Serino announces he will not seek reelection to City Council

  The City Council opened this week with a post-election November surprise. City Council Vice President Richard Serino, who represents Ward 6, announced a full year ahead of time that he would not run for another term.

  Serino said the 2023 election cycle has now begun, and the moment was right for him to make his intentions clear. “I wanted to give enough lead time for decent, good candidates in Ward 6 to consider a run and emerge to fill the people’s seat that I will be leaving in January 2024,” he said. He also said the upcoming holiday season would give potential candidates the chance to discuss possible campaigns with loved ones and friends at family gatherings.

  Serino briefly ran through some of the goals he set and achieved during his time on the council. He described working to bring commercial development to Ward 6 and particularly to the Squire Road corridor and keeping new residential development at bay. He also spotlighted work being done to alleviate flooding in the western section of Revere and noted that the city is working with Malden, Everett and the state on a comprehensive infrastructure project to repair and revitalize Town Line Brook, which runs through the three communities and empties into the Atlantic. He also mentioned working to ease traffic on streets off Squire Road, which led to a traffic study to assess the surrounding residential neighborhood, which has been burdened by a heavy volume of traffic for years. But Serino said the two accomplishments which gave him the most satisfaction was the creation of a veteran’s fund and an ordinance that requires city meetings to begin at 5 p.m. to allow taxpayers an opportunity to attend.

  “Two full terms are an adequate amount of time to achieve my goals,” said Serino, who added that although he is leaving the council, he is not shutting the door on politics or public service. “I would certainly entertain a run for councilor-at-large or higher office sometime beyond 2023 and a few years down the line,” he said.