Preliminary election: Seven candidates vying for the Ward 3 City Council post

NEW BEDFORD — Seven candidates are vying to represent Ward 3 on the New Bedford City Council heading into the Jan. 24 preliminary election, which will decide who will face off in the final election on Feb. 28.

In alphabetical order, they are Carmen Amaral, Robert C. Bromley, Robert Cabral, Kathy M. Dehner, Shawn Oliver, John F. Robinson Jr., and Jacob J. Ventura.

They bring a wide range of skills and professional and personal backgrounds for voters to consider when they decide who will close out the remaining year in Hugh Dunn's term. Dunn resigned from the board in early December.

Dunn won the seat in 2017, emerging over a field of six. His resignation came halfway through his current term. Dunn said he was relocating to Boston to focus on his work as an attorney with the firm of Kelly & Associates.

Dunn said, "I will always be rooting for the future of this region and its residents. As I move onto my next chapter in private law practice, I am eternally grateful for the lifelong friends I made, the work we've done and the opportunity the people of Ward 3 gave me to represent them."

Dunn's last term took a controversial turn when he was faced with a DUI charge stemming from a downtown car crash in 2021. He was found not guilty of the charge following a bench trial in October 2022.

Polls open 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Ward 3 polling places are 3A Hayden/McFadden School, 361 Cedar Grove Street, (main entrance); 3B Hillside Court, 525 Coggeshall Street; 3C Taber Mill Community Center, 217 Deane Street (Coffin Avenue entrance); 3D Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mount Vernon Street; 3E Holy Name of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mount Vernon Street; 3F The Bayberry Apartments, 151 Oakdale Street.

The candidates are as follows:

Carmen Amaral

Carmen Amaral, 270 Caroline St., is an educator and longtime New Bedford resident who has lived in Ward 3 for the last 10 years. She is the current academic coordinator at Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical School.

Amaral has bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry and a post baccalaureate in secondary education at Bridgewater State College, as well as a master’s of art in teaching from UMass Dartmouth and an education specialist degree in educational leadership from Bridgewater State University.

"I believe Ward 3 residents deserve a councilor who is fully present and creates participatory constituent services. Anything is possible when we have a councilor who believes the people of New Bedford are most knowledgeable about what they need, and I am ready to take decisive action to get us there," Amaral said.

Her priorities include promoting participatory decision making by actively seeking resident input; regularly communicating with residents on existing city services and how to access them; giving Ward 3 a greater voice in what happens in the city; enhancing neighborhood greenspace and walkability; improving accessibility of roads, sidewalks, and public transit for elderly and disabled; advocating for equitable distribution of funding for public infrastructure, housing, and schools; creating strong emergency response teams to handle mental health crises, substance abuse, and homelessness and reduce the burden on the New Bedford police; ensuring the New Bedford Fire Dept. receives adequate funding; and increasing economic opportunities by soliciting industries that create well-paying union jobs.

Robert C. Bromley

Robert C. Bromley, 62, 73 Rowe St., is a lifelong city resident who has lived in Ward 3 for the past 55 years. Bromley attended New Bedford schools, graduating from New Bedford High School. He went to Roger Williams College, now Roger Williams University, and graduated in 1982. The following year he began working as a housing office finance manager for the city of New Bedford.

From there he went on to work as administrative aide to former state Rep. Robert Koczera for four years, and then for the state of Rhode Island where he has worked for the past 30 years, going from fiscal analyst to senior fiscal analyst overlooking several areas of state government, including general government, and human service and public safety areas, where he monitors pensions, personnel and special projects. He is also the civilian member and current chairman of the New Bedford Veterans Advisory Board.

His candidacy is driven in part by a belief that constituent needs are not being met. "After the last several years of seeing no constituent services and the condition of the Ward not improving with other areas of the city I just felt it was time for me to jump in and give my voice to everyone in Ward 3."

He said Ward 3 residents were not receiving needed information on major developments, including projects that will increase traffic on already heavily congested Hathaway Road. Bromley added that additional information should be provided on the Hicks Logan Area Redevelopment Plan and former Revere Copper redevelopment.

He said his work experience has prepared him for a role as city councilor. "Everything that needs to be done by a Ward 3 councilor I have done my entire life. Whether it's constituent services, examining budgets, problem solving - that's been my career. I'm very familiar with the process."

Robert Cabral

Robert Cabral, 58, 14 Beetle St., stated his 40-year background as an entrepreneur, manager and leader made him the "dynamic choice." He has a bachelor’s degree in business management from UMass Dartmouth. Cabral was commissioned as an officer in the Massachusetts Army National Guard at the age of 19, after being given an opportunity to go to Officer Candidate School earlier than normally required, he said.

Cabral founded and owned Ash away Hearth and Chimney, a multi store retailer that also was involved in construction services for over 30 years that he handed over to his son, Kevin. Cabral added he has worked on New Bedford homelessness in the last year, and come up with a 25-page plan to address the problem. He stated in a campaign release, "I look forward to getting a serious and raw discussion going on homelessness and its relation to substance use disorder and especially the public mental health crisis we currently face."

His priorities include providing constituent services, first and foremost. They also include "transparency," and he will seek to live stream all city council meetings; helping to successfully implement the major projects coming to the Ward, including Hicks-Logan project, advanced manufacturing campus at the golf course, and the Rail Station; striving to achieve consensus on the board; cleaning up the Weld square area and fixing up some of the roads around there; supporting all city employees; applying his financial experience to wasteful spending and budgetary shortfalls; immersing himself in the city school system to support students and teachers; commissioning a traffic study to determine the feasibility of implementing a traffic light at the corner of Hathaway Road and Rockdale Avenue, as well as the cost of an additional five to 10 crosswalks in the Ward; and working "to sell, demolish, or repurpose all the abandoned properties within Ward 3 owned by the city."

Kathy M. Dehner

Kathy M. Dehner, 66, 1259 Rockdale Ave., served on the council for five years, initially winning the office in a scenario similar to the present one in 2008 through a special election to fill a vacancy left by a resigning board member. Dehner is New Bedford High graduate and has an associate's degree in medical assisting. She has been a real estate broker for 32 years, and current works for Century 21 in Dartmouth.

She's a lifelong city resident with three children and 10 grandchildren, and continues to live on property her parents purchased in 1978.

She said reducing high taxes continues to be her focus, as it was when she was last on the board. "Our taxes are insane. That's not to minimize public safety, our road conditions, all of those things that are important. But there's a reason why we don't have any major stores in our city. Any major store is either in Dartmouth or Fairhaven. I really feel that we in some way deter businesses from coming here."

She added, "How do you change that? Number one, we have a lot of city property that we don't need to own. That should be sold to a developer to bring in more revenue. Because you can't just cut taxes. The money has to come from somewhere. You can't just put the burden on the commercial side, either, because then you're not going to get the businesses. So there has to be a balance. You cannot just cut taxes. The city has expenses, responsibilities and obligations. The only way to change this is to bring in business."

Encouraging developers to come into the city, not through tax "breaks" but by making it more affordable, is a priority. "It's the only way you're going to bring in more revenue," Dehner said.

Shawn Oliver

Shawn Oliver, 39, 63 Upton St., is a New Bedford High School graduate who began working right out of high school while raising a daughter who is now 21. He also has a 4-year-old son. Initially out of high school, he would work multiple, low-paying jobs to make ends meet, he said. Eventually he worked for the former Olympia Sports where he rose to general manager. He also worked at Fall River Ford before entering the Academy close to a decade ago and becoming a correction officer. He currently works at MCI-Cedar Junction. He's also a New Bedford constable and notary public.

He's running, he said, to provide the kind of lifestyle for his family and residents that made New Bedford a great place to grow up.

Oliver said he also wants to provide residents with a voice. "I want for the everyday person to be heard. I feel, especially in Ward 3, we've been misrepresented for so long, that I felt that it just had to be. If it's not me, then who. That's been my drive so far."

He has the opportunity to give back now, he said. "I'm much more established in the community and financially with my occupation. I am able to do things like this and give back to the people that helped me as I worked locally."

Oliver said working in corrections has honed his interpersonal skills and his work in management with Olympia Sports will help him on the council. "Working in a smaller company you really have to concentrate on the bottom dollar. Where's the money going? Where are we spending it? That's the only way you can stay productive is keeping your eye on that line."

John F. Robinson Jr.

John F. Robinson Jr., 64, 195 Wilbur St., is a graduate of the Berklee School of Music, who used that background to start his own business — Smyle Music Co. — and teach music to hundreds of area private school children. He would teach through the schools and bill parents directly. He said schools were unable to continue the arrangement during COVID, which put an end to the business. He currently works as a realtor with Diana Henry Realty in New Bedford.

Robinson said he couldn't believe the lack of information out there among constituents. To address that, he's going to provide residents with regular, real-time updates. "At the end of every city council meeting if I'm elected I am going to put on my website what happened at that council meeting in a brief synopsis so the voters can actually see it.

"No one's going to have to even call me up. There will be a questionnaire on the website for any problems you want resolved. All the voters will have to do is fill that in and mail it to me. And I will be in touch with them. That is the main reason I'm running - to get the voters aware of what's happening and also doing their part to contribute to the city. We all work together."

Other issues he wants to address include property taxes that "have gone crazy." He added, "If it means bringing businesses in, if we have to give them a break, some kind of incentive, then so be it. You have to spend money to make money."

Jacob J. Ventura

Jacob J. Ventura, 35, 24 Logan St., Apt 526, attended New Bedford and Dartmouth public schools, and is a 2009 UMass-Dartmouth graduate with a degree in finance. He graduated from Washington and Lee University School of Law in Virginia in 2016 and is licensed in California and Massachusetts to practice in private equity law.

Ventura said his family is from the South Coast region-New Bedford area and he is a member of the Wampanoag Tribe of Aquinnah on Martha's Vineyard and is also of Portuguese and Cape Verdean descent.

Ventura was a staff member in the House for state Rep. Steven Howitt, R-Seekonk. "We represented about 40,000 constituents. I believe this Ward is about 10,000, so about four times the population of the Ward I'm running for."

Ventura said his experience and legal background make him the best candidate for the council.

"I'm the best qualified person to run and I'm looking to bring a level of competence to City Hall. All the candidates talk about providing constituent services. I'm the only one who has actually done it, and done it to a level of success at the state level."

Ventura added, "If elected, I would be the only attorney on the council so I think having that experience is important. I've had about 10 years of experience in local, state and federal governments. I worked in the U.S. Congress. I worked at the Dept. of Defense, the Dept. of Interior. I was a Finance Committee member in the town of Dartmouth."

This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Seven candidates vying for vacant Ward 3 City Council post