Councillor Dunn filed a motion, co-sponsored by City Council President Joseph Lopes, and Councillors Abreu and Winterson, aimed at curbing panhandling, by giving city residents and visitors a more effective way to donate their money – while also supporting services for this at risk population.

The proposal places traffic signs, at high volume panhandling locations, providing a telephone number for people to make donations to local charities that provide food, shelter and mental health services. The number can also be used for pandandlers to access these services. The program has already been implemented as partnership between the city of Albuquerque, NM and the United Way.

Dunn stated that “New Bedford is a compassionate city, we are our brother’s keepers and we care about our fellow citizens. This program will help us to uplift our homeless and most vulnerable population – inaction is not an option. Panhandling, especially in high traffic areas, is inherently dangerous both for the panhandler, and the general public. Giving a few dollars is not going to lead to the life changes necessary to get these individuals back on track. However, by establishing a responsible system of giving and accessing services – we gain confidence that our change is going towards making positive changes in these people’s lives.”

Dunn also stated “If people consistently give to charities rather than directly to panhandlers – we can be assured that the money isn’t being spent on alcohol or drugs and that the panhandlers are more likely interact with organizations that can help identify long-term housing and employment opportunities – thereby reducing the burden on our first responders.”

The motion reads as follows:

WRITTEN MOTION, Councillors Dunn, Abreu, Winterson and City Council President Lopes requesting, that the Health Department, the Department of Public Infrastructure, the Traffic Commission and the Mayor’s office explore the implementation of a program that places, at popular panhandling locations, signage designed to encourage and facilitate responsible giving by providing a telephone number to both donate to local charities that provide food, shelter and mental health services and enable this at risk population to access these services.

The motion will be discussed at the upcoming City Council meeting on August 17th.

Two New Bedford City Councilors are calling for a second time for New Bedford Mayor Mitchell to send a letter to the Pawtucket Red Sox with hopes of bringing the team to the city. The team’s current home is in McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, but ownership is looking for a new stadium since the current one is 75 years old.

The city of Pawtucket and the team have failed to come to an agreement on a new stadium, so some cities in New England are hoping to recruit the team.

New Bedford already has a semi-pro baseball team, the New Bedford Bay Sox, that struggles to fill a small stadium, so it may be tough convincing a AAA baseball team that there is a market for them in New Bedford.

A written motion is scheduled to be presented to the New Bedford City Council on Thursday, July 20, 2017:

WRITTEN MOTION, Councillors Gomes, Winterson and Martins, requesting, that once more a letter be sent to the Triple A Pawtucket Red Sox ownership and management informing them of the City’s interest in locating the Triple A team here in New Bedford; and further, that an invitation be sent to the ownership and management of the team to visit and tour possible sites like the Logan Hicks Street and the Washburn Street area ofthe City and also to meet with the Committee on Appointments and Briefings, the Economic Development Council and a representative from the Mayor’s office.

Former staff member for Congressman Barney Franks and 2015 New Bedford mayoral candidate Maria Giesta has pulled papers to run for New Bedford Ward 2 City Council. Current ward 2 City Councilor Steven Martins is popular in Ward 2, but is vacating the seat to run for City Assessor.

Two other New Bedford residents have pulled nomination papers for Ward 2 New Bedford City Council since they became available; community activist Carlos Pimentel Felix and United New Bedford co-founder Edwin Cartagena.

New Bedford Ward 2 Map

Ward-2 New Bedford Map

While the American mainstream media focuses on President Trump choosing Russian salad dressing and having two scoops of ice cream instead of one, the President scored some major meaningful victories in Syria and Iraq over the past few days.

First, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi formally declared victory over the Islamic State in Mosul. The Iraqi military with support of the U.S. and allies finally drove IS, or ISIS, out of Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city that was taken over three years earlier.

Here’s a look at the map, now consider President Trump took office on January 20th, 2017.

Second, at the G-20 Summit in Germany last week, President Trump negotiated a cease-fire in Syria with Russian President Vladimir Putin. You may not have heard about it because the media was likely showing you something the First Lady did wrong or some Twitter war between Trump and a CNN reporter. But yes, a cease-fire was agreed on between America and Russia in Syria and that’s a good thing.

Does anyone think ISIS controlling Mosul was a good thing? If so, you may want to get your head examined. Does anyone think war in Syria is better than a cease-fire? If so, you should head to your local recruiter, sign up and do some fighting – put your money where your mouth is. The majority of the world is happy to see the cease-fire and most rational people hope it lasts.

Even if you despise President Trump, it’s okay to admit he had a good couple of days. You don’t have to admit it on social media and it’s perfectly acceptable to hope your President succeeds, even for a few days.

In last night’s New Bedford City Council session, Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson announced that he will be running for mayor of New Bedford this year. He cited crime and too much focus on the downtown area by Mayor Mitchell as his main reasons for running for mayor. In February Winterson announced that he would not seek re-election for Ward 5 due to his wife’s health and personal reasons.

The New Bedford municipal elections cycle begins in October and current New Bedford mayor Jon Mitchell hasn’t pulled nomination papers. At least five other people have pulled nomination papers to run for mayor to include New Bedford police officer Charlie Perry.

Nomination papers became available on Monday, May 22nd and since then Christopher Amaral, Jose Andre, Melissa Costa, Chris Cotter,Peter Boswell and Mark Ventura have pulled papers and indicated Ward 1 as their choice.

We’ll provide more details on each should they officially become candidates. Each still needs to submit 50 valid signatures to the election office.

Current Ward 1 New Bedford City Councilor James Oliveira will not be seeking re-election this year. He replaced Linda Morad in 2012, who is now an at-Large Councilor.

New Bedford Ward 1 Map

Ward-1

In the first 24 hours where nomination papers became available, four New Bedford residents pulled nomination papers from the elections office at the New Bedford City Hall. That number has grown to nine.

Nomination papers became available on Monday, May 22nd and since then Paul Chasse, Scott Lima, Michael Augusto, Joseph Andrade, David Sullivan. Nelson Macedo, Paul C. G. Noversa, Jacquelina Pina and Len Roberts have pulled papers and indicated Ward 5 as their choice.

We’ll provide more details on each should they officially become candidates. Each still needs to submit 50 valid signatures to the election office.

Current Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson was popular and liked by many, but due to his wife’s health and personal reasons, announced in February that he would not seek re-election in October.

New Bedford Ward 5 Map

Ward-5 New Bedford Map

Five New Bedford City Councilors plan to officially invite Aldi discount supermarket chain to New Bedford. Here’s the written motion to be presented Thursday, June 8, 2017:

17. WRITTEN MOTION, Councillors Abreu, Winterson and Council President Lopes, Councillors Oliveira and Carney, requesting, that the City Council send a letter of interest to ALDI, which is an international food market and grocery store chain, that currently has over 1,600 locations in 35 States throughout the United States and is currently engaged in aggressive national expansion efforts; and further, it should be noted that an ALDI location would be a welcome addition to the New Bedford community as it offers top-quality foods at affordable prices, in addition to compensating employees with industry-leading wages and benefits; furthermore, that the City Council would be interested in assisting the New Bedford Economic Development Council with the site selection process to help this investor find a suitable location which would provide a significant value to both the company and community. (To be Referred to the ALDI Corporate Office in Batavia, Illinois and the New Bedford Economic Development Council.)

In the first 24 hours where nomination papers became available, four New Bedford residents pulled nomination papers from the elections office at the New Bedford City Hall. Nomination papers became available on Monday, May 22nd and by early Tuesday morning Paul Chasse, Scott Lima, Michael Augusto and Joseph Andrade had pulled papers.

Per public records, Paul Chasse is the CEO of the REALTOR Association of Southeastern Massachusetts, Scott Lima is a realtor and Michael Augusto works for the City of New Bedford. We’ll provide more details on each should they officially become candidates. Each still needs to submit 50 valid signatures to the election office.

Current Ward 5 Councilor Kerry Winterson was popular and liked by many, but due to his wife’s health and personal reasons, announced in February that he would not seek re-election in October.

New Bedford Ward 5 Map

Ward-5 New Bedford Map

Like it or not, change is coming to the New Bedford City Council. Ward 1 New Bedford City Councilor James Oliveira will not be seeking re-election this year. He replaced Linda Morad in 2012, who is now an at-Large Councilor.

Ward 5 City Councilor Kerry Winterson announced earlier this year that he won’t be seeking re-election as well. Ward 2 City Councilor Steven Martins appears to be eyeing the Assessor’s office and Ward 3 City Councilor Henry Bousquet stepped down earlier this year and in a special election was replaced by Hugh Dunn.

Good to see all this all this change in New Bedford politics? Does it make you consider running for office this year?