“We are not going to be a Sanctuary City”
Advocate News – Interview with Mayor Brian Arrigo
The mayor stated that his critics have thrown everything out there, including: He was going to place a “Black Lives Matter” banner on City Hall – false; or the public health office opened on Revere Street was actually a methadone clinic – false; or that he will have Syrian refugees living at the hotel at the new Shaw’s site development – false. “Or that I didn’t renew Chief Cafarelli’s contract because I wanted to make Revere a sanctuary city because he didn’t want to, and that was the bone of contention between him and I, which is unequivocally false,” said the mayor.
It was exactly one year ago, Jan. 6, 2015, when Mayor-Elect Brian Arrigo took over as the new leader of The Beach City of Revere following a tumultuous election against incumbent Mayor Dan Rizzo, including a recount which caused the new mayor to enter his corner office on Broadway a little behind schedule.
Sitting in his office chair dressed in jeans, dress shirt and boots on a late Friday afternoon (city hall is closed on Friday), Arrigo seems relaxed as he kicks back for a one-on-one interview with The Advocate to discuss his first year as mayor.
Since the arrival of social media and internet chatter, rumors have taken shape that Arrigo’s one-year-old administration would be taking steps and adapting policies that have ruffled the feathers of his detractors and, in a few cases, supporters who may have bought into the gossip.
Just last week, Arrigo sent out to the media an announcement that he would no longer be renewing Police Chief Joseph Cafarelli’s contract. Cafarelli was hired in 2012 by then-Mayor Rizzo to replace Chief Terence Reardon. When asked about Cafarelli’s contract situation and replacement, Arrigo stated that he had until the end of 2016 to make a decision and felt that hiring his own police chief was his right.
“In the terms of his [Cafarelli’s] contract, he would have been automatically renewed had I not given him notice by the end of 2016 – by December 31, 2016. The timing wasn’t great, I admit that; but if I hadn’t given him notice by Dec. 31, he would have been renewed for another year, automatically with the same terms of that contract.”
The mayor said that he spoke to Cafarelli in person on Dec. 29, formally giving him a letter which stated that his contract ends on June 30, 2017, and that it wouldn’t be renewed – “I think it’s important to commend him for his job as chief.”
When asked why he decided to replace Cafarelli, Arrigo said he felt that it was his right to make that choice: “There were matters of, one: terms of his contract that were under the previous [Rizzo] administration. I want my own contract – my own chief.”
See the full story at Advocate News Link here
