RE R V RE EVERE E R Vol. 32, No.9 -FREEREE Advocate News Online: www.advocatenews.net OCATOCAT www.advocatenews.net Mayor announces he’s leaving at end of year City councillors offer praise of Arrigo’s tenure By Barbara Taormina M ayor Brian Arrigo jolted the city this week when he announced he will be stepping down from the Mayor’s Office at the end of this term. “After months of consideration with loved ones, I have decided to make 2023 my last year as mayor of this great city of Revere,” Arrigo wrote in a letter to residents. “This is a bittersweet decision, as I am sad to be leaving a position that has been so rewarding, but now is time to support the next generation with the energy and ideas to lead our great city.” TENURE | SEE Page 18 BRIAN ARRIGO Mayor Mayor Brian Arrigo’s 2023 State of the City Address (Editor’s Note: The mayor’s SOTCA was delivered last night at the Susan B. Anthony Auditorium and Live on RevereTV) T hank you all so much for being here as I deliver my eighth and final State of the city address. To my wife, Daveen and my two boys, Joseph and Jack. The three of you are my everything. Daveen - you have supported me over these last eight crazy years. It has been an incredible adventure and I could not have done it without you. I love you. To my family, friends and colleagues, I would like to take a moment to thank each and every one of you for your love, support and dedication during my time in office. Your trust and confidence in me has been a constant source of inspiration, and I am grateful for the many opportunities I have had to work alongside all of you to achieve our shared goals. When I first started preparing JOANNE MCKENNA City Council Vice President (MSBA), which sends the project back to the starting line. Councillors Steven Morabito, John Powers, Marc Silvestri and City Council President Patrick Keefe voted in favor of moving forward with the building design at the Wonderland site, with the rest of the council voting against it. Ward Free Every Friday 781-286-8500 A fter years of plans, presentations and predictions, the City Council voted against approving and submitting the schematic design and $470,000 million budget for the new high school to the Massachusetts School Building Authority D CTE E Friday, March 3, 2023 Council dashes new high school budget; mayor lashes out at council’s vote By Barbara Taormina 2 Councillor Ira Novoselsky voted present. City Council Vice President and former Revere High School teacher Joanne McKenna called the vote the most difficult decision she has made during her eight years on the City Council. “There are too many unanswered questions,” said McKenna. “I don’t want to burden my constituents with the cost of this project. I believe Revere cannot afford putting the high school at the Wonderland site.” City CFO Richard Viscay continually assured councillors that the building project would not require a Prop 2 1/2 override, but councillors remained skeptical about the city’s strategies to come up with enough money to cover the cost of the new school. And councilors were not supportive of several of the strategies proposed by Viscay and the Mayor’s Office, including adopting the Community Preservation Act, tweaking disbursements from the community investment act, a possible trash fee and increases in fees for permits and fines. City councillors were also concerned about unknowns, such BUDGET | SEE Page 13 Mayor Brian Arrigo delivers his State of the City Address during the Revere Chamber of Commerce Breakfast in 2019 at the Wharf Restaurant. (Advocate file photo) for tonight, I took a little bit of time to reflect on the last eight years. Wow, what a journey we have been on together. We have always been focused 3 48 N e a ep as erCar isa Dis o er C 100 Gal. Min. 24 Hr. Service 781-286-2602 on moving forward. We have always leaned in to change and harnessed it for the good of our residents. Year after year, we’ve kept pushing to be better. Together, we transformed and modernized city services to improve the lives of all of our residents. Together, for the first time in over 40 years, we applied our values and principles as a community to develop the Next Stop Revere Master Plan. Together, we ushered an unprecedented amount of public and private investment in our community to revive Revere Beach, Shirley Ave., and Suffolk Downs. Together, we overcame the challenges of a pandemic – expanding our health and human services division to meet the needs of all of our residents – especially our most vulnerable. And together, we will see a new Department of Public Works facility, a new Point of MAYOR | SEE Page 8 Patience requested for empty North Shore Rd. warehouse Owners locked in federal bankruptcy owe city back taxes By Barbara Taormina L ast August, Ward 5 Councillor John Powers filed a motion requesting that Mayor Brian Arrigo direct the city solicitor or outside counsel to address the City Council relative to the property status of 585 North Shore Rd. Arrigo approved the motion on Sept. 7, 2022, but that’s as far as things went. So, this week Powers filed the same motion and Cheryl McComick, general counsel for the city’s Department of Municipal Inspections, was at the City Council meeting with the latest information about the property. “Three years ago, I met with the owner, and I had some suggestions about the property. It’s a dangerous building,” said Powers, who added that there was WAREHOUSE | SEE Page 15
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