Rotondo fills one open seat

Attorney Mark Rotondo was elected to the Winthrop School Committee at a joint meeting of the Town Council and School Committee Monday night at the Cummings School.

Rotondo, 42, received seven of the 13 votes to win a seat on the committee. He fills the vacancy that was created when School Committee member Gus Martucci resigned in June. School Committee Chairman Pat Milano has also stepped down and members of the Council and School Committee will reconvene on July 20 to elect another new member.

School Committee members Todd Sacco and Brian Perrin and Council members Jeffrey Turco, Philip Boncore, Paul Varone, Linda Calla, and Larry Powers voted for Rotondo, giving him the majority needed to gain election.

School Committee members William Holden and Mary Lou Osborne and Councillor James Letterie cast votes for Karen Chavis. Councillors Nicholas DelVento and Russell Sanford voted for Melissa Polino while Councillor Jeanne Maggio voted for Ronald Vecchia.

Peter Caggiano and Michael Power had also submitted applications for the seat. Power and Chavis have indicated their intention to reapply for the remaining vacant seat.

A former football captain and All-Scholastic player at Everett High School, Rotondo served four years on the Everett School Committee in the early 1990s.

He worked at Fidelity Investments and then returned to school and received his undergraduate degree in Political Science from Suffolk University. He also has a Master’s Degree in Public Affairs from UMass/Boston and a law degree from Suffolk University. He was admitted to the practice of law in 2005.

Rotondo is an assistant dean in the College of Arts and Sciences at Suffolk University. He is married to Robin Dow, a WHS Class of 1988 graduate. They have two daughters, Victoria and Emma, who are students in Winthrop elementary schools.

“I’m looking forward to helping the school system and the town move forward,” said Rotondo, whose brother, George, is a member of the Revere City Council.

Turco, who sits on the School Committee in his capacity as town council president, said Rotondo’s experience in education and the legal profession make him well qualified to serve on the committee.

“We had a lot of candidates with great credntials that stepped forward,” said Turco. “The town should be proud of the people that stepped up, but I think Mr. Rotondo, with his background as a former member of the Everett School Committee, working as an assistant dean and Suffolk, and his law background makes him eminently qualified and I look forward to working with him.”