Draft:John K. Bullard

John K. Bullard (born August 21, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 45th mayor of New Bedford, Massachusetts, from 1986 to 1992 before holding key federal positions managing fisheries and assisting fishing families weather financial hardships during national fisheries crises, particularly the New England Fishing disaster, as well as administering NOAA's Northeast programs to protect living marine resources from Canada to Cape Hatteras.

Mayoralty
During his three terms as New Bedford mayor, Bullard introduced programs such as community policing, recycling, and AIDS prevention. He was instrumental in the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth building its School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST) in New Bedford, which was once the whaling capital of the world and is the nation's largest and most lucrative commercial fishing port. He also brought the city into compliance with the Clean Water Act by building a modern secondary wastewater treatment plant in the city's South End, a controversial plan that observers said lost him the 1992 election but a move environmentalists said has helped restore Buzzards Bay.

Preservationist
Before he became mayor, Bullard was a historic preservationist from 1974 to 1985, working to revitalize the New Bedford Historic District,   first as Agent for downtown businesses, the New Bedford Whaling Museum and Waterfront Historic Area League (WHALE). He was later appointed as executive director of WHALE, credited with saving and restoring several historically significant buildings. Throughout his career, he has continued to be involved in the restoration of the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center and the Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey, the official vessel of Massachusetts.

Federal Fisheries Posts
After his mayoral days, Bullard, a member of the Democratic Party, joined the Clinton Administration from 1993 to 1998 in Washington, D.C., where he led the first federal Office of Sustainable Development and Intergovernmental Affairs for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). He established programs to assist fishing families in New England, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Northwest, and Alaska.

In 2012, during the Obama administration, Bullard was appointed Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office. He served in this post until 2018.

During his tenure as Regional Administrator, Bullard addressed the New England groundfish crisis by making the unpopular decision to establish emergency fishing quotas and closures and helped deliver more than $32 million in disaster relief to fishing communities. He was among the early observers to sound the warning on the approaching extinction of the American Right Whale He enacted policies protecting North Atlantic right whales, such as expanding critical habitat for the North Atlantic right whales by more than 25,000 nautical miles. And he advanced a first-ever action on the Atlantic coast to protect forage fish, which critically serve as prey for larger fish, marine mammals, and sea birds.

Education Ties
Bullard earned his Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude at Harvard University in 1969, after graduating from St. George's School in 1965. He went on to earn dual Master's degrees in Architecture and City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1974.

Bullard served as a fellow at Harvard Institute of Politics in 1998 before he was tapped later that year for the top job at the UMass Dartmouth Family Business Center. He later left to direct the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, where he oversaw the program for a decade.

Late Career: Public Service, Environmentalist, Author
Bullard is President of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster, a non-profit group organized in 2021 to help maritime industries in the region. He also serves on the Westport Community Resilience Committee, the Westport Planning Board, and the Buzzards Bay Coalition.

Bullard is the author of Hometown, a memoir released in 2023 about connections to family, place, and public service, revolving around his hometown of New Bedford, Massachusetts and his federal service.

Family
The son of Dr. John C. Bullard[5] and Katharine K. Bullard, he currently lives with his wife in the South Coast region of Massachusetts. The have three children and five grandchildren. Bullard's ancestor, Nantucket Quaker, Joseph Rotch helped found the whaling industry in the port of New Bedford when Rotch moved his whaling business to Bedford Village 1765.