The group of 10 petitioners call themselves Fall River Recall. They need five percent of the city’s more than 50,000 registered voters to sign their petition by November 19th to recall Mayor Jasiel Correia.
Correia stands accused of filing false tax returns and defrauding investors in a company he started before he became mayor.
“You’re not fit to represent us at this time. You’re not fit to lead us at this time.”
Dawn Faureppe said she started the group with a few neighbors. She said having a mayor who’s dealing with legal troubles is damaging businesses and affecting things like grants and bond ratings.
“That can’t help but cast a shadow of doubt on our city and our government, and whether or not we’re in a place where we have trustworthy people in our leadership,” said Faureppe.
According to Faureppe, says Correia is unfit to be mayor.
She said, “If the people want to vote him back in that’s fine. But right now, we’re giving the voters the chance to say, ‘This isn’t right, you’re not fit to represent us at this time. You’re not fit to lead us at this time.’”
She said if Correia is cleared of the charges, he can be voted back into office, but for now, she believes he’s unfit to represent the city.
Correia responded to the recall petition via Facebook, with a poll asking people whether they will sign it. So far, a majority of respondents to mayor’s online poll say they do not support the recall.
