Votes: 14,098

Mayor
Jon Mitchell – 8,371
Charlie Perry – 5,496

4 year Mayor Term
Yes: 6,904
No: 6,127

At-Large City Council (Top 5 elected)
Brian K. Gomes – 7,510
Linda Morad – 7,020
Deborah Coelho – 5,893
Naomi R.A. Carney – 5,959
Ian Abreu – 7,468
Christopher Boerl – 4,217
Michael Jansen – 3,260

Ward 1 City Council
Melissa Costa – 1,333
William Markey – 1,645

Ward 2 City Council
Maria Giesta – 1,115
Edwin Cartagena – 368

Ward 3 City Council
Hugh Dunn – 1,385

Ward 4 City Council
Dana Rebeiro – 1,165
Joseph Jo-Jo Fortes – 1,117

Ward 5 City Council
Paul Chasse – 1,421
Scott Lima – 1,610

Ward 6 City Council
Joe Lopes – 1,414

New Bedford School Committee
Josh Amaral – 7,942
John Oliveira – 6,539
Colleen Dawicki – 5,675
Richard Porter III – 5,075

The New Bedford Municipal election is on 7 November, 2017, from 7am to 8pm. Here is a list of polling stations. You can find your polling station by inputting your address here.

Have a question? Contact New Bedford Elections at (508) 979-1420.

The New Bedford Municipal election is on 7 November, 2017, from 7am to 8pm. Here is a list of polling stations. You can find your polling station by inputting your address here.

Have a question? Contact New Bedford Elections at (508) 979-1420.

As the 2017 New Bedford election cycle comes to a close on November 7th, it’s time to make a few predictions. I won’t predict any of the candidate winners because some will perceive the predictions as endorsements and I’ll have to deal with verbal beatings that will follow. Making scientific predictions based on data isn’t acceptable to some even if the predictions come true – they will make the chicken and egg argument and I’d rather not deal with it.

Check out my first prediction that turnout will be 23%.

My second prediction is that Chris Boerl will make a real challenge to the at-Large “bubble” incumbent.

The at-Large city council and school committee races are different than standard elections – you get to vote for multiple people and there are multiple winners. For at-Large, five candidates win a seat on the city council and it’s arguable the most difficult election for a non-incumbent to win. Generally, an incumbent has to retire for someone new to become an at-Large councilor like in the case where Ian Abreu replaced David Alves in 2015. You have to go back to 2011 when Naomi Carney knocked John Saunders out of the top five to see an incumbent replaced in an election. That was the “44% pay raise” election where Saunders stated, “If people don’t like the job I’m doing, they can vote me out.” They voted him out and moved Carney in.

Of the non-incumbent candidates, Chris Boerl will likely generate significant votes. The only question that arises is who is the bubble candidate – the incumbent most vulnerable and who will get the least amount of votes of the five incumbents? Has any of the incumbents opened themselves up like Saunders? As recent history has shown, non-incumbents can hope to finish 5th, but moving much higher isn’t likely. In reality, at-Large really is a two person race, the strongest non-incumbent against the weakest incumbent.

My prediction is that Chris Boerl will finish with a sizable amount of votes, finishing 5th or 6th.

As the 2017 New Bedford election cycle comes to a close on November 7th, it’s time to make a few predictions. I won’t predict any of the candidate winners because some will perceive the predictions as endorsements and I’ll have to deal with verbal beatings that will follow. Making scientific predictions based on data isn’t acceptable to some even if the predictions come true – they will make the chicken and egg argument and I’d rather not deal with it.

My first prediction is that voter turnout will be 23%.

In 2015, voter turnout for the preliminary election was 7.89% compared to 9.41% in 2017 – a 1.51% increase. In 2015 the final election had a 22.78%, so on the surface it would make sense that the final 2017 election would result in a 24-25% voter turnout, right? Not so fast,

Why the higher turnout? In 2015, we only had two mayoral candidates thus not requiring a mayoral race in the preliminary elections. In 2017 we had three candidates for mayor requiring a preliminary election and it’s mayoral elections that bring out the vote, likely resulting in the 1.51% increase. It’s hard to determine if Charlie Perry has turned out the vote more than Maria Giesta, or because the three candidates in the 2017 preliminary election. I’m predicting that having a mayoral race in October is the main reason for the 1.5% spike and a 1.5% uptick is disappointing and tells me we won’t see much of an increase over 2015 based purely on the mayor’s race.

There is a ballot question that hopes to move the New Bedford mayoral term from two years to four. Considering Charlie Perry’s base seems to be energized from a strong showing in the October preliminary election and the ballot question organizers seem well organized, I’d suggest a slightly higher turnout in 2017 than in 2015 from 22.78% to a solid 23%.

Chris Resendes sat down with candidate for Massachusetts Attorney General Dan Shores to get to know him better and what he stands for. We plan on speaking to ALL candidates for Attorney General before next year’s election.

Catch the Chris Resendes Show on New Bedford Guide’s Facebook page every Thursday at 7pm.

Live for the the FINAL New Bedford School Committee Debate live on Facebook.

Chris Resendes Show – Special Election Edition with attorney and former New Bedford mayor Scott Lang.

The Chris Resendes show is hosted live on New Bedford Guide’s Facebook page every Thursday at 7pm.

As the November 7th New Bedford election draws near, a lot of candidates and supporters throw out numbers and statistics – some are accurate, some are not. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of claims on social media regarding the New Bedford High School dropout rate – from 55%-60% recently on Facebook.

One person heard it was 55% and wanted to know the truth.

Another person stated he knew it was at 60%.

So what is the current New Bedford High School graduation rate? How has it trended over the years?

First, it’s important to note that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary education keeps the only stats that matter. The 2016 Graduation rate numbers can be found here and the dropout numbers here.

The numbers for any given year are generally released in February. We reported the 2016 numbers here.

Now let’s look at the numbers.

New Bedford High School’s 2016 four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate was at 70.9% and the non-adjusted rate was at 65.2%. The 2015 four-year adjusted cohort graduation rate was 67.8%. It was 61.4% in 2010. Simple math tells you that the cohort graduation rate has increased by 9.5% from 2010 to 2016. Considering New Bedford High School had 2,066 students in 2016, that would mean New Bedford High School is graduating about 200 more students over a 4-year period.

Here’s a look at the 2016 graduation rates for New Bedford High School:

Graduation rates and dropout rates tell very different stories. Sometimes kids stay in school without dropping out – they don’t graduate that year, but they don’t dropout either. This is why you see graduation rates, cohort graduation rates and 5-year graduation rates. Kids may not graduate with the freshman class they started with for various reasons, but that doesn’t mean they drop out.

New Bedford High School’s four-year dropout rate was at 12% in 2016, down from 13.9% in 2015. It stood at 21.2% in 2013. The dropout rate seems to be moving in the right direction. New Bedford High’s 2016 graduating class dropout rate is 4.4%. Here’s the breakdown for 2016:

The graduation rate at comparable Durfee High School in Fall River in 2016 was at 79.2%, a full 9% higher than New Bedford High School. Clearly New Bedford High School still needs work, but it’s not as bad as some are claiming on social media.

So what’s the fact check? The New Bedford High School dropout rate for 2016 was 12%, not the 55-60% some are claiming.

Notice a questionable fact floating around social media? Email mike@newbedfordguide.com.

New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) union Local 851, Council 93, have reached a new labor contract.

The City of New Bedford employs nearly 326 AFSCME union employees, who serve the public in a variety of roles including as clerks, custodians, carpenters, electricians, maintenance workers, mechanics, inspectors, pipefitters, zoo keepers, 911 dispatchers, among other positions.

AFSCME Local 851 members ratified the agreement on Thursday, October 26, 2017.

“This is a fair agreement that will eliminate the lowest wages from our pay scale,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell, who has advocated for a living wage for all city employees. “At the same time, the agreement is responsible to taxpayers, and establishes a full residency requirement for new employees. I’m grateful for the willingness of AFSCME’s members to negotiate in good faith throughout the contract process, and for their service to the residents of the city.”

The agreement covers the period July 1, 2016 – June 30, 2019. AFSCME had been working without a settled contract since the prior agreement expired on June 30, 2016. In March of 2017, the City and AFSCME reached an agreement which was ratified by the union membership, but the appropriation to fund the agreement was not approved by the City Council.

Highlights of the contract include:

– Residency: Employees hired by the City after the date of the agreement shall remain a New Bedford resident for the entire tenure of their employment.

– The City will conduct a study to evaluate the wage range and schedule for all AFCSME positions, which has not previously been done for AFSCME positions in New Bedford. The study will help to inform the City’s efforts to attract and retain qualified employees to fill those positions.
– In furtherance of the Mayor’s goal of providing the City’s lowest paid employees a living wage, two grades and one step have been eliminated from the bottom of the pay scale. (By July 2018, the lowest paid AFSCME position will earn $13.92 an hour.)

– Use of GPS technology will assist in the deployment and coordination of City personnel and equipment.

– Temporary Light Duty: Employees who are injured or ill and temporarily unable to perform regular assignments will be given an opportunity to work in a temporary light-duty assignment when available.

– Establishment of a Joint Labor Management Committee to improve communications between management and labor, encourage discussion of health and safety improvements, training, and employee productivity among other matters.

– AFSCME employees will receive wage increases:
o The 1.5% planned for January 1, 2017, in the agreement earlier this year which was not appropriated, will be effective July 1, 2017.
o 1% on July 1, 2017;
o 1% on January 1, 2018;
o 1.5% on July 1, 2018.

– AFSCME employees will also receive a $500 signing bonus.