Letters to the Editor

I was shocked

Dear Editor:

I recently watched the Oct. 30 Economic Development subcommittee meeting and read Councilor Arrigo’ s article. Based on what I saw and read, I was shocked by our current state of economic development or their lack of development. During the Economic Development subcommittee meeting, Mayor Rizzo stated that he had spent three hours at Assembly Row in Somerville to learn how they proceeded with their project, to learn from Somerville. I ask, why did the Mayor wait three years to contemplate developing a plan B in the event the casino license was not awarded to Suffolk Downs? Moreover, I question why John Festa, our community development czar, developed a presentation that a sophomore from any college of urban planning program would never submit to his or her professor. Frankly, I am saddened because we have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on salaries and grants to develop our community. In return, we have only been given platitudes, no comprehensive plan, and no significant new development projects under the Rizzo administration and the appearance of efforts and dollars squandered leaving the Revere taxpayer holding the bag.

That said, the city deserves to hear ideas. We deserve to hear about the progress of the touted Broadway business district. We deserve to hear how we spent almost a million dollars on attracting substantial new businesses. We deserve to hear if we are introducing incentives for significant components of 55 year old and over, residential living mixed use in the Broadway shopping center districts. We deserve to hear if our administration is encouraging street level, neighborhood scale retail services to achieve a desired mixed-use environment based upon analysis and not guess work.

The current administration made many promises during the campaign; promises that are unfilled.

Making statements is not proven leadership.

There are steps a proven leader would take to ensure the city’s economic prosperity. 1) Conduct feasibility studies to aid potential developers with the types of businesses that will attractive local shoppers, and determine if such businesses can be supported by local patrons. 2) Provide incentives for the creation of important infrastructure that will facilitate movement and parking. 3) Increase the FAR or other components of zoning on Broadway to create incentives for developers. 4) Conduct a thorough analysis that projects out the economic development of the city over a 10-year period?

Rather than take steps that a sophomore in any urban planning program would take, our administration has taken none. Ask Dan Rizzo, Paul Rupp and John Festa what they have been doing over the last three years to bring development to the city. There has been no analysis, just more platitudes, smoke and mirror and a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. I agree with Councillor Arrigo that we need a long-term vision, we need results not vague half sentences and we need a comprehensive planning process. Today, not three years from now; Revere deserves better.

George Rotondo

On Mountain Ave. sidewalks

Dear Editor:

About two weeks ago I sent an e-mail to Stephen Reardon my Ward 4 councillor in regards to wanting to talk about why he has ignored my constant complaints about the sidewalks on Mountain Avenue past Adams Street.

I find this very disrespectful that it has been looked past for many years, but yet both sides of Hancock Street are getting new cemented sidewalks when I cannot even take my 1-year-old son for a walk in his stroller because of how dilapidated the sidewalks are. My father has fallen a number of times while walking his dog because of the condition of the sidewalk. My question is what kind of city do we live in when neighborhoods are forgotten about, streets are left to crumble, but yet our Mayor can spend money on renovating his office and doing work in front of City Hall – which by my account was not needed currently?

It seems to me that the Revere City Council does not care about the need of the people unless it’s a voting year. I find that disgraceful and disrespectful.

I have included in this a copy of the e-mail sent to Stephen Reardon. I hope this gets some results. My next step will be to get a petition going in my neighborhood and go straight to a City Council meeting and present the issue to the.

Below is my original letter for all to consider:

Good Afternoon, Mr. Reardon

My name is Craig Lander. I reside at 321 Mountain Ave. and am very upset about the status of our sidewalks, especially on the side of my residence.

I have tried numerous times to see about getting these sidewalks repaired or replaced since 2010 and to no avail. Nothing has been done about it yet.

Now I am especially upset since a few streets down and a few streets up, some of the sidewalks are being replaced and or repaired and yet Mountain Avenue past Adams Street is still a disaster.

My hope is that this e-mail receives the proper respect. Another reason is I have a 4-year-old who has fallen on a number of occasions due to cracks and dips in the sidewalk. My father, who walks his dog every night, has fallen and hurt himself due to the lighting and the inability to see some of the up-cracks and dips in the sidewalks.

It upsets me when I cannot take my 1-year-old for a stroll in his stroller because the sidewalks are so dilapidated.

I grew up in this city and have never seen a major neighborhood like mine fall behind. Now, if this is not something you can speak about on my behalf, I will make sure I take the point and handle it on my own. I am not proposing a threat; I am making a promise. If something is not done about the condition of the sidewalks soon I will go to the local Revere Journal and make sure it is known.

I am also going to start working on a petition for my neighborhood residents to sign to see about getting these sidewalks fixed and am going to start working on a presentation showing the Council in a future meeting how bad things have gotten on Mountain Avenue.

I would like a response about how you are willing to help to get these sidewalks fixed.

You can reach me via e-mail or via phone. I appreciate your attention to this matter and look forward to hearing from you.

Craig N. Lander

321 Mountain Ave.

Voting for Charlie

Dear Editor:

The people of Revere may be overwhelmingly Democrats but in the election last week hundreds of them voted for Charlie Baker, the Republican candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. He came very close to carrying Revere. I believe one of the main reasons they supported him was the respect he showed to our city by coming here so many times while his opponent was rarely if ever seen here. I would like to describe some of the visits the Governor Elect made to Revere.

I was campaigning for Steve Morabito, councilor at large.  I was dressed with a silly hat on my head with a few flags sticking out on the top. Frankly, I looked like someone to be avoided. When there was a lull in the parade he walked over to me and said “nice hat.” As it turned out he was a graduate of Needham High School as was I. In fact, my niece Maureen was in his class. He was a gentleman that day and still is.

This past summer, he  came to our Sandcastle celebration. He did not spend a half hour, shake some hands and leave. Rather, he was there for at least two hours walking the beach and taking photographs with anyone who wanted one. City Council President Tony Zambuto and I walked with him.

At Eastie Pride Day, which many Revere residents attended, there he was again not for twenty minutes but for the better part of the afternoon. He was kind enough to do a taped interview for me for Zarah Magazine and Revere TV. Not long ago he held one of the largest rallies of his campaign here in Revere at Casa Lucia. The place was mobbed. Many city officials were present. People were buzzing about the size of the crowd. I decided to take a little survey and ask people what party they belonged to and for whom they planned to vote. The majority of those interviewed were Democrats and they were voting for Charlie. The reason most of them gave was that he was a very bright man, a nice guy and that he gave Revere respect by coming to the city so many times.

Finally, on Saturday, October 18th., Charlie was at the Mottolo Veterans Post with veterans from the wars in Vietnam and the Middle East and dare I not mention a veteran of World War 11, my friend Morris Morris. Also Mayor Daniel Rizzo who served in the U.S. Navy and City Councilor Charles Patch who served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Charlie Baker did not do the usual thing politicians do, shake a lot of hands and leave. He stayed for the whole afternoon sitting in the front with combat veterans at a table with a microphone. Did he give a speech? No. Each of those brave American veterans spoke about their experiences fighting for our country.

There was a Marine  sitting next to his Marine buddy both from Winthrop. He was missing a leg. He spoke about how he is spending his time now helping our veterans and how terribly they were treated. He said that 22 veterans commit suicide each day. As he spoke he broke down and there were tears in the eyes of many people in the audience, most of them veterans also. One of the Marines said that Charlie Baker had attended the birthday celebrations of the United States Marine Corps for years even before he ran for public office.

Well, Charlie Baker spoke briefly at the end of the meeting. All he said was that if he is elected his first act would be to create a new cabinet level position. What will that position be called?

Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The ovation in the hall was deafening.

Charlie Baker. Yes, a good and decent man, and thankfully our next governor.

 Bill Jackson

Thank you

Dear Editor:

The Election Commissioner would like to thank the following individual’s for working so hard to ensure the success of the recent

State Elections;  Robert N. Scrima, John V. Cammarata, Patricia M. Mazzone, Caitlin C. Welch, Police Chief Joseph Cafarelli, Captain James Guido and Captain Terence K. Reardon, the Revere Police Department, Fire Chief Eugene W. Doherty, the Revere Fire Department, Dr. Paul S. Dakin, Superintendent, Revere Public Schools, Linda Shaw, Director, Revere Housing, Michael Hinojosa, Director, Revere Youth Center, Charlie Kelly, Custodian, Farther George Butera, Pastor St. Anthony’s Church, Gerald A. Amore, Director, American Legion Building, and to all of the dedicated Election Officials who worked on Election Day, Paul Argenzio, Ken Pressley, Bob Rotondo, Brian Mucci, Michael Cecere, Anthony DeAngelis, Robert Delgreco, Edward DeMauro, Stephen Penta, Sally Vranos, Steve Spinale, Stephen D’Apolito, Barbara Lospennato, Frank E. Grayson, and Gene A. Vadala.  Lastly, the management at the Lighthouse Nursing Care Center, The VFW Post #6712, and the Jack Satter House for allowing us to use their facilities on Election Day.  The Board is extremely grateful and wanted to extend a public ‘thank you’ to all of you for your efforts.

Diane R. Colella

Respond to article

Dear Editor:

As participants in the planning of the bicycle lanes along Revere Street with the health and safety of Revere residents in mind, we write to respond to the article “Guinasso Opposed to Bicycle Lane Location on Revere Street” (Pg. 1 Oct. 22).  Bicycling is a fun and healthy activity that many residents want to safely enjoy right here in Revere. The community supported the installation of the lanes after discussing the pros and cons of the lanes at a public hearing, to which every resident on Revere Street was invited. The decision to place the bike lanes was ultimately based on the concerns of the community, with their concerns and safety in mind.

The facts are that bicycling in and around Revere is on the rise, and that Revere Beach continues to be a popular destination for bicyclists and motorists alike. Bike lanes at Revere Street and hopefully elsewhere may increase city desirability. Not only have studies found that bike paths increase business and property selling prices, but also that bike paths are among the top features that homebuyers consider crucial in attracting them to a new community. Current businesses also may experience the added benefit of people slowing down and taking in their surroundings, causing them to stop at local businesses.

Contrary to Mr. Guinasso’s view, bicycle lanes have been demonstrated to increase safety for bicyclists by as much as 50% by alerting motorists of bicyclists’ presence through either dedicated or shared lanes. Adding lanes has a visual impact that causes drivers to subconsciously slow down and to pay more attention, which also benefits people trying to walk across the street. Lanes also provide direction to bicyclists, encouraging them to ride in the direction of traffic, reduce weaving, and become more predictable. Such direction ultimately makes it easier for motorists to anticipate their movements.

Revere Street may appear to be dangerous for bicyclists, but overall crashes over the past 10 years indicate that this is not the case, even as the number of bicyclists on Revere Street has risen. Bicycle lanes have been shown to decrease the rate of bicycle crashes and encourage bicycling.

The heart of the safety issue is this: If motorists and cyclists alike work together by paying attention, using proper signals, and (for bicyclists) wearing reflective and protective gear, we can all help to keep the streets of Revere safer from accidents. The dedicated and shared bike lanes on Revere Street are a part of that effort, and an important part of meeting the needs of a changing city that is on the move.

MGH Revere CARES: Revere on the Move

Bike to the Sea