Owner Of Pub On Main To Run For Waltham City Council

WALTHAM, MA — Joey LaCava is back. He pulled papers in the past, throwing his hat in the ring earlier this year when an interim seat came open on the City Council, but now that Gary Marchese has announced he's stepping aside at the end of the year, LaCava has announced he is running for a seat on the City Council for Ward 5 to bring in some fresh blood.

"I’m in it for the right reasons I want to get some young people in there and help the city move forward. There are a lot of changes and a lot of diversity in there for the city. And I’m not in there to push my agenda. That’s not what local politics is about," he told Patch shortly after he pulled papers this month.

LaCava was born and raised in Waltham, and says he's just always loved local politics. So he's hoping to pick up where Marchese left off "It's just a great opportunity," he said, adding he hopes that if he's elected he can help interest younger folks in what's going on in the community.

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The support he says he received the last time he ran last time gave him the boost he needed. He said he had a conversation with his wife who was supportive of his itch to run.

LaCava is usually running his Pub on Main - soon to be rebranded to the Post Road Tavern. He grew up in that industry working at Shoppers Cafe on Moody Street which his family has owned for decades. And aside from his fore as class secretary at Waltham High where he graduated in 2002, and serving on the Inflow and Infiltration Committee, most of his political experience comes from all of the people he's met over the years working in the restaurant business.

Politics is local, he said, and he said he's seen the kind of impact local politicians can have and wants to help.

"The joke is Waltham is 'smalltham,' but the best part about it is you know everyone that's involved," he says. "Politics here on a local level is not about what side of the aisle you’re on it’s really about what’s best for the city. That’s what I like about local politics," he said.

The hot topic he wants to get started on is what everyone's talking about right now: The new high school and where to put it.

"Along with development and traffic. That’s been a battle we’ve seen for years," he said.

As for his views on where to put a new high school with Stigmatine out?

"We have a committee right now. Since Stigmatine has been ruled out we really have to go back to the committee on that," he said adding "Whatever we get behind we have to as a city and really move forward as a city."

He's one of four people in Ward 5 set to run so far.

"It will be a very exciting primary in September," he said.

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Read about Marchese's next steps here

Photo of Waltham City Hall by Jenna Fisher/Patch