Letterie Makes Annual State of the Town Address

By Adam Swift

The will and determination of the town is very strong, Town Council President James Letterie declared Tuesday night during the annual State of the Town address.

Letterie reflected upon the activity in Winthrop over the past 12 months, and sought to clearly define the goals for the Town Council in the coming year, including moving forward with a plan for a new fire station.

The Council President kicked off his address by thanking the town’s staff, as well as its boards and committees, for helping the town function.

“They provide us comfort and safety, they educate our children and grandchildren, they keep our town clean and inviting, provide us with attractive recreation spaces, maintain our infrastructure and streetscapes, in short, they facilitate in providing us with a community that I am extremely proud, appreciative and honored to call home.”

He said the past year was remarkable in many ways.

“The top of the list is, I believe, the addition of our Town Manager, Tony Marino,” Letterie said. “Tony is all the attributes I envisioned at the beginning of the process – he’s incredibly hardworking, knowledgeable, a great communicator, always available, a blue collar, roll up your sleeves, willing not only to delegate, but really get involved-type manager. Tony hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped yet.”

He said there is great partnership between the council and the town manager laying the groundwork for some much anticipated projects that the town will get their chance to weigh in on in the very near future.

“Tony has been able to fill multiple positions that were very much needed, including an assessor, a treasure, and very recently a CFO who is with us here tonight, Dylan Cook,” said Letterie. “Tony is working alongside our Town Planner, Rachel Kelly, and they have been able to secure many grants which will be seeing the benefits of in the near future. Tony has been the perfect fit for Winthrop, and in turn, I think Winthrop is the perfect fit for Tony.”

Letterie thanked Town Clerk Denise Quist for the work she does for the town and the council.

“I know I would be lost without her,” he said.

Some highlights from 2022 Letterie mentioned included the completion of the new tennis courts across from the middle-high school, the town’s ability to leverage remaining funds from the MSBA project to supplement and bolster new technology in the middle-high school, and the long-awaited completion of the Central Business District project.

“The benefits of the infrastructure piece of (the CBD) project are required not only for the benefit of the current neighborhood but even more so for any potential prudent development that may occur in that area,” Letterie said. “The streetscape portion of that project, to me, is still something that will be more clearly seen with the maturity of the plantings and promised continued maintenance.”

He noted that the E.B. Newton Clock tower restoration is a visual enhancement to the town, and stated that former councilor Rich Ferino deserved much of the credit to begin this project, with amendments and increased funding from the council allowing the town to go further and more detailed than was anticipated.

Letterie stated the addition of the new CFO also carries over to the school department, where Cook will also serve as the school department’s finance director.

“This will, as the charter was designed to do, bring the schools and the town into an even more cohesive relationship,” said Letterie. “Throughout 2022, the superintendent, her leadership team, and entire staff did an unimaginable job in ushering in a post-Covid education experience that we can all be extremely proud of.”

In most other cities and towns, Letterie said the completion of a 29-unit apartment building would not be major news.

“However, in a 1.6-mile, densely populated Winthrop, it is a challenge,” he said. “But with the helpful and thoughtful feedback from neighbors and a very good collaborative and working relationship with the town and developer, the Somerset project came to completion. It has been an incredible upgrade to what has been at that site, and I believe that most would agree, that it has been quite an enhancement to our town.”

The past year also saw the pavement restoration to almost four miles of town roads, nearly 10 percent of the total road in the town.

“I am hoping this council will commit to addressing a flag policy, which will enable us to secure a three-pole system at the E.B. Newton site, enabling us to honor all that is important to this town,” said Letterie.

Additionally, the Council President said he would commit to not only planting more trees to promote a better canopy for the future, but to initiate a maintenance program which will serve many more open spaces in town.

“I commit, with the support of this council, to bring before the voters this November an extremely well thought out, long overdue plan to build a new fire station,” said Letterie. “It will be the first in our community since the late 1800s. We also commit to have a much clearer and articulate plan for the future of the middle school site, which you will hear about in the coming months.”

The following is the full text of Letterie’s speech:

“To the residents of our great town, the Winthrop Town Charter gives the Council President the obligation, as well as the great opportunity to address the town yearly in an effort to clearly define our goals for the upcoming year and to reflect on the past 12 months.  No such address could begin without first offering my sincere thanks and appreciation to all our department heads and their staffs as well as our appointed boards and committees.  Without them our town could not function.  They provide us comfort and safety, they educate our children and grandchildren, they keep our town clean and inviting, they provide us with attractive and welcoming parks and recreation spaces.  They maintain our infrastructure and streetscapes.  In short they facilitate in providing us a community which i am extremely proud, appreciative, and honored to call home.

Calendar 2022 was, i think, remarkable in many ways.  On the top of that list, i believe, is the addition of our town manager, Tony Marino.  Tony has all the attributes that I envisioned at the beginning of the process.  He is incredibly hard working, knowledgeable, a great communicator, always available, a blue collar, roll up your sleeves, willing to not just delegate, but really get involved type manager.  Tony hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped yet.  We have had a great partnership in laying the groundwork for some much anticipated projects that i hope the town will get their chance to weigh in on in the very near future.  Tony has been able to fill multiple positions that were very much needed, including an assessor, a treasurer, and very recently, a cfo.  Tony is working alongside our town planner, Rachel Kelly, and they have been able to secure many grants which we will be seeing the benefits of in the near future.  Tony has been the perfect fit for Winthrop and in turn i believe that Winthrop is the perfect fit for tony. And speaking of perfect fits i would like to take a minute to thank our town clerk and council clerk, Denise Quist for the incredible work she does in so many areas, from the clerk’s office, to elections, to assisting various committees, and of course making our councilors lives and absolutely mine much more harmonious.  I know i would be lost without her.

Some highlights from 2022 would include, the completion of the new tennis courts across from the middle/high school, our ability to leverage remaining funds from the msba project to supplement and bolster much new technology in the middle/high school,  the long awaited completion of the cbd project.  The benefits of the infrastructure piece of that project are required not only for the benefit of the current neighborhood, but even more so for any potential prudent development that may occur in that area..  The streetscape portion of the project, to me, is something that will be more clearly  seen with maturity of the plantings and promised continued maintenance.  The EB Newton Clock tower restoration is such a visual enhancement to our town, really a focal point.  Former councilor Rich Ferrino deserves much of the credit to begin this project and  amendments and increased funding from the council  enabled us to go further and more detailed than was anticipated.  I had mentioned earlier about the addition of the new cfo, and i would like to also mention that with the blessing of the superintendent,  the school committee and the council, we are consolidating that position to include the title of school finance director.  This will, as the charter was designed to do, bring the schools and the town into an even more cohesive relationship.  Throughout 2022 the superintendent, her leadership team and entire staff did an unimaginable job in ushering in a post covid education experience that we can all be extremely proud of.

In most other cities and towns the completion of a 29 unit apartment building would not be major news, however in a 1.6 Mile, densely populated Winthrop it is a challenge, but with helpful and thoughtful feedback from neighbors, and a very good working and collaborative relationship between town and developer, the Sommerset project came to completion.  It has been an incredible upgrade over what was at the site, and i  believe that most would agree that has been quite an enhancement to our town..

In 2022 we were able to do pavement restoration to almost 4 miles of roads within our town.  We have roughly 45 miles of roads in Winthrop so that is also 10 % of our roads, which is far and away the most we have done in a calendar year.

In 2023 I will commit that along with the help from the town manager that we will continue to look at public ways throughout the town, making them safe, secure and maintained for our residents..

The council along with the town manager and our town planner, Rachel Kelly, are doing everything possible to qualify for the green community grants program which would make us eligible for up to 250,000 a year in funding. We are also facilitating with our planner on grants totaling about $1,000,000 which will help with transportation, zoning, environment, economic development, and  infrastructure among other items.

We will continue to make prudent financial decisions which will put our town in a better position in upcoming years.

We have, for the first time in many years, have all but one union within the town,  at the moment, under contractual agreements through 2025.

I am hoping that the council will commit to addressing a flag policy which will enable us to secure a three pole system at the EB Newton site enabling us to honor all that is important to this town..

I will commit to not only continuing to plant more trees to promote a better canopy for our children’s future but to initiate a maintenance program which will serve many open spaces in town.

A year ago I said the following…

“The decisions that this council will be crafting will be born of a tremendous amount of work, much debate and undoubtedly some compromise, but ultimately, i am confident, these outcomes will make this great town even better.”

I know that is what we have done and will very soon see the fruits of our labor.

I commit with the support of this council to bring before the voters this November an extremely well thought out, long overdue plan, to build a new fire station, which would be the first in our community since the late 1800’s.

I also commit to have a much clearer and articulate plan for the future of the middle school site, which you will hear more about in the coming months.

There are many things i have learned in my almost 18 years on the council, among them is that experience is truly an extremely valuable tool, and to define the word quickly, in municipal terms is much different  than in our day to day lives. However i hope and believe that this council is ready to move forward, work together, agree to disagree at times but always to agree to put this truly special town first.  The will and determination along with the state of our town is very strong.

Thank you and may god bless the town of Winthrop!”