FALL RIVER — In back-to-back votes last Tuesday, the City Council rejected political rival Paulo Amaral for a seat as an alternate on the Fall River Zoning Board of Appeals.
Amaral twice ran unsuccessfully for City Council, and appears to have raised the hackles of some councilors over a statement he made during a Fall River Government Television forum in October 2023.
Amaral was on the Conservation Commission for several years before resigning after Mayor Paul Coogan's administration asked him to serve on the zoning board.
He said the council’s vote to reject his appointment was political.
“Yes, 110% political,” said Amaral.
His appointment was before the council during its regular meeting on July 16.
Councilor Cliff Ponte publicly spoke out against Amaral’s appointment, although Ponte never mentioned him by name.
Ponte conceded during the meeting it was difficult to get people to participate on city boards and committees, but that with any volunteer, he would want them “to work in tandem with other elected officials, in my opinion.”
“I’d want to have a respectful dialogue with this individual,” said Ponte. He said the Zoning Board of Appeals “is quite an honorable board, and I recall recently that the specific individual that has the appointment before us, wanted to categorize this board, this honorable body, as trash in and trash out.”
Ponte added that he did not believe Amaral's comments were “something we can tolerate.”
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Did Amaral call the board ‘trash’? Not exactly.
“This is what happens when you’re not in the circle. This is political vengeance to stop you in your tracks,” said Amaral.
He doesn’t deny he was being critical of City Council incumbents during the October political forum, but said he was expressing points in his platform, which included supporting term limits.
And for accuracy, Amaral said, he never used the words “trash in, trash out” during the forum.
Rather, Amaral said “garbage in, garbage out,” a popular term in the technology world meaning that the results of a calculation are only as good as the input that was used, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
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The forum's discussion had also touched on the difficulty political newcomers have with breaking into elected office.
Ponte was returning as a City Council candidate during that forum after losing a mayoral bid. On Friday, asked to clarify his position to reject Amaral, Ponte said he didn’t care where the comment was made.
“I didn’t like how he treated the council, calling the council trash,” said Ponte. “You don’t call elected people, elected leaders, and an honorable body, trash.”
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Amaral said he genuinely wants to volunteer in city government, particularly the Zoning Board, and said he felt he was a good member of the Conservation Commission.
“It’s something that interests me,” said Amaral.
The Zoning Board is likely one of the most impactful volunteer bodies that affects citizens and property issues, but has recently struggled with holding a quorum.
“We need people badly on these boards. At the last Zoning Board meeting, they only had four members. So, the meeting never really went on because they must have a unanimous vote on issues,” said Amaral.
City Councilor Andrew Raposo agrees.
In the council’s first vote, Raposo, Paul Hart and Brad Kilby were the only three votes to approve Amaral.
After the vote to approve his appointment failed with “no” votes from Ponte, Shawn Cadime, Michelle Dionne, Linda Pereira and Laura Sampson, they doubled back for another vote.
Cadime — who had also been on the October 2023 panel with Amaral, Ponte, Pereira, Hart and Raposo — moved to reject his appointment.
A rejection could mean Coogan can’t offer Amaral as a candidate for Zoning Board any time soon.
Raposo was the only councilor who voted no on the rejection vote.
Raposo said his vote had less to do with the individual candidate and more to do with the idea that local government is having trouble getting people involved with the process, he said on Monday.
“I understand my colleagues’ point of view, but at the same time to discourage anyone who wants to step forward and serve at any capacity in government, even if it's a volunteer, or stipend position, whatever it may be, we should give that person an opportunity to do so,” Raposo said.
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