Ward 3 City Councilor Henry Bousquet resigning from city council effective 1 Feb

“In 2011, I promised to be a proactive leader for Ward 3, to encourage community, increase communication and foster cooperation between the people of ward 3 and their government. I believe I have served with integrity and subscribed to those tenets with each decision, vote and legislative action I took. Like all elected officials I faced the complexities of political life as its intersection with daily life, family and professional responsibilities tends to be a consistent struggle of priorities. It was a commitment we made as a family and one I think we did as a family and a team. As passionately as anyone truly trying to make a difference could.

I enjoy being a city councilor. So it is with a very heavy heart that I announce my resignation from this office effective February 1st 2017.

Since April 17th 2014, I have been performing my duties as a city councilor for the people of ward 3 as a volunteer. I have worked hard to keep those promises to ward 3 for the last 33 months. Working with our state delegation to overturn the decision was a failure for a number of different reasons, but we tried to make a case nonetheless. I even took a personal day to appear before the legislature in person in 2015 to plead my case for the people of ward 3.
I hope you can agree throughout all this I have remained an accessible, responsive, and hardworking representative despite receiving no benefits from the taxpayers for those efforts.

However, Now it’s time to focus on my career as an educator and my growing young daughters are entering their teens very soon and my wife and I will need to work together, harder than ever, to make sure they end up with all the opportunities they deserve to be successful in life. As you folks who are parents know, our children and our families must be our very first priority if this nation is to have any hope for the future at all.

Its time I finish preparing myself for my future in education, I hope someday to be a leader in the states vocational education system, and that’s going to require additional qualifications and that’s going to require time, attention and additional resources to be truly successful.

We have a house and it needs a little repair work, and I need to be able to make those improvements happen in order to keep my promises to my wife and our family to continue to provide for them a safe and comfortable home. That requires money, as does college and continuing my education, and that requires me to find a paying part time job.

I sincerely want to thank my wife Tee, whom without her support, none of my work for this city would ever have been possible. She allowed me the time away from home to pursue the office, and to serve in the capacity I have for the past five years. If you are a married city councilor, or department head you are a value to the city because the office gains two dedicated professionals. Because she has answered questions, taken messages and handles constituents issues right alongside me, always. I want to thank her for being an ever patient sounding board, debater, friend and for loving me despite my occasional failures as a husband, partner and father. I love you.

I want to thank my girls, Phoebe Pauline and Payton Promise for putting up with my absence and understanding how important your daddy’s job was, I promise to be more attentive from now on. You know I love you both more than salt.

Thank you to my friends and supporters for your contributions, that money has always been donated to numerous charities and gone to making my service possible to New Bedford. After all, a wise man once told me, good government sure does cost money.

I would be remiss if I failed to thank my council colleagues, getting to work with professionals such as yourselves in an arena you quickly find to be thankless and microscopically scrutinized at every angle makes for a tight knit bond that rivals the kind you have with any fraternal organization or family unit. Thank you for understanding how important this is and continues to be for me. Good Luck to you and I hope we remain friends and colleagues always.

Thank you to the employees of the city of New Bedford, because through all the administrations, and city councils that preside you continue to do your jobs as responsive and hardworking public servants in public safety, finance management and facilities and infrastructure. You are all professionals and I appreciate your contributions to this great city.

Finally, Thank you to the people of ward 3 who put your trust in me, and allowed me to serve you for the last five years. Its an honor and a privilege and I hope you all understand why I must make this decision today. God Bless you all, thank you for being here today and listening to what I have to say … any questions?”