(WPRI) — Taunton City Councilor Estele Borges, who is challenging incumbent Mayor Shaunna O’Connell in this year’s general election, joined 12 News at 4 to share what voters should know about her plans for the city’s future.
The interview transcript below has been edited slightly for clarity. Watch the full conversation with 12 News Anchor Kim Kalunian in the video player above.
In 60 seconds or less, why do you want to be the next mayor of Taunton?
Estele Borges: I have been knocking on doors for the last nine months, over 5,000 doors, talking with residents. And residents are looking for change. They want a mayor that is transparent, that is accountable, and that is what they’re looking for. And I think that as mayor, I can get a lot done, whereas being one of nine councilors, it’s a lot more difficult to get things done.
What do you think is the biggest issue facing the voters of Taunton right now, and how do you plan to tackle it?
EB: Overdevelopment with no plan for infrastructure, school systems and our police. That is one of the issues. Our tax rate — 9.4% is what it went up to. I chose the least impact on our residents, and that was still the highest tax rate across the … surrounding communities. And just … restoring integrity, transparency and accountability back to City Hall.
What do you think is the biggest difference between you and incumbent Mayor Shaunna O’Connell?
I’m the person that wants to bring people together. I listen to neighborhoods, I’m constantly listening to neighborhoods. I’ve done a lot of work with the neighborhoods to try to save their open space.
I’m that person that wants to listen, to bring people to the table to get things done. I don’t wait till after the fact, where you have 200 residents sitting at City Hall.
I think it’s important to have our youth, our neighborhoods, as part of the conversation, especially with some of these larger developments. And that is one of the biggest differences between her and I.
You’ve talked about the need to “restore integrity” in the mayor’s office. Can you spell out what you mean by that?
A lot of the well-connected are the ones that are making all of the decisions. Yesterday, for instance, I discovered a super PAC from Wisconsin that was involved in the race. And local businesses that have contracts with the city put $34,000 into this super PAC. That, in turn, went into the mayor’s campaign.
There’s a lot of procurement that has happened that the city has not done correctly. There’s a lot of things happening at City Hall that are just not right.
Which former Taunton mayor do you admire the most, and why?
Well, there’s two. I admire Tom Hoye and Bob Nunes. I think that they were both great mayors. And I find myself very much like them: about the people and doing what is best for our community. Not doing things behind closed doors, but bringing everyone together and doing things together.
Taunton’s incumbent mayor, Shaunna O’Connell, will join 12 News at 4 later this week.
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