Maria Giesta Confirms She will run for Mayor of New Bedford

One of the more polite versions of “Cup of Joe.” This image has become a popular meme.

Today in a phone call with family and supporters Maria Giesta, Chief of Staff to former Congressman Barney Frank, confirmed that she is running for Mayor of her hometown, New Bedford, Massachusetts. She spoke of how proud she is that her family has called New Bedford home since emigrating there from Azores, Portugal in 1966.

Giesta made the decision after carefully reviewing what has been happening under the current Mayor, and believing he isn’t doing enough to make life better for the people of the city. She spoke of the issues needing attention, and how the city is deteriorating under his leadership. Giesta spoke of “ the high crime rate; the city’s deteriorating infrastructure; how drugs are destroying our children and their families; slumlords being allowed to wreak havoc on our neighborhoods; and residents and businesses not receiving the services they need while City Hall remains mute, and the Mayor worries about photo ops.”

She is committed to an administration that will be transparent, accountable and accessible. Gone will be the days of a city bureaucracy not responsive to the people and a Mayor’s office that refuses to act. She believes it will take strong and committed leadership in City Hall to improve the quality of life for all the people of New Bedford.

And, she has already identified some areas she will make her top priorities, and this includes working with teachers and parents to improve education for all our children and ridding the city of its slumlords in order to rebuild strong and vibrant neighborhoods. “Slumlords are bad for tenants; bad for neighbors; and bad for New Bedford.” She recognizes the great work of the New Bedford Police Department, but understands more must be done to bring down the crime rate and allow people to feel safe in their homes on their streets and in their neighborhoods. She is committed to working with the City Council to find the funds to hire more Police officers and institute a strong community-policing model. A model based on developing mutual trust and respect between the police and the community. “New Bedford needs a strong mayor who will work with our police officers to defeat criminals who make our city streets dangerous. I intend to bring that leadership to the Mayor’s office.”

She will also meet with members of the community, and unveil a full platform of ideas and proposals all designed to ensure the growth and prosperity of the people of New Bedford. She will share her ideas for drastically cutting the budget of the Mayor’s office and transferring those saved funds to the Department of City Services to directly help the people of the City. The times of a bloated government and money spent not directly serving the people will be over in New Bedford when Giesta is Mayor.

Giesta is committed to running an aggressive campaign and will be going door-to-door speaking with the people of New Bedford to share her ideas with them and ask them to share theirs with her. Giesta believes in an open and honest government and will always have an open door for her constituents.

Giesta stated, “Between now and Election Day in November I intend to earn the respect and vote of every resident of New Bedford. I’m committed to New Bedford, the city in which I grew up and the city I love. Working together we will make New Bedford a great city once again.”