Councilor Powers announces bid for re-election in Ward 5

Special to the Journal

Ward 5 Councilor John Powers has announced his candidacy for re-election. The following is his statement.

“My name is John Powers; and it has been my honor to represent the citizens of Ward 5 on the Revere City Council.  Today I am proud to announce my candidacy for re-election to the Ward 5 Council seat.  I am grateful beyond words for the trust that the citizens of Ward 5 have placed in me; and I humbly ask for your support again, so that I may continue to serve you and your families and we may together continue the progress we have begun in the great city of Revere. 

For those of you who may not know me, please allow me to tell you a bit about myself, about some of the achievements of which I am most proud, and about some of what I still hope to accomplish in the future.  I am a lifelong Revere resident, a homeowner and a taxpayer.  Among my many City Council roles, I have been elected by my colleagues to three terms as City Council President.  I have also been appointed to four terms as Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, which is responsible for reviewing and approving the annual city budget, and as Chairman of the Public Safety Committee, which provides oversight of the Police and Fire Departments.

I especially pride myself for serving as a full-time City Councilor — that is my only job. I truly enjoy spending every day working on important city issues and providing constituent services.  If you see fit to re-elect me, I pledge to remain accessible to all Revere citizens, easily reachable, and unfailingly responsive to anyone who needs my assistance, who has a question or concern, or who just wants his or her voice heard. 

When last I stood for re-election in 2019, I noted our successes on a number of fronts especially relevant to Ward 5; and I am pleased to say that much progress has been made since then with even more to come:

A New Point of Pines Fire Station:  This is an issue on which I had long been a vocal and persistent advocate.  By 2019, we had secured a commitment from the Mayor and City Council to build a new fire station on the Lynnway to better serve the Point of Pines, Riverside, Oak Island and Lower Revere Street neighborhoods as well as the city as a whole.  Since then, we have approved bond funding for a new state-of-the-art facility, which is now in final design.  Demolition of the long-vacant Alden Mills Fire Station is already underway; new construction will begin later this year.  The new fire station should be fully operational by late 2022.

A New Vision for the Revere RiverFront District:  By 2019, we had successfully fought two proposed residential projects for the vacant Riverside Boat Works property on Thayer Avenue that were opposed by the Riverside community; and we then passed new zoning that precluded of any dense multi-family redevelopment of that property.  Since then, we have completed a community-based Masterplan for the RiverFront District as a whole that envisions the conversion of the Riverside Boat Works property to a community rowing /educational center, that would be an integral new element of an expanded and more resilient Gibson Park; the residential redevelopment of the former G&J salvage yard with an attractive and accessible waterfront; and a reconfigured transportation network that will directly link the district to Revere as a whole — eliminating the current need to use Mills Avenue to get to and from Gibson Park.   The RiverFront Masterplan was approved by both the Revere Planning Board and City Council; and it is already being implemented in many critical respects, including the prospective city purchase of Riverside Boat Works, which is in the final stages of negotiation with its current owner.

Improved Neighborhood Infrastructure:  With the full support of the Mayor and his DPW staff, we have continued to repave streets and replace sidewalks throughout Ward 5; and less visibly but at least equally important, we have continued to upgrade our water, sewer, drainage and pumping facilities throughout the district.  At long last, with my proactive support, we have fully excavated and restored the Eastern County Ditch, which is vital to flood control in Ward 5 and has already resulted in virtually eliminating area flooding in major storm events.

Upgraded Neighborhood Playgrounds:  With the full support of the Mayor and his Community Development staff, we have continued to improve our recreational facilities in Ward 5 for both our younger and our older residents, with new playgrounds at Gibson and DeStoop Parks and the Paul Revere School, with the renovation of Ambrose Park about to get underway. We are also working with DCR on a senior-oriented renovation of Sullivan Park on Revere Beach Boulevard, which will be linked to the Bay Road neighborhood via the new pedestrian bridge at Sachem Street. 

New Public Schools: Following-up on our support for construction of the five new public schools including the Paul Revere Elementary School and the Rumney Marsh Middle School, both of which serve children in Ward 5, we are working with the Mayor and the School Superintendent on planning for a new Revere High School.  This much needed facility recently received essential initial approval from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, which will underwrite a major portion of its cost; and we are currently in the feasibility planning stage.  Municipal bonding will be supported by the property tax proceeds from new development at Suffolk Downs and elsewhere in Revere.

Transportation Projects:  We have continued to work in concert with the Mayor and his Community Development staff and with DOT, DCR and the MBTA to improve transportation facilities and services on North Shore Road, Revere Beach Boulevard and American Legion Highway in Ward 5 to address the persistent problem of regional commuting through Revere to/from Boston. This multi-jurisdictional process is always slower than we all want it to be; but recently there has been encouraging progress on three important regional rail initiatives for which I have been a primary advocate: Congresswoman Katherine Clark has recently approved $4M for planning of a new regional rail station at Wonderland, linked to the Blue Line; the current Transportation Bond Bill includes $25M for the construction of such a regional rail station, for which I testified along with Governor Baker and Mayor Arrigo; and DOT has recently designated the regional rail line through Revere as the Environmental Justice Corridor, with a priority for its electrification to allow for “transit frequency and transit fares” on our regional rail.  In addition, of particular interest to Ward 5, I was instrumental in supporting the commencement of design work on the proposed new round-about for the RiverFront District, in successfully opposing DCR traffic meters on the residential side of Revere Beach Boulevard, and in renovating the newly landscaped traffic island at Butler Circle.

Job Development Initiatives: Since 2019, we have worked to create new Revere job opportunities with the rezoning and reactivation of the former NECCO property in Ward 5 by Amazon, the proposed new Amazon facility to replace the vacant Showcase Cinema in Ward 6, the ongoing redevelopment of the Revere portion of the former Suffolk Downs racetrack in Wards 1 and 2, and — now that it has finally been cleared for redevelopment at my insistence — the prospective commercial revitalization of the former Wonderland racetrack in Ward 5.  These development initiatives will eventually increase the number of job opportunities in and for Revere by three-to-four-fold.

These are just a few of the many issues and opportunities for which I have fought on behalf of the residents of Ward 5; and they will continue to require informed attention and leadership in the next two years and beyond.  I believe that my performance to date as your City Councillor reflects the experience and expertise, the vision and understanding, and the dedication and leadership that I will continue to bring to this exceptionally broad range of civic and community responsibilities and that make me ideally positioned to continue to serve you and the city. 

Revere is at an exciting time in its history.  The direction we take and the choices that we make in the coming years will determine whether we reach our economic, commercial, and civic potential as a community.  It is on that basis that I again humbly ask you, the Revere residents of Ward 5, for your vote in the primary on Tuesday, September 14th.

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