Candidate Joanne McKenna seeks City Councillor-At-Large Seat

By The Advocate

Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna has launched her campaign for Councillor-at-Large. McKenna has represented Beachmont since 2015 when she won the Ward 1 seat on the City Council in a special election.

“I’m a Beachmont girl but I love Revere. I was born here – I live in the house I grew up in and I’ll die here. I’ll never leave.”

McKenna said she now wants to advocate for the entire city rather than one section. And she has already been at work at that. During the past decade, she has sponsored or cosponsored 17 ordinances that have had an impact on the entire city, she said during a telephone interview with The Revere Advocate. She mentioned banning single-use plastic bags, billboards and 5G antennas as some of her many accomplishments.

A former Revere High arts teacher with 30 years of teaching experience under her belt, McKenna knows many in Revere on a first-name basis. Her love for the city is exceeded only by her satisfaction in helping residents overcome obstacles and solve problems. “My passion is people. It’s always been about helping people,” she said.

A self-professed “tree hugger,” McKenna has been out front on local environmental issues. She is committed to protecting Revere’s coastline, waterways and wildlife, which she sees as essential elements that make Revere unique and beautiful. Her latest battle is protecting Sales Creek from the encroachment of local businesses. She has worked with Elle Baker on commissioning an environmental study to alleviate Pearl Avenue and surrounding streets from chronic flooding. And she has been supporting the proposal for a seawall on Winthrop Avenue.

“I’ve been working hard to make Revere a safe and vibrant place to live,” she said.

McKenna has also been outspoken about public health risks, especially for those who live under the flight path of arrivals and departures from Logan Airport. She has been hosting Tufts University equipment meant to measure pollutants from planes in her backyard for the past five years.

Although some expected McKenna to step down from local politics this year, the city councillor said she chose to run for an at-large seat because she wants to see some of the projects in which she’s been involved completed or at least well on the way. Like others, she has concerns about Suffolk Downs and the new high school, two enormous projects that will dictate the future of Revere. As for her own pet project, converting the old Beachmont fire station into a citywide arts center, plans were postponed when development mitigation money for the center was shifted to the rehabilitation of McMackin Field.

“McMakin Field was an eyesore that needed to be taken care of,” she said.

But the arts center is still high on her to-do list. “The arts center will be awhile,” she said, adding that it will take a lot of time and money to get it up and running. But arts are part of McKenna’s vision for the city.

“It’s why I’m running for an at-large seat. I’ve been here all my life. I want to see the best of Revere.”