For a long time, the glue that held together the various constituencies of Fall River politics was the Democratic ward committee.
The city’s nine ward committees were little outposts of the party with a presence in every neighborhood of Fall River. Each committee had up to 35 members elected from the surrounding neighborhood, many unionized factory workers, teachers, and mail carriers.
“We would caucus in a bar room or a club or the back of a church,” recalled Fall River Mayor Paul Coogan, a former high school vice principal.
For most of his life, Coogan said that if you had a problem in Fall River, you could see your neighbors on the ward committee, and they might put you in touch with a Democrat at City Hall or the State House who could fix it. Politicians listened to the ward committees, Coogan said because the committees helped get them elected.
“When you ran for office, you’d go to the ward one committee and say, ‘I’d really appreciate your support,’” he said. “And then you’d try to build your organization out from those. But they’re just — it’s not as strong a system as it used to be.”
This story was reported by The Public’s Radio. You can read the entire story here.
