Hamilton Rodrigues is running for Brockton mayor. But where does he live?

BROCKTON — The question has dogged Brockton businessman Hamilton Rodrigues' run for mayor since he announced his candidacy: Does he live in Brockton?

The owner of George's Restaurant says he stays in a small single-family home at 17 Chamberlain Court, behind the iconic bar and grill.

But on Aug. 3, the town clerk in Canton sent a letter stating his residency had been updated to 95 Rockland St. in Canton.

And the next day, Brockton's Election Commission notified Rodrigues that he had been removed from Brockton's list of registered voters.

Cynthia Scrivani, who heads Brockton's Election Commission, said Rodrigues triggered the change himself via an interaction with a state agency, such as the Registry of Motor Vehicles.

"It's not an issue that we created, it's an issue that he caused," Scrivani said Monday.

But Rodrigues said he hasn't been to the registry. He said Scrivani is part of an effort by the Brockton establishment to keep him off the ballot.

"She illegally took me off the registry," Rodrigues said Monday. "Ever since I've been running, she's been acting like an FBI agent. She's behind sabotaging my campaign."

Scrivani said it's true she has scrutinized whether Rodrigues really lives in the city he aims to lead. She sent inspectors to George's when he had initially put his residence as sleeping on the couch there. Rodrigues then changed his residency to the nearby 17 Chamberlain Court home.

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The 'Lawton effect'

This isn't the first time a mayoral candidate's residency has come into question. The highest-profile recent case was retired judge Mark Lawton, who said he moved back to an apartment in his native Brockton after living in Bridgewater since the 1990s. Lawton made the ballot for the 2019 preliminary election following the death of Mayor Bill Carpenter. In the end, voters made their own decision. Lawton, a friend of and advisor to Carpenter, placed fourth after eventual winner and current Mayor Robert F. Sullivan, Jimmy L. Pereira and Jean Bradley Derenoncourt.

And in 2017, the Election Commission found that mayoral candidate Kimberly A. Bobulis actually lived in Whitman. Scrivani said that when officials visited her husband at a Whitman home, he confirmed that she lived there.

Rodrigues said Monday that he has re-registered online at 17 Chamberlain Court in Brockton. Scrivani said that means he will be on the Sept. 19 preliminary election ballot unless someone successfully challenges his residency by Thursday, Aug. 17.

Current rules allow people to pull nomination papers to run for Brockton offices the same day they register to vote in the city. Scrivani said she supports Brockton's adopting a new ordinance to combat what she calls "the Lawton effect."

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'No one can tell me where to sleep at night'

Rodrigues had previously addressed the rumors about his not living in Brockton. In a June interview with The Enterprise for a forthcoming candidate profile, he called the concerns "hogwash."

"No one can tell me where to live in America," Rodrigues said. "No one can tell me where to sleep in America."

Asked how many nights a week he slept in Brockton, Rodrigues said he owns multiple properties in Brockton and Providence. He said he moved to Brockton the day before he pulled nomination papers in April.

"No one can tell me where to sleep at night. I pick and choose where I sleep at night," he said.

In 2022, Rodrigues mounted an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination in the Eighth Congressional district, losing to Robert Burke in the primary. At that time, Rodrigues ran as a Canton resident with business interests in the wider district, including Brockton.

Who's running for mayor and when is the preliminary election?

Five people turned in enough confirmed nomination signatures to be on the ballot for the Sept. 19 preliminary election: Sullivan, Rodrigues, Fred Fontaine, John C. Williams and Richard Ripley. The top two finishers will go on to the Nov. 7 general election. Sullivan will be seeking his third term.

Rodrigues said if elected he would root out what he called widespread corruption in how Brockton is run.

"They're doing character assassination against me because I'm the smartest man in Brockton," Rodrigues said Monday. "I'm gonna clean it up in six months."

Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on Twitter at @HelmsNews.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton: Hamilton Rodrigues running for mayor but does he live here?