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Council refers $72M borrowing and $10M ARPA expenditure for Old Everett High School to special meeting after heated public comment
Summary
Following multiple public speakers both opposing and supporting use of public funds, the council voted to refer orders to borrow $72 million and expend $10 million in ARPA funds for the Old Everett High School project to a special meeting on Aug. 19 for further review.
The Everett City Council agreed to send two linked orders for the Old Everett High School to a special council meeting on Aug. 19: an order to borrow $72 million for building improvements and an order to expend $10 million from ARPA funds for the project.
The council suspended the rules to take Items 14 and 18 together and voted to refer the measures for further consideration. The referral followed a lengthy public-comment period in which residents and advocates sharply disagreed about the proposed borrowing.
Speakers at the meeting included Peggy Sereno, who urged the council not to spend $82 million on renovating what she said was a building that had been judged a teardown two decades earlier and questioned whether the $82 million figure accounted for roof, boiler and hazardous-material remediation. Multiple citizens used strong language about transparency and potential favoritism in prior city property deals.
Other commenters, including David Senatilaco, urged the council to preserve the building as a public asset, arguing the facility hosts nonprofit programs, training and space the city might otherwise lose if the property were privatized. Steve Iannaco called for a state audit and said residents deserved more transparency before large borrowing.
Councilors did not vote on the borrowing or expenditure that night. Instead, they referred both items to a special meeting so members and the public can review details and required funding structures before taking a formal vote.
The referral preserves procedural options for the council but signals the issue will return to the agenda with more documentation about cost breakdowns, assumed grants and the projected use of the building.
