Press Release: 4/30/2026
State Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division Alleges Former Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria Violated Conflict of Interest Law
Commission found reasonable cause to believe DeMaria improperly received and concealed longevity payments
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
4/29/2026
MEDIA CONTACT
Gerry Tuoti, Deputy Chief, Public Education and Communications Division
Phone
Call Gerry Tuoti, Deputy Chief, Public Education and Communications Division at (617) 371-9533
Online
BOSTON — The State Ethics Commission’s Enforcement Division issued an Order to Show Cause today alleging that former Everett Mayor Carlo DeMaria violated the conflict of interest law by improperly receiving longevity payments and concealing some of the payments. By filing the Order, the Enforcement Division initiated an adjudicatory proceeding against DeMaria.
The Order alleges that in or about 2016, DeMaria asked the City Council President to sponsor a new ordinance that would provide the mayor with longevity payments. The ordinance enacted by the City Council in October 2016 stated that the mayor would receive a $10,000 longevity payment for each completed full term as mayor, and that the mayor serving at the time of the ordinance’s passage would receive a one-time longevity payment of $10,000 for each previously completed term as mayor.
However, instead of only receiving the longevity pay to which the ordinance entitled him, DeMaria received annual longevity payments for each of his previous mayoral terms, the Order alleges. DeMaria was first sworn into office as Mayor in 2008, when the mayoral term was two years, remained in office after a 2011 city charter amendment extended the mayoral term to four years, and began his first four-year term in 2014. DeMaria received initial longevity payments of $30,000 in 2016 and $30,000 in 2017, the Order states.
According to the Order, at some point before the Fiscal Year 2019 city budget was passed, DeMaria instructed the city’s Chief Financial Officer to move his longevity payments from an Executive Office of the Mayor budget line item to a Human Resources Employee Buyback budget line item that was used to pay accrued sick and vacation payouts, not longevity payments. The Human Resources Employee Buyback line item identified neither payout recipients, including DeMaria as the recipient of longevity payments, nor the amount of DeMaria’s longevity payments, the Order states. In addition to the two $30,000 initial longevity payments received in 2016 and 2017, the Order identifies a total of $160,000 in longevity payments DeMaria allegedly received from 2018 to 2021, a substantial portion of which he was not entitled to receive, according to the Order.
DeMaria was not entitled to longevity pay in 2017, was entitled to only $10,000 in 2018, and was not entitled to any longevity payments in 2019-2021, according to the Order.
The conflict of interest prohibits municipal employees from soliciting or receiving anything of substantial value that is not authorized by statute or regulation, for or because of their official position. The Order alleges DeMaria violated this prohibition by receiving longevity payments annually, rather than upon his completion of each four-year mayoral term, and by continuing to receive annual longevity payments for previously completed terms after the one-time payment described in the longevity ordinance.
The Order also alleges that, by concealing his longevity payments in the Human Resources Employee Buyback budget line item, and thus denying the public a chance to challenge the amount or frequency of the longevity payments, DeMaria violated the conflict of interest law’s prohibition against public employees using or attempting to use their official position to obtain unwarranted privileges or benefits.
Pursuant to the Commission’s Enforcement Procedures, the Enforcement Division files an Order to Show Cause against a subject following the Commission’s finding of reasonable cause to believe the subject violated the conflict of interest law. Before filing the Order to Show Cause, the Enforcement Division gives the subject the opportunity to resolve the matter through a disposition agreement. The Commission will schedule a public hearing on the allegations against DeMaria within 90 days.
The Commission is authorized to impose a civil penalty of up to $10,000 for each violation of the conflict of interest law and may also order restitution payments.
The Commission encourages public employees to contact the Commission’s Legal Division at 617-371-9500 for free advice if they have any questions regarding how the conflict of interest law may apply to them.