New Bedford Mayor Urges Council to Approve Licensing Board Nominee

NEW BEDFORD (WBSM) — The New Bedford Licensing Board is down to just one member, and Mayor Jon Mitchell is urging the city council to approve his next nominee as soon as this Thursday night.

Mitchell has nominated retired New Bedford firefighter Richard McCue to the licensing board, replacing Nick Naopoulos – the former longtime licensing board member who was appointed back to the board on an emergency basis when there previously was not enough members for a quorum.

Nanopoulos’s emergency appointment expired on January 12, leaving the three-person board with only one active member, Commissioner Ricard Rezendes.

If approved, McCue’s term would expire in June 2030.

READ MORE: New Bedford City Council President Eliminates Two Committees, Renames Another

Currently, the board once again does not have enough members to reach a quorum, so it is unable to approve any licenses or conduct hearings for those who might be in violation.

“For this reason, I encourage the council to consider prompt approval of Mr. McCue’s appointment at its regular council meeting on January 23, 2025,” Mitchell wrote. “This would avoid the delay entailed by a council referral to the Appointments & Briefings Committee – which would likely result in the continued absence of a Licensing Board quorum for several additional weeks.”

Absent a licensing board, New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira exercised the authority given to him by the laws of the Commonwealth recently to shut down Morna Lounge and Grill following a shooting inside the establishment that left one person dead and injured two others.

READ MORE: New Bedford Police Chief Orders Closure of Morna Lounge Following Homicide

The City of New Bedford also put out a release pointing out that McCue spent 32 years with the New Bedford Fire Department and “has extensive training and experience in risk assessment, fire mitigation and emergency planning.”

It also pointed out that McCue was one of four members of the department honored in 2021 for meritorious conduct after saving a girl from a structure fire at a multi-family dwelling, and that he was honored again in 2022 for helping a mother and her non-verbal child escape a fire in their apartment building.

Mayor Mitchell also appointed Jimmy Dee to the licensing board. Dee spent nearly three decades in the video department of the New England Patriots, earning six Super Bowl rings during his time working as Video Director under coaches Bill Parcells, Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick. He retired from the team in 2024.