By Adam Swift
The City Council held its final meeting of the year on Monday night.
When the council reconvenes in January for its new session, it will have a markedly different look, as there will be six new councillors, more than half the body.
During Monday night’s meeting, the six outgoing councillors – Patrick Keefe, Steven Morabito, John Powers, Dan Rizzo, Richard Serino, and Gerry Visconti were acknowledged and honored with the 2023 Legislative Bench Acknowledgments.
Keefe was also acknowledged as the 12th City Councillor elected to the office as mayor. Keefe, who has been serving at the Acting Mayor since earlier this year, will be official sworn in during an inaugural ceremony at the Susan B. Anthony School on New Year’s Day.
Also acknowledged was outgoing Council President Pro Tem Joanne McKenna. McKenna took over the president’s position from Keefe when Keefe became the acting mayor.
“I would like to say thank you to my fellow councillors for voting me as Vice President back in January,” said McKenna. “The experience of being later appointed Pro Tempore has also been a growth period in my career. I would also like to take this opportunity to Thank my Ward One residents for the vote of confidence in re-electing me to another term. It is truly an honor to be re-elected for my fifth term.
I promise to continue to work hard, be fair, and give it my all to the Ward One residents and the city of Revere.”
Councillor-at-Large Gerry Visconti thanked his family and his supporters, as well as City Clerk Ashley Melnik for helping keep the council on track during the past several years as the council has navigated some major issues, including the high school building project, the budgets, and the proposed life sciences building at Suffolk Downs.
As this was the last council meeting of the term, the council voted to place a number of items that have been in council committees on file, meaning they will have to be brought forth with a new motion at a future council meeting if they are to be reconsidered.
Two dozen motions were placed on file, including ones related to water meter rates, the salaries for city councilors, a home child-care ordinance, and several requested appointments.
In other business, the council received correspondence from city finance director Richard Viscay updating it on the Community Improvement Trust (CIT) Fund amounts for each ward.
The CIT balance as of June 30 was $891,497.95. Broken down by wards, the balance was $362,358.70 for Ward 1, $247,867.85 for Ward 2, $307.50 for Ward 3, $46,620 for Ward 4, $180,862.30 for Ward 5, and $53,481.60 for Ward 6.
