Against Chairman Bourgeois' wishes, Fleming, along with several other LTI faculty members and community activist Lydia Howard, worked tirelessly to save and preserve the red brick Dutton Street Boardinghouses built in 1845.

[3] At the start of Fleming's short run as mayor, Lowell had been in serious decline during the textile recession as factories closed down.

During his time as mayor and tenure in city council, he watched over 100 new electronics and computer companies relocate headquarters to Lowell.

The city quickly rebounded in that decade cutting unemployment rate in half while tripling the tax revenue at the same time.

Governor Michael Dukakis then directed Education Commissioner Harold Raynolds and Massachusetts Attorney General James Shannon to threaten lawsuit against the Lowell School Committee charging school officials and city council members with violating equal rights guarantee of the 14th amendment.