Winthrop Town Council President James Letterie and other town officials received their oaths of office at the town inauguration ceremonies Wednesday at the Robert A. DeLeo Senior Center.
Town Clerk Denise Quist administered the oaths to the officials, who were elected Nov. 2.
Mr. Letterie’s wife, Dawn Letterie, their son, Jake Letterie, daughter, Jenna Letterie, and his mother, Lorraine Letterie, watched proudly as he took the oath to serve in the highest elected position in town government.
Councillor-at-Large Robert DeMarco, Precinct 1 Councillor Richard Fucillo, Precinct 3 Councillor Hannah Belcher, and Precinct 5 Councillor Joseph Aiello were also inaugurated.
Members of the School Committee who were inaugurated were Jennifer Powell, Julie Barry, and Suzanne Leonard.
Library Trustees Gillian Teixeira, Betty Peabody, and Marie Matarazzo received their oaths of office. Housing Authority Board Members Peter Gill and Mary Lou Heighton were also inaugurated.
Interim Town Manager Terence Delehanty and State Rep. Jeffrey Turco delivered remarks at the ceremony.
Following is the text of Council President James Letterie’s inaugural address:
“Welcome
As we enter the 17th year of Winthrop’s Council form of government and our 9th swearing in ceremony, there have been a few constants and I would like to first take a moment to thank a few of them. The first is Speaker Bob DeLeo. If I was to list all Bob has done for the town of Winthrop I would far exceed my self-imposed time limit for this address., of course, the fact that we are holding this ceremony at the Robert A DeLeo Senior Center speaks volumes, but I would like to mention a few milestones. Bob was a 28 year Winthrop Town Meeting member, a 10 year run on Winthrop’s Board of Selectman our State Representative for over a quarter century, during that time he was Chairman of the incredibly important, Ways and Means committee for 4 years and then became the longest serving Speaker of the House in the history of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, serving almost 12 years. To find the next longest serving Speaker You have to go back to a very very old friend of Bobs, back in 1820 Speaker Tim Bigelow finished his 11 year run as Speaker., …But seriously Bob we can’t thank you enough for all you have done for your beloved town..
Another constant is our first Town Council President, Tom Reilly. Also a past Selectman, Tom served on our Charter Commission and then took the reins as our first president. Tom’s wisdom and mild demeanor was just what the doctor ordered to help us embark on our new journey, and his two terms as President gave us the stable foundation we needed to move forward. Thank you Tom.
The last constant I’ll mention tonight comes in a different form, and that’s my wife Dawn. She also has been at these ceremonies since the beginning and although maybe not always a willing participant she has supported me all the way and I can’t thank her enough. That support means much more than she will ever know. My son Jake and daughter Jenna were 4 and 6 respectfully at the first swearing in and have grown up understanding the importance of civic involvement, and what an important lesson it is, and I am grateful and proud of them every day! I also want to thank my mom for being here and always supporting me in everything I’ve done the past 61 years.
I would also like to mention a few people here with us tonight who have or will continue to help make Winthrop a great place to live, work and raise a family.
Speaker Bob DeLeo
Former Council President and our current State Representative Jeff Turco
Soon to be State Senator Lydia Edwards
Interim Town Manager Terry Delehanty
School Superintendent Lisa Howard
Deputy Chief Goodwin and Chief Wiley
All our incredible department heads
Former Council Presidents, Tom Reilly, Peter Gill, Ron Vecchia, Bob Driscoll, Rus Sanford & Phil Boncore
Former and current Council members including Richard Gill, Paul Varone, Rich Ferrino, Peter Christopher & Nick DelVento
Former and current school committee members, including, Brian Perrin, Gus Martucci & Suzanne Swope
Putting your name on a ballot and running for office is not a very easy thing to do, yet it is so unbelievably important. I want to personally thank each and every elected official here for their willingness to serve, for the betterment of Winthrop. It is truly appreciated.
A little more than 40 years ago before a memorable hockey game a coach said that “great moments are born from great opportunities.†We know that it was certainly true that night, and I also believe it is true for us today as we begin a new chapter. There is no doubt that we have some great opportunities right in front of us, however, we must be willing to work together for the greater good, to place trust in knowledge and experience, to be willing to use the tremendous and proven as-sets this town has to offer, in terms of our citizens. I can say with certainty that we do not all share the same philosophy’s or viewpoints, but I strongly feel we share very similar goals for our town, both in the short term as well as the long term.
The decisions that this Council will be crafting will be born of a tremendous amount of work, much debate and undoubtably some compromise, but ultimately, I am confident, these outcomes will make this great town even better.
We have been incredibly fortunate to have someone of the caliber of Terry as our interim Town Manager, but we completely understand his desire, to go back across the street to his passion. With that thought in mind, our most pressing is-sue that we need to focus on is hiring our next Town Manager. I can announce that process has begun and we have, in the last couple days, posted that position, through our consulting firm. The goal will be to have a Town Manager in place by June 1st. If we are able to fulfill that goal sooner, then all the better. This new town manager will have to hit the ground running by hiring a CFO, Treasurer and Assessor. However, I believe those circumstances create incredible opportunities for the right woman… or man, who will become our next Manager. To have that opportunity to pick your team and immediately have that cohesion, which is so vital to the future stability and success of our town, is such an enormous plus.
Throughout this process of hiring a Town Manager, the Council will not sit back, but forge on. We can no longer just talk, and talk… and talk some more about a public safety building in some form or another. We can’t kick it down the road yet again to another generation. I believe that I love and respect history more than most, but a 130-year-old fire station may be quaint and cute, but it’s not functional and efficient. Ultimately the citizens will make the decision, but we the Council will be bringing a well thought out proposal for your consideration in a reasonable amount of time.
The middle school site will be yet another top priority of this Council. We will set a process in place to vet different options, to understand the financial ramifications and viability of each. I would expect to see 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 our town. This process will be extremely thorough but prompt.
I don’t think it is possible to give any type of speech in this environment and not mention Covid. Two years ago we were here at a swearing in, just at the precipice of this pandemic, not really knowing in any way shape or form how our world would be turned upside down. Everything we had come to know and cherish would be altered, all we had taken for granted would be questioned. Now as we continue to deal with this new variant, we begin to transition from response to recovery, it’s an opportunity for us to support our citizens as they find their way back from the trauma they experienced during the Covid crisis. This recovery comes in many forms, whether it be social, emotional, economic, or learning loss. As we continue to deal with the omicron variant, and our recovery, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank our Board of Health, for their leadership, along with Lisa Howard, Terry Delehanty, Phil Boncore and of course the remarkable Merideth Hurley, who has been, and contin-ues to be, our steward for everything Covid.
As citizens, we have many rights, and one which I expect you all to use is your right to be heard. We as a Council always appreciate your thoughts, ideas, suggestions, and yes even criticisms. We are not perfect, we will make mistakes, but I can guarantee our mistakes will not be born from laziness, mediocre effort, or lack of transparency. I promise 100% effort, because that is what you the great citizens of Winthrop expect and deserve. May God Bless all of you, and May God Bless our beautiful town.