Mayor Mitchell submitting an order to the City Council for the City of New Bedford to accept a donation of an original ticket booth from the Lincoln Park Amusement Park in North Dartmouth, Massachusetts, restored and given by John Nicolaci, Jr.

The booth was restored to working condition at the cost of $10,000, but is appraised at $8,500. It will be used by the City of New Bedford for ticket sales and other promotions.

COMMUNICATION-ORDER-DONATION_OF_TICKET_BOOTH_FROM_LINCOLN_PARK

One of the biggest negative issues incumbent New Bedford city councilors and Mayor Mitchell will face in this year’s election will be the lack of delivering a recreational marijuana store to New Bedford residents. The usual issues like potholes, high property taxes, and high crime will most certainly be an issue, but those will always be an issue.

At the time of this writing, 21 businesses have been given licenses to sell retail marijuana in Massachusetts by the Cannabis Control Commission. Locally, one recreational store is operating in nearby Wareham and three are already operating in Fall River with as many as 10 more hoping to be operating by the end of 2019.

There is little traction for a store in New Bedford because of the very strict zoning that the City Council and Mayor’s office have imposed on any business hoping to operate in the city. It’s crystal clear that places like Fall River want recreational stores in the city and New Bedford politicians do not. Last month, Whisk & JANE was denied a zoning variance to operate a recreational marijuana facility at the old strip club spot on Pope’s Island.

For the first time, New Bedford will have a mayor’s race that will allow the winner to serve a 4-year term. 2019 will also be the first time Mayor Mitchell will likely face some real competition since his first race in 2011 when State Representative Tony Cabral and City Councilor Linda Morad battled Mitchell for the vacant spot left by Scott Lang who didn’t seek re-election. Mitchell ran unopposed in 2013. He then ran against Maria Giesta in 2015 and Charlie Perry in 2017, but they weren’t challengers with much of a chance of winning.

With a 4-year term that includes a salary of almost $120,000 a year, I would expect plenty of people entering the race – who wouldn’t want a 4 year, nearly half a million dollar contract? With two more years of higher taxes and the lack of a retail marijuana facility in the city, a strong opponent would have a lot to run on.

New Bedford City Councilors, especially the at-Large ones, generally have to die or retire to be replaced – unless you are Jon Saunders who voted to give himself a 44% pay raise and said, “If people don’t like the job I’m doing, they can vote me out.” He was voted out the following year.

I have a feeling with another year of increasing property taxes and the lack of recreational marijuana sales, the incumbent city councilors and the mayor will be vulnerable in this year’s New Bedford elections. Even a usually apathetic New Bedford might decide enough is enough. If New Bedford doesn’t see a recreational store by this summer, expect the natives to get restless and put up a fight at the ballot box in October and November.

The following was submitted in response to the comments on the recent story: Congdon School teacher details rodent infestation, severe mold and bats at school:

“After reading online stories and comments implying that the James B. Congdon Elementary School just needs a good cleaning, I felt a responsibility to address some of the misconceptions that are out there.

The reasons we need a new building for the students at Congdon (and at John B. DeValles) are not related to the building being unkempt. The issue is that the building is too old to accommodate the educational and social-emotional needs of students living in the 21st century.

A look inside Congdon further proves my point.

For example, the principal is unable to add more technology in the classrooms because the electrical system in the building is unable to support it. There is no access to student bathrooms or water fountains anywhere except the basement. The cafeteria is also in the basement of the building.
Four classrooms on the third floor have no windows and two offices on the third floor have no heat in the winter. The third floor is used as a library, a gymnasium, and an auditorium. The specialist teachers’ desks are on the stage in the auditorium/gymnasium/library because there aren’t enough classrooms for all teachers. There isn’t adequate office space; the main office and nurse’s office is a shared space.

There are two English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in one classroom. The special education teachers are doubled up in one classroom, and the reading specialist shares a space with an ESL teacher. There is limited space for speech therapy, occupational therapy, or counseling in the building. The classrooms don’t have drop ceilings, causing noise to travel and it to be noisy in the building at times.

The current principal at Congdon took the position almost five years ago. Since her first day, she has worked tirelessly to clean out the building and address and remedy any and all health and safety concerns.

The recent problem with rodents came about immediately following a pipe repair in the basement, which created easier access for rodents to enter the building. An exterminator is in the building weekly to address the problem, which is making trapped rodents more visible. The current custodial staff work very hard to maintain the cleanliness of the building and address any and all concerns.

Many visitors have come to Congdon this year after it was designated a school of recognition by the state. The Mayor, members of the school committee, the Commissioner of Education, delegates from many other districts, State Senators, newspaper, radio, and television reporters, Leadership Southcoast members, and New Bedford firefighters have all toured Congdon this year. Many of the visitors commented on how clean the building is despite its’ age and that they would love for their own children to attend Congdon.

Despite the limitations the staff and teachers face at Congdon, they do what is necessary to make the best of the facility and give the students what they need to be successful. Needless to say, I was disappointed with the city council’s vote not to send a statement of interest to the state to begin the process of building a new school.

I spend more time at Congdon than my home, by choice. Congdon is not my child’s neighborhood school, but I love Congdon so much I requested special permission for her to attend Congdon. It is an amazing place to work and have my child attend. I would never put my child or myself in a school that was dirty, unhealthy and/or unsafe. The teachers and staff work hard every day to provide the students with a great educational experience. Trust me, I know first-hand.”

Justine Santos – Assistant Principal at Congdon

Mayor Jon Mitchell and City officials formally reopened the Buttonwood Senior Center at a ceremony on Thursday, April 25, after an extensive renovation project. The renovation began in 2018 and concluded at the beginning of 2019.

The upgrades to the senior center included extensive interior and exterior renovation work on the building’s plumbing, windows, doors, masonry, security, lighting, and entrances. The building was constructed during the 1930s as a public works project.

Renovations included a new roof for the building including surface, insulation and trim; new electrical service and interior lighting; repointed masonry; new windows and doors for the building; a significantly updated kitchen and bathrooms; new accessibility ramp for handicapped entrance/exit; a new security system; and new exterior lighting.

The aging building was in need of repairs to its windows, doors, and masonry, as well as general upgrades in order to improve the offerings at Buttonwood Senior Center for local residents to use for socializing, dining and events. The project is part of the City’s ongoing effort to maintain New Bedford’s status as an Age-Friendly Community, a designation the City earned in 2018 as just the fourth municipality in Massachusetts to be named Age-Friendly. The designation is a livability index that measures quality of life for older residents in a community.

“The updated Buttonwood Senior Center will be an even better place for residents to gather and enjoy for years to come thanks to the significant upgrades to the building,” said Mayor Jon Mitchell. “New Bedford has been recognized for its commitment to its seniors because of projects like this one, which seek to enhance quality of life for residents of all ages.”

Council on Aging Director Debra Lee said, “We are excited to officially reopen the Buttonwood Senior Center for our residents to use after its renovation. The Council on Aging is grateful to the Department of Housing and Community Development for its key role in providing federal grant funding for the project, and for all City departments involved in this collaborative effort. I also thank our seniors who gave up their space for six months to make this beautiful renovation a reality – it was well worth the wait.”

The project utilized federal funding of $475,000 through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, administered locally by the New Bedford Department of Housing and Community Development. The renovation was a collaboration among City departments including the Council on Aging, Department of Facilities and Fleet Management, Department of Parks, Recreation and Beaches, and Housing and Community Development.

New Bedford City Councilor Joe Lopes submitted a copy of an email and pictures to the City Council from Christine Pereira-Vasquez, a teacher at Congdon School regarding the condition, health and environmental dangers at the Congdon School:

Dear City Council:

It was with great dismay that I read about your decision to “nix” plans to build a new school
for the J.B. Congdon and the DeValles Elementary Schools. As a life-long resident and “NorthEnder” of New Bedford, as well as NBPS teacher at the Congdon School for close to thirty years,
I can truly say you have made a “mistake” on this one. I understand your concern for the northend schools, but the condition, health, and environmental dangers at our two schools far
supersedes anything that the north-end schools are experiencing.

Although I cannot speak for the condition of DeValles- although I hear that it may, in fact, be
worse than Congdon, I can give you first hand information of what students and staff face every
day here at Congdon. I, for example, am unable to keep any posters up on certain walls of my
room because of the water that drips down when it rains. I have used buckets in my shared
closet to catch the water as it drops from ceiling to floor. I am not alone in this. I need to cover
my shelves, books, and other materials near these walls as they not only get wet from time to
time, but the paint curls and peels because of the moisture. This leads to the paint “bubbling”
on the walls and then crumbling over everything, leaving a big mess to clean. We are constantly
breathing this “dust” in the air as well as the musty smells from the dirt-floor basement that
enters through our vents.

I have had very “hairy”, black mold grow in a shared closet. The principal at the time, was
“afraid they would close the school down” so did nothing about it for two years. When it got so
bad and he could no longer ignore it, a custodian came in to scrape and clean it with bleach,
never following the proper protocol in securing the area and cleaning black mold, putting all
children and staff at risk for the spreading of spores. I had a child that year in remission from
leukemia. I was truly petrified for her wellbeing. We had a teacher test positive for mold who
became ill from it, and there are many of us that suffer chronic sinus, throat, and cough related
conditions. Whether this was related to the incident or not, I can’t say. But mold and mildew in
the air exist. What is this doing to the children whose immune systems and bodies are
developing? The school is a giant health hazard.

We also have an infestation of rodents. It is rampant in our school. We are not able to leave
food-based materials (pasta, fish crackers for graphing, etc.) unless in plastic or glass
containers- in our shelves or closets as they are eaten through by the mice and/or rats. Their
droppings are everywhere- on floors, in cabinets, behind shelves. Again, we are all breathing
this in on a daily basis. As if this is not enough, we have had issues with bats on the third floor. I believe DeValles has its problems with birds and their droppings.

We also have run out of space at Congdon. We are utilizing old storage rooms for small
group space- no windows or ventilation, some with cement walls. The nurse shares space with
the school secretary in the main office and our specialists use the auditorium stage for their
space. We need a new school!

– Christine Pereira-Vasquez, a teacher at Congdon School
April 13, 2019

New Bedford City Councillor Brian Gomes is proposing crews work nights and weekends to resolved New Bedford’s pothole problem. The following motion is scheduled for discussion at the City Council meetings on Thursday, April 25th:

WRITTEN MOTION, Councillor Gomes, requesting, that Mayor Mitchell and DPI Commissioner Ponte consider that the Department of Infrastructure put on a night and weekend crew to deal with the pothole situation that is erupting all over the City due to the recent rain storms and the warm weather approaching; this action will give an opportunity to the crew to get a lot more work done while there is less congestion throughout the City.

A Rhode Island man was arrested Wednesday, April 24 and charged with sending a series of violent and threatening emails to a college professor in Massachusetts and to a professional school at the university where the professor teaches.

Matthew Haviland, 30, of North Kingstown, R.I., was charged by complaint with cyberstalking and with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce.

“As I have said before, this office will take a hard line on threats of violence motivated by politicized issues, regardless of whether those issues arise on the right or the left,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “Americans are responsible for what they say, and if they put others in fear for their lives, we will prosecute.”

“Simply put, words matter, and today’s arrest of Matthew Haviland should serve as a warning to others who think they can use the internet to terrorize people. Don’t do it,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Boston Division. “Everyone has the right to express their opinion, but when you threaten, harass, intimidate, and put others in fear for their lives, it’s a federal crime.”

Over the span of several hours on March 10, 2019, Haviland allegedly sent a Massachusetts professor a string of approximately 28 e-mails containing messages that included such threats as, “I will rip every limb from your body and eat it, piece by piece,” and “I will bite through your eyeballs while you’re still alive, and I will laugh while you scream.” According to the complaint, the professor to whom Haviland sent the threats—referred to as Victim 1 in the complaint—has published and spoken in favor of abortion rights, and several of Haviland’s emails made reference to abortion. In two successive e-mails, for example, Haviland wrote, “You will be held accountable for every [expletive] baby you murdered through your horrible deception of they are not humans,” and “You will have your face ripped off and eaten by me, personally. I will enjoy raping your body after you’re dead. And that will only be the start.”

The complaint includes a description of additional, abortion-related messages Haviland is alleged to have sent or posted on the internet. Those messages included approximately 114 voice messages that Haviland left overnight at a women’s medical center beginning April 4, 2019, and text messages Haviland sent to an acquaintance that included the following: “It never was a Woman’s rights issue. It’s literally killing babies. That’s All it is, and We want you to stop it. Or we will kill you to do it. It’s that Serious. It’s not a Joke.” In an internet posting allegedly written on March 29, 2019, Haviland wrote, “You guys are so evil and so brainwashed, I would kill every one of you with my bare hands—or AT LEAST kill every abortion doctor.”

It is alleged that between the evening of March 15, 2019, and the early morning of March 16, 2019, Haviland sent approximately 12 e-mails to a professional school at Victim 1’s university. These e-mails touched on the subjects of race, gender, and physical disability, and included the messages: “[Expletive], my existence is not a blight on society. Yours is, for pushing the idea that if you are able-bodied or white or okay WITH THE [EXPLETIVE] GENDER YOU WERE BORN WITH, you are a bad person. You people are Evil, putrid, and somebody shoudl [sic] BOMB your school for spreading the idea that it’s okay to HATE people because of their race.” A later e-mail to the professional school said only, “You should be Murdered in cold blood.”

The charges of cyberstalking and transmitting a threat in interstate commerce provide for a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a fine of up to $250,000, or twice the gross gain or loss resulting from the offense, whichever is greater, and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Lelling and FBI SAC Bonavolonta made the announcement today. Boston FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is conducting the investigations with the assistance of Warwick and North Kingstown (R.I.) Police Departments. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian A. Pérez Daple of Lelling’s National Security Unit is prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Here’s the loan order that appropriates $17,000,000 to construct the South Public Safety Center located on the property at Brock Avenue and Ruth Street and to include the demolition of the former St. Anne’s Church and School.

The document is four pages – use the arrows at the bottom left to go to the next page.

LOAN_ORDER_-_South_Public_Safety_Center

New Bedford Police Union President Hank Turgeon published the results of a survey conducted with New Bedford Police Union members that paint a picture of low morale and lack of confidence in City leadership that includes Mayor Jon Mitchell and New Bedford Police Chief Joseph Cordeiro.

For example, 216 of the 229 police officers that answered the survey stated they were not happy with the working conditions at the New Bedford Police Department and that if given the chance 178 officers would take a job at another police department. The full letter and survey results can be read here.

Mayor Jon Mitchell and Police Chief Joseph Cordeiro believe the letter is a way to gain an advantage during negotiations and question the validity of the survey.

“It’s disappointing that in the midst of contract negotiations, the union would promote its interests by producing the results of a purportedly neutral survey,” stated New Bedford Mayor Jon Mithcell. “I believe that everyone would be better off by trying to talk through their differences directly with one another, and I know the chief has been willing to do just that.”

Police Chief Joseph Cordeiro provided a longer response:

“This information is not a revelation. In fact, we recently had a strategic plan prepared by an independent professional that identified morale as having been low for the past 20 plus years. This same finding was reported in a 1996 department-wide study done by Bill Bratton. Having previously been a member of this union for nearly 30 years, it is far from the first time I have heard that “morale is at an all-time low”.

I care deeply for every member of our department, but I care deeply about the citizens of our City as well. As the Chief, you have to make difficult decisions that are not always popular, and holding people accountable is not always well accepted.

I am proud of our community policing and modern century relationship building initiatives like High Five Friday as identified by President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. I am equally proud of all of our accomplishments as a department.

I will continue to advocate for a police department that implements consistent strategies developed in partnership with the community rather than one that implements tactics developed individually and imposed inconsistently upon it. I am disappointed that the Union has chosen this avenue to address their alleged concerns, but we are in the midst of negotiations which, I am sure, plays a role in it.

I am very proud of the men and women of our police department and have been their biggest supporter. I have worked long and hard for the betterment of our community, its residents and the members of our department and will continue to do so, positively, optimistically and unapologetically. My door has and will always be open to anyone wanting to have positive and meaningful dialogue.”

The following is a letter that was sent to New Bedford Police Union members from the New Bedford Police Union President Hank Turgeon:

Brothers & Sisters,

Recently the City hired a private company, to conduct an “independent study” of our department and in that extensive study lasting over a year they said that there were many failings in this department from lack of training, a broken fleet of vehicles and deteriorating buildings.

The study talked about the Chief’s lack of loyalty from top ranking Officers, not that they could put their finger on specific incidents where any ranking member refused to follow orders or do their jobs only that they were protected by our Union. The study briefly discussed a “systemic” low morale issue lasting 20 years.

This Union agreed with several of the failings and our Executive Board has raised all of the failings to our current administration in the past. What this Union strongly disagreed with was the idea, the insinuation, that our Captains should not be protected by our Union and the provoking language that they were somehow undermining this Chief or not performing their duties. Our Captains have showed their devotion to their personal growth and this department through their career paths and desire to achieve as much educational knowledge as they could. They prove themselves to this Chief in weekly staff meetings whereas under past Chiefs these meetings might have been held once a month if not less. Our Captains all expressed through emails and verbal conversations that they demand to be in and protected by the Union that they have belonged to since the beginning of their careers, just like this Chief had.

The other issue that we strongly disagreed with was the “systemic” morale issue. We as the work force of this department, with the civilian staff, not only expressed our concern of low morale under this current Chief to the company that conducted the “independent study”, but we’ve told the Mayor directly.

So at last month’s Union meeting the Executive Board discussed options with members in attendance and a survey of the body was agreed to and voted on. Several questions and variations of those questions were discussed and four specific questions were put into a survey and distributed to every member of the New Bedford Police Union over the past two weeks.

At today’s Executive Board Meeting we tallied the results of the recent survey that the Union conducted. The following are the questions and tallied results. Keep in mind some members answered all four questions, some only answered some of the questions and only six members chose not to participate.

1. Are you happy with the direction that the Chief and Deputy are taking this department? Yes (15) or No (206)

2. Are you happy with the working conditions of this department?
Yes (13) or No (216)

3. Do you feel that this department’s morale is lower under this administration than it has been under past administrations?
Yes (201) or No (21)

4. If you had an opportunity to leave this police department and be employed by another police department would you go?
Yes (178) or No (48)

It’s unfortunate that the New Bedford Police Union was forced to conduct such a survey as this, but this is the only way to get the truth to this Chief, the Mayor and most importantly the citizens of our great City. This “independent study” disregarded our position in an effort to paint the Chief in a positive light, which is typical of the Mayor’s stance with public information released to the media. The hard work of the men and women of the New Bedford Police Union are not being reported because of the job we do. Our main priority is to keep our City safe, that involves responding to and investigating crimes. This Mayor wants to hide those crimes from the public’s eye and only paint the City as a picturesque place to visit with no crime at all. We can appreciate his efforts for tourism purposes, but when you hide the crime you lure our citizens and tourist into a false sense of security and they let their guard down, they leave doors unlocked, they don’t pay attention to their surroundings, they make themselves potential victims which in turn makes our job all that much harder and the criminals illegal activity all that much easier. We, the New Bedford Police Union, will continue to protect the City of New Bedford from those that prey on the weak and innocent. We will continue to be strong supporters and organizers of community events and going forward we will inform the public on a regular basis of our hard work and any failings of this administration.

Respectfully,
Hank Turgeon
President
New Bedford Police Union