Mayor Robert Van Campen talks about priorities in Everett

Nearly three months since assuming office as mayor of Everett, Massachusetts, Mayor Robert Van Campen isn’t wasting any time.

The former city councilor ousted 18-year incumbent Carlo DeMaria in decisive fashion last November, but even so, issues surrounding his predecessor still linger at City Hall.

A state-led salary audit of DeMaria found $180,000 in overpayment, a finding the former mayor disputes. Van Campen says the city is monitoring ongoing investigations.

“What I’ve conveyed to my partners in government here, locally, is to allow that state process to play itself out, and then we, as a community, will make a decision,” the mayor said. “In addition to that, I recently met with Inspector General Jeff Shapiro, who visited me at City Hall. We had a great conversation about transparency in government, best practices, putting in the right systems to ensure that that type of financial oversight doesn’t happen in the future.”

Beyond the audit, Van Campen is placing emphasis on school overcrowding.

“My objective is to try to implement solutions as quickly as I can,” he said. “Our high school today, which was built for I think 1,650 students, now houses around 2,200.”

The World Cup is creating buzz across Massachusetts, including in Everett, where the Kraft Group is looking to build a soccer stadium.

To alleviate that problem, the mayor is using federal ARPA funds to repair the old Everett High School and seeking out other spaces that could be used in the future.

“Would I like to build out new classroom space for the students of Everett in the next one to two years? Yes, that’s my ideal,” Van Campen said. “But I want to make sure that if we do it on a quick timeline, it’s done in a correct and proper fashion.”

Also in focus for the mayor is a new soccer stadium for the New England Revolution on the shores of the Mystic River.

The Kraft Group, Boston, Everett and the state Legislature have all taken steps to make the project a reality, but Van Campen says there’s still more work to do.

“It’s a transformative project, it’s a breathtaking project,” said Van Campen. “But I’ve been clear with all the stakeholders around that project, and the other larger developments going on down there, that we have to make sure that transit issues are comprehensively addressed, that pedestrian access issues are comprehensively addressed, that all those issues have to be addressed to perfection in order for these projects to succeed.”

Tune in on Sunday, March 29 at 9:30 a.m. for our extended @Issue Sit Down with Van Campen.