Fall River Mayor takes leave of absence

October 15, 2019 3:15 pm

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE/AP) – Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia who is facing federal fraud and extortion charges is taking a leave of absence from office.

Correia made the announcement on Tuesday at the construction site of the new Durfee High School. Correia touted during his announcement that the new school was one of his successes as Mayor.

Correia has previously resisted efforts to remove him from office.

Correia also announced Tuesday that he will suspend his re-election campaign and hand most of his day-to-day duties to City Council President Cliff Ponte. He said he will continue to collect his salary until Jan. 1.

The embattled mayor was arrested at his house on Sept. 6 on charges of conspiring to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from vendors seeking to sell retail marijuana in the city.

Those charges follow a 13-count indictment in October charging Correia with defrauding investors in an app he created and filing false tax returns. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.

“I will continue as mayor until Jan. 1, 2020. I will focus my remaining time on championing and supporting many of the impactful social programs that I have established during my administration,” Correia said from a prepared statement Tuesday afternoon.

Correia touted his accomplishments as mayor, but did not go so far to say that his political career was done for good.

“Today’s announcement provides the City of Fall River an opportunity to build on the successes and accomplishments of my administration without any distraction,” Correia said.

After the press conference, the mayor hurried back to his vehicle and did not take any additional questions from reporters.

As of 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, Council President Cliff Ponte is serving out the duties of office, although Correia still holds the title of mayor of the city.

Correia, first elected at 23, said his move allows the city “to build on the successes of my administration without any distractions.”

Ponte spent the afternoon with city administration to work on a smooth transition of power.

“I’m looking forward to just transitioning in and breathe some stability into this community which is what the community is expecting right now,” Ponte said. “This has all taken us by surprise a little bit.”

Ponte admitted that the leave of absense is a breath of fresh air for the city that has been in the national spotlight following Correia’s two arrests.

“It’s a relief for everybody I think at this point the distraction of having him in office will continue to have a black eye on this community, which doesn’t deserve that,” he said.

Although Correia turned in his keys, he will still be receiving pay until at least January.

Correia did suspend his campaign but his name will still remain on the ballot. Paperwork to remove his name from the ballot had already passed on Sept. 28, according to the Board of Elections.

The mayoral election in Fall River is in November. Correia is on the ballot along with Paul Coogan, who secured over 62% of the vote compared to Correia’s 20%.

“We’re going to keep doing exactly what we’re doing, hitting the door-to-door, hitting the events. We’re going to keep working right like we always have. We’re not changing a thing,” Coogan said in an interview following Corriea’s announcement Tuesday.

Coogan, who is on the school committee, said he’s confident that he’ll come out on top in November’s election.

“We have every intention of winning this race, not picking up votes because someone drops out or takes a leave, we’re going to work to win the votes and the confidence of the people from Fall River till November 5th.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.