Winthrop Sun Transcript’s 2018 People of the Year:Ron Vecchia is Man of the Year

This past year has not been an easy one in Winthrop. There have been three town managers, three legal cases

stemming from the Police Department, an outcry from the residents about the future of the center business district, a continued complaint about parking and the unknown impacts of development at nearby Suffolk Downs.

Throughout it all one man has been taking it all in stride as the Town Council president and he has been above board when dealing with the town matters. Ron Vecchia has maintained a decorum to keep the challenging times under control. He is open and takes the time to give the bottom line answer on a situation.

This year Ron Vecchia is Winthrop Sun Transcript’s Man of the Year.

Getting past this year Vecchia said that he relies on his experience.

“A lot of these issues I have seen and they come and go,” he said. “I understand why people are concerned about certain things, and I listen. Then I go through a process to work it out.”

The first six months of 2018 Vecchia said he spent a lot of time just listening to people

“Listen, it’s very important,” Vecchia said, even if it means letting someone at a council meeting speak longer than three minutes. “I think there has been a craving for that ever since we lost the Town Meeting. Because people felt at Town Meeting they could go on and on and on.”

Coming off his first full year as Council President, Vecchia is no stranger to serving the community. He is a former three-time member of the Board of Selectmen (before the Charter change more than a decade ago.) He has also been a member of the Conservation Commission

Vecchia, 71, has also been a dedicated member of WCAT cable television for over 30 years. In fact he was on the Board of Selectmen when the contract was signed with Time-Warner in the mid-1980s. Since then he has made time for his show “Community Forum with Ron Vecchia” showcasing clubs and organizations in town or talking about the hot issues. Now he also has a show called “Me and the Manager” where he invites the town manager on the show to talk about Winthrop.

Ron and his wife Linda have four daughters, and seven grandchildren with one on the way. He is a Vietnam veteran Air Force military police, serving from 1965-1969 and during the Tet Offensive.

In his earlier career, Vecchia worked for Raytheon and General Electric.