Revere mayor embraces technology for city-wide Q and A

REVERE – Mayor Daniel Rizzo is asking residents to phone it in Saturday during his Telephone Town Hall Day.”I want to hear from you about your vision for the future of our city,” he said.The event will be a city-wide conference call in which people can call in and ask questions or simply listen. When Rizzo first ran for mayor in 2011, he held a similar event and got 300 to 400 responses, explained Rizzo’s chief of staff, Miles Lang-Kennedy.”It was a like a radio call in show,” he said. “People can call in and ask questions and just listen to the answer.”Lang-Kennedy said he thinks Saturday’s event is especially timely, given that Rizzo has just signed the host agreement between the city and Suffolk Downs regarding the possible casino. But the program’s focus is not limited to casino concerns.Lang-Kennedy said residents can pretty much talk about whatever is on their minds. They can ask questions, offer opinions or tell Rizzo what they would like to see done or problems they believe are being neglected. One thing they cannot do is be rude or obscene. Lang-Kennedy said if that happens, they will be cut off immediately.”It’s just another opportunity for residents to reach out to the mayor,” he added. “We will do a Twitter Town Hall too so people can tweet questions and get answers.”Lang-Kennedy said they decided to focus the main event on the phone largely because the consensus is that Revere has a high number of older citizens who might feel more comfortable using the phone rather than social media.The event is being funded through Rizzo’s campaign finances. Lang-Kennedy said they budgeted for the program along with a mailing that was sent to all residents. The mailing highlights what Rizzo has done during his first two years in office, such as creating The Safe House Task Force to combat overcrowding and other public safety issues, streamlining the Department of Public Services with online work orders and efforts to grow the community through the first-ever Economic Development Summit.”I sincerely believe that our best days are ahead of us and hope you will join me on Saturday,” Rizzo said.Residents that want to take part should call 855-756-7520 ext. 22592# at 10 a.m. Saturday. Rizzo will also be visiting local coffee shops from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The stops include Kelly’s Roast Beef, 410 Revere Beach Blvd. From 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m., Torretta’s Bakery, 625 Winthrop Avenue. 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m., Luberto’s, 208 Broadway, 1 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Nick’s Deli, 750 Washington Ave., 1:30 p.m. to 2 p.m.Lang-Kennedy said these are the kind of events that Rizzo loves.”He just likes public engagement,” he said. “It’s the part of his job he loves. He’ll say that if he could do his job by talking and being with people rather than from an office, he would.”