After first 100 days, Revere’s Rizzo sees progress, wants more

REVERE – Mayor Dan Rizzo took office a little more than 100 days ago and promised to make the city safer, bring more economic development and create new opportunities.Rizzo believes he is making good on those promises.”There is a new energy in city government,” Rizzo told The Daily Item during a recent interview at his City Hall office. “Residents are resonating with our new vision.”Councilor at large Brian Arrigo agrees.”We couldn’t have asked for a better first 100 days,” Arrigo said.Rizzo swore in Joseph A. Cafarelli as the new acting police chief on Feb. 6 and views that decision as a crucial one.”I have seen a remarkable increase in morale (in the police department),” Rizzo said. “He is a hands-on guy. There are many times when he has run out of my office during a meeting to handle something on his own. He has commanded their respect.”Before the new police chief was appointed, city councilors had several heated discussions with former police chief Terrence Reardon on how to better run the department.It was hard to see Reardon step down for some.”The former police chief is a very close friend of mine and I think the world of him,” Ward 3 City Councilor Arthur Guinasso said. “I was sad to see him go.”However, Guinasso agrees with Rizzo’s choice to pick his own chief.”It’s his call and he should choose someone he is comfortable with,” he said.Rizzo believes hiring Cafarelli was a step in the right direction and his colleagues agree.”Making that move was a big deal. People feel safer,” Arrigo added.Guinasso hopes that Cafarelli will remain as the chief.”I hope he becomes the permanent chief. He’s a great guy. So far I am very pleased with his selection,” Guinasso said.Rizzo said after appointing Cafarelli that it would take four to six months to decide who will be the permanent chief.Another main concern was not enough police officers in the department. Rizzo said currently there are two officers in the academy and another two soon to enter the academy who will join the department.”We are trying to beef that up,” Rizzo said.”Public safety is my No. 1 concern right now. It will be until I feel the residents have 100 percent satisfaction,” Rizzo added.The new police chief has increased police visibility on Broadway and in the neighborhoods, Rizzo said.”He (Cafarelli) has made his primary focus on having patrols in the actual neighborhoods,” he said. “The foot patrols on Broadway have been a big hit.”Councilor at large John R. Correggio agreed.”He has made good on his promise so far about police visibility. I think it’s great. People are already telling me they feel safer,” Correggio said.Rizzo also said there are plans in the works to have a police substation on Broadway. Rizzo envisions the substation to be a place where the police officers working on Broadway can come and work and write reports. Planning for this project is in its beginning stages.More businesses neededOne of the reasons Rizzo wanted patrols on Broadway, other than people feeling safe, was to bring more business to the busy street.”If we are going to revitalize Broadway obviously part of that is for people to invest in Broadway and bring their business there and ultimately customers there. They are going to want to feel safe,” he said.Revitalizing Broadway is one of the centerpieces to his administration that he describes as a three-phased plan. He wants to bring antique lighting to the area, do street-scaping and facade improvement.He sees the project as a “public and private partnership.””I will be using public money, but I also want to see what we can do from the private sector side. I want to see if we can get some of our business owners on Broadway to put up some money in hopes of improving the visibility and viability of their business.”Rizzo plans to bring economic development not just to Broadway, but to the whole city, which is why he hired John Festa as the economic director for the city.”John has a real business approach and experience. He is a peo