Mayoral Meltdown at Fall River City Council Meeting

It was a circus last night at the Fall River City Council meeting, as City Council President Cliff Ponte went head-to-head with Mayor Jasiel Correia.

Correia went against decorum when he decided to attend the City Council meeting without a formal invitation.

Ponte expressed his displeasure with the mayor's attendance, making it quite clear that the mayor of the city was not welcome at the meeting.

The mayor refused to leave the chambers, so Ponte put the meeting to recess, and the standoff began. Like two siblings in the backseat of a minivan, Ponte and Correia challenged each other to a staring contest that went on for hours. Finally, Ponte returned to the chambers to announce that because Correia refused to leave, he was going to adjourn the meeting. All the while, Councilor Sean Cadime was wondering out loud about whether the mayor should be arrested on the council floor.

Ponte: "You decided to just bring yourself onto the council floor without being invited. I don't find that to be appropriate. It's a lack of decorum and professionalism on your part."

Cadime: "We've asked him to leave, he doesn't leave. We can have the officers remove him."

Ponte: "We don't really need to have that happen."

Cadime: "I don't want to put our police officers in the position, and I know that the mayor's accustomed to getting arrested, I don't want that to happen here."

Tell me that's not one of the top 10 burns in Fall River City Council history.

The groans could be heard on William S. Canning Boulevard.

Meanwhile, this is turning into "Must See TV." The real winner in all of this is the Fall River Government Television. Watch for ratings to shoot through the roof.

Hear our entire analysis from this morning here: