Announcement Speech         < back to about

Dear New Bedford Citizen,

It is because of you, and the thousands of city residents just like you, that I get up every day and fight to make New Bedford a better and more livable place to raise a family and earn a decent living.

Whether you live on the second floor of a multi-family home as I do, or live in one of the city's beautiful single-family new homes or one of our historic homes, this election is about your future.

I have briefly outlined some of the important issues I have been addressing the past two years.

Addressing Crime in our City:  

We are putting the heat on drug dealers, thugs and gang members utilizing every city, state and federal resource available. Since the last election when I promised you we would increase our law enforcement efforts we have seized 467 weapons of all sorts from our streets including 166 firearms.   In the past 12 months we have made 9,304 arrests.

I created the NBPD and State Police Gang unit that began operation last May.   It alone has made 329 Gang related arrests seizing 18 handguns and other weapons.  

I convinced the DEA to establish an office in New Bedford that has over a dozen agents.   I brought the Federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms agency to the city to help with removing guns from our streets.   Working with District Attorney Paul Walsh, we brought the US Attorney's office to New Bedford to prosecute criminals and dealers in federal court. Some 23 criminals are now being tried in Federal Court and are facing stiffer sentences because of these efforts.

I have taken police officers from behind desks and put them on patrol.   I have created an effective community police operation to work throughout the city's neighborhoods.

Every day we are making progress removing violent criminals from our streets and I won't rest until every thug, drug dealer and gang member committing crimes in our city is removed from our streets.

Drug Prevention and Treatment:  What are we doing? Getting the job done!

I established the city's first ever Drug Court to provide addicts with intensive supervision and treatment. I helped establish a Youth Drug Court for youth offenders to find a path away from drugs.   I funded "Invest in Kids" -- a program to teach life skills and career opportunities.  

I created and funded 40 new rehab beds for people transitioning from detox back into the community. I have funded the renovations at Harmony house to provide halfway house beds for men recovering from addiction.   I funded rehab beds and facilities through the YWCA, New Bedford Council on Alcoholism, Highpoint and Steppingstone.   I funded the development of permanent housing for people transitioning from homelessness suffering from substance abuse. I could speak for an hour about the programs my administration has supported to help recovering addicts, the homeless and needy.

City Taxpayers:  What are we doing? Getting the job done!

Moody's Investor Services has upgraded the city's bond rating to Baa1 ( B Double A One ), just one step below an A rating. When I first took office in 1998, the city's rating was Baa3, the lowest so-called "investment grade" just below junk bond. The upgrade will save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars and will reduce the cost of bond insurance.

I am working hard to provide a fair wage and good health benefits to our city employees while at the same time recognizing the need to protect our city taxpayers

In Education : What are we doing? Getting the job done!

We are now building 3 new middle schools and 4 new grammar schools.   These are the first new schools to be built in 30 years.   Because of my leadership, over 200 million dollars in new schools are being built with 90% state funding.   State of the art schools to prepare out children for state of the art jobs.  

In Job Creation : What are we doing? Getting the job done!

Working with the Industrial Park Foundation we have created over 3,000 jobs at the Business Park and are in the process of creating 2,500 more jobs at the park. The 22 million dollar Home Depot development alone we are creating 200 construction jobs, 400 permanent jobs, $8 million dollar in annual payroll and $2.5 million dollars in tax revenue over 10 years.

In Commuter Rail: What are we doing? Getting the job done!

With little fanfare over the past several years ---- just a lot of hard work---- my administration has rebuilt the 20 acre rail yard by cleaning the contamination and rebuilding the rail tracks in cooperation with the EPA and DEP.

Out of $20 million dollars, we will use $5.5 million dollars to build the new rail, bus, taxi and water taxi passenger terminal in the Queen Ann style of the beautiful old New Bedford rail terminal.

We will use $5.5 million dollars of the money to upgrade our existing rail line.

The balance of $10 million dollars will be used to complete the federal review process necessary in order to apply for additional federal funding.   I will go back to Washington and the State House for as long as it takes to make this project a reality.

In the Fishing Industry : What are we doing? Getting the job done!

I've established the first ever Mayor's Seafood Industry Advisory Task Force to gather all the various fishing interests into a strong coalition to advocate for the well-being of our fishing industry.   I convinced federal regulators to change the days at sea rule to allow our fishing vessels to return to port in bad weather without being penalized.   I established the first ever safety-training program so our fishermen will know how to respond in the case of an emergency. A program which is now a national model.