Rep. Smith Given Date to Fix Apts

Everett State Rep. Steve ‘Stat’ Smith got reprimanded in Chelsea Court and given a drop-dead date to have his Revere apartments brought up to code, according to Revere Fire Officials, or he will be criminally charged.

Chelsea Court Assistant Clerk Magistrate Bob O’Leary heard the facts of the case from Smith and from Revere Fire Chief Gene Doherty and Revere Fire Inspector Dan Maniff in a closed door hearing last Thursday morning. As the hearing was only for probable cause, it was held out of the public setting, which is customary.

While Smith deferred any comment and left court quickly after the hearing, Revere Fire officials were eager to discuss the particulars.

Fire officials said that O’Leary gave Smith a deadline of Sept. 30^th to bring both of his troubled Yeamans Street buildings into good graces with the Fire Department’s demands.

If he does not make that deadline, O’Leary ordered that a criminal complaint would immediately be issued without any discussion on Oct. 1^st.

The criminal charges that will issue against Smith if he does not meet the deadline are not completing an order of the fire department.

“The magistrate did admonish him for taking so long with this and told him that he must meet the deadline,” said Doherty. “We told him that Mr. Smith is really good at saying he’ll do something and then not doing anything. Mr. Smith said that he had been out of town or something. They gave him a lot of leeway. That’s plenty of time to do this work.”

Added Maniff, “It’s actually more than enough time.”

Officially, Smith must finish the new fire protection system in his first building by Aug. 31^st, and then must finish the second building by Sept. 30^th. The project must be completed 100 percent as well, and inspected satisfactorily by fire officials in Revere.

In late May, Revere Fire officials discovered 12 illegal units in what was supposed to be a 12-unit complex on Yeamans Street – meaning that there were 24 total units in two buildings.

It was the worst illegal apartment situation the City of Revere had come across in years, and it ended up being owned by Rep. Smith.

Since that time, according to Revere officials, Smith has dragged his feet in making repairs and removing the illegal units – as well as complying with the Fire Department upgrade demands.

In previous articles, Smith indicated that he planned to do everything asked of him by Revere and that he would comply shortly. However, by last Thursday, he still had not complied with the order.