List of mayors of Fall River, Massachusetts
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
[edit]As of March 2019[update], 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
[edit]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
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Information for 1803–1877 taken from A Centennial History of Fall River, Mass. by Henry H. Earl, 1877.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ A History of the Town of Freetown, Massachusetts: "Old Home Festival". Assonet Village Improvement Society: 1902
- ^ a b c Holtzman, Michael. "Dual roles await Witty Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine". Fall River Herald News. October 12, 2007
- ^ a b Holtzman, Michael. "Mayor seeks election help Archived May 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine". Fall River Herald News. October 12, 2007
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Will Flanagan recall, Fall River, Massachusetts". ballotpedia.org. 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Correia tops Sutter to win mayoral race". heraldnews.com. November 3, 2015.
- ^ Crimaldi, Laura (March 13, 2019). "Correia remains Fall River mayor in election stunner". The Boston Globe. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ Goode, Jo C. "Day 1: Ponte takes reins as Fall River's acting mayor". The Herald News.
- ^ "Coogan sails to easy victory in Fall River mayoral race". The Herald News. Fall River, Massachusetts. November 5, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
