By Dalia Diaz
During the City Council meeting of October 1, 2019, one of the positions approved was Alvaro B. Perez for the Lawrence Redevelopment Authority (LRA).
This is a powerful board because among other things, they are responsible for establishing rehabilitation and design standards; assemble and dispose of land, including the taking of real estate through eminent domain; relocate businesses and residents occupying property in urban renewal areas; demolish and/or rehabilitate substandard structures; participate in real estate development and commercial revitalization; issue bonds, borrow money, invest funds, etc.
The LRA consists of five members. Four members are appointed by the mayor, and one member is appointed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and they serve for initial terms of one, two, four, and five years, respectively.
The most important part is that, according to the City of Lawrence website, “All members of boards, commissions, authorities, and committees of the city, whether appointed by the mayor or the city council, shall be residents of the city unless otherwise provided for in the General Laws or in the Municipal Code, with the exception that no more than three members of the airport commission may be nonresidents.”
This article was in the making for a long time because the LRA Chairman Evan Silverio has been living in Salem, NH for several years and even had the audacity of having a New Hampshire plate in his car.
Recently, he purchased a home in Salem, NH and it became very public. It’s difficult to expect ignorance of the law so we must assume it was arrogance.
I am bringing this up because Mayor Rivera has managed to place his friends and supporters on boards and commissions to make sure they’ll vote in favor of his interests, even if those appointments are illegal.
Worse than the mayor’s behavior is that of the city councilors voting unanimously for the appointment of Mr. Perez. There was no research done on him; even Councilor Pavel Payano commented on why they did not have Mr. Perez’s resume and all they could base themselves on was his application which says he resides at 125 Lowell St., Lawrence.
According to Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 121B, Section 6, “A member of a housing or redevelopment authority who ceases to be a resident of the city or town shall be removed upon the date of his change of residence by operation of law.”
Since they didn’t ask him for identification to prove residency, they never found out that he lives in North Andover. They could have started with the voting list; neither one is registered to vote in the city.
