Page 18 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2023 MAYOR | FROM Page 1 him apart from Ward 4 Councillor Keefe, Visconti and at-large Councillor Stephen Morabito, who is expected to announce his candidacy soon. “With the new High School debate dominating the news lately, I’m the only candidate in this race who has real life experience in actually building a school,” he said in a telephone interview this week. “I have a history of putting things together.” Fiscal responsibility, transparency and a commitment to protecting the interests of taxpayers have been part of Rizzo’s message throughout his political career. It is where he stands now in the debate over the new high school. He’s confi dent he has the numbers to make the case for building a more aff ordthrough. He grew up during the city’s rough and tumble days, left for a six-year stint in the US Navy, but came back and launched Rizzo Insurance Group, a small family business, with his brother, Paul. Rizzo’s campaign will not be Mayor Dan Rizzo is shown delivering his State of the City address back in Jan. 2015. (Revere Advocate fi le photo) able project on the existing site. “It’s an issue I believe I will be able to handle,” said Rizzo, adding that he has good, solid evidence. A lifelong Revere resident, Rizzo is Revere through and weighed down by the vision thing. He doesn’t think that’s in the job description. “When I was mayor, I didn’t think I should give people a vision of what I wanted Revere to be, but rather what they envisioned” he said, adding that "listening is the best way to make decisions as public offi - cials. God gave us two ears and one mouth.” “We’re going through a renaissance of changing times and demographics. We need to adapt and fi nd out what people want and need,” he said. Still, Rizzo has some overarching ideas of what he would like to do to improve the quality of life for families in the city. During his term as mayor, the city built the Hill Elementary School, the Harry Della Russo Stadium with a football fi eld and modern regulation competition track, three ball fi elds and tennis courts thanks in part to a $2.72 million state grant and a $5.5 million community investment. The city was able to take the St. Mary’s property from the Archdiocese by eminent domain, fi - nally providing three new ballfi elds for the city’s youth. Along with the Broadway Revitalization Project obtaining $9 million in grant funding, the city enjoyed new storefront and street lighting along Broadway following the devastating tornado. On the north side, Market Basket reenergized the Northgate Shopping Center as a great anchor tenant, providing 500 local jobs FOREST | FROM Page 7 Other schools have made site COMMERCIAL & RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY SALES & RENTALS HAPPY SPRING! Sandy Juliano Broker/President Listed by Sandy Single family, 81 Florence St., Everett $649,900 UNDER AGREEMENT! New Listing by Norma UNDER AGREEMENT! Everett 2 family, $729,900. Call Norma for details! 617-590-9143 REVERE Rental - 2 bedroom - $2,000 /mo with utilities Call Sandy for details at: 617-448-0854 Open Daily From 10:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. 433 Broadway, Suite B, Everett, MA 02149 www.jrs-properties.com Denise Matarazzo 617-953-3023 617-294-1041 Norma Capuano Parziale 617-590-9143 Follow Us On: changes once they realized the current site was not the best option. See this example for the new Pickering Middle School in Lynn: https://www.itemlive. com/2023/03/15/engineerssuggest-site-change-for-newpickering-school/?fbclid=Iw AR2PRvPRikv5sRA13NEuElCwIewQw2aN_XZTYROmpENloetuKNOrMec-KQ 7. Claim: “The alternative sites [e.g., C2] …may have even more expensive and challenging environmental requirements” Reality: It is hard to understand how the alternative sites, which are not located on a hard to reach hilltop and do not require clear cutting of 13.5 acres of virgin forest, would be more expensive and environmentally challenging. The hilltop site will require more than $40 MILLION just for site prep. “Save NEMT Forest” change. Rosemarie Ciampi 617-957-9222 Joe DiNuzzo 617-680-7610 or g petition states, “The Building Committee has two other viable sites available to them right there on vocational school land. We are advocating for site C2 which is located where the existing football fi eld area is now. C2 has little to no blasting, a shorter construction schedule, is less expensive and can be built in only one phase without disruption to the students or the people who live nearby the project.” 8. Claim: “…trying to derail the biggest educational project in our region because they don’t want it in their neighborhood” Reality: The small group of concerned citizens has ALWAYS been in favor of building the Voke. They have made it very clear the only thing they want to derail is the LOCATION of the project. The very title of the Facebook group is “SAVE the Forest and BUILD the Voke.” The change.org petition states, “We and boosting the Squire Road business district. During his tenure, Revere earned the distinction in 2014 as the “Best Urban High School in the US” at the National Excellence in Urban Education Symposium in San Diego, Calif., earning a Gold Medal and a check for $5,000. “We need to always prioritize and focus on education,” said Rizzo, adding, “We need to work towards those things that made us stand out during my tenure.” “These are the things young families want and expect if they are to stay in Revere”, said Rizzo, who conceded that municipal government isn’t rocket science. “A lot of things are common sense and my approach will be 100 percent common sense,” he said. “I have a proven track record – and I can jump in on Day One.” support both Vocational training as well as the new vocational school. It is only the building design and location to which we object. We do not want to ‘stop’ this project; we merely want the new school to be built on a different site that is less expensive and more accessible to everyone, no matter their physical abilities.” On a personal level, my father went to a vocational school and used his education to start a thriving business in Malden Square that he successfully ran until he was well into his 80s. I am very proud of what he achieved, and 100% back a new vocational school for NEMT’s diverse population, to allow them the opportunities they deserve. I simply do not want to sacrifi ce the NEMT forest to achieve that goal. Northeast offi cials continue to be tone deaf to requests to simply relocate the project to a different site. I urge readers to visit nemtforest.org and their Facebook page SAVE the Forest and BUILD the Voke, two valuable sources of information used in this letter, to learn the REAL facts about this project. Then call or write your elected and appointed leaders and urge them to support site C2, a completely feasible op tion usin g existing open space where there are currently football and baseball fi elds, that would entail the lowest new construction costs, sh ortest building construction schedule, and least environmental impact. Tell them publicly funded projects using state agency funds should take environmental impacts into account. This request is urgent, because Northeast offi cials will soon begin clear cutting the forest as one of the fi rst steps in the process. Sincerely, Sherri Carlson Wakefi eld Resident
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