By Tessa Roy, WPRO News

A leader of the movement to remove Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia from office says he’s confident a recall election will be held now that they’ve brought in petitions with nearly 6,000 signatures – more than twice the number needed to keep the recall process going.

“This has nothing to do with innocent or guilty or whatever. It’s doing what’s best for the city. I’m sure you’ve heard the example [that] if this was the CEO of a major corporation, he would have been respectfully asked to take a leave of absence,” said Collin Dias.

Dias said Correia may not be removed since he can still run if a recall election happens, but is overall confident that voters won’t let the mayor keep his job.

“His arrogance and his desperation shows itself, and we as citizens have to take some leadership and take back our city and do what’s right,” he said.

Correia has maintained innocence and says he will not step down following his indictment on federal wire fraud charges. He has indicated he would seek to run in a recall election if it happens.

“I think we’ve done a good job. I think the people like the way the city’s been run, and I think that’s what they care about at the end of the day,” he said at an event on Thursday.