List of mayors of Fall River, Massachusetts

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Fall River Government Center Fall River City Hall 2008.jpg
Fall River Government Center

This is a list of mayors of the City of Fall River, Massachusetts, from 1854 to present. Fall River was led by a three-member Board of Selectmen from 1803 until its re-incorporation as a city in 1854.

Contents

From 1854 until 1902, mayoral elections were held every year and mayors served one-year terms. In 1902, the mayoral term was increased to two years, which lasted until the city charter was changed in 1965. That year, the mayoral term was again increased, this time to a four-year term. This change would be overturned by voters in 1973 and a two-year term was reinstated.

The mayor's office is located at Fall River Government Center.

Mayoral chronology

As of March 2019, there have been 44 mayors and three acting mayors. Non-consecutive terms by the same person are counted separately (for example, John W. Cummings was both the 14th and 16th mayor). Number of mayors, ranked by party affiliation:

PartyNumberMost recent officeholder
MayorActing
Democratic 233Paul E. Coogan (2020–present)
Republican 191 Alexander C. Murray (1935–1945)
Independent 1—Daniel F. Sullivan (1931–1932)
Whig 1— Nathaniel B. Borden (1857–1858)
American 1— James Buffington (1854–1855)
List of Mayors [1]
#MayorPictureTermNotes
1st James Buffington JBuffington.jpg May 15, 1854–1855 [2] Previously a selectman from 1851 until establishment of the city.
2ndEdward P. Buffinton1856–1857
3rd Nathaniel B. Borden Nathaniel B. Borden.png 1857–1858Previously a selectman from 1840 to 1841.
4thJosiah C. Blaisdell1858–1860
5thEdward P. Buffinton1860–1867
6thGeorge O. Fairbanks1867–1869Previously a selectman [3] from 1852 until 1854.
7thSamuel M. Brown1869–1873
8th Robert T. Davis RobertTDavis.jpg 1873–1874
9thJames F. Davenport1874–1877
10thCrawford E. Lindsey1878–1879
11th William S. Greene WilliamSGreene.jpg 1880 – March 28, 1881Resigned.
ActingRobert Henry1881–1881Elected by the city council.
12th Henry K. Braley Henry King Braley.png 1882–1883
13th Milton Reed 1884–1884
14th John W. Cummings JohnWCummings.jpg 1885–1885
15th William S. Greene WilliamSGreene.jpg 1886–1886
16th John W. Cummings JohnWCummings.jpg 1887–1888
17thJames Frederick Jackson1889–1890
18th John W. Coughlin John W. Coughlin.png 1891–1894
19th William S. Greene WilliamSGreene.jpg 1895–1897
20thAmos M. Jackson1898–1899
21stJohn H. Abbott1900–1901
22ndGeorge Grime1902–1904Sitting in 1902.
23rd John T. Coughlin 1905–1910
24thThomas F. Higgins1911–1913
25thJames H. KayJanuary 5, 1913 – 1923
26th Edmond P. Talbot 1923–1926Sitting in 1923. [4] First mayor of French-Canadian descent.
27thW. Harry Monks1927–1928
28thEdmond P. Talbot1929–1930First mayor under city manager form of government.
29thDaniel F. Sullivan1931–1932
30th Joseph Leo Hurley 1933–1934Final mayor under city manager form of government.
31st Alexander C. Murray 1935–1945
32ndWilliam P. Grant1946–1951
33rdJohn F. Kane1952–1957
34thJohn M. Arruda1958–1963First mayor of Portuguese descent.
35thRoland G. Desmarais1964–1967
36thNicholas W. Mitchell1968–1971
37thWilfred C. Driscoll1972–1978
38thCarlton M. Viveiros1978 – December 23, 1990Resigned to become clerk-magistrate of the Southeastern District Housing Court. [5]
ActingDaniel BoganDecember 23, 1990 – June 25, 1991Acting mayor. [5]
39thJohn R. MitchellJune 25, 1991 – January 1996 [5]
40th Edward M. Lambert Jr. 1993 Edward Lambert Massachusetts House of Representatives.png January 1996 – October 26, 2007Resigned to accept a position at the University of Massachusetts. [6]
ActingWilliam F. WhittyOctober 26, 2007 – January 7, 2008Acting mayor. [6]
41st Robert Correia RobertCorreia2008.JPG January 7, 2008 – January 4, 2010Lost re-election bid when he finished third in a field of six in the preliminary election.
42nd William A. Flanagan January 4, 2010 – December 29, 2014Lost recall election held on December 16, 2014. [7] [8]
43rd Sam Sutter December 29, 2014 – January 4, 2016Elected mayor on the same ballot that recalled William Flanagan. [9] Lost election to a full term in November 2015. [10]
44th Jasiel Correia January 4, 2016 – January 6, 2020Youngest mayor elected at 23 years old. First mayor of Cape Verdean descent. Recalled yet re-elected on March 12, 2019. [11] Lost re-election in November, 2019.
ActingClifford PonteOctober 16, 2019 – January 6, 2020As President of the Fall River City Council, Ponte became Acting Mayor when Mayor Jasiel Correia took a leave of absence. [12]
45thPaul E. CooganJanuary 6, 2020Elected mayor in November 2019. [13]

City managers

Fall River had a city manager from 1929 until 1935.

#City managerPictureTermNotes
1st Edward F. Harrington 1918 Edward Harrington Massachusetts House of Representatives.png 1929–1931
2ndJ. Walter Ackerman1931–1933
3rd Alexander C. Murray 1933–1935Served as mayor upon abolition of office.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ Information for 1803–1877 taken from A Centennial History of Fall River, Mass. by Henry H. Earl, 1877.
  2. ↑ Fenner, Henry M. (1911). History of Fall River, Massachusetts (PDF) (Report). Fall River Merchants Association. p. 26. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 1, 2011 – via Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ New England historic Genealogical Society (1905), Memorial biographies of the New England historic genealogical society v. 6, Boston, MA: The New England Historic Genealogical Society, p. 95.
  4. ↑ A History of the Town of Freetown, Massachusetts: "Old Home Festival". Assonet Village Improvement Society: 1902
  5. 1 2 3 Holtzman, Michael. "Dual roles await Witty Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine ". Fall River Herald News . October 12, 2007
  6. 1 2 Holtzman, Michael. "Mayor seeks election help Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine ". Fall River Herald News . October 12, 2007
  7. ↑ Richmond, Will (December 28, 2014). "The mayoral recall petitioners named Herald News' 2014 Newsmaker of the Year". The Herald News . Fall River, Massachusetts . Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  8. ↑ "Will Flanagan recall, Fall River, Massachusetts". ballotpedia.org. 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  9. ↑ Goode, Jo C. (December 17, 2014). "Fall River mayor ousted, Bristol DA Sam Sutter elected". The Herald News . Fall River, Massachusetts . Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Correia tops Sutter to win mayoral race". heraldnews.com. November 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ Crimaldi, Laura (March 13, 2019). "Correia remains Fall River mayor in election stunner" . The Boston Globe . Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  12. ↑ Goode, Jo C. "Day 1: Ponte takes reins as Fall River's acting mayor". The Herald News .
  13. ↑ "Coogan sails to easy victory in Fall River mayoral race". The Herald News . Fall River, Massachusetts. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
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