Powers Seeks Re-Election in Ward 5 Council Race

Special to the Journal

John Powers Councilor of Ward 5 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 through the end of 2023.  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 in the past; and I again humbly ask for your vote 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.

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. I truly enjoy spending every day working on important city issues and providing constituent services. If you see fit to re-elect me again, I pledge to remain always 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. 

Among My Council Accomplishments in the Recent Past:

• Public Safety: Led the successful fight for a new Point of Pines Fires Station that is now under construction and scheduled for completion in 2024.  This state-of-the-art facility will restore fire protection coverage to the Point of Pines and Riverside neighborhoods as well as the communities in and around Oak Island, Revere Street and the northern tier of Revere Beach Boulevard. The new fire station will be equipped with high-water apparatus capable of operating in flood conditions and will include a new community room available for both the training of firefighters and for the civic use of the residents and organizations of Ward 5.

• District Infrastructure: Advocated effectively for infrastructure improvements throughout Ward 5, including many newly paved streets and reconstructed sidewalks as well as renovated playgrounds at Gibson and DeStoop Parks and the Paul Revere school — and prospectively at a family-oriented Ambrose Park on Revere Street and a senior-oriented Sullivan Park on Revere Beach Boulevard.  Also planned or already completed are new storm-water storage and absorption capabilities; a new sewer-pump station on the Lynnway; thousands of feet of new water, sewer and drainage lines; and upgraded catch-basins and fire hydrants throughout Ward 5.

• District Planning: Monitored the community-based Ward 5 planning efforts that resulted in a RiverFront Master Plan, which will expandand enhance Gibson Park, create a community athletic  and educational facility at the long-vacant Riverside Boat Works property, increase the utility and accessibility of a revitalized Pines River waterfront, construct a new Route 1A roundabout that will greatly expand the efficiency of local and regional traffic circulation and reduce the burden of regional traffic on local streets, replace an unattractive salvage yard with mixed-use market-rate housing that will complement the adjacent Riverside and Point of Pines neighborhoods – all of which will also create a more active and attractive North Shore gateway to Revere.

• Regional Rail: Testified personally in favor of a State Transportation Bond Bill that retained $25M of bond funding for a new regional rail station in Revere that would be directly linked to the Blue Line.  This has since been advanced by the $4M of federal planning funds for the new rail station sponsored by Cong. Katherine Clark; and it will be further leveraged by the new DOT commitment to prioritize the electrification of the Boston-to-Beverly section of the Newburyport regional rail line, which would permit transit frequency and transit fares on this regional rail line comparable to current Blue Line fares and schedules.  All of which will reduce regional commuter traffic through Revere on Route 1A and North Shore Road.

• Climate Resiliency: Supported the Revere Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program that will focus on practical strategies to address storm-surge and sea-level-rise impacts and will include completed and planned flood control barriers on Mills Avenue and more adequate and effective water and sewer pumping and drainage systems throughout the flood-prone Riverside community.

• Local Parking and Bus Service:  Worked with Mayor Brian Arrigo to successfully oppose DCR parking meters on Revere Beach Boulevard and argued against elimination of the MBTA bus stop at the Jack Satter House, which had been established some years ago due to my advocacy with the MBTA and which will now continue to be in operation at least through 2025 — and hopefully beyond. 

• Local and Regional Traffic: Advocated for a Revere Waterfront Traffic Study that has become the basis for evolving DCR, DOT and MBTA strategies to reduce commuter traffic congestion along Revere Beach Boulevard and North Shore Road, particularly at their Revere Street intersections.  • City Revenues and Jobs:  Supported appropriate commercial/residential development at Suffolk Downs and elsewhere in Revere to generate the significant new property tax revenues required to finance a new Revere High School and other necessary public investments.  These include support for the Amazon reactivation of the former NECCO and Showcase Cinema sites, as well as ongoing Logistics redevelopment of the Global Petroleum property on Lee Burbank Highway as the new Trident Logistics Center, all of which will generate the hundreds of new jobs and the millions of new property tax payments that will maintain the economic and employment recovery of Revere.”