Fall River election: Fall River's mayoral candidates state their platforms
FALL RIVER — Three candidates are vying for the Fall River mayoral seat: incumbent Mayor Paul Coogan, former mayor and Bristol County district attorney Sam Sutter, and second-time mayoral candidate Michael Vandal.
The primary election will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 19, with the top two mayoral candidates advancing onto the Tuesday, Nov. 7, city election. The race for a seat on the City Council also has a preliminary election (read their statements on Page 1B) while the School Committee race did not garner enough candidates for a preliminary.
As part of The Herald News' election coverage, we asked each of the candidates to submit their candidate platforms. Here, in their words, are their statements about why they should lead the city.
What you need to know: Voter's guide to Fall River's primary election.
Paul Coogan, incumbent
My name is Paul Coogan and I am running for re-election as mayor of Fall River. After serving as mayor for over three and a half years, I am motivated to continue the work being done to move our city forward.
When I originally decided to run for mayor in 2019, my goal was to bring stability, transparency and integrity back to the sixth floor of Government Center. Over my first two terms, we have made remarkable progress in Fall River. We have rebuilt relationships with our state and federal officials, encouraged citywide economic development and tackled infrastructure projects ranging from sidewalks to parks to the transformative Route 79 project. We have also used creativity, teamwork and strong leadership to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time. We endured the COVID-19 crisis, improved city services for homelessness and addiction, and have made investments in public safety to help address staffing shortages.
I am a full-time leader and will never shy away from the hard work needed to do the job of mayor. My 30+ years of service to the city — through the public school system, my time on the School Committee, and now as mayor — prove that I am capable of the work needed to do this job. I have committed myself 100% to the role of mayor and hope that the residents will allow me a third term to continue working on behalf of our residents.
Sam Sutter
I am running for Mayor because Fall River needs positive change right now. Fall River needs to reduce the tax burden on its hardworking citizens; Fall River needs a much improved management of its budget; Fall River needs a dramatic reduction in crime; Fall River needs much more affordable housing; and Fall River needs to bring much more new business into our city.
To bring new business into the city, you should have somebody in charge who knows how to build a business and someone who knows how to bring in new business. I have done both. I have built a successful law practice and I have brought to Fall River when I was Mayor, Amazon, Market Basket and the redevelopment of the South Coast Marketplace. An essential component of bringing in new business and making the city more livable is cutting crime dramatically.
Violent crime has risen to unacceptable levels under Paul Coogan's administration. I know how to cut violent crime and property crime, and I proved it as District Attorney. Equally important, the city budget has been mismanaged for the past four years. I have proven that I can manage a budget extremely efficiently. I was District Attorney during the recession. My budget was cut 15% and nevertheless, we continued to cut crime and get great results in the courtroom for the people of Fall River. I also will bring new and successful ideas to improving our schools, to reducing homelessness, and to creating much more affordable housing.
Michael Vandal
(A photo was not provided)
Hello, I'm your dad of the world. I'm patient zero, the first patient at the beginning of modern dentistry. I'm the dad of holistic dentistry. Meet the grandfather Hal Huggins. He represents doctor to doctor. I, Michael Vandal, represent patient to patient. Please look this up on the web. I would like the have a Dentistry for the People home base here in the city of Fall River. You can see my see my future website. I was born in the city of Fall River. I'm running for mayor because I believe I can make a difference I'm going home to put my best foot forward. I would like to run a separate program for city police and fire dept. and address rent control, housing issues, homelessness and the impact of the train coming to the city.
Sincerely yours, Dad of Holistic Dentistry, Dad of Acupuncture.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Fall River's mayoral candidates state their platforms
