It was most likely the shortest inaugural ceremony on record, but nonetheless, 10 city councillors and six School Committee members took the oath of office Monday night.
Due to budget cuts, about a month ago the city ruled out having the typical inaugural celebration and after-party. That left a bare bones swearing in ceremony, which took place Monday night.
Interim City Clerk John Henry presided over the ceremonies, giving the invocation and citing the section in the State Constitution of 1780 that calls for all elected officials to take an oath of office.
Councillor George V. Colella was absent from the ceremony; so 10 councillors raised their right hands and repeated the oath as directed by Assistant City Clerk Ashley Melnick.
Taking that oath was one new face, Ward 4 Councillor Stephen Reardon.
The only other change on the Council was that former Ward 4 Councillor George Rotondo was moved up to the councillor-at-large seat.
Following the Council, the School Committee took their oath, with Stacey Rizzo being the new face in the bunch.
And that pretty much concluded the ceremony, which lasted all of 12 minutes.
“This now concluded the briefest inaugural ceremony in the history of Revere,†said Henry, a statement followed by laughs and applause from the standing-room only crowd.
Following the official ceremony, a inaugural party was held at Casa Lucia – a party that served to honor the newly-sworn elected officials and celebrate the grand opening of the new function hall. The hall is owned in part by Councillor Dan Rizzo.
All but four elected officials attended the event.
Special guests were Speaker of the House Bob DeLeo (D-Winthrop), State Sen. Anthony Petruccelli (D-East Boston), Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein (D-Revere), and Mayor Tom Ambrosino.
