Sergio Cornelio

At the May 26, 2026 Everett City Council meeting, CORNELIO, acting as Clerk, handled procedural and agenda-related business and responded to a question about a separate matter. He said the gaming commission “never got back to the city” when that issue came up.

CORNELIO then read Item 16 into the record. He identified it as “an order offered by Councilor Stephanie Smith as president” and read the resolution title: “Resolution requesting that the city council receive/review an informational presentation regarding the design for the renovation of the Everett Square Park.”

During discussion of how to handle the item, he explained the parliamentary posture, stating, “Committee takes precedent over favorable action.” When a question arose about whether the matter should be sent to committee, he added, “At the request of one member, and if you’re in doubt, Madam Chair, we can do that.” After the chair indicated the item would be sent back to legislative, CORNELIO confirmed the procedure, saying, “That’s the first motion, yes, that takes precedent.”

He also helped clarify who had made the motion. When asked, “Can I ask who made that motion?” he followed up with the chair and the body to identify the motion correctly before proceeding. After confirmation, he stated, “Alright. Roll call vote to send it to committee.” The roll call was then taken, and the motion to send the item to committee carried.

CORNELIO also participated in a separate vote concerning executive session. The motion was to “Enter executive session and adjourn from there,” and he voted yes.

Overall, CORNELIO’s role in the meeting was largely procedural: reading the item, identifying its sponsor and subject, explaining that committee action took precedence over favorable action, clarifying the motion sequence, and administering the roll call vote to refer the matter to committee.

Sergio Cornelio, City Clerk, used the budget hearing to outline the clerk’s office budget, staffing, and technology plans, and to answer questions about elections administration. He said the office had “no funded unfilled positions” and was fully staffed. He also said about “eight to ten thousand” dollars would be returned to the general fund, and projected roughly “$600,000 in revenue” from license fees.

Cornelio described several planned upgrades for the office. He said the clerk’s office and the historical commission had been working on a historical tour, with more tours expected next year and a roadmap planned for next summer. He also said the office would add kiosks and laptops so residents could look up information and file applications electronically, with multilingual services included. “We’re trying to better ourselves little by little and adding more technology,” he said. He added that a new FOIA program would start at the end of the following week and explained that, by state law, he is the records access officer for the city. He said he would be the sole records access officer once the new city solicitor was not in that role, and that he sees every public records request and works with department heads and legal staff on appeals and redactions.

He also walked through changes to software and staffing costs, saying the office was switching vendors for a more efficient system and would save about $12,000 annually despite a one-time transfer fee and setup costs. He said the new agenda/minute software and board and commission tracker would improve access, efficiency, and ADA compliance, with implementation beginning over the summer and readiness targeted for September, October, or January at the latest.

In the elections discussion, Cornelio said there were no funded unfilled positions and that the elections director post had technically been filled, with the appointment to be presented the following Monday. He explained that a preliminary election was not held, saving taxpayers money, and addressed questions about his role as chairman of the Elections Commission. He said he certifies results as chair of the board, not as city clerk, and that the board appoints its own chair and members. He also said he stayed on to help because the office needed it: “I’m not going to allow the elections to fail.” He said he had no problem stepping back.

Vote recorded: Cornelio voted “yes” on the motion to accept the election budget as presented.

At the Everett City Council meeting on Monday, April 13, 2026, City Clerk Sergio Cornelio handled several procedural and agenda-related duties. He opened the public hearing by reminding the council, “Councilors, we have to open the public hearing.” He also explained the council’s options for handling the hearing, stating that if members wanted to keep it open, they could postpone it “with the public hearing open” so petitioners could speak at the next regular meeting. He then announced the speakers one by one, including Peggy Sereno, Jeff Cohen, Paula Sterite, Ben, David Fortin, Ali, John Burns, Stephanie McCullough, and Selena Hernandez.

Cornelio also read item 32 into the record. He identified it as “an ordinance offered by councilors Stephanie Martins, Vivian Ween, Wayne Matuski, Katie Rogers, Anthony Apparo, and Holly Garcia,” and described it as “promoting failed labor standards and prevents wage theft in the city of Everett.” During the item-reading process, he coordinated with council on the paperwork and amendments. He noted, “Mr. Burley has the paperwork still,” said he thought it was being finalized, and later told the council, “I’m just looking for your amendments.” When asked to continue, he responded, “Gonna have to give me moment,” and later added, “My paperwork’s a mess.” He also confirmed, “Yes. Wanna accept it.”

Cornelio participated in the procedural vote on reconsideration. The motion was reconsideration on item number 30, later clarified as item 38, and he voted yes. The recorded outcome of that procedural vote was not included in the extracted data.

He also answered procedural questions from the council during the reconsideration discussion, including confirming that members could change votes before the tally was stated. Later, when the council returned to the item after referral, he remarked that the paperwork was still with Mr. Burley and reiterated that amendments were not yet available to him.

At the Everett Special City Council meeting on Thursday, April 9, 2026, City Clerk Sergio Cornelio handled the council’s business tied to the appointment of an assistant city clerk and guided the chamber through the nomination process.

Cornelio first reported, “We have three on the list, Madam President,” and then called the next speaker. When the council turned to the only item on the agenda, he described it as “an order to appoint the assistant city clerk in accordance with charter Section 2-8a of the city of Everett’s charter,” explaining that the legislative affairs committee had interviewed candidates and recommended them for council appointment.

Cornelio suggested a process that would allow each of the two candidates “to come up and speak for, you know, a few minutes each to explain why they went for the job, a little bit about themselves before you decide to take any votes.” He also proposed proceeding in the order the applications were received, saying, “if you’d like, we’d have each of the two candidates to come up and speak… I would just do it that way,” and noting that “Miss Antonelli was the first one that came to me.”

As the meeting moved along, Cornelio asked a candidate to sit down and said, “then we’ll ask Mr. Mangan to come up.” He later answered procedural questions about the office, including that the assistant city clerk had been in place “Since 1923.” He also said, “They’ll be in my office,” and, when asked about a more detailed matter, responded, “I can’t discuss that, but no.” He added, “They’ll be coming downstairs, whoever that is.”

Cornelio then proposed to “close the nominations,” and the council voted on that motion. The vote was yes, and nominations were closed.

He explained the voting procedure to members who had not used it before: “I’m gonna call your name. And when I call your name, you’re going to tell… the name of the person that you’re choosing to be the next assistant city clerk.” He identified the choices before the council as “Miss Antonelli and Mr. Mangan,” and said members could use first or last names when voting.