ELECTION 2025 – Candidates Mercurio and Averback vie for Open Ward 1 Council Seat

By Barbara Taormina

REVERE – The races in the upcoming election for seats on the City Council are heavy with incumbents. Five incumbent at-large councillors are seeking another term, while incumbents in wards 2 through 6 are running unopposed. The only real City Council ward race in the upcoming election is in ward 1 where James Mercurio is competing against Brian Averback for the seat left open by longtime Ward 1 Councillor Joanne McKenna, who is running for an at-large seat on the council.

Both Averback and Mercurio bring their experience as successful small business owners to the race. Averback owns an estate sale company and auction house. He is a licensed auctioneer and real estate agent. Averback resells and appraises personal property. He has said he is an experienced negotiator, a valuable skill in politics both global and local.

Averback has a degree in political science and has always imagined that public service would be a part of his life. He currently serves on the Conservation Commission, and he is committed to local environmental issues. Averback said Revere is moving in a positive direction, but he has concerns about problems he said get “stuck in the dark.” He worries about quality-of-life issues that impact residents of Beachmont and the entire city, and as a ward councillor, he feels he can advocate for residents.

“I would want them to know they have somebody that they can count on,” he said, adding that he hopes to pick up “McKenna’s mantle.”

Averback ran against McKenna for the Ward 1 Council seat a few years ago. “She whopped me,” he said with a laugh.

“But we either win, or we learn,” he said, adding that he doesn’t give up. And Averback learned an open race is a better opportunity for a new face on Revere’s political stage than a race against a well-established and much-loved incumbent.

Mercurio is president of Mercurio Brothers landscaping. For more than 40 years, he has worked with the city providing landscaping, snow removal and professional management on several housing developments. He has built some of the city’s parks and playgrounds, including James Kimmerle Park, Douglas Cummings Park and the Revere High baseball field.

For Mercurio, the timing was right for a run for a City Council seat. He is streamlining his business and will have more time to devote to Beachmont and the city as a whole.

Mercurio has stressed his ties to Ward 1, and his Beachmont roots run deep. His grandparents immigrated to the states in the early 1900s and settled on Endicott Avenue where they ran a small variety store catering to beachgoers. The family later moved to Crescent Avenue where Mercurio and his family now live in the house that once belonged to his grandfather.

Mercurio believes he can provide the leadership Ward 1 needs as it undergoes significant changes with HYM (Suffolk Downs), the Blackstone Terminal development and the rehabilitation of McMackin Field. His unofficial campaign slogan seems to be “It’s not about politics, it’s about people.” His commitment to voters is that he will show up and listen and “stand up for the families and neighborhoods of Ward 1.”

“I didn’t see anyone who would step up,” he said of his decision to enter the race.

“With deep roots in the neighborhood and decades of dedication to the city I call home, I am stepping forward,” he said in his campaign announcement.

As for the city as a whole, Mercurio is concerned about the bond debt from the new high school and the recently opened Point of Pines Fire Station.

“I will be advocating for balanced policies that will promote long-term financial stability for the city,” he said. Mercurio also said his experience as a construction contractor required him to understand the city’s zoning ordinances, which he feels could be an asset to the council.

Averback hopes to bring local government closer to the residents it governs. He has floated an idea for a monthly virtual town hall scheduled before council meetings. “That would give people a chance to talk directly to the council,” he said, adding that it’s important they hear from “regular folks.”

While Averback praises Revere and the many people who work hard to make the city run, he feels there needs to be better answers to some of the city’s current problems. He is concerned about the rise of crime, particularly on the beach, and believes penalties need to be stiffened to increase public safety. He describes the city’s roads as “in complete disrepair” and said fixing them needs to be a priority. He is also concerned about the homeless who sleep outside of the Beachmont post office.

“There’s a solution, and we need to find it,” he said.

Averback is also proposing infrastructure accountability, an online system that would list every street and area in the city. When a problem occurs, residents will be able to look up and contact whoever is responsible for a fix. “When something happens in our city there are many times, we have no idea who to contact! It’s time that every road and area had a very simple place online to easily see who is responsible and for what,” he said.

Mercurio and Averback both know they are in a tight race, and both welcome the chance to talk with constituents over the next several weeks to better understand their needs and aspirations.