The Revere Journal has asked each candidate for Ward 4 the following question: Residential parking has become a major issue in Ward 4. What legislation in the next two years will you be introducing to mitigate this problem?   The following are their responses:
Parking permit program is in the works for residents
By Councillor Patrick Keefe, Jr
During my last election speaking to the many residents of Ward 4 I certainly heard their concerns about parking congestion and vehicles that do not belong on the road. Whether it was a Comcast van or a vehicle registered to another state, the neighborhood felt strongly that these spaces should be more accessible to the taxpaying homeowners of Revere. In my first month as city councilor, I put forth a motion to institute citywide permit parking. Since the motion passed unanimously through the council and was accepted through the mayor’s office we are now officially drafting a comprehensive parking plan for Ward 4 and for the entire city. First steps were to hold three community-focused meetings to solicit feedback from what the residents are looking for and we will be working on their input to implement this program in the very near future.
This program is no longer just a thought as it was for many years while our neighboring towns implimented it. As a strong advocate for the residents of Ward 4 and through my leadership on the council this program will go into effect. As your recently elected councilor in my first term, my passion has far from dwindled and as the song goes, We’ve only just begun to fight for our community.
There is no easy or definite answer to this dilemma
By Philip Russo
Residential parking has become a major issue in Ward 4. In the next two years, I would want to have all of the areas of Ward 4Â properly assessed. This is very important for Ward 4 and the city as whole. It probably has not been properly assessed in years. This is something that is very important for our ward and the entire city.
After a proper assessment, we will find out where the rooming houses are, and all of the homes that have illegal apartments.
This will give us our answers that are needed on where the abundance of cars are coming from, and where they are paying there excise taxes and where registered and insured.
This, over time, will bring revenues to the city, which should help bring our taxes down.
Implementing a residential parking sticker might sound like a good idea. Unfortunately, I think that this would be only a quick fix. The city should run a trial for starters in certain areas to see how it will work.
Then, the questions we have to ask the following:
What is the cost for these parking stickers?
What is the cost to staff the parking enforcement people?
Where are we getting the staff? The City of Revere is already short-staffed as it is. There is only one parking enforcement person on duty at night for the entire city!
Is the city going to be giving taxpayers parking stickers for free, since the property taxes have already gone up or is this going to cost us even more?
I think that we need to keep it simple. Let’s run trial for the residential parking stickers.
Let’s give out the residential parking stickers for free to the residents that paid their excise tax in the area that the trials will be designated. But only after a proper assessment, then run the trials in the worst areas of Ward 4. Let’s let Ward 4 lead by example to learn and teach what we can do to make it better for all of the taxpayers all of the time.
