone to be fully immersed in the city and its culture at all times.
“I don’t comprehend how that job is done without spending enough time here – even in the off-hours,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to me. It doesn’t. You need to live and breathe Chelsea for the next two years. It’s not about taking some template that worked somewhere else and thinking that template is going to work here. It doesn’t work that way…I hope what we’ve said here makes some impact.”
The words were strong, but the power by the Council is minimal due to the City Charter – which doesn’t allow the Council to interfere with day-to-day operations. The Council does not have the power to vote on residency waivers. They can only instruct the City Manager to not grant so many. So, in the end, the Council agreed that their verbal disappointment would have to suffice, but had they been able to vote, they likely would have rejected the waiver with a majority.