Letters to the Editor

Thank You Mottolo Post

Dear Editor:

As most residents realize, over a nine-week period, from November 30, 2015 through January 29, 2016, the Joseph L. Mottolo Post was the temporary home of the Rossetti-Cowan Senior Center. Despite the staff’s and senior’s yearning to be back in our familiar home on Winthrop Avenue that allows us to offer seniors the enormous array of meals, transportation, services, programs, and activities, we left our Mottolo friends with a bittersweet mindset.

Dennis Moschella, John Ross, and Sammy Aresco of the Mottolo Post have been so wonderful to all of us. Nine weeks ago, immediately upon our decent on their Post like a Normandy Invasion with all our various boxed items, food products, assorted paperwork, and more, from day one they welcomed staff and seniors, assisting us in any way possible and embracing the seniors.  We utilized their facility – function room, kitchen, bathrooms, parking lot, and each day felt completely at home.

We thank them immensely and truly appreciate their friendship and hospitality. They all are really good people with big hearts and loved having the staff and seniors at the Post. Despite the change in all our daily lives the laughs and comradiere we shared made it a fantastic experience. Thanks again to each of you!

Stephen W. Fielding

Director, Revere Office of Elder Affairs & Rossetti-Cowan Senior Center

Tackling addiction with treatment not incarceration

Dear Editor:

The task is simple,  the moral imperative is clear and the need too great not to be bold.

Throughout the paradigm of addiction many find themselves in front of a judge, behind bars or in a hospital bed. All costing society in terms of human suffering and economic hardship. Each year billions are spent on incarceration, interdiction and policing. A failed policy that has left human suffering in its wake not to mention a big dent to public coffers. I can’t begin to think what would have happened if we stopped incarcerating people addicted to drugs and spent the money on treatment.

Without getting into statistics, blame and the debate of right and wrong or the stigma attached to addiction I want to focus on a sensible and simple solution to treatment.

Currently beds are scarce for addiction treatment in most addiction facilities and limited in acute care hospitals which is not the ideal place for the long term treatment of addiction do to bed space and cost.

But what about prison? Yes I wrote prison!

They offer free land, a built in medical team and a very visible deterrent outside ones window. As we know judges have something called judicial discretion in which they can choose incarceration or treatment for those arrested for certain drug offenses. Likewise many drug addicts who are not yet involved in the criminal justice system do to share luck and will sooner or later find their way in front of a judge.

So instead of incarceration and instead of waiting for treatment of addiction at a hospitals or rehab let’s bring the hospital to local prisons, abutting the prison.

By doing so we will have an additional 20 beds for treatment with little cost.

As many might not realize is all prisons have a medical staff built into its operations. Moreover these medical professionals treat thousand of prisoners each day are treating patients (prisoners) with HIV, Mental Illness and a host of other medical issues.

That said, the cost to integrate current prison medical staff or augment medical staff for treatment would be less than the cost of incarceration or treatment at a private rehab. Likewise treatment in such a facility rather than incarceration can be either mandated by a judge or by referral.

So how do we create a treatment facility next to a prison?

We place modular dormitories on prison property or state property and hire more medical staff.

The cost to place modular dormitories vary from vendor but is a small upfront cost considering the epidemic we face. Additionally if you were to implement current Registered Nurse staffing guidelines to provide care for  20 patients and an additional MD or NP for supervision you could have a treatment program up and running with 6 months at an upfront cost of under five million dollars for the construction of dormitories and staff.

Likewise the state and or institution could bill for services and the best part is it could be expanded to other institutions throughout the state.

The treatment regime could be cycled for groups of 20 every three month and potentially treat 80 people per year that currently are not being treated or are getting incarcerated.

The question, do we have the will to do it?

George Rotondo, RN

Revere City Councillor

 

This is our last chance

Dear Editor:

Years ago, the City of Revere had working class State Senators working for us. Two of these former state senators were Sen. Fran Doris and Sen. Harry Della Russo They had to work for Revere residents concerning the issues of the day such as our public beaches, a dog track, the horse tack, oil farms, two police departments and a fire department, public education, and our varied and diverse neighborhoods across the city, regarding these concerns.
You can ask yourself, where are the State Senators of yesteryear? As I see it , the only candidate running for State Senate who has fought for working class people in Revere and the district, is Dan Rizzo. When you choose a candidate in this up coming election ask yourself “ who has worked in the public life in the tradition of former State Senator’s Fran Doris and Sen. Harry Dello Russo “? The fact is, Senator Fran Doris was the last Senator from Revere that was elected to the senate and undeniably worked for the working people of Revere and their families. This was nearly 30 years ago.
Now more than ever, we need to come together, as a city and as neighbors. We need to come together for the public good. We need to elect a state senator who will fight for the people of Revere and the senate district.

Someone who cares about the working men and women . Someone who cares about the every day problems of our district.
Dan Rizzo is the only candidate in this senate race that fought for Veterans rights, he’s the only candidate who help senior citizens get fuel assistance. Dan Rizzo has fought the consent draconian decree bestowed upon us by the DEP and EPA. He has fought to lower the cost of your water and sewer bills. Who runs these departments , former Beacon Hill politicians. As we all know , Dan Rizzo has successfully funded public education in our city and has record of achievement . None of the other candidates can make this claim. Where the Boston politicians failed in public education Dan Rizzo passes with flying colors.

Yes, it’s been over 30 years that the City of Revere has had a blue collar guy represent us on Beacon Hill and I have come to the conclusion this is our last chance. Please ask yourself “ do we need someone from Beacon Hill who’s representing their townhouse neighbors, who pays $200,000 for a parking space “ or the working families of Revere . Remember the old Beacon Hill saying “ the Lodge’s only talk to the Cabot’s and the Cabot’s only talk to God”. Isn’t it time we elect someone that’s a working class guy from Revere instead of some elitist Beacon Hill lawyer type who will forget us the day after the election. I remember working in some of the homes on Beacon Hill . When I knocked on the door I was told “ come around the back and take off your shoes”. Let’s not get backed doored again with these Beacon Hill politicians.

Let’s join together. Let’s put it all behind us and have a United Revere . We need a Revere candidate and its Dan Rizzo .
Please vote, Dan Rizzo who’s from Revere , for Revere and the working men and women of the district.


Hal Abrams