City Council votes to form climate sustainability subcommittee

By Barbara Taormina

City councillors were quick to support a motion from Councillor-at-Large Juan Pablo Jaramillo that the city establish a climate sustainability and workforce subcommittee to focus on issues related to the short- and long-term effects of climate change. Jaramillo proposed a committee that will examine climate change from a systematic approach involving climate resiliency, energy transition and the role workers play in the development and sustainability of the city.

“We need to take a leap into the 21st century,” Jaramillo told fellow councillors. “The climate crisis needs to be tackled on a local, state and federal level.”

I think this is a great motion, we need to take this head on,” said Councillor-at-Large Marc Silvestri.

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna said there is little time to waste for areas such as Pearl Avenue, which she said is inundated with water. “The marsh is coming up, it’s overflowing. People are losing their cars, their foundations, their houses. We have to do something now; we can’t wait another two years,” she said.

Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya echoed McKenna. “I’ve never seen the water come up as fast as it has,” said Guarino-Sawaya. “We can’t wait.”

According to Guarino-Sawaya, the section of the seawall in Ward 5 that is in most dire need of repair has yet to be touched. McKenna said the neighborhood brought the seawall to the attention of their congressional rep, but that was months ago, and there was no follow-up.

“I’m hoping this committee will give us a voice,” said Guarino-Sawaya.

City Council President Anthony Cogliandro made it official and established the committee and named Jaramillo chairman.

Councillor proposes ideas to pay for new high school

As the city gets closer to the looming reality of a huge bill to pay for the new high school, there’s more conversation about ways to cover the cost.

This week, Ward 5 Councillor Angela Guarino-Sawaya presented two proposals to help pay for the new school. Guarino-Sawaya proposed that all revenue generated from the parking lot leases at Wonderland be transferred to the Revere High School Stabilization Fund beginning July 1, 2023, to the present and throughout the life of the leases. “This is a direct community investment,” said Guarino-Sawaya, who also stressed it is a transparent channel of funding that would go directly to the school rather than the general fund. She said it would help prevent the burden of the cost of the school falling exclusively on taxpayers.

Guarino-Sawaya also proposed a fundraising program that would allow residents and businesses to buy engraved walkway pavers or bricks that could be installed in the school courtyard in the back of the school. Guarino-Sawaya suggested the program, which she said would be similar to what was created at the American Legion, could bring in a couple of million dollars and again spare taxpayers some of the cost of the project. She described a courtyard with colored and gold and glass bricks and flare and suggested families and RHS graduates would take part to be part of local history.