FALL RIVER Local businessman and three-term City Councilor Cliff Ponte announced on Wednesday his bid for mayor in the upcoming November citywide election.
Ponte, 32, the Council president, is challenging first-term incumbent Mayor Paul Coogan, 68, who also returned his nomination papers Wednesday.
Ponte made his announcement from his restaurant, Almac’s Diner, after stopping at Government Center’s elections office to pick up his nomination papers.
Ponte sat down with
The Herald News on Tuesday ahead of the announcement to discuss why he’s seeking the office of mayor and why now.
“We’re at a point in this community where we’re at a crossroads. We have two roads we can go down as a community. We can go down an indecisive road that really has a lack of planning and long-term strategic plans. Or we can go down another road that is quite bright and has strategic planning in place and looks at ways we can relieve the taxpayer as best we possi