|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
New Bedford City Councilor Shawn Oliver attended a routine Finance Committee meeting on Monday night, hours after pleading not guilty to a drunk driving charge that ended his bid for lieutenant governor.
Oliver walked in two minutes after the meeting began. Several journalists and two news cameras were waiting in the chamber. As the meeting got underway, one local blogger leaned over an unoccupied council desk to take a close-up of the stapled gash that has been visible on Oliver’s head since the Saturday night rollover crash.
The Finance Committee held a brisk, nuts-and bolts meeting where councilors questioned officials from various departments over unpaid bills ranging from $103.84 to $25,388.75. Oliver didn’t speak, other than during voice votes and short inaudible exchanges with the councilor sitting next to him, Shane Burgo.
The councilor was followed by reporters and doggedly questioned about his political future as he left the meeting. He declined to comment and mostly stayed silent as he walked out of City Hall, up William Street, and past the bus terminal and post office on South Sixth Street.
Oliver did not answer whether he would continue to serve on the council. He did not answer whether he would resign if elected as lieutenant governor.
The New Bedford Republican suspended his lieutenant governor campaign on Sunday, but it’s too late for him to be taken off the ballot. While his former running mate Mike Minogue says Oliver will not be lieutenant governor, Oliver himself has not publicly committed to resigning if the ticket is elected.
Before the meeting began, City Council President Ryan Pereira told Light reporters he had “no comment at all” about Oliver.
Burgo slipped into the council office before reporters could question him after the meeting, inviting Councilor Leo Choquette to have a cup of water with him.
But Choquette, who joined the Republican Party last year, stayed in the hallway to answer questions. He told reporters his “thoughts and prayers” were with Oliver and his family.
“What happened to the councilor was a terrible accident,” Choquette said. “I’m just glad nobody’s hurt.”
He said he had no opinion on whether Oliver should resign, saying that “it’s not my decision.” He referred to the last Ward 3 councilor as a “precedent.”
That councilor, Hugh Dunn, was charged with drunk driving in 2021 and was later found not guilty. He resigned in late 2022, citing a long commute to his job in Boston. Oliver won the special election to fill Dunn’s vacancy in 2023.
Eleonora Bianchi contributed to this report.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org.
