Special to the Transcript
Joe Romano has announced his intent to seek election to the Town Council Precinct 3 seat. The following is his announcement:
“My name is Joe Romano, and I am running for Winthrop Town Council Precinct 3. I am a lifelong Winthrop resident, having lived my whole life on Siren Street. For years I have followed the town council meetings. I have always aspired to get involved, but I was too young. Now that I’m older, I want to be the one to step up and help represent my community in these ever-changing times. There are a lot of major issues now in Winthrop, and I believe that I have a set of new, fresh and young eyes. I promise to work with the town council to help them see things that they might be missing. Even though I am still considered young, I have the drive and ambition to better precinct 3 as a whole. I have always had a quick ability to adapt and learn new things, no matter what is thrown at me. I hope to help add a new dynamic to the town council that will help us continue into a bright future.
If elected, I will take the issues that I’m hearing from my neighbors and friends and prioritize the many of the issues that affect Precinct 3. Many in our precinct deal with constant flooding. We need to invest more in our seawalls and look into other possible protections, such as a berm. While there is an emergency response plan, we desperately need to communicate our emergency response plan for Precinct 3. During serve weather events, it is not uncommon for the roads on the section of Shirley Street near the Winthrop Yacht Club to be shut down. This strands thousands of our residents, with no way for them to leave their homes. This also would prevent the town from delivering potentially vital aid, as ambulances and firetrucks cannot travel through either. I want to be the Councilor that is proactive to protect our community. We should not wait around until tragedy strikes. We need to be proactive to protect our community.
I also stand firmly opposed to Section 3A of the MBTA Communities Act. I believe that 3A is an example of overreach by the state that is being pushed by outside developers. Winthrop has been building responsibly for many years. The state has tried to implement blanket zoning regulations in most of the state without actually getting to know the complexities of our communities. If 3A housing were to come to Winthrop, our already overpopulated town would get even denser. We do not have the space to build all these new units. As we all know, traffic is bad enough right now not only to leave Winthrop, but also to even just leave Precinct 3. Many outside developers do not care about Winthrop, as they only care about their profits. Any negative impact 3A housing would have on our community is just another small sacrifice to them. If elected, I am willing to take on the state and these developers head on to make sure that the best interests of Winthrop and Precinct 3 are being represented.
I would like to thank all those who have supported me thus far! Thank you all for reading this and I hope you consider me on November 4th to be your next Precinct 3 Winthrop Town Councilor. For more information or to learn how to contribute please visit www.joeromanoprecinct3.com