Page 6 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2020 RCC discuss alleged drug use, lack of Revere residents at One Beach housing Revere Community Committee Board members Philip Russo and Danielle Sawyer, and Neighborhood Developers Revere Community Building Manager Rasha Mikhael discuss the issues during a Revere Community Committee meeting at 525 Beach St. last week. (Advocate photos by Tara Vocino) By Tara Vocino T he alleged smell of cooking drugs was brought up during a recent Revere Community Committee (RCC) meeting at one of The Neighborhood Developer’s low-income apartment complexes, at 525 Beach St., in the Shirley Avenue district. The RCC is a group of resident leaders, who meet monthly, working to improve the quality of life in Revere’s Shirley Avenue neighborhood through beautifi cation, green space, advocacy, and place-making campaigns. Some members spoke on behalf of both The Neighborhood Developers and RCC. The Neighborhood Developers helps to build aff ordable housing units. RCC member Philip Russo was asked to walk through the halls (as a second set of eyes with a 1 Beach St. resident) who fi rst smelled the odor of cooking drugs — possibly cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine -- coming out of approximately three second fl oor units, on Jan. 31 and again on Feb. 8. Russo said he smelled the strong odor on both occasions. “Why should our tax dollars pay to help their addiction?” Russo asked. “If it’s true, they are taking advantage of the system and need to realize that they can lose their housing as quickly as they got it.” He doesn’t identify himself as an expert on illegal drug manufacturing but rather as a concerned citizen who wants illegal activity out of TND’s housing as its income-based, similar to Section 8. The Neighborhood Developat 781-286-8500 or Info@advocatenews.net call he A For Advertising with Results, call The Advocate Newspapers cate Ne spapers ers Revere Community Building Manager Rasha Mikhael told the board that their goal is to have residents keep their income-based housing that TND provides at 1 Beach and 525 Beach St., among other areas in the city. In her paid position, she helps to manage TND work in Revere and plan/facilitate monthly RCC meetings and support them with their work/ agenda. Russo said that he wanted to address what he observed internally before bringing it to the attention of the police. If that doesn’t work, he will fi le a criminal complaint. Russo said that if found guilty, the tenants should be evicted. Breaking down the eviction process, Mikhael will perform a walk through with other TND staff , and as a fi rst step, issue a written warning. “The second step is a court summons,” Mikhael said. “We have found people smoking marijuana cigarettes, which aren’t allowed, but never the odor of (cooking) drugs.” RCC member Kristen Janjar, who also is a TND board member, said in response that TND tries to have a discipline process in place to try to work out issues before eviction. “We don’t just evict people,” Janjar said. “It might not have been the tenant himself, but guests.” During one of his visits, Russo said he saw an alleged drug deal outside in the parking lot. Mikhael replied that such activity could happen anywhere. She said that she’ll monitor the outdoor security cameras more closely. During a public comment session, Russo cited the number of Chelsea residents residing at One Beach as opposed to Revere residents, many says Russo, he knows personally that are living in shelters. “We have certain federal laws we have to follow,” Janjar replied. “We have more Chelsea residents, because the main offi ce is in Chelsea, and we’re more established there.” Janjar said that applicants are pooled into a lottery, and everyone has equal opportunity. “We had 4,000 applications for 34 apartments,” Janjar said. Russo stated that it’s unfair that 80 to 90 percent of One Beach residents are from Chelsea. Mikhael said she doesn’t have an exact number of Revere residents at One Beach immediately available, but that it falls within the 10 to 20 percent bracket. The Revere Community Committee displayed a new logo on Tuesday night.
7 Publizr Home