Recognizing Our Officials Past and Present

Well, it seems that the Sun-Transcript staff left out some public officials’ names in our coverage of the town’s inauguration ceremony in which Council President Bob Driscoll and other officials took office last week.

We start with former Council President Jeffrey Turco, who succeeded Tom Reilly in the town’s highest elected position. Winthrop residents will recall that the 6’-6” attorney won election as council president by defeating two well-established and popular residents. Jeff brought incredible energy and some truly innovative ideas — such as televising live all committee meetings — to the forefront and he moved the town forward during his term in office. Jeff faced a tough opponent, Peter Gill, in his bid for re-election. Peter had many years of public service on his record and emerged with victory in two of the most exciting elections in our town’s history.

During his own tenure, Jeff displayed his excellent managerial skills and led the way to extending the contract of our Town Manager, Jim McKenna, who has helped Winthrop grow and prosper to where it has become the true jewel that Jeff envisioned. We apologize to Jeff for leaving him off the list of council presidents and we’re pleased that he, his wife, and five children continue to enjoy our town and contribute to its vibrancy in many ways.

We also deserve a two-minute minor (hockey fans will understand that reference) for excluding the name of Precinct 2 Councillor James Letterie from our inauguration reports. James Letterie has been an effective representative for the residents of his precinct, always responsive to their requests for assistance and making sure that developments — such as the beautiful Arbors at Winthrop on the site of the former Winthrop Hospital — are in the best interests of the neighborhood.

And we haven’t even mentioned Jim’s involvement in Winthrop Youth Hockey through the years and his efforts in making sure that the Larsen Rink at the Mike Eruzione Center remains one of the town’s treasures. Experience counts and we’re grateful to have Jim working each day on the Town Council to make our town a better place.