Everett’s next Mayor Robert Van Campen on his goals for the city

Everett, Massachusetts has a new mayor-elect.

In one of the biggest upsets in Tuesday's local elections, City Councilor Robert Van Campen ousted Everett's mayor of 17 years. According to the unofficial election results, Van Campen won 54% of the vote to Mayor Carlo DeMaria's 45%.

In an interview with WBUR’s All Things Considered, Van Campen shared how he plans to approach education, immigration and community trust.

Highlights from this interview have been lightly edited for clarity.

On his plan for improving schools:

" The city currently has about 400,000 plus or minus square feet of underutilized space between the former Everett high school and the former Pope John high school. These are city owned buildings. I want to reactivate those spaces to actually give the children of the Everett public schools the learning space they deserve."

On his plans for working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement:

"The Everett Police Department does an exceptional job keeping the people of Everett safe day in and day out. The job of enforcement of federal immigration law is the job of the federal government. My view is that to the extent there's a need for collaboration between local law enforcement and ICE, it should occur when apprehending criminals."

On if he would continue to be paid the highest salary of any mayor in the State:

"That's the compensation that has been set for the Office of Mayor. And unless that ordinance is changed by law, that's what the office of the mayor gets paid."

On his response to re-instating trust after the former mayor's scandals:

" I made the decision to step forward as a candidate for mayor this year with part of my campaign focusing on a restoration of trust in our city government. One of the plans that I have is to create a much more transparent budget tool for the people of Everett so that they can go online and they can see how every penny of their tax dollars is spent in almost real time."