Mayor Brian Arrigo announced his candidacy for re-election at a breakfast Saturday morning at Casa Lucia.
The breakfast was part of a series of events kicking off his campaign. Many campaign volunteers had participated in a sign-holding on Broadway prior to the breakfast.
“I want to thank you all for coming out on a cold, rainy May day [to hold signs],†Arrigo said at the outset of his speech.
There was also a door-knocking event and an open house at the mayor’s campaign headquarters at 26 Revere St.
Following a delicious breakfast catered by DeMaino’s Restaurant, Arrigo took the podium, receiving a warm ovation from the guests, many of whom were wearing orange-and-blue “Arrigo†T-shirts.
Arrigo’s speech highlighting his accomplishments as mayor was interrupted several times by applause. He received a standing ovation at the end of his remarks.
Arrigo was elected mayor in November, 2015, defeating then-incumbent Dan Rizzo in a close, hard-fought race for the corner office. Rizzo announced at his annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner April 4 that he will be a candidate for mayor.
Following is Mayor Brian Arrigo’s announcement for re-election:
“Today I get to proudly say this out load for the first time: I am officially a candidate for re-election as Mayor of our great city…the City of Revere.
Are you with me?
So why am I running for re-election? First and foremost, it’s because of the people in this room and the people who believe that Revere is finally moving in the right direction and that it still deserves better.
I’ve had a lot of opportunities to talk about all the great things going on in our city, but as I told you at the State of the City address, despite all we have accomplished in the last four years – and we have accomplished a lot – We are not done.
This is a job that requires commitment, vision, and bold thinking, and over the last four years we have a record of accomplishments that proves: we get the job done.
As I look around the room, I see faces of those who have stood by me since our first race 14 years ago. And I see a lot of faces that were with me four years ago. And I see some new faces, too. But what I feel seeing all of you is an immense pride in our city and in our accomplishments.
As many of you know, in a past life I was budget guy with a lot of experience in that field.
So it’s no surprise one of the first things on our agenda was to order a long-overdue comprehensive financial review of all the City’s finances. We discovered nearly $2.2 million sitting in 86 different accounts that were inactive for years. We immediately put those funds to work for you.
And because of our efforts to improve our financial policies and control spending – we’ve reached new levels of financial stability, obtaining the highest bond rating in the history of Revere.
And we’ve also worked hard to put your hard-earned money back in our pockets. Thanks to our sound fiscal management, last year we were able to give Revere ratepayers their first water and sewer decrease in 20 years. And we’ll be doing it again this year.
Being Mayor has been tremendously fulfilling because I get to make a difference in people’s everyday lives. That’s why we’ve made city government more responsive, more transparent, and more accountable.
We’re tackling quality of life issues like pothole repair, streets and sidewalks repair, and trash cleanup. We’ve given the DPW new equipment and more workers. And we’ve made tracking all this work more effective for both our workers and our residents, by launching a new 311 system.
But the accomplishments of our first term are only just the beginning.
We are on the verge of living in the Revere we’ve always dreamed of. We cannot go backwards. And I’ll say it louder for the people in the back. We cannot go backwards.
We put the foundation in place and we need to keep building on all of this progress.
We will not stand idly by while surrounding cities and towns flourish.
For a change, Revere is setting the pace, not lagging behind.
But now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Now is the time to challenge ourselves to do more.
The next four years provide incredible opportunities for our city. We will work together to put even more city services online. We’re going to create a “mobile city hall†that brings city hall to our neighborhoods.
We are going to open a community center at the Garfield School that will provide programming for all Revere residents.
We are going to guide the development of Suffolk Downs, which will bring much-needed jobs, amenities, and revenue to our city.
We are going to implement a 10 percent residential tax exemption to owner-occupied properties in our city.
And finally we are going to build that beautiful new high school that our students, teachers and staff deserve.
But we can only accomplish these things if we come together, and if we stay committed to this movement for a better Revere.
It has been the honor of my life to serve as Mayor of our City, and it would be my honor to work with you for four more years.
We have only just begun.
So over the next six months, let’s work hard – let’s have some fun.
Let’s make sure we get people to the polls on Election Day.
And let’s keep working toward the best Revere.
Thank you.
