Revere council aims to curb library use for sex offenders

REVERE – The Revere City Council would like to see Level 3 sex offenders? access to Revere Public Library severely reduced.At Monday night?s city council meeting Councilor at large George Rotondo passed a motion stating that no Level 3 sex offender shall obtain access to Revere Public Library between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays during the school year and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. weekdays during summer vacation. Any person who violates this ordinance would be fined $300 for each offense.Rotondo credited the idea to the Lowell City Council, which recently passed an ordinance similar to this. “It is an opportunity to become proactive instead of reactive,” Rotondo said. “It is something everyone can support.”Many of the other councilors agreed wholeheartedly with Rotondo and even wanted to create a stricter motion. “Why not have them only be able to use the library for one hour a day?” Ward 1 Councilor Richard A. Penta asked. “They are the lowest class of people in the world. Children go to the library. They don?t belong there. I wouldn?t even give them a hour. I would give them 10 minutes.”Councilor at large Daniel Rizzo agreed with the motion and wanted to see some of the time constraints changed. He would like to see Level 3 sex offenders not being able to enter the library from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. during the week on school days and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. during school vacations.?It is definitely a motion the city should adopt,” Rizzo said.Ward 2 Councilor Ira Novoselsky pointed out that the motion did not include weekends. An amendment was added to the motion that Level 3 sex offenders can not use the library from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.?Revere is a leader when it comes to dealing with sex offenders,” Councilor at large Anthony T. Zambuto said. “I?m thrilled to pass this motion.”In other business, the City Council demanded that the mayor request that the Chief of Police, along with his command staff, appear before the city council within seven days to discuss public safety and oversight and management within the Police Department.This motion was presented by Rizzo. “We have reached a time where we have to talk about what is going on,” Rizzo said. “We have to talk about what is being done in the Police Department and what can be done.”Public safety is one of Revere?s main concerns and priorities. Additionally, the Revere Police Department is said to be understaffed. Currently, there are only 76 working police officers on staff.Councilor at large Robert J. Haas said that the department may need some reorganization. “We need to see how we can help out the Police Department,” Haas said.The current image of Revere?s public safety troubles Ward 3 Councilor Arthur F. Guinasso. “There is an attitude out there that Revere is not fully protected,” Guinasso said. “We need to do some soul searching and make sure everyone in the police department is doing their job.”Others were quick to say they only want to offer suggestions to the department and not micro-manage it. “This city has changed. There are less police officers now than we have ever had in the history of the City of Revere,” Penta said. “Be careful about reconstruction. We probably know about 5 percent of what is happening on the streets.”Zambuto seconded Penta?s point and thought open communication is exactly what both parties needed. “In terms of dialogue and communication this is terrific,” Zambuto said. “It is the elephant in the room and I look forward to the conversation.”Some in the city may feel that the police officers are not making the important arrests. Council President and Ward 5 Councilor John Powers disagreed. “On my way here, I observed police officers making an arrest outside City Hall,” Powers said. “They are out there making the arrests. There are police officers out there doing the job efficiently.”?I feel safe in the city of Revere,” Zambuto said. “I just want to put that out there for the citizens.”