LAWRENCE — After more than a year as chairman of the Board of Assessors, Alex Vega was demoted yesterday, effective immediately. He will be succeeded by Breda Daou of North Andover, who has been a city assessor since 2001.
Vega, 35, said Personnel Director Frank Bonet hand delivered a letter signed by Mayor William Lantigua when he arrived at City Hall for work at 8:30 a.m. yesterday.
"This memorandum is to inform you that as the appointing authority of the City of Lawrence, I am revoking your appointment as Chairman of the Board of Assessors," Lantigua wrote.
"You shall continue in the position as Assessor for the City of Lawrence ... You shall perform the essential duties and responsibilities of your position as defined in any and all federal, state and municipal codes."
"I'm going to remain positive. I still have a job, I'm going to be here and nothing is going to derail me," Vega said.
Calls to Lantigua and his chief of staff, Leonard Degnan, were not returned yesterday.
On his first day as mayor, Lantigua fired Inspectional Services Commissioner Myles Burke, Recreation Director Linda Schiavone and Planning Director Michael Sweeney.
Vega said there will be little change in his duties, except for the title and a pay cut of his $67,412.80 annual salary.
"It rattles my mind that this can happen," Vega said. "This will give me an opportunity to prove myself," Vega said.
Vega began in the assessors office in 1995 as a summer employee. He was later appointed as clerk for three years. He left the post to work with at-risk teenagers at Lawrence High School, before returning to the assessors office in 2000.
Vega was named chairman last fall after longtime assessor Joseph Giuffrida retired. He was the first Latino to hold the post. "It was a very proud moment for me and my family," said Vega, who grew up in the Hancock Housing Court and Bradford apartments. He and his wife, Nardy Vega, a counselor at Lawrence High, have two sons.
Vega was born in Methuen, one of 12 children. He attended Proctor Academy in Andover, N.H., for one year and graduated from Greater Lawrence Technical School in 1992, where he played baseball, basketball and soccer. He attended New Hampshire College.
Daou was born in Ireland and moved to the United States in 1970.
She graduated magna cum laude from University of Massachusetts Lowell with a degree in political science and a minor in international relations and law. She and her husband, Cesar, have two sons, Pierre, 26, and Jean-Paul, 24.
"It's exciting news," said Daou. "This is a wonderful opportunity for me."
