New Bedford City Council President Linda Morad said Friday her intention is to seek re-election for her at-large seat, but didn’t rule out a mayoral run.
New Bedford City Council President Linda Morad said Friday her intention is to seek re-election for her at-large seat, but didn’t rule out a mayoral run.
In a January 20 Traffic Commission meeting, New Bedford City Councilor Linda Morad shockingly came out against modest accommodations being made for her disabled constituents, stating, I dislike the millions of handicap parking spaces across the city (see 20:11 of the video below).
After her stomach-turning ableist tirade, Morad remained completely silent on the issue, making no effort to clarify or apologize for her comments.
Now, just under five weeks later, it appears Councilor Morad s assault on the city s disabled community may not be over. Ahead of the New Bedford City Council s March 11 meeting, Morad filed a letter on the record from a constituent, requesting it be referred to the Traffic Commission. This letter, written anonymously, is full of comments equally as discriminatory and disgusting as the ones Morad made earlier this year.
After shockingly disparaging residents with disabilities earlier this year, New Bedford City Councilor Linda Morad couldn’t help herself but to snidely insult yet another seemingly impossible-to-criticize group of local residents: the men and women of the New Bedford Fire Department, who have been working nonstop to keep the city from being reduced to cinder.
When the motion was put forward at Thursday’s City Council meeting by Councilor Brian Gomes to oppose the closure of Engine 8 at the North End fire station, every city councilor with the exception of Morad cosigned in support. Councilor Morad has also been on the record voting against a similar motion in August.
By her own admission, New Bedford Councilor-at-Large Linda Morad has to vote no at every meeting, as evidenced at 1:56:45 of this recent meeting. This is a practice of governance is exercised by public officials who govern spitefully.
Officials that govern this way seem more interested in lording over their constituents than serving them. They might argue that they are doing it to make the hard choices, but voting no for the sake of it isn t discerning, it s the absence of discernment; it s being punitive toward the people who elected you and it could have devastating consequences for them. And in recent key votes and public statements, Councilor Morad has demonstrated a reckless abandonment of the public s well being.