Weymouth Town Council appoints Carrie Palazzo to vacant District 6 seat

WEYMOUTH -- December 2, 2024, Weymouth Town Council appointed Carrie Palazzo to the vacant District 6 council seat by a 7-1 vote Monday. Palazzo, a 15-year South Weymouth resident and former School Committee member, prevailed over finalist Stephen McCloskey following opening statements and councilor questions at the December 2 meeting. Council President Michael Malise chaired the proceedings; Vice President Pascal Berger and Councilor Shanahan had served with Malise on the three-member search committee that sifted seven applicants before forwarding the two finalists. The council also voted 8-0 to borrow $2.95 million for six permanent modular classrooms at Hamilton, Nash, and West Augustus Elementary Schools, targeting a September 2025 opening; Interim Superintendent Melanie Current described the structures as 25-year permanent installations costing approximately $750,000 each. In other action, the council approved a FY25 commercial tax rate shift of 1.47, dropping the residential rate to $10.11 per thousand, a 3.52 percent average increase in the single-family tax bill despite a 5.15 percent rise in assessed values, and passed a Columbian Square parking ordinance allowing police-issued window-sticker permits to exempt merchants and employees from the square's two-hour daytime limit.