Councillor-at-Large race sees three challengers

By Barbara Taormina

When voters head to the polls next month, they will choose five people from a slate of eight candidates in the city councillor-at-large race. Five of those candidates, Robert Haas, Juan Pablo Jaramillo, Michelle Kelley, Marc Silvestri and Anthony Zambuto, are incumbents seeking reelection. And the three new faces in the at-large race are not really new. Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, Anthony Parziale and Wayne Rose, who are running at-large, have histories of community service and activism.

Meet the candidates:

Joanne McKenna

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna has represented Beachmont for the past 10½ years. Although the former Revere High teacher is fiercely committed to her ward and neighbors, she now wants to shift her focus to advocating for the entire city.

And it makes sense. Much of McKenna’s work on the City Council has been for the benefit of all of Revere. McKenna is committed to protecting Revere’s unique environment and wildlife. She spearheaded the plan to convert the retired Beachmont fire station into a community arts center. During the past 10 years, McKenna wrote 17 ordinances that have had an impact on the entire city. She successfully pushed to implement a ban on plastic bags, polystyrene and billboards; she developed regulations for Airbnbs and short-term rentals; she managed to extend yard waste and street sweeping through December, and she called for the use of less invasive rat poison to protect wildlife and domestic animals.

McKenna spent much of the summer knocking on doors. Despite a late summer case of covid, she said, it’s been a wonderful experience. She said she’s knocked 3,700 times and she has loved it. “I don’t take anything for granted,” she said. “If you want something, you work for it.”

The campaigning has brought her back in touch with former students and coworkers from the school departments as well as many people she hadn’t seen for years.

“People are concerned,” she said, adding that overdevelopment, the cost of the high school and the fact that residents can’t park in front of their homes are issues residents frequently mention. And then there are taxes and water and sewer bills that worry many residents. “I understand,” she said. “I live here too.”

“Many concerns are the result of overbuilding,” said McKenna, adding that these are not great times.

“We would be in better shape if Suffolk Downs was completed,” she said.

McKenna has invested 43 years in service to the city, first as a teacher then as a city councillor. She hopes to continue working as a councillor-at-large to make Revere safe, clean and beautiful. “If God wants me to do this, I’ll do it,” she said.

Anthony Parziale

Many in Revere first met Anthony Parziale when a transitional shelter for the homeless was proposed in his Arcadia Street neighborhood. Residents acknowledged the need for the shelter, but they opposed locating it in their residential neighborhood packed with families and children. Parziale led the opposition to the shelter, and it was strong and steady. The City Council said the project was governed by state regulations, and they had no authority to stop it. The plan was withdrawn, and another location was sought.

“It felt like the people on Arcadia Street didn’t have a voice,” said Parziale. “Every resident deserves the right to take part in government that makes decisions that affect them.”

Parziale was also surprised by the City Council’s position that the shelter was a state project over which they had no authority. “Those words don’t make sense to me,” he said, adding that if he were a councillor, he would negotiate with state or federal officials and agencies on behalf of constituents.

In the wake of the Arcadia Street debate, Parziale ran for an at-large seat on the City Council in 2023. He came in sixth, which in Revere means if any elected councillor-at-large cannot serve the term, Parziale would be appointed to that seat. Parziale began attending every meeting.

He feels city government should start with the small things. “If we do the little things right, picking up the trash, answering 311, then when a big issue comes along, we’ll be able to work together and handle it,” he said.

Still, Parziale watches the big issues unfolding in the city. “I’m a huge fan of commercial development,” he said. “We get the revenue without a huge strain on infrastructure.”

He’s also clear on development within neighborhoods. “If the neighborhood doesn’t want it, that’s an easy no for me,” he said.

Parziale also has some ideas on the Community Investment Trust Fund, which collects contributions from developers to offset the impact their projects have on the city. The sums are substantial and often pay for major city projects, but Parziale has proposed distributing some of that money to residents directly affected by developments. “We can do a little more for abutters,” he said. “Let’s do right by the people.”

Parziale also thinks mitigation money should go straight into the high school stabilization fund. “At least we’ll know it’s being used for a good cause,” he said.

Parziale said he’s hopeful about the high school, but he believes the city needs to be proactive about finding funds to support it. “Residents are worried about an override,” he said. “I’ll vote no on that.”

Parziale would also like to begin a discussion about capping property taxes for seniors. He said he would have to work with the CFO. “I believe there’s a way to pay for the school without burdening residents,” he said.

Parziale is the deputy superintendent of public works for the city of Woburn. “Other people will talk about infrastructure, I know about it,” he said.

And his job allows him to tell voters, “I’m blue collar, I work just like you. Your issues are my issues.”

Parziale’s broad goal is to make local government transparent and fair. “I want things to be easy,” he said. “I don’t want residents to guess what’s going on in the budget. People need to be heard.”

Like other candidates, Parziale has been knocking on doors, and he said he’s feeling really good about the response from voters. “I think people want some change,” he said. “When we have change, we have hope.”

Wayne Rose

Many in Revere may know Wayne Rose for his work starting the Safe Saturdays program, which gave kids a safe night in a gym rather than on the streets. Safe Saturdays ran for 30 weeks, and Rose hopes to restore the program. Others may know Rose for fighting against parking meters on Revere Beach. Others may recall he raised $3,000 and delivered a meal to residents at Jack Satter House during covid. But still others may know Rose as a sharply critical watchdog who has harshly criticized public officials and projects in the past.

“In this race, I’ve changed,” he said. “I had to change.” Rose acknowledges in the past he has been overly negative.

“I’m not a politician, I’m a street guy,” he said, adding that he’s learned how to change.

“I’ve learned from knocking on doors and talking to people, and that’s what I’ll move forward with,” he said. And according to Rose, one of his big takeaways from talking to residents is that people are “really mad.”

“We need change,” he said. “The traffic, the development — we need small buildings not apartments on top of apartments.”

Rose acknowledges the city needs some development, some affordable residential and commercial development. He said the cost of living in Revere is pushing older residents out of the city. “Everything is a fee,” he said, “parking fees, trash fees…”

And Rose questions the way the city is spending its money. He worries that the ultimate cost of the new high school could be exorbitant, and he questions why the city is giving the Suffolk Downs development a $15 million tax break but can’t find the money for school buses.

Rose also has experience tackling quality-of-life issues.

“I’ve fought the rat population for 10 years now,” he said. Rose believes the problem is open dumpsters at restaurants, properties on Revere Beach, at the Hill and A.C. Whalen Schools and the police barracks. He said nothing is done to regulate the dumpsters while residents receive fines if their trash barrels are not closed tightly.

When the Department of Conservation & Recreation installed parking meters on Revere Beach, Rose harnessed residents’ anger and organized and led rallies and protests. “People came out, gathered and held signs,” said Rose.

And they were heard. “We got the meters off the beach.” And Revere regained its standing as the first public beach in the United States with free and open access to all.

Rose’s campaign material highlights his and his family’s working-class roots. His pitch to voters is “I’m a blue collar citizen like you…A vote for Wayne Rose is a vote for the people.”