Fall River City Council files in court to remove Correia

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) – The Fall River City Council officially filed an order in Bristol County Superior Court Tuesday morning to validate its vote to remove embattled Mayor Jasiel Correia from office, and a preliminary injunction to force Correia to comply.

“The mayor’s refusing to go, so this is the next step,” said resident Dan Robillard, who spoke during public comment at Tuesday night’s city council meeting.

It’s been less than three weeks since he was arrested for the second time this year. Mayor Correia is facing 24 federal charges.

In that time, members of the city council have repeatedly called on the mayor to resign, but he hasn’t.

On September 10, the City Council voted 8-1 to remove the mayor because of the federal indictments against him.

He also has yet to acknowledge that vote to remove him from office.

“The Council, while disfavoring the expenditure of municipal resources in what is already a turbulent time for the city, filed this action to safeguard the city, its finances, residents, businesses, and visitors,” said a statement from the law firm representing the Council. “Mr. Correia has not challenged the Council’s Order in court, requested additional time to provide for transition, or otherwise sought to come to a reasonable agreement with the Council about how to proceed in light of these significant allegations against him and members of his staff.”

Residents at the city council meeting Tuesday said they supported the council taking this issue to court.

“I think it’s okay to run with this,” said Jim Soule. “I don’t think the issue is whether the mayor is guilty or not. The issue is whether he can respectfully and fully manage the mayor’s office.”

A request for comment from the Mayor’s Office has not been returned.

The issue will be brought before Bristol County Superior Court on October 1.

WLNE-TV / ABC6 2019