Special to the Transcript
Town Council President has announced his candidacy for re-election. The following is his statement:
My name is Jim Letterie, and I am a candidate for re-election to the office of Town Council President. It has been my true honor to serve the citizens of Winthrop as a member of the Town Council for the past 18 years. I have served in various capacities, representing Precinct 2, Vice President, and the past 2 years as the Town Council President.
We have accomplished much over the past couple years, most notably was the hiring of Tony Marino as our town manager. When sworn in, it had been 8 months since we had a permanent town manager. I stated my goal was to immediately create a search committee, hire a consultant and have a manager in place by June 1st. Tony started on the job May 1st and we have forged ahead with many initiatives that have put Winthrop in a better place.
We have settled all town department contracts, re-directed the center bus to a far safer route, we have done multiple infrastructure upgrades making our roads and utilities safer while also addressing our loss water to much more manageable levels. After many years of trying we are now officially out of the ferry business, and have the MBTA running the operation, while also extending the operating season. After many years we have begun the TIPS project which will completely upgrade the roads and sidewalks, while also helping with traffic concerns at the Gorman Ft Banks school. After much discussion with the DCR, I was able to have stairs built at the Locust Street access point, enabling much better community access to the beach.
I believe, by far, the most critical at this time is the new fire house proposal. This has been discussed for over 30 years without any real action. Like every proposed new building in town it has had its share of criticism. We absolutely did not propose this project blindly; we were extremely cognizant of location, cost, effect, and need. We have been completely transparent on every issue and have reached out to the public in many different ways from public meetings and hearings, creating a website, participated in community events such as the farmers market, attended coffee hours, hosted tours of the existing stations, and we will continue this right up until November 7th. I encourage you to visit www.WinthropFireStation.com for more information. Over the past 23 years we have done four major projects in Winthrop, 3 school buildings as well as Miller Field. Each project had its challenges. Each project had its detractors. However, the need and opportunity far exceeded the challenges of each and in the end they were all passed and have been extremely well received by the town. Change is never easy, but as JFK once said, “Change is the law of life, and those who look only at the past or the present are certain to miss the future.” This project has been vetting thoroughly and is so much needed. The opportunity is now, it’s been well over 100 years since we last built a fire station, we owe it to our fire fighters to live and work in safe and up to code facilities, and we owe it to our citizens to provide the best protection we possibly can.
I have worked on my Middle School presentation for the past 10 months. A public/private partnership where a company would lease our land, build a state of the art, multi functional sports complex, which Winthrop would have much more use and options than currently, and the company would generate revenues by renting out the facility for various camps and tournaments is a win win for everyone. In my inaugural address, while talking about the middle school site as yet another top priority, I stated, “I would expect to make a proposal which would be cognizant of Winthrop’s density, respectful of the neighbors and residents of the town, mindful of the economic stimulus needs and well aware of impacts to different segments of the town including the schools. “ I strongly believe that this proposal hits all that and needs to go forward with an RFI, to show the town the validity of this project.
I am supported in my candidacy by my wife Dawn, a Winthrop School Teacher for over 37 years. I am a parent of two amazing young adults, Jake (25) and Jenna (23), a homeowner, and a small business owner in Winthrop. I have a good understanding of our resident’s frustrations and struggles. I am uniquely qualified to be your Town Council President – I have the energy, experience, and willingness to not only hear, but listen to all sides of every issue and then take decisive action forward. I want to work with my fellow Councilors, our incredible town employees and most importantly our residents – young and old, new residents and townies – together we can do incredible things for Winthrop, while keeping the fabric of our community intact.