Thomas Abruzzese

At the Everett Legislative Affairs Meeting on Monday, June 8, 2026, Thomas Abruzzese, the nominee to the Zoning Board of Appeals, introduced himself and described his background. He identified himself as “Thomas Abruzzese, Peirce Avenue, Everett,” and said he is a retired former attorney for the Massachusetts Department of Correction.

Abruzzese highlighted prior public service, saying he “served on the school committee for off and on, 12 years, something like that.” He pointed to his involvement in school-building discussions during that period, noting, “when we’re looking at building schools, I was involved in that.” He framed that experience as relevant to the zoning role because it gave him exposure to public decision-making and development-related issues.

He also described his personal familiarity with local permitting and appeals processes as a homeowner in Everett. Abruzzese said he had gone through “processes many times, in terms of whether it be additions or things like that,” and that he had also been “dealing with the board of appeals on a few occasions.” He said, “That’s been my experience,” while acknowledging, “I have not been on or involved, you know, from that side of it, though, and look forward to, hopefully doing that.”

A notable exchange concerned attendance and availability. Abruzzese responded to a question or concern about his ability to serve by saying he liked “the idea that someone thinks I’m gonna be around five years from now.” He also noted that if anyone checked his school committee attendance records, “I was there, I’m gonna roughly guess, over 95% of the time I made all the meetings and subcommittee meetings.” He added that he was “not aware” of a quorum or rotation issue raised in the discussion, and said, “hopefully, maybe that’ll change.”

No votes were recorded for Abruzzese during this meeting. He closed by thanking the committee: “Thank you for having me.”