Guinasso stakes his claim in Ward 3; Vesce calls residency challenge insane and desperate

By Seth Daniel

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Will the real Ward 3 resident please stand up?

After being accused for the past several months of living outside the ward, incumbent Ward 3 Councillor Arthur Guinasso said this week that he has concrete evidence that his challenger – former Ward 3 Councillor Brian Vesce – doesn’t live in the ward.

“My opponent does not live where he says he lives,” said Guinasso. “It’s evident. It’s a three- or four-bedroom apartment his brother rents…When asked recently, he said he lives with his mother and she lives in Ward 5…I figured, why should I keep it a secret? Let him respond to it…Where I live is fact, and where my opponent lives is fiction.

“My opponent doesn’t even have a phone under his name and he’s going to represent Ward 3?” continued Guinasso.

Vesce is listed as living at 29 Oxford Park.

He said Guinasso’s allegations are desperate and despicable.

“My mother lived at 532 Revere St. [in Ward 5] for 50 years,” he said. “She is sick and I’m in and out of the house all day, taking care of her. This guy is insane. It’s a total lie. My mom is 88 and my sister and I take turns taking care of her. All my mail is at Oxford Park, and all my clothes are there, too. I’ll show them to anyone. He’s desperate.

“Why doesn’t he walk the streets as hard as I have been to get his message out?” continued Vesce. “Everywhere I go, he is so disliked by everyone. They’re trying to rattle me, and I’m not going to be rattled. I know where I live.”

Guinasso said he wanted to put the allegation out there because he has been accused by several political operatives in the city of not living at his residence on Martin Street. He said those operatives support Vesce.

The allegation against Guinasso has been around for two years, since he bought what he calls a vacation home/investment on Revere Beach in the Atlantica.

While he attached a Declaration of Homestead to his deed (which technically can only be attached to a main residence), he said that it doesn’t make the condo his primary residence. He has lived at 2 Martin St. for many decades.

“I bought that condo for vacation and for investment,” he said. “It’s where I relax, and I’ve probably been there 20 times. My speculation was a little wrong because I thought when the Ocean Club came on line, my property would skyrocket. That isn’t happening right now…Some people retire and choose to buy property in Florida, Maine or New Hampshire. I invested in Revere and I’m catching a lot of heat for it.”

Meanwhile, he said that if anyone doubts where his main residence is, they could ask his neighbors.

“Ask my neighbors if I live on Martin Street,” he said. “I’m there until Paul Buonfiglio has to take me out for my funeral…We’re going nowhere fast when it come to our home on Martin Street.”

Said Vesce’s elderly mother, Jeannette, in tears, “[Brian] is not living here with me, and that’s the truth. If he can’t come in and out of the house to visit his mother when she’s sick, then what kind of man is he?”

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