Rick Serino has announced his candidacy for Ward 6 City Council. The following is his statement:
As a candidate seeking to be your Ward Councillor, I pen this letter to humbly ask for the consideration of your vote in the City’s Municipal Election on Tuesday, November 5th. I am running because I believe my community involvement from childhood to the present day, coupled with my professional experience advocating for the people of Revere in the office of our State Representative for over five years, has provided me with the necessary tools to impact a positive and meaningful difference in Ward 6.
I have said my vision for our ward and our city is seen through the lens of a young professional who has grown up in Revere and who intends to raise a family here. With roots that stretch over 100 years in this community, as Ward 6’s Councillor, I feel that I would be the bridge between the Revere of the past and the Revere of the future. If elected, I am not only going to be thinking about the Revere of tomorrow or in five years – I will be a leader who will work to lay the groundwork for an even better Revere for the next generation so that my children and grandchildren will continue to call Revere home. This means I will continue to conduct myself as I always have – ready to serve and lend a helping hand to my neighbors. I will continue to focus on working hard each day to make our quality of life better and to continue to make Revere the best community it possibly can be.
Those who know me know that I have always held our city in high regard. I love Revere and the people who make our community so great, which is why I kept my roots here.
Since 2010, I have had a professional connection to the office of Revere’s State Representative. Throughout my college years, I chose to continue to intern at the State House because I wanted to gain firsthand knowledge about the policy issues that impacted Revere and the Commonwealth. It was during that time, in the heat of the Legislature’s debate on Expanded Gaming, that I realized the critical role the Wonderland and Suffolk Downs sites would play in the future of Revere. It was during the internship, too, that I learned about the state budget process, and how important programs like CAPIC’s Emergency Services Program and State Police Directed Patrols on Revere Beach are to our city. In those years, I also began to understand the important role elected officials play in delivering constituent services to the people they represent. Be it something as mundane as trimming brush on state property abutting Route 1 to something as dire as helping an elderly constituent who does not have any food in their refrigerator, I learned how to help Revere residents navigate the vast web of local and state government, and lead them to organizations who are able to help vulnerable populations.
Upon graduation from Saint Anselm College, I chose to enter a career in public service because I not only wanted to continue helping people, but I wanted to help the people of my city and play a small role in the future direction of Revere. Working in the office of Representative RoseLee Vincent has not only given me the opportunity to interact with many of you, but it has given me a unique, front-seat perspective to the issues facing our city.
From traffic to flooding; economic development to education; public safety to the environment; to providing quality programming for our seniors, children and teens, being a legislative staffer has not only helped me grasp the issues that are important to the voters of Revere, but has also given me the skills necessary to work through them and to lead.
The representative has taught me that elected officials should always follow their conscience, and that integrity matters. She has instilled in me that if you are elected, you must do the job right. Because of her, I know that if I have the honor of becoming Ward 6’s councillor, I will work as hard as I can to help as many people as I can. Because of her, I know how to be an effective and strong advocate for a constituency. In my five plus years as an aide to Revere’s State Representative, I am proud of the work we have done and are still doing in the office of Representative Vincent. I am proud that our office has a reputation for immediately responding to emails and phone calls from constituents – even on late nights and weekends. Because of this, I know that as Ward 6 Councillor, I will not only be available to my constituents whenever there is an issue, but I will get right on it to see that the issue gets resolved in a timely manner.
The practical experience I have gained in my position as legislative aide built on the foundation and principles of my internship, and I believe as Ward Councillor, I will take what I have learned in Representative Vincent’s office, and continue to apply those principles to make life better for those of us who call Revere home.
The way I live my personal life also reflects my deep commitment for our neighborhood and city. As a member of the St. Mary’s Holy Name Society, I work with a dedicated group of guys who sponsor parish events that foster community and fellowship, as well as oversee a scholarship program that helps students from the parish who are entering college. As a member of the West Revere Neighborhood Group, I am proud to have played a small role in helping to create the “Paws ‘n Play Dog Park†on Sargent Street, as well as helping to rebuild DiSalvo Park at the Whelan School. I am also an ardent participant of the annual “Santa Walk,†which raises funds to beautify Revere. Each year, for many years now, I proudly partake in the annual spring cleanup in the city. Whether it has been painting over graffiti on the North Revere underpasses, picking up litter along the Sargent Street offramp or cleaning up along Asti Avenue and Lucia Avenue, I have always been ready to get into the weeds to make our neighborhood look better.
Though our city faces some challenges that I hope to help resolve, we must not lose sight of all the good that we have here. We are a very unique community filled with special people. We are increasingly more diverse than when my Italian ancestors settled on Copeland and Hawes Streets in the early 1900s, and every wave of new residents since has added to our story. With our close proximity to Boston and America’s First Public Beach at our shores, we know our city has so much to offer the region. Collectively, as a community, we must work together – as residents and elected officials – to continue to raise Revere up and move it forward.
In closing, I believe my record of service to the community and the people of Ward 6 means that I will be ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work as your councillor on Day 1. And I can promise you that I’ll do my part to keep our city moving forward in a positive direction. For these reasons, I humbly ask for your vote on Tuesday, November 5th. My name will be the 2nd name on the Ward 6 Ballot. Thank you.
