Hamilton Rodrigues says he's the 'bully' Brockton needs as mayor

BROCKTON — Will voters pick a self-described "bully" for mayor? Restaurant owner and developer Hamilton Rodrigues says they will.

"The city needs a bully," Rodrigues said. "The city is trash. The city is going down the tubes. S----- school systems. S----- streets. Kids running around shooting each other. Why not try me. What do you have to lose?"

Rodrigues is one of five candidates who've qualified for September's preliminary election. The owner of George's Restaurant is betting his brash style will appeal to Brocktonians fed up with business as usual. Voters will also have to decide whether to back someone who regularly insults and threatens residents with extremely graphic sexual references.

Rodrigues aims to prove he has substance behind the bluster. He touts his background growing up poor in Roxbury before establishing himself in real estate. He talks about attending what he calls "the worst high school in Massachusetts" — Boston's Madison Park — when by his count five rival gangs roamed the halls.

In campaign literature, he says he graduated Madison Park with a concentration in electrical technology before earning a Bachelor of Arts in communication from UMass-Amherst and a Master of Science in public affairs from UMass-Boston. Rodrigues says his work as a math teacher, real estate broker and philanthropist gives him the background to be mayor. He's broker and principal at Triple 7 Real Estate.

"I am qualified, more than anyone in the city," Rodrigues said in a June interview. "I'm the smartest man in the city to do this. And I'm not saying it to be blunt or boast. I'm the most intelligent person in the city. I'm a numbers guy and I can do the job."

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

'An aggressive risk-taker'

Rodrigues said if elected, he'll give his mayoral salary to charity.

"I have what it takes to run a city. I have a business mind. Some folks will say, 'He's an aggressive business owner. He's bad for the city.' I agree. I'm an aggressive business owner. I'm good for the city. That's what the city wants, an aggressive risk-taker that's gonna go all out for the benefit of the people," Rodrigues said.

Is Rodrigues a Democrat or Republican?

Mayoral elections are non-partisan. But Rodrigues does not shy away from his party affiliation.

"I'm a Republican. Proud Republican. I'm a Black Republican but I'm a humanist. I believe people get down on their luck in life. I was down on my luck. That's why I'm a Republican today. I believe, yes, people can pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Whoever tells me otherwise is lying to me, because I was one of those kids that was down and out," Rodrigues said.

How he would fight crime by increasing legal ways to make money

Rodrigues says he sees himself in Brockton's youth. His plan to fight crime is to give Brockton's young people options outside the illegal drug business.

"These kids that they're calling at-risk youth, they're geniuses," Rodrigues said. "They're just looking for a capitalistic entrepreneur outlet and the city's not providing that. The city's pushing this college thing, socialist, Marxist thing, okay? And it's not working for these kids."

Is Legion Parkway up-and-coming? New shops and restaurants seem to be popping up all over

"They're smart, intelligent. I'd hire them any day for my [real estate] salesforce," he said. "I just have to teach them to change the products. Change the products and they'll be successful entrepreneurs."

As an example, Rodrigues said he petitioned the real estate board to help a young man get his real estate license despite a drug trafficking charge.

"That kid became my top producer in two years," he said. "These kids want to make money. They want to be businessmen. They want to be bosses. That's how you fight crime."

Precincts instead of the $98M public safety complex

Rodrigues has other outside-the-box ideas for Brockton. They include halting construction on the city's $98 million public safety complex. Instead, he'd keep the current police headquarters and split the money on four satellite precincts.

And he proposes that Brockton build its own public hospital. He said he'd pull a page from Boston Mayor James Michael Curley, who made key improvements to Boston City Hospital (which is today Boston Medical Center). His plan begins with the fact that many users of the city's current hospitals are on some form of government assistance.

"So instead of giving that money to the private hospitals, why not keep it in the city? Open up a city hospital. MassHealth provides money to the city. Man, you just created 20,000 jobs in the city. Doctors, lawyers, receptionists, nurses and so forth," Rodrigues said.

Rodrigues said he'd institute six-month performance reviews for all city employees, with pay raises tied to positive outcomes for residents. It's a proposal that likely would run afoul of collective bargaining agreements, but it gives you an idea where a Rodrigues administration would be coming from.

Exclusive first tour: Seeing Brockton Hospital for the first time since devastating fire — What we saw and learned

When is the preliminary election and who is running?

Assuming questions about Rodrigues' residency don't keep him off the ballot, voters will choose between him, incumbent Mayor Robert F. Sullivan, Fred Fontaine, Richard Ripley and John C. Williams in a Sept. 19 preliminary election.

When is the general election?

The top two go on to the general election on Nov. 7.

Brockton voters guide Brockton city election 2023: What you need to know

Why Rodrigues says he needs a 'bully' persona

Rodrigues says his "bully" persona is both a campaign strategy and a reflection of who he is.

"I have to get low down and dirty and run a guerrilla warfare campaign," Rodrigues said. "I'm going through a lot of sabotage for my campaign. I'm going through a lot of people spreading lies about me in the city so on and so forth. So I have to punch back. I have to punch back and fight aggressive."

Several Brocktonians have experienced these verbal punches in online forums. Rodrigues was banned from one group, "Brockton Political Central," in May after expletive-laden exchanges with Carla Grant and Jacob Tagger.

Rodrigues threatened Grant's life and accused her of performing sex acts with her former colleagues at the Brockton Police Department. In the thread, Grant responded saying "I never cheated ... how's your poor wife Edny?" Rodrigues responded with "I will forewarn you, if I even smell a threat from you to my family. I will exercise my amendment rights to defend myself and the authorities will come grab you in a body bag."

On at least one occasion, Rodrigues allegedly made threats in person. Jeffrey Charnel, the chairperson of Brockton's License Commission, expressed "concern for his own personal welfare" following threats Rodrigues made at the commission's May 18 meeting in City Hall. During that meeting, Rodrigues sought and received permission to host several outdoor events at George's. Charnel voted "no."

According to a police report and a License Commission meeting transcript, Charnel gaveled Rodrigues' portion of the meeting closed. Rodrigues said, "Watch what happens! Watch what happens! You jealous piece of s---!" Rodrigues said that once he becomes mayor, he will remove Charnel from the License Commission. The exchange ended with Rodrigues calling Charnel a "f------ worthless piece of s---!" and leaving City Hall.

A more recent exchange with a city official came as Cyndi Hogan-Scrivani, the executive director of the Elections Commission, questioned whether Rodrigues really lives in Brockton. Responding to an email about where Rodrigues' name would appear on the ballot, Rodrigues wrote to her, "Cynthia, I'm not stupid. You are trying to put your finger up my a-- without Vaseline. Just like I said before, y'all just don't know who y'all f------ with."

It will be up to Brockton voters to see if they embrace Rodrigues.

"I'm taking no prisoners and I'm going as a bully. I'm a bully candidate. Write that in bold face," Rodrigues said in the June interview. "I'm the bully in Brockton and no one's gonna stop me."

Editor's note: This story has been updated since publication to reflect confirmation of Rodrigues' two university degrees.

Send your news tips to reporter Chris Helms by email at CHelms@enterprisenews.com or connect on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at @HelmsNews.

This article originally appeared on The Enterprise: Brockton election 2023: Hamilton Rodrigues runs for mayor