Mayor Elect Coogan Names Transition Team

Fall River, MA – Mayor-Elect Paul E. Coogan announced today the members of his transition team. The team is charged with providing advice and counsel to Mayor Elect Coogan as he formalizes plans for his first term in office. “I am honored and privileged to announce the following group comprised of elected officials, business, community and union leadership, educators and private citizens who have graciously agreed to lend their leadership experience and expertise to the City of Fall River”.

The Transition Team includes the following eight subcommittees:

• Finance
• Economic and Workforce Development
• Housing and Urban Development
• Public Safety and Health
• Education
• Arts, Culture and Tourism
• Infrastructure, Environment and Community Maintenance
• Public Integrity

These subcommittees will focus on specific goals and objectives that will assist in formulating plans to insure a safe, clean and financially sound City. There will be further opportunities following the transition for others to offer their assistance and expertise in various advisory roles.

 Mayor Elect Paul Coogan Transition Team

Finance Transition Team

Joan Medeiros, Vice President Bristol County Savings Bank (Chair)

Carlos Da Cunha, Senior Vice President & Senior Lending Officer, St. Anne’s Credit Union

Jose Pacheco, Owner, Pacheco Realty Company

Carl Taber, Executive ViPresident & Chief Lending Officer, Bay Coast Bank

William Eccles, Jr., President & CEO, Bank 5

Matthew Schondek, President & CEO, Fall River Municipal Credit Union

Robert Camara, Public Employees Representative, City of Fall River & Retired Fall River Fire Department

Sergeant Joseph Castro, Member FRPD, Chairman of the Insurance Advisory Committee, City of Fall River

Economic and Workforce Development

 Joseph Marshall, Founder & President J. Marshall and Associates (Chair)

Karl Hetzler, President, H&S Tool and President, Fall River Industrial Park Association

Frank Marchione, President & CEO Boardwalk Crossing and President, Bristol County EDC

Michael Lund, President, Borden Light Marina, Inc.

Louis Gonsalves, Owner, Juiced Cafe

Michael Benevides, Owner, Portugulia Marketplace

Diane Nadeau, Executive Director Bristol County Training Consortium (Retired)

James Pimental, Vice President/Organizer Bricklayers, Local 3

Bradford Higson, Owner Higson Seafood

Housing and Urban Development

Ronald Rusin, Owner Ron Rusin Real Estate (Chair)

Carole Fiola, State Representative, 6th Bristol District

Steven Long, City Councilor

Deb Fastino, Director, Coalition for Social Justice

Kathleen Schedler Clark, Executive Director, Steppingstone, Inc.

David Underhill, Member Fall River Housing Authority, Joint Tenant Council and FRHA Board Member

Aaron Tetrault, Owner, Fall River Pawn Brokers

Public Safety and Health

Mark Costa, Assistant Chief Probation Officer (Chair)

Thomas Quinn, Bristol County District Attorney

John LaPointe, Fall River Police Department (Retired)

Alan Silvia, State Representative, 7th Bristol District

Natalie Mello, President Bank Street Neighborhood Association

Carlos Caesar, President Flint Neighborhood Association

James Cusick, Fall River Fire Department (Retired)

Laura Ferreira Washington, Program Director, Steppingstone, Inc.

Dr. Henry Vaillancourt, Director of Public Health, City of Fall River (Retired)

Education 

 Traci Almeida, Coordinator of Graduate Admissions & Licensure, UMass Dartmouth (Chair)

Dr. Armand Desmarais, Professor Emeritus, UMass Dartmouth

Melissa Panchley, Senior Property Manager, Karam Financial Group

Dr. Edward Costar, Administrator, Fall River Pubic Schools (Retired)

Rick Sahady, Administrator, Fall River Public Schools (Retired)

William Kelly, Professor Arts & Humanities, Bristol Community College (Retired)

Arts, Culture and Tourism

 Patrick Norton, Executive Director, Narrows Center for the Arts (Chair)

Sandy Dennis,Co-Founder Creative Arts Network

James Sousa, Owner New Boston Bakery

Walter Fraze,Jr., Owner Walter Fraze,Jr. Law Office

Kathleen Castro, Professor of Arts & Humanities, Bristol Community College

Scott Lopes, Assistant Vice President of Training & Development, BayCoast Bank

Tony Rodrigues, World Language Instructor, BMC Durfee High School

Public Integrity

 William Kenney, Attorney, Law Office William Kenney (Chair)

Rev. Robert Nemiocovick, Pastor, Blessed Trinity Church

Kim Gosson Almeida, Director of Benefits Operations, Brown University

Antonio Teixeira, Community Activist

William Whitty, Former Mayor & City Councilor President, City of Fall River

August Venice, Community Activist

Roberta Brooks Tetrault

Infrastructure, Environment and Community Maintenance

Rebecca Collins, President, Collins Construction, Inc. (Chair)

Daniel Raposa, Director of Buildings and Grounds, Fall River School Department (Retired)

Michael Grimo, IT Professional, Senior Executive, (Retired)

Byron Holmes, Engineer, City of Fall River (Retired)

Alfred J. Lima- Community Activist

Arnaldo “Junior” Paquette, Community Activist, Former Director of Operations, BFI, Inc.

Terrance Sullivan, Director of Community Utilities, City of Fall River (Retired)

James Terrio, Director of Administrative Services Water Department and Clerk Watuppa Water Board (Retired)

Michael Dunn, Senior Project Manager, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Office of Technology Services and Security