REVERE — What happened to dozens of missing water meters in the city? That’s a question frustrated city councilors wanted to know Monday night.
The Revere City Council voted unanimously to request Mayor Brian Arrigo appear at a future meeting to explain why up to 120 water meters are unaccounted for within the city, and why a water department employee was placed on leave.
The meters in question aren’t the ones found inside the home; these are the meters that connect to a garden hose and measure water used in gardens and lawns. Residents then take that detachable meter for a yearly reading with the city, and the amount registered is deducted from the sewerage portion of their water bill.
The serial number for dozens of these meters were not recorded with the city. In early September an employee in the water department was removed from his position in connection with the meter case.
“The employee has since resigned and I think there’s still an investigation still going on as to how many meters were involved,” Ward 2 Councilor Ira Novoselsky said.
Beyond the substance of the motion, however, several councilors wanted to know why they had to learn about these events from residents and not the city administration. In many cases, they were incorrectly told the employee was led out of City Hall in handcuffs.
“Why do we have to be finding out from residents across the city that issues are happening at City Hall?” Councilor-At-Large Dan Rizzo asked. “At bare minimum, the City Council should have been notified right away.”
Councilors at the Monday meeting said they received an email from the mayor’s office on Sept. 11 outlining some details of the incident, though the employee was escorted from the building earlier in the month.
“I read it on Facebook, actually, probably about three days before the email from Mayor Arrigo,” Ward 1 City Councilor Joanne McKenna said.
John Viarella, the city’s Human Resources director, told the council that he recommended the mayor keep information regarding personnel matter to as few people as possible.
“What I try to do is keep that to the tightest circle possible, which is why I generally don’t advise the mayor to tell a large body of people what has happened to a particular employee,” Viarella said. “I’m perfectly happy to answer those questions privately on an individual basis, but we don’t want to make it policy to extend sensitive employee issues to a wider circle.”
Council President Jessica Ann Giannino said she was glad the mayor’s office did email an update to councilors, but hoped that future communication would be more timely.
“We need to be able to answer questions,” she said.
The water department news comes on the heels of reports of theft at the city’s parking department. In June, two parking employees were placed on unpaid administrative leave after approximately $90,000 went missing in the department’s coffers over a period of four years. The city asked the state to launch a criminal investigation in that case.
