Fall River Mayor Jasiel F. Correia II’s decision to take a leave of absence and suspend his reelection efforts is good for that city’s residents. But they will continue to literally pay for his feckless, self-interested brand of political leadership until he’s forced to leave in January. That’s when a new mayor takes over and Mr. Correia will stop collecting his $119,000 annual salary.
Mr. Correia, facing federal indictments for fraud and extortion, has already been recalled by voters and reelected the same evening. He’s made it clear he expects to be exonerated and to one day lead the city again.
Without a conviction on his resume, he’s got a ways to go to get in the same league for political audacity as the late Vincent A. Buddy Cianci Jr. The longtime Providence mayor and convicted felon lost his final reelection bid in 2014, after serving nearly five years in prison.
But at just 27, Mr. Correia remarkably is in the conversation, to the great detriment of the city that entrusted him to look out for its best interests rather than his own.