THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2025 Page 3 City Council approves Mayor’s FY26 $286.7M Municipal Budget Advocate Staff Report T he City Council approved and adopted Mayor Patrick Keefe’s proposed $286.7 million municipal budget for Fiscal Year 2026 at their meeting this week. The budget — built with $107 million in Chapter 70 state funding for public schools and nearly $13 million in unrestricted government aid — is roughly $12 million more than last year. Councillors asked no questions and made no comments, and there were no calls for reductions or changes. Ward 3 Councillor Anthony Cogliandro thanked fellow councillors and department heads for participating in a streamlined budget review process that took place over two days. Cogliandro, who arranged the new budget hearing schedule, in part to spare department heads from a night meeting after a full day on the job, invited anyone who had any ideas on how to make the budget process more effi cient to reach out. Council approves spending $140K for annual Sand Sculpting Festival security T he City Council voted this week to spend $140,000 of the city’s free cash to support the Sand Sculpting Festival police details, but it wasn’t easy. Mayor Patrick Keefe, who was at this week’s council meeting, explained that the ~ GUEST COMMENTARY ~ A Mother’s Plea: The Urgent Need for Productive Conversations About Gun Violence By Julvonnia McDowell W hen I bought my 14-yearold son a crisp, navy suit with a yellow bowtie for his upcoming spring formal, I never imagined that I’d have to bury him in it just days later. My radiant, joyful boy went over to a family member’s house, where he and his cousin found an unsecured gun in a drawer, hidden beneath a tshirt. They started playing with it, not realizing it was loaded. Minutes later, JaJuan was gone. The phone call we received that afternoon was every parent’s worst nightmare. And it was entirely preventable. My husband and I had always been protective of JaJuan. We’d taught him as a child to look both ways before crossing the street and not to accept rides from strangers. And we’d always ask other parents the usual questions — about screen time, video games, and curfews — before letting JaJuan go to a friend’s house. But we never asked: Is there a gun in the house? If so, is it stored securely? It never occurred to us that the thing that posed the greatest risk to JaJuan’s life would be a fi rearm. But gun injuries are the leading cause of death for children and teens in the United States. One of the things I’ve realized since my son passed away is that addressing gun violence and its impact — especially on children — doesn’t have to be a partisan issue. With our children and teens at the center of this crisis, it can’t be. A recent study from Johns Hopkins showed that gun injuries claimed over 2,500 children’s lives in 2022 — more than car crashes, overdoses, or cancers. Whether you’re a lifelong gun owner or someone who has never touched one, we all want our children to be safe, including reducing suicides and unintentional shootings — which in 2022 accounted for nearly 60% of all gun deaths. To save lives, we need a cultural shift. That starts with conversations that help people GUEST COMMENTARY | SEE Page 7 city has always used free cash to support the event, which is organized by the nonprofi t group the Revere Beach Partnership. This year, the cost of a state police detail has shot up to $220,000 and the city has stepped in to cover that bill. The city did receive an $89,000 public safety grant from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission specifically for the Sand Sculpting Festival to help pay for the police details. Councillors took turns expressing their appreciation of the Sand Sculpting Festival and what it’s done for the city. “Twenty-five years ago, we had such a bad reputation people wouldn’t come here,” said Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, referring to the days of “severe Revere.” McKenna said the Sand Sculpting Festival changed the concept of Revere. Keefe called the festival “emblematic of Revere as the home of the fi rst public beach,” and other councillors felt the event made the city a family destination. And so it was a surprise when Councillor-at-Large Anthony Zambuto proposed a substitute motion to allocate $120,000 for the Sand Sculpting Festival. Zambuto said he loves the festival and does what he can personally to support it. But he said the event organizers have rejected donations from a local company that donated heavily during the early years of the event. Zambuto said the company had stepped in with a $10,000 donation when the event was nearly broke. He said his call for a $20,000 cut in funding was symbolic and organizers need to “remember where they came from.” While Keefe said he understood Zambuto’s reasoning, it was not enough to sway the council. Councillors voted to reject Zambuto’s motion to cut $20,000 from the appropriation. They voted to spend $140,000 of free cash to support the Sand Sculpting Festival.
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