'Citizens of Taunton deserve better': City Councilor Estele Borges is running for mayor

TAUNTON — City Councilor Estele Borges is officially running for mayor, according to a written announcement.

“The citizens of Taunton deserve better,” Borges said in the written statement Tuesday. “That is why I’m running for Mayor.”

Borges, along with multiple candidates for city councilor, have pulled nomination papers from the city's election department. To appear on the ballot, candidates must obtain at least 25 certified signatures and return the nomination papers by Aug. 5.

The city election will be held on Nov. 4 for mayor, City Council, School Committee, Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and Taunton Municipal Lighting Plant commissioners.

A spokesperson for incumbent Mayor Shaunna O'Connell previously told the Gazette that "Mayor Shaunna O’Connell will be running for re-election, but she will be making her official announcement at an appropriate time."

Here's what we know about the city's Nov. 4 election.

What Borges says

"My parents instilled in me the values that hard work, education, playing by the rules, looking out for your neighbors, and always treating people with dignity and respect are the building blocks of a great life and limitless opportunity,” Borges said in her announcement. “These are the values that have guided me throughout my time living, working, and serving in Taunton. From assisting aging neighbors as a health care worker, helping hundreds of people buy their first home, and standing up for residents as a City Councilor, I am committed to a city that listens to and delivers for its people.”

The written statement criticized "the current lack of City Hall transparency involving unprecedented property taxes, development in neighborhoods and selling off public property."

"My leadership will be driven by community input, common sense and facts, not political partisanship, extremism and self-interest," Borges said.

In a statement sent to the Gazette, Holly Robichaud, the mayor's spokesperson, responded, saying that "Mayor Shaunna O’Connell has the proven track record of fighting for the taxpayers."

"The city of Taunton’s property tax level is among the lowest in region, among the lowest of gateway cities and $2700 below the statewide average," Robichaud said. "Mayor O’Connell's record includes increasing grant funding 800% and improving the bond rating to AA+ saving taxpayers millions of dollars. Moreover she is the only mayor to bring a city building in $10 million under budget. She has also preserved 118 acres of open space. Mayor O’Connell has and will always do what’s right by Tauntonians, not a political agenda."

Read the full story at the Taunton Gazette.