ATTLEBORO — A fourth candidate has apparently jumped into the race for mayor.
A man named Timothy Barone, who listed an address of 15 Manorhaven Drive, took out nomination papers on Dec. 22.
Attempts by The Sun Chronicle to reach him by telephone and email were not successful on Thursday.
A Timothy A. Barone is listed as living at 15 Manorhaven Drive, according to various people search websites. That same person is listed as being either 46 or 47, but no further information could be learned by presstime.
Barone joins former city councilor John Davis, 57, and current city councilor Cathleen DeSimone, 56, in the contest for the corner office along with City Council President Jay DiLisio.
Paul Heroux, 46, officially resigns as mayor at 11:59 p.m. on Jan. 3 to take over as Bristol County Sheriff on Jan. 4 from outgoing Sheriff Thomas Hodgson, whom he defeated in a close election on Nov. 8.
Heroux will take the oath of office at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 in the Nagle Auditorium at B.M.C. Durfee High School in Fall River. The oath will be administered by Secretary of State William Galvin.
DeSimone submitted her nomination papers last week and is certified for the ballot.
Heroux is supporting DeSimone in the race to replace him.
Davis said he will likely submit his nomination papers by the middle of next week. A total of 200 signatures from registered voters is required for nomination and he has about 125, he said.
DiLisio said he plans to submit his nomination papers at the end of this week or early next week.
The candidates have until Jan. 10 to submit their papers.
A number of signs for Davis, DeSimone and DiLisio have popped up around the city in advance of the election and likely many more are on the way.
None, so far, could be found for Barone.
Meanwhile, DiLisio spent Wednesday with Heroux preparing for his role as acting mayor, which he will assume on Jan. 4, less than a week away.
DiLisio, 46, said he and the mayor met with most of the city department heads in anticipation of the transition.
“I had a great meeting with Paul,” DiLisio said. “Mayor Heroux has been very gracious and I appreciate that.”
DiLisio will be taking a leave of absence from his job at the Registry of Motor Vehicles in order to fill-in for Heroux.
As acting mayor, DiLisio won’t have full powers, but he will be able to sign warrants and purchase orders and oversee the various departments in city government.
Hiring and firing people are some of the powers he won’t have, but he will be in the office every day to steer the ship, so to speak.
“I’ll be focusing 100% of my time on being acting mayor,” he said. “It’s about having an executive presence in the office.”
DiLisio said he knows many of the department heads already and is familiar with the inner workings of city government so he’ll feel comfortable taking the reins.
“I look forward to working with (the department heads) in a different capacity,” he said.
He said there are a lot of parallels between his job at the registry and the job of mayor so he won’t be going into it totally without experience.
“It’s about delivering world class service to the residents, the same way we do at the registry,” he said.
DiLisio will be acting mayor for January and February.
During that time he will not be able to participate in any council meetings or act as president of the panel.
Council Vice President Todd Kobus will take over DiLisio’s role for what will be a 10-member council.
A special election is scheduled for Feb. 28 when a new mayor will be elected.
DiLisio is one of four candidates for the job.
George W. Rhodes can be reached at 508-236-0432.
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