Who Is New Bedford Mayoral Candidate Tyson Moultrie?

NEW BEDFORD — With nomination papers for elected office in New Bedford due Friday, the list of those seeking nomination continues to grow.

The list of those seeking nomination in the City has grown to 47 candidates. In the Mayor’s race, a total of six people have pulled papers for the City’s first four-year Mayoral term, including incumbent Mayor Jon Mitchell.

As of Monday, Mayor Mitchell is joined by School Committee member John Oliveira, Iean Morgan, Jose Perez, Michael Medeiros, and Richard Tyson Moultrie.

One name completely unfamiliar to WBSM listeners is that of Richard Tyson Moultrie.

A 31-year-old Springfield native, Moultrie has a background in the military and volunteer work. He tells WBSM News that he’s lived all over the country thanks to his military service, landing in New Bedford just a few years ago.

“I’m originally from Springfield and I left there when I joined the military and lived all over the place. I transplanted to Fall River about five years ago and then about four years ago I started volunteering here in the City of New Bedford, and that’s how I really fell in love with New Bedford,” said Moultrie.

Though he has no prior political experience, Moultrie spoke of his business experience while promoting economic security and transparency as possible features of his campaign.

“I have no prior political experience, but what I do have is an experience running businesses, which is why I help mentor businesses locally. I was a Forbes “30 Under 30” nominee in 2017. I didn’t end up making the final cut, but in order for them to take a look you have to be doing something right,” Moultrie said with a chuckle.

Moultrie’s vision for New Bedford is posted on his official campaign website, tyfornbma.com, which also lists Workfroce Development, Government Accountability and Climate Change Resilience & Adaption as part of his campaign platform.

Moultrie’s vision for New Bedford reads:

“We're maximizing federal funding by achieving full resident participation in the Census.

You have the choice to send your kids to a thriving neighborhood school.

You’re no longer debating whether to move away to the suburbs or send your kids across the city so they can get a great education.

Your local community has greater trust in its police officers. You’re working with them to prevent crime before it happens on your block and in your neighborhood.

We’re reversing the underlying economic, mental health, and educational failures that lead to New Bedford’s crime and opioid epidemic.

Living in New Bedford is finally paying dividends. Your tax dollars are no longer spent on expenses that aren’t benefiting you day to day, and into the future.

Your government is radically transparent. We’ve implemented technology to make New Bedford more efficient and honest with your money. We’ve re-prioritized and reassessed spending; our city budget is under control, growing and on a path to solvency.

Businesses, rating agencies, and employers have taken note of New Bedford’s progress. Job opportunities are improving across the entire city.

New Bedford’s public servants are both more diverse and more accountable to you.

We’ve made the decisions of your government more transparent and accessible. City Hall and City Council finally have real representative leadership across our wards.

Our loved ones want to move back to New Bedford to raise their families and grow their careers.”

Moultrie says his volunteer work in Fall River led and New Bedford led to him calling the Whaling City home, stating that he “saw such great potential in the area from the water to the land.”

“But, what I didn’t see was a clear pipeline for our future to actually impact the future. I see a lot of people getting stuck at dead-end jobs with nowhere to go, but they’re brilliant,” Moultrie said.

“They’re great in science, technology, engineering, but here we don’t really have a place for them to go and they end up transplanting somewhere else, so we lose our best talents, and I really want to change that and the direction the City is heading in.”