Nine candidates have submitted papers to run for one of the six open seats in this year’s election for the North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC). The candidates (in alphabetical order):
- Michael Bonetti – Hull St.
- Danielle D’Ambrosio – Hanover St.
- Luigi Natale – Salem St.
- John Pregmon* – North St.
- Gennaro Riccio* – Hanover St.
- Anne Roach – Charter St.
- Brett Roman – Cleveland Pl.
- Marie Simboli* – Prince St.
- Zach Zimmerman – Hanover St.
*Incumbent
The top six candidates with the most votes of those running will be elected for a 2-year term and join the other current six members that have one year left remaining in their term. The other six standing members on the 12-person council are Philip Frattaroli, Carmine Guarino, Sean Hennessey, Jorge Mendoza and Ralph Verrocchi. Current NEWNC members Anne Devlin Tagliaferro, Ryan Kenny and Jessica Dello Russo are not running for re-election.
NEWNC’s Election Committee will verify signatures and residential designations before the ballots are prepared. This year, write-in candidates will NOT be allowed.
A Candidates Night is scheduled for Monday, May 9th, 7pm at the Nazzaro Community Center as part of NEWNC’s regular monthly meeting where those running will introduce themselves. All are welcome to attend.
NEWNC’s annual election is on Saturday, May 14, 2016, 10:00 am – 2:00 pm at the Nazzaro Community Center, 30 N. Bennet Street, North End, Boston. All North End / Waterfront residents (Ward 3, Precincts 1, 2, 3, and 4), age 18 and older, are eligible to vote in this year’s election.
There is no way any Restaurant Owner or anyone connected to a Restaurant should be serving on our Neighborhood Committees, they have
a Chamber of Commerce & I think it is a Conflict of Interest. I don’t want anyone’s opinion on this
matter, I just feel I am stating the Facts. I don’t even know how something like this was ever allowed.
I feel as though it is an insult to the intelligence of all Neighborhood Residents.
We, the Residents, and only the Residents should be on these Neighborhood Committees, and we
all know “1” thing for sure, the City calls all the shots, regardless of what Residents think or want.
The City, being as greedy as they are, will not stop anything that brings in Money.
Fact Finder, I’m assuming your deep concern for the neighborhood and its residents means you’re one of the 9 running for a seat on the Council. If not, then you seem to be just complaining yet not willing to do anything about it.
Bussinesses play one of the most important roles in any community. They pay taxes here, employ people here, and bring people to the neighborhood. Why should their opinions not be heard?
Restaurant owners who are Residents of the North End are allowed to serve on he council. They have as much of a right as any other resident. If you do not like it, run for the Council next year and work to change the by-laws. Get you FACTS straight before you open your mouth. Both Neighborhood Groups are ADVISORY ONLY. They do not make the final decisions the ZBA and the Licensing Board does.
Are You Running & Rukiddinme, The original article I wrote was dismissed from this site & just maybe this
will go thru. I would never participate in either committee because of the unfairness. I am not
going to sacrifice my sanity when the City (ZBA & Licensing Board are calling the shots). Where
were these Committee Members when Giovanni’s Restaurant on Prince changed ownership and
became another restaurant which was Handicap Accessible & now under New Ownership Restrooms
are down the Basement. How did this ever happen? Before you or another Committee Member or
Restaurant Owner attack me or another No. End Resident, you better do some soul searching.
When Pinkberry came into the Neighborhood plenty of people had a lot of negative things to say, why didn’t anyone step up to plate when the handicap accessibility was no longer available at the former
Giovanni location?
I am fully aware Rukiddinme of who is calling the shots. Money calls the shots and I definitely have
my Facts straight. I can back up my statement about Giovanni Restaurant with former employees.
Why weren’t Residents invited to become members of the Chamber of Commerce? Would it have
been a Conflict of Interest? Donald Trump whether you like him or not, could have a field day in
this neighborhood. Let he without sin cast the 1st stone, other than that, You better get your
Facts straight, I can back up what I have to say with former employees of other establishments.
I am not complaining, I am stating the Facts.
which part of Advisory only did you not comprehend? It is not up to the neighborhood groups to make sure that a business is handicapped accessible. That is up to the zoning board of appeals and the inspectional services department to regulate. you do not want to get involved with either group. you just want to complain about the same stuff over and over. Giovanni’s and Pinkberry are ancient history. You can blame the building owner for PInkberry and the ZBA and ISD for Giovanni’s . The Chamber of Commerce is a BUSINESS organization open to any business owner that wants to pay dues. NEWRA and NEWNC are volunteer organizations open to ANY RESIDENT who gets elected in the case of NEWNC or joins the membership based NEWRA and pays the membership fees. Either become part of the groups who are trying to to do the right thing for the neighborhood or be quiet.
@rukiddinme – I couldn’t agree more. Get involved or be quiet.
The “Neighborhood councils” are for neighbors and in this working class Italian-American neighborhood many of us own businesses, there for are entitle to serve our community. I don’t know if folks out there are aware but our locals businesses contribute and support many of the needs of the North End.
It is also important to mention that there hasn’t been one instance in the history of man kind that depicts people gathering together to live in communities without businesses to support them. The presence of businesses in a community, provide employment, places where to shop and eat, and support for those who live in them.
The North End benefits when we all participate and pitch in, “Fact Finder” should join the effort, together we can all help make our neighborhood a better place.
working class italian-american neighborhood? i don’t think so.
Did someone turn the clock back to 1967? Lets face it this has become yuppie heaven.
Jorge, well said. Thanks for telling it like it is.
Jorge, with all due respect, you and your family are very successful restaurant owners, and God Bless
You. You and your family work very hard for what you have & deserve every bit of success you have.
I know you have made generous contributions to the Neighborhood, which was very kind of you.
The bottom line, there is very little consideration for residents, not because of your businesses.
I believe you can NOT serve 2 Gods, only One, in my opinion, you can NOT, be on the Neighborhood Committee and be on the Chamber of Commerce.
The No. End was a very successful restaurant
area when we just had, Giro’s, Stella’s, Tecce’s, Polcari’s, Davide, Scotch & Sirloin,
Bernado’s, Florence’s (now Limoncello’s), MaMa Maria, European now CVS & the Italian Cantina, just to name
a few. The biggest improvement was that most, not all, people finally took pride in their property and cleaned it up,
because the No. End was considered a “Slum”. Once again, no disrespect to you or other
restaurant owners, but you have the Chamber of Commerce & we have Neighborhood Committees.
I don’t think it is ethical for a restaurant owner to be on a Neighborhood Committee and obviously
the Chamber of Commerce did not think it was ethical for Residents to be part of the Chamber of
Commerce. I would deeply appreciate it if someone could explain to me how Giovanni Restaurant
went from Handicap Accessible to now, under new ownership, the restrooms are in the basement.
How did the Neighborhood Committees, and 1st & foremost, the City of Boston, allow this to happen?
Where were the committee members? Did they overlook such a thing because it was an “Italian”
restaurant & not Pinkberry? Where is the fairness? Jorge, let us face it, the No. End has been
swallowed up by mostly Italian Restaurants and the Residents have definitely been affected by all
of this. The City, obviously could careless, there are over 100 restaurants in this
Neighborhood, and we all know the City’s God is MONEY. I wish all the Restaurant Owners all
the success in the world, but where does this leave residents? I have to agree with
Michael & Truth on this one. The City always makes it a point to Clean Hanover St., Salem St. and
part of Prince St. & Parmenter St., all of which are restaurant occupied streets. What about the
rest of the No. End, where residents reside. We all pay taxes. Where is the Fairness?
I don’t have any personal beef with restaurant owners ,but lets be honest no-one down here opens a restaurant to feed the hungry.Most of the eating establishments in the North End are overpriced & overrated & the owners make a fortune especially on booze so enough is enough.
I think its important to clarify a couple of things. First of all, none of the business owners who serve on NEWNC are members of the Chamber of Commerce. There is no ethical issues with being a part of both organizations, but many business owners, myself included, didn’t agree with direction the Chamber took in its brief existence and didn’t join. Which leads me to my second point, there is no Chamber of Commerce in the North End because the most recent attempt to organize the business community of the neighborhood failed a couple of years ago.
To argue that business owners should be prohibited from serving on the Neighborhood Council, is frankly insulting. I own a business. That doesn’t strip me of my rights as a citizen of this neighborhood. I am also a homeowner and father to a young child. All three of those titles help inform my service on the Neighborhood Council. When someone votes for me for the Council, they are voting for me to bring those diverse experiences to NEWNC. To the credit of the voters in this Neighborhood, the Council is a diverse cross section of the neighborhood. We have Senior Citizens and young people, life long residents and “new” people, business owners and non-business owners, homeowners and renters, lawyers and non lawyers. All of them bring unique experiences and skill sets to the Council. If you don’t want to vote for someone because they own a business then thats your right. But to seek to ban someone of their right to serve their community because of their occupation, or for that matter their religion, race or gender, is preposterous.
Next, a quick Google search didn’t find a “Giovanni Restaurant” in the North End so I don’t know to what you are referring. But the Neighborhood Council, and the Resident’s Association for that matter, does not have an army of inspectors and jurisdiction over the business of the neighborhood. We hear zoning and licensing requests and offer advisory opinions to the City, but the City of Boston Department of Inspectional Services is in charge of inspecting buildings and business, and ensuring they comply with the building code. If you have an issue with a business that you think is breaking the building code, please call ISD at (617) 635-5300.
Lastly, we have a huge number of tourist that visit this neighborhood each year. Many for the restaurants and many that go to historical sites on the Freedom Trail. I am glad that the city has made cleaning up the streets a priority, especially in the areas that tourist tend to make a mess. I have seen Public Works Department hokies (https://vimeo.com/91343218) on nearly every street in the neighborhood. But to the extent there is trash on residential streets, residents also have to do their part with their own trash. Putting it out in the morning prevents rats from tearing them up. Putting recycling in clear bags helps mitigate the picker problem. Putting trash in proper trash bags, and not paper bags or cardboard boxes prevents things from falling out. If everyone did their part,the neighborhood would be a lot cleaner. (http://www.cityofboston.gov/images_documents/frank%20Proper%20Guidelines%20for%20website_tcm3-47903.pdf)
she is talking about the former G’vanni’s on Prince St which is now called Pellino’s.
Philip: What are people thinking? In a small neighborhood like this, there cannot be exclusion. Thanks for your coverage on this topic. I fail to understand where some of the ‘thinking’ comes from in these comments. Is it jealousy? Is it just complaining?
Bravo, Philip and Jorge… You both have every right to sit on the advisory board. You are residents … Doesn’t matter if you own a restaurant! Jealousy plays a big part in some of the responses… My oh my..