Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia – charged with 24 federal counts of wrongdoing, including extortion & bribery – plans to conduct business as usual at Government Center today. The mayor’s decision comes after the city council last night voted 8-1, with Councilor Steve Camara the lone ‘no’ vote, to temporarily remove the mayor from office in light of new charges lodged against Correia during his second arrest late last week.
According to Council President Cliff Ponte, the mayor has until 5:00 p.m. this Friday to turn over his keys, and vacate his offices on the sixth floor.
Councilor Steven Camara voted against temporarily removing the mayor from office, because he believes that residents should be the ones to decide this issue, adding that elected officials do not have the right to oust other elected officials.
After the council vote, Mayor Correia refused to step down, vowing to to take the issue to court. Under the auspices of the City Charter, should the mayor of the city be unable to serve in that capacity, than the council president – in this case, Cliff Ponte – would serve as acting mayor in his place.
This story continues to develop. FRCmedianews will have more information as it becomes available.
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