The Boston Globe - 20.09.2019

A8 Editorial The Boston Globe FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2019

N

o community in Massachusetts should

have to endure what residents of Fall Riv-

er may face over the next few months,

with their city’s leadership in needless,

prolonged turmoil.

The mayor, Jasiel F. Correia II, faces two different

federal indictments, and his political career appears to

be on life support. In the city’s preliminary election on

Tuesday, he finished a distant second to School Com-

mittee member Paul Coogan, who won 62 percent of

the vote.

Correia, who denies the allegations and refuses to

resign, can’t govern effectively at this point, especially

because the most recent indictment — federal prosecu-

tors say he extorted marijuana companies seeking to do

business in Fall River — involves his official conduct.

But even if he loses the general election in November,

Fall River won’t have a new mayor until next year.

Why should Fall River — or any city — spend that

long in leadership limbo?

After the most recent indictment, the Fall River city

council attempted to remove Correia, voting 8-1 to oust

him. The vote lacked any legal force, though, and the

mayor was back in his office the next morning as if it

were just another day at work. The embattled city offi-

cial then blew off the council’s deadline to vacate the

mayoral seat.

On Wednesday, the council voted to take unspecific

action to force Correia out, continuing the legal soap

opera. It never should have come to this: Cities should

have some clear, enforceable mechanism to remove, at

least temporarily, an indicted mayor whose legal prob-

lems have grown overwhelming.

Here’s the quick recap of Correia’s legal woes: The

27-year-old mayor now faces 24 federal charges, includ-

ing extortion, bribery, and tax evasion. He’s charged

with defrauding investors in an app, and also — in the

most recent indictment from the US attorney’s office —

shaking down several marijuana firms that wanted to

do business in Fall River for roughly a half-million dol-

lars in bribes, paid in cash and in marijuana. The may-

or has pleaded not guilty.

It’s true that the Democratic mayor hasn’t been con-

victed of any crimes. But any decision he makes now,

particularly any that relate to marijuana licensing,

would be deeply problematic. The city needs a chief ex-

ecutive who can do the ordinary business of governing

without casting a cloud over the whole city.

Instead of leaving office, Correia has proposed that

the council review “official mayoral actions” and for

City Council president Cliff Ponte or the council vice

president to cosign official documents going forward.

But Correia’s remedy falls short; any decision involving

the mayor at all is suspect.

What makes the imbroglio in Fall River especially

strange is that a majority of Fall River voters recalled

Correia in a special election in March, only to see the

mayor get reelected with a pluralityon the same ballot.

Now both the city council and the electorate have voted

to oust Correia, and yet he’s still there. His mayorship

has exposed both the flaws in the recall process used in

many cities in Massachusetts and the absence of clear

council authority to remove a mayor from office in ex-

traordinary circumstances.

In the wake of the Correia scandals, the city council

is also reviewing major changes to the city’s governance

structure — shifting toward a city manager model in-

stead — but the changes wouldn’t take place for at least

another year.

Meanwhile, state representatives from Fall River are

asking the state’s pot regulators to impose a moratori-

um on all applications to open marijuana businesses in

the city given the nature of the criminal case against

the mayor. That might be necessary, yet it means legiti-

mate pot companies and customers could have to wait

because of the alleged actions of the mayor.

If he cared about his city, Correia would resign.

Whatever he chooses, though, Fall River and other cit-

ies ought to strengthen their rules around recalls and

removal of mayors to ensure that the debacle of the last

year can’t happen again.

Fall River entangled in mayor’s legal woes

Opinion

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D

onald Trump’s trade war with China has economic

salvos striking in places you’d never expect. Like, say,

the retaliatory tariffs that are bursting over the New

England lobster industry.

In September 2017, US lobstermen shipped over

1,100 metric tons to China alone. Distributors selling more lob-

sters resulted in beneficial stable prices for lobstermen and more

money circulating in fishing ports hurt by federal groundfish reg-

ulations.

But all that has changed as a result of Trump’s trade war.

Trump first imposed tariff increases against Chinese exports in Ju-

ly 2018. China responded by both increasing the duties paid on

American exports and decreasing tariffs on the rest of the world.

One target of China’s tariffs was US lobsters. Since China

imposed its retaliatory tariffs, there has been an astonishing 70

percent drop in US lobster exports to the Chinese market.

Lobstering is one of the largest trades in New England; in

2017, the region’s lobstermen caught $550 million worth of the

tasty crustaceans. Most of us who live on the New England Coast

have a neighbor, friend, or relative who is a lobsterman. Although

lobstermen themselves have not felt the direct pinch, wholesalers

have. Many in the industry do not believe they will outlast the tar-

iffs.

Who has benefited from the trade war?

Undoubtedly, Canada, the fiercest rival to the US lobster

business, which has seen a 50 percent increase in lobster exports

to China. Adding insult to injury, Canada is able to buy excess

lobsters at lower prices from the United States and sell them for

higher prices to China.

In Gloucester, this state’s leading lobstering port, two compa-

nies, National Fish and Pigeon Cove Seafood, have shuttered oper-

ations, laying off more than 250 employees. New England restau-

rants and consumers are also suffering, as

wholesalers raise prices in an attempt to

replace lost revenue from sales to China.

Already US lobster dealers have seen

export business they worked for years to

develop migrating to Canada. And the ad-

verse effects may be long term. China,

whose sheer size makes its lobster market

irreplaceable, could reduce its lobster

trade with the United States permanently.

And that’s not the only way tariffs are hurting New England.

During a recent State House hearing of the effects of tariffs on

Massachusetts businesses, Jim Knott, CEO of Riverdale Mills

Corporation, said tariffs had pinched Riverdale on both sides of

the ledger. Because the company uses steel to make wire mesh for

lobster traps, the cost of its materials has gone up, even as the

demand for lobster traps has diminished.

As a Commonwealth and as a nation, we need to address the

seemingly irreparable economic damage being done to our lobster

industry and the communities that depend on lobstering.

That was the part of the purpose of the hearing, which was

held by the Joint Committee on Export Development, led by state

Representative Lori Ehrlich, Democrat of Marblehead, and state

Senator Nick Collins, Democrat of Boston.

The committee is exploring three possible solutions.

One is to look for new markets.

A second is to ask the Trump administra-

tion to move lobsters up to “priority status” for

trade-dispute resolution, in the hope that such

status may lead to a speedier return to normal

market conditions.

A third could be a relief program, such as

the one available to Midwest soybean farmers,

who have also been hurt by retaliatory Chinese

tariffs. That program has helped some 40,

farmers — a number whose ranks include Re-

publican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa.

As Trump’s trade war rages, those who harvest crops have been

made a priority both for dispute resolution and for federal aid.

Those who harvest the sea deserve the same federal attention.

Ann-Margaret Ferrante represents Gloucester, Rockport, and Essex

in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Trade war pinches New England’s

lobster industry

By Ann-Margaret Ferrante

ILLUSTRATION BY LESLEY BECKER/GLOBE STAFF; ADOBE; GLOBE FILE PHOTO

Manyintheindustrydo

notbelievetheywill

outlastthetariffs.