THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2023 Page 3 Revere’s Dept. of Planning & Community Development launches 2023 Business Survey First survey post-pandemic to help identify areas of improvement and offer guidance on how the city can best support Revere business owners T his month the Revere Department of Planning & Community Development (DPCD) launched a 2023 Business Survey targeting all Revere businesses – large and small – to better understand the challenges they are currently facing as we enter 2023. The survey covers questions related to Employment/Workforce Development, Business/Capital Investment and the ways in which the City of Revere can help the support the business community. The survey announcement is at https://www.revere. org/business-development/ smallbusiness#announcement. The survey can be found at www.revere.org/DPCDsurvey. It is available in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic, and it will be live until February 13. The survey will not only be targeting small businesses, but the largest employers in Revere. It is part of a larger eff ort to focus more resources and attention to better support the business community. “The last few years have been trying for the Revere business community, and our Department of Planning and Community Development is interested in hearing directly from our small business owners on how the city can best support them in the new year,” said Mayor Brian Arrigo. “We hope to learn more about the issues facing Rizzo, mayor spar over lawsuits, settlements and disciplinary action By Barbara Taormina T he City Council held an executive session – a closed-door meeting to the press and public – to discuss various items regarding the Revere Police Department. The executive session was called in response to Councillor-at-Large Dan Rizzo’s request for information about lawsuits, settlements and disciplinary actions involving members of the department. City Solicitor Paul Capizzi said such a discussion needed to be held in an executive session because it may include talk about police offi cers’ character. Rizzo voted against moving to executive session and said the information he was looking for was not on the executive session agenda, which called for a discussion of Police Chief David Callahan’s competency. “We’re trying to get an understanding of where we’re going with public safety in the city,” said Rizzo, who objected to keeping information about lawsuits and settlements from the public. “Do our taxpayers not need to know? It seems very unfair to me that we would withhold this information,” said Rizzo. Mayor Brian Arrigo then told the council there have been six settlements since 2017. “Five of the six were related to incidents that occurred under former Police Chief Joseph Cafarelli. The most expensive settlement, $175,000, was due to the harassment that took place under Chief Cafarelli. Fortunately, we had insurance that covered that $175,000 settlement, not taxpayer money. One was made for no money, one for $500,” explained Arrigo. He also said one case involved Police Chief Cafarelli and a complaint against current Police Chief David Callahan. Arrigo said he would be happy to go into greater detail, but he also wanted to make it clear that all was well with the police department and the city. “I’m proud to say we’ve come to at least a handshake agreement with the patrol offi cers union. I think that’s a sign of the work we’re willing to do. We want to make sure our police department doesn’t become a political football, and that’s exactly what’s happening here tonight,” said Arrigo. Councillor Rizzo responded by shouting out questions about the incident involving Cafarelli and Callahan, which led to a couple of confused moments of shouting and a chance for newly elected City Council President Patrick Keefe to show off his skills with the gavel. The council then closed the chamber doors and held their executive session. When they returned to their regular meeting, they jumped immediately into the next item on their agenda. this community and work with local, state, and federal partners to create programming and offer grants that will propose solutions to the challenges they are currently facing. Our city is growing, and with that growth it is necessary to fi nd opportunities for everyone to thrive in the City of Revere.” “Over the next few months, we will be introducing several new business support strategies,” said DPCD Director Tom Skwierawski. “This will include both new grant and loan programs, but also strengthening existing technical assistance and incentive off erings to make sure they meet community needs. The results of this survey will be critical in refi ning these strategies and will ensure that we are doing our part to make Revere a great place to do business.” 10% Off Senior Discount! 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