REVERE — Mayor Daniel Rizzo said he could have talked for more than an hour in his State of the City address, which he delivered Monday before a standing room only crowd in City Council Chambers.
“There are a lot of good things going on, this was just a highlight of a few,” he said regarding his speech, which took less than 30 minutes.
Rizzo told the crowd that included state and city officials as well as residents, that one year ago he stood and made a promise to improve the quality of life in Revere, make it’s streets safer and it’s schools stronger and he believes he has.
Police Chief Joseph Cafarelli, appointed early last year by the mayor, has increased foot patrols in the city’s business district, Rizzo said. In 30 days the city will also open a police sub-station on Pleasant Street across from the old Police Station.
“And we’ve ID’d funding to hire five new police officers effective immediately,” Rizzo said.
He said he is also working with Fire Chief Eugene Doherty to strengthen the Fire Department and attacked what he called a critical growth issue in the School Department. The result of the latter was “MCAS scores second only to Cambridge in the entire urban school district,” Rizzo said.
Revere is also about to finish the fifth of five new schools and in February Rizzo will make a formal announcement regarding a $2.7 million grant the city won aimed at renovating Harry Dello Russo Stadium.
Rizzo also touted his new Economic Development Team, which is working toward revitalizing Broadway and the business district. The team held an Economic Summit last fall that attracted over 150 participants, which toured sites ripe for development or redevelopment, he said.
“And I’m pleased to say those conversations are still ongoing,” he added.
The city is very close to inking a mitigation deal with Suffolk Downs in the event the site becomes home to a casino.
“We want to be fair to the developer to not put him out of business before he even opens but we also want to be fair to residents who will have to deal with the impact for at least 15 years or more,” he said.
Rizzo also praised his finance team and its work in moving the city toward a “performance-based budget.” He also had kind words for the Department of Public Works and its efforts to keep the city’s infrastructure intact, efforts he believes often go unnoticed.
Community input was also high on Rizzo’s list of priorities last year and he said his administration created a number of opportunities to make it happen. He said between social media sites, a new city website, the creation of the Revere Neighborhood Advisory Council and Broadway Advisory Council plus an Office for New Residents, there are now ample ways for residents to become involved and be heard.
“We’ve worked hard to find efficient, sustainable solutions for problems that face the city,” he said. “We all have a role to play in building this community, neighborhood by neighborhood, block by block ”¦ and I am honored to have the opportunity to represent our interests in the region and across the Commonwealth.”
Chris Stevens can be reached at [email protected].
