List of mayors of Fall River, Massachusetts

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.

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:

Party Number Most recent officeholder
Mayor Acting
Democratic 23 3 Paul E. Coogan (2020–present)
Republican 19 1 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]
# Mayor Picture Term Notes
1st James Buffington May 15, 1854–1855[2] Previously a selectman from 1851 until establishment of the city.
2nd Edward P. Buffinton 1856–1857
3rd Nathaniel B. Borden 1857–1858 Previously a selectman from 1840 to 1841.
4th Josiah C. Blaisdell 1858–1860
5th Edward P. Buffinton 1860–1867
6th George O. Fairbanks 1867–1869 Previously a selectman[3] from 1852 until 1854.
7th Samuel M. Brown 1869–1873
8th Robert T. Davis 1873–1874
9th James F. Davenport 1874–1877
10th Crawford E. Lindsey 1878–1879
11th William S. Greene 1880 – March 28, 1881 Resigned.
Acting Robert Henry 1881–1881 Elected by the city council.
12th Henry K. Braley 1882–1883
13th Milton Reed 1884–1884
14th John W. Cummings 1885–1885
15th William S. Greene 1886–1886
16th John W. Cummings 1887–1888
17th James Frederick Jackson 1889–1890
18th John W. Coughlin 1891–1894
19th William S. Greene 1895–1897
20th Amos M. Jackson 1898–1899
21st John H. Abbott 1900–1901
22nd George Grime 1902–1904 Sitting in 1902.
23rd John T. Coughlin 1905–1910
24th Thomas F. Higgins 1911–1913
25th James H. Kay January 5, 1913 – 1923
26th Edmond P. Talbot 1923–1926 Sitting in 1923.[4] First mayor of French-Canadian descent.
27th W. Harry Monks 1927–1928
28th Edmond P. Talbot 1929–1930 First mayor under city manager form of government.
29th Daniel F. Sullivan 1931–1932
30th Joseph Leo Hurley 1933–1934 Final mayor under city manager form of government.
31st Alexander C. Murray 1935–1945
32nd William P. Grant 1946–1951
33rd John F. Kane 1952–1957
34th John M. Arruda 1958–1963 First mayor of Portuguese descent.
35th Roland G. Desmarais 1964–1967
36th Nicholas W. Mitchell 1968–1971
37th Wilfred C. Driscoll 1972–1978
38th Carlton M. Viveiros 1978 – December 23, 1990 Resigned to become clerk-magistrate of the Southeastern District Housing Court.[5]
Acting Daniel Bogan December 23, 1990 – June 25, 1991 Acting mayor.[5]
39th John R. Mitchell June 25, 1991 – January 1996 [5]
40th Edward M. Lambert Jr. January 1996 – October 26, 2007 Resigned to accept a position at the University of Massachusetts.[6]
Acting William F. Whitty October 26, 2007 – January 7, 2008 Acting mayor.[6]
41st Robert Correia January 7, 2008 – January 4, 2010 Lost 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, 2014 Lost recall election held on December 16, 2014.[7][8]
43rd Sam Sutter December 29, 2014 – January 4, 2016 Elected 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, 2020 Youngest 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.
Acting Clifford Ponte October 16, 2019 – January 6, 2020 As President of the Fall River City Council, Ponte became Acting Mayor when Mayor Jasiel Correia took a leave of absence.[12]
45th Paul E. Coogan January 6, 2020 Elected mayor in November 2019.[13]

City managers

Fall River had a city manager from 1929 until 1935.

# City manager Picture Term Notes
1st Edward F. Harrington 1929–1931
2nd J. Walter Ackerman 1931–1933
3rd Alexander C. Murray 1933–1935 Served as mayor upon abolition of office.

See also

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. ^ a b c Holtzman, Michael. "Dual roles await Witty Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine". Fall River Herald News. October 12, 2007
  6. ^ a b 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.