The new City Council will be sworn in this Thursday evening at 5:30 in the CCRI auditorium. This new Council has a lot of work ahead of them. Residents are a crucial part of the governing process, and I encourage you to continue to engage with the City Council. You have seen the positive effects when residents are given a voice and made an active part of the process.
In my time on the Council, I have worked to set a standard for how an elected official does business in the public eye. Questions, discussion, and debate are positive qualities of a City Council, establishing public trust that decisions are being made honestly. Effective governance is a partnership between elected officials and residents. Our community has accomplished so much together over the past six years, from Green and Complete streets and street café policy to the two-tiered tax plan and short-term rental regulation to the North End zoning and the Transportation Master Plan. We have developed plans that capture residents' vision and community needs, doing this work through consistent resident engagement and public discussion. As the new Council sets to work on implementing these plans, it is crucial that the community continues to be involved.
This is my final newsletter as your At-Large City Councilor. It has been an absolute honor to serve you over the past six years, and I am so proud of the work we have done together. Newport is my home, and I will continue to be engaged with our community. I look forward to sharing what's next in the new year.
Councilor Bova's Update for November 6th
Ahead of Election Day on Tuesday, you can find your polling place and see a sample ballot at vote.sos.ri.gov. I urge you to reject Question 5 to regionalize Newport and Middletown school districts. The question is not true regionalization and will lock Newport and Middletown into a separate school model for the foreseeable future, with no guaranteed savings or educational benefits. RIDE has stated that they would support future regionalization discussions if Question 5 fails, including a path to combined schools. We can do better.
The deliberation on a two-tiered residential tax program will continue during this week’s Council meeting. Following discussion during last month’s workshop and Council meeting, the City Solicitor prepared some additional amendments to make the program more effective in focusing on year-round residents. This program is aimed at incentivizing year-round residency, including renters. The amendments would allow for the resident tax rate to apply to an individual’s owner-occupied home and other properties they own with year-round tenants. It is crucial that renters are included as we continue to work on improving the cost of living for residents, as this amendment allows.
I worked with Councilor McCalla on a resolution to re-establish the Tax Relief Ad-Hoc Committee to study the implementation and effectiveness of the two-tiered tax program. The re-established Committee would also assist with developing a communications strategy to enroll residents. The Committee would present the Council with their findings next summer to be used as a tool to refine the tax program.
The Council will also be voting on an update to the City’s Hazard Mitigation Plan; this plan is required to be updated every five years to ensure Newport’s eligibility for mitigation grant funding. The City needs outside funding and grants to implement solutions to stormwater runoff, sea-level rise, flooding, and other Climate Change related issues. This updated plan will guide the City in tackling these hazards.
I’m closing out this newsletter with another reminder to vote on Monday at City Hall or Tuesday at your polling place. We’ve seen local elections decided by a handful of votes, and it is local government that most impacts your day-to-day life. Your vote matters and can be used to effect change. I urge you to keep that in mind as you make your choices on November 8th.
Councilor Bova's Update for October 10th
During this Wednesday’s City Council meeting, we will consider a resolution to maintain public access to a portion of Newport’s waterfront. Access to the waterfront is at risk on Walnut Street and Chestnut Street in the Point neighborhood due to increased parking at key access points to the water. Public rights of way are being blocked by vehicles and leading to the appearance that the areas are private property. The Council will be voting on a resolution directing City staff to develop ordinances to prohibit parking in the public rights of way on Walnut Street and Chestnut Street.
The City’s Affirmative Action Plan has not been updated since 2006, and the position of Affirmative Action Officer has been vacant for over a year. I worked with Councilor McCalla to put forward a resolution for the City to develop an update to that plan and to fill the position of Affirmative Action Officer with a full-time employee. Doing this will aid the City in focusing on the diversity of our workforce and evaluating compliance with diversity laws and policies within schools and businesses in Newport. We are a diverse community here in Newport, and our City staff should reflect that reality.
A workshop on a proposed two-tiered residential tax program will be held on October 25th at 5:30 in City Hall. This proposal from staff comes out of the work of the Taxation Relief Ad-Hoc Committee that City Council formed in September of last year. The Council received the Committee report in April of this year and directed City staff to develop ordinance language to enact the recommendations.
After receiving a memo from the City Solicitor informing the Council that a proposed ordinance was ready for consideration, I requested a workshop to allow for discussion and public deliberation. The proposed two-tiered residential tax structure would establish one rate for year-round residents, including properties with year-round tenants, and another higher rate for properties with non-year-round occupants, such as properties used as second homes or short-term rentals. I feel strongly that the City must do more to make Newport more affordable for our year-round residents and that any potential changes to our tax code must include language to include our year-round renters. I look forward to the discussion and hope that we are able to enact changes that benefit all Newporters.
The Council is holding a workshop on October 19th at 5:30 to discuss the conceptual plan for the Easton’s Beach reconstruction and renovation. The Beach Commission, City staff, and consultants have been working on this plan. The presentation has not yet been posted on the City website, but I will update you all when it is made public.
With the November 8th election fast approaching, I want to remind you of a few key dates relating to voting. If you plan to vote by mail, the deadline to submit your application is Tuesday, October 18th. Early voting will be available from October 19th through November 7th. To ensure that you are amply informed to make your voting choices about municipal candidates, you can watch interviews with What’s Up Newp and view the recent forums for School Committee and City Council At-Large.
Councilor Bova's Update for September 25th
With the November 8th General Election fast approaching, I want to remind you of a few key dates again. The deadline to register to vote in is October 9th. If you plan to vote by mail, the deadline to submit your application is Tuesday, October 18th. Early voting will be available from October 19th through November 7th. There are candidate forums for School Committee on September 29th and City Council on October 6th, both at 6:30 pm at Innovate Newport.
This week’s City Council meeting has a relatively light docket. We have the second reading of the entertainment license for Gurney’s, which I talked about in last week’s newsletter. The meeting should be available for live streaming, although virtual participation is still not back in operation. Virtual participation in public meetings has been a game changer and needs to return – I am committed to working with the City to bring this service to our residents again.
The Carpionato Group has recently stated that they will put forward development plans for the Newport Grand property within the next two weeks. The group paused its development when the City declared a moratorium in the North End to allow for the development of the North End Urban Plan and associated zoning. In enacting the North End zoning with amendments and contributions from the Local Advisory Group, Newport became the first City in Rhode Island to enact zoning with an eye toward equitable development. We now have zoning in place that puts our residents first and will guide this development in a way that benefits the North End Community and the City as a whole. The fact that the Carpionato Group is still planning its development shows that resident-first zoning is not harmful to business; it is crucial to building a successful future for Newport.
Councilor Bova's Update for September 11
Today, we remember the lives we lost on September 11th, 2001; we honor their memory, the courage of our first responders, and the families forever changed by that day.
There is a resolution on this week’s docket to establish a School Regionalization Academic Advisory Committee. This resolution is the definition of too little, too late. While establishing this Committee would be beneficial if regionalization does indeed move forward, those who are pushing for regionalization should have done this at the beginning of the regionalization discussions. So far, the entire approach to regionalization has been done by half-measure and without proper time given to consultants, the public, and the schools.
The Academic Advisory Committee resolution lacks specificity – there are no guidelines for Committee membership, and there is no timeline for appointment. The resolution also includes direction for the Newport City Council to engage the Middletown Town Council to “prioritize and commit the use of reimbursement funds” to create an endowment but no timeline to establish this fund. This Council cannot commit to creating that endowment because a new Council will be in office by the time any funds are made available. This resolution is a hollow promise and yet another half-measure without any teeth. There are only two months to election day, and there are still no hard commitments from either Newport or Middletown – no concrete data on how educational outcomes could be improved or how money would be saved. I will continue to advocate that there is no need for Newport to rush into a second-rate regionalization plan.
Wednesday’s Council meeting will begin with a public hearing on an amendment to the FY2023 City Budget. The most recent contract with Waste Management exceeded the budgeted amount by $575,000. Waste Management was the only bid received by the City for this service, meaning that the City doesn’t have any other option for service and continuing trash pick-up.
I’m sure many of you have seen that the ownership of Gurney’s Hotel is changing hands. Related to that, the liquor license transfer and application for a new entertainment license are on this week’s docket. I bring this up because many residents are concerned that the new owners would seek to remove the restrictions on the entertainment license given to Gurney’s. The application includes the same conditions that are currently in place and that help provide a balance between residents and businesses.
Just a reminder, candidate forums are coming soon at Innovate Newport: Newport School Committee on September 29th at 5:30pm and Newport City Council on October 6th at 5:30pm.
Councilor Bova's Update for September 5, 2022
Tomorrow we are one week out from the Primary Election, September 13th. Early voting has been open since August 24th and will remain available until Monday, September 12th. Please visit the Secretary of State's website to view a sample ballot and double-check your polling place.
This year's general election is on Tuesday, November 8th. The deadline to register to vote in the general election is October 9th. If you are planning to vote by mail in the general election, the deadline to submit your mail ballot application is Tuesday, October 18th. Early voting for the general election will be available from October 19th through November 7th.
Voting is always essential and local elections are especially so. Local government impacts the everyday life of all residents; the City Council and School Committee shape the future of our City. Your vote helps determine who is doing that work. To help you make your decision, there are candidate forums for School Committee on September 29th and City Council on October 6th, both at 5:30 pm at Innovate Newport.
Councilor Bova's Update for August 21
This Wednesday's City Council meeting will include a discussion of school regionalization and my proposal that we postpone the ballot vote. I put forward this proposal because I recognize the potential benefits of regionalization with combined school facilities, but that is not what has been offered so far. The consultants have not addressed the impact of separate facilities, and there is no proposed plan to expand educational offerings when students are split between buildings across two communities. Additionally, the presentations and report from the consultant have all been focused on comparing the proposed Middletown-Newport district to districts with combined school facilities; the assessment does not consider the cost of maintaining a district with an oversized facilities footprint. There are significant blind spots in the analysis up to this point.
I chose to submit a resolution to delay the ballot vote rather than cancel it entirely because I believe that Middletown and Newport could work together to make a truly regionalized district a reality. Right now, we are rushing toward a future that would keep us locked into a model with separate schools in Middletown and Newport for decades to come. We are focused on meeting the reimbursement deadline, but in doing so, we will be building the wrong buildings. There will still be added reimbursement available if we wait and work together on a path forward that involves merging our facilities. Newport would need to take an active role in the Middletown School Building Committee's plans so they could be shaped for a unified future. If we do this, regionalization could be a success. Let's take the time now to work together and focus on how to build the right buildings for our educational and financial future. I believe our communities and students will be better off for it.
More community meetings to discuss regionalization are scheduled for tomorrow, August 22, 3:30-5:30 pm and 6:00-8:00 pm at the Knights of Columbus in Middletown. A zoom session is scheduled for Tuesday, August 23 at 6:00 pm. It is vital to continue to make your voice heard at these community meetings and during Wednesday's City Council meeting.
Councilor Bova's Update for August 7
Tonight's newsletter will have fewer links to primary sources than I usually include. The City Council docket for August 10th is posted on the City website without supporting enclosures, so important information has not been made available online for easy access. This is another frustrating example of how often transparency and process fall apart within the City. I understand that mistakes happen and things can sometimes slip through the cracks, but the consistency with which incidents like this occur is frustrating and concerning. It reveals that the culture of our City government continues to fail to prioritize transparency and responsiveness to Newport residents.
This week’s docket should have included a report from the City’s consultants on regionalization, as directed by a resolution the Council passed on May 25th directing that a comprehensive preliminary report be given to the Council on August 10th. Instead of that report, the docket includes a letter from the City Manager stating, “the consultants are in the process of finalizing a report to date on the issue of regionalization.” Along with this letter is the presentation from the July 25th information sessions and some high-level financial information; this information was already available on the regionalization website. This failure to respond to a clear policy direction is demonstrative of the superficial effort that has been carried out to investigate the pros and cons of regionalization for Newport students and their educational outcomes.
In a little over three months, the voters of Newport and Middletown will be asked to make a decision on regionalization. The Middletown and Newport Councils have only been discussing regionalization publicly since May, and just two rounds of information sessions with public input have been held thus far. Additional information sessions are planned for August and September, but this is a far cry from the extensive study that the State typically requires for regionalization. As of today, no credible information or data on how regionalization would benefit our students has been made available to the City Council or the public. The City and our consultants have failed to provide anything more than hypothetical and potential scenarios that have not held up to questioning. Middletown and Newport officials have dismissed the more rigorous process dictated by the State and the Newport City staff has further dismissed the direction of its elected governing body. It is a disservice to our residents and students to continue pushing for this vote when there is insufficient information and a lack of due diligence.
Councilor Bova's Update for July 31
Last week’s Council meeting included a long discussion with multiple votes on which recommendations from the Charter Review Commission would go onto November’s ballot. During Wednesday’s Council meeting discussion and Tuesday’s workshop on the Commission’s report, we discussed some of the proposed amendments and the need for the Charter Commission to continue its work. Wednesday’s discussion was hard to follow at times; I want to ensure that everyone understands which items to expect on the ballot and what we need to focus on for the next Charter review.
The Charter Commission recommended a total of 37 amendments, a few of which could have significantly impacted how the City is governed. I broke down those proposed changes in my newsletter a few weeks ago. During Wednesday’s meeting, the discussion on the Charter began with amending the resolution placing Charter amendments on the ballot to consider only thirteen of the proposed amendments from the Commission. This decision was based on the memo sent from the City Solicitor regarding which items he and his staff recommended. The Newport Daily News has a good breakdown of those thirteen items and how we voted. I want to use this newsletter to explain which items will be on the ballot and what they mean.
The five amendments from the Charter Review Commission list below will be on November’s ballot.
Section 2-18 Quorum; Procedure, replace the line “All members of the Council present must vote on any question coming before it, unless they disclose a personal interest therein and are excused by vote of the remaining members or are barred by law.” With “All members of the Council present must vote on any question coming before it, unless they recuse themselves on the question before the Council on ethical or other legal grounds.”
This change clarifies the language on Council members recusing themselves from a vote; it does not change any of the current laws or procedures.
Section 3-2 Nomination Papers; Signatures, the Charter will be updated to require At-Large Councilors and School Committee members to collect one hundred signatures, rather than fifty, to be placed on the ballot.
This update will bring the Charter into compliance with Rhode Island general law. The Canvassing Clerk recommended this change. The State law takes precedence, so candidates have been required to collect 100 signatures already. It does not change any current laws or procedures.
Section 4-6 Canvassing Authority, the proposal would remove all of the Charter’s language and replace it with “There shall be a Canvassing Authority pursuant to General Laws of the State of Rhode Island.”
Rhode Island general law supersedes the City’s Charter, so the Canvassing Clerk requested this update to ensure that we remain in compliance. It does not change any current laws or procedures.
Section 4-7 Trust and Investment Commission, the proposal would update the language in this section to be clearer. The full proposed change can be found here and will be printed in full on the ballot.
This change was requested by the Chair of the Trust and Investment Commission to clarify the Commission’s role better. It was also recommended by the City Solicitor. It does not change any current laws or procedures.
Section 6-4 Oath of Office, Replace “Every officer, elected or appointed, shall take and subscribe the following” with “Any elected or appointed individual assuming a city role or job, may be required to take and subscribe to the following”. Additionally, in the language of the Oath of Office, “and Providence Plantations” was removed.
This change came out of discussion with the City Director of Human Resources. It will clarify who takes the Oath of Office and remove outdated language since the State changed its name. It does not change any current laws or procedures.
As you can see, the five items that will be on the ballot are all focused on updating and clarifying language in the Charter. While it is important to update the language in the Charter to ensure clarity, none of these changes will have any impact on how the City runs. The more substantial proposals from the Commission did not make it to the ballot and there was little to no discussion on them during the Council meeting. I was discouraged that some members of the Council did not engage with the Charter Commission’s report critically. Items such as term limits and codifying a code of ethics are not attacks on individual Councilors or this Council as a whole. We need to approach governing documents like the Charter and our ordinances with the understanding that they will be in use for years to come. They must hold up to scrutiny no matter who is holding office.
The need for a more thorough review of the City’s Charter was brought up consistently throughout the Charter Commission’s report. The Commission had only four months to conduct its review and noted inconsistencies, outdated language, and errors in the Charter. I agree with the Commission’s recommendation to bring in an outside consultant to conduct a technical review of the Charter. This review should be done with an equity lens to recommend any changes that would make the implementation of the Charter more equitable. The next Council can continue this work and ensure that Wednesday night’s meeting and the election in November is not the end of the work on the Charter for another ten years.
Councilor Bova's Update for July 10
In May, the Council received the report from the Charter Review Commission with several recommended changes to Newport’s governing Charter. During this Wednesday’s Council meeting, we will vote on which of these proposed Charter amendments will be presented to the voters of Newport on the ballot in November. Most recommendations are to clarify language and generally make the Charter easier for the average person to read. Three proposed changes have the potential to change Newport and the City Council significantly.
The Commission was given only four months by the Council to study the Charter, garner public feedback from across the City, and draft their report. This has led to some of the proposed amendments lacking a clear rationale for why they are needed and the intended impact. The government must present voters with valid choices and well-defined reasoning when asking them to vote.
The proposal to remove Ward Councilors and have seven At-Large Councilors has the potential to isolate our neighborhoods and could allow for all seven Councilors to live in one area of the City. Ward Councilors have the difficult task of simultaneously serving all of Newport and their individual wards. In their capacity as Ward Councilors, they take on more neighborhood-specific issues. Ward seats allow Councilors to act as a voice for often underrepresented communities and give neighborhood perspectives on broader City-wide issues. The great work Councilor McCalla has done for the North End while serving as the Ward 1 Councilor comes to mind. Moving to all At-Large Councilors could lead to an imbalance of power, and I do not support putting the possible disenfranchisement of Newport voters on the ballot.
A proposed Charter change would make the At-Large Councilor who receives the highest number of votes the Council Chair with the ceremonial title of Mayor. The role of the Mayor in Newport tends to be misunderstood. Currently, any of the four At-Large Councilors can be chosen by the entire City Council to serve as Council Chair and Mayor. It is not a separately elected position, and there is no additional power or weight to their vote. I have long believed that using the title of Mayor when Newport has a City Council – City Manager form of government is confusing to residents and visitors alike. We do not have a strong Mayor; we have a Council Chair that acts as Mayor in a ceremonial capacity.
There has been a debate surrounding how the Council Chair is chosen for decades and I do not think this proposal offers a true solution. Having the candidate with the most votes become Chair doesn’t allow the residents to actually choose the Chair and Mayor in a pick-four election. A candidate receiving the highest number of votes does not mean they have the skills to be Council Chair. What matters when choosing a Council Chair is leadership ability, communication skills, and the ability to run a Council meeting clearly and effectively. How a Council meeting is managed has a significant impact on the transparency and effectiveness of a Council. I do not believe this proposed change truly addresses the concerns voiced in the community, and it will lead to further confusion regarding what the title of Mayor means in Newport.
Another recommended Charter amendment is to limit Councilors to four consecutive terms. This would open the door for new talent and allow experienced representatives to return after a break from the Council. Running for the first time and going up against incumbent Councilors is very difficult. Additionally, when serving for an extended time, Councilors can lose the urgency in their positions and be less inclined to fight for change in the system. The Charter Commission provided a clear rationale for this amendment, stating “Term limits provide more people in the community the opportunity to serve in elected office”.
Currently, the language that will be presented on the ballot would have all the proposed Charter amendments grouped together as one ballot question. Doing so presents the voters with a difficult choice if they do not agree with all the amendments. I believe they should be separated so that residents can vote on them individually, and I will be proposing that we split them up for the ballot.
Also on the docket is approval of a referendum ballot question on the sale of cannabis in Newport. The recent legalization of cannabis in Rhode Island allows each municipality to determine if it wishes to allow the “cultivation, manufacture, laboratory testing, and for the retail sale” of recreational cannabis. This can only be determined by voters via a ballot referendum. If voters decide recreational cannabis cam be sold in Newport, the City would be able to levy a 3% tax while the State levies a 10% tax.
Councilor Bova's Update for June 26
This weekend was Newport Pride Weekend, and it was beautiful to see the celebration of our LGBTQ+ community. Thank you to Newport Out for doing such great work for our community.
The Newport Middle Passage Project held a presentation on the memorial design that will be installed at Liberty Square. The Newport Middle Passage Project seeks to honor and memorialize enslaved Africans and acknowledge Newport’s part in the Atlantic slave trade. The presentation was moving, and the memorial will be a powerful presence in our City. More presentations are coming through the summer, and I encourage you to attend.
A Council Workshop with the Middletown Town Council to discuss regionalization is currently being scheduled for July. This workshop comes out of my resolution at the May 25th Council meeting. There are also more public information sessions coming up in July.
Regrettably, I need to mention the travesty that is the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade this week. Here in Rhode Island, a person’s right to have an abortion is codified in state law thanks to the hard work of generations of advocates. If you are searching for a way to participate in the fight to make abortion safe and legal nationwide, this article outlines a few options.
Councilor Bova's Update for June 20
Last Friday was the groundbreaking at Rogers High School! It was an inspiring day, and I look forward to seeing the work on the new building commence. This new school is an excellent opportunity for our students and our community.
The City Council is meeting this Wednesday with a relatively light docket once again. Due to the ongoing issues with the City’s computer network, we will not be able to livestream the meeting for virtual participation. The meeting will be recorded with the video uploaded to the City’s website later in the week.
Two in-person sessions on the proposed district regionalization with Middletown were held today with participation from residents of Middletown and Newport. I was able to attend one of the sessions, and residents from both communities had many questions and concerns about the proposal. It remains very unclear what the students would gain from regionalizing only our administration, and whether this administrative change would benefit Newport at all. The consultant mentioned that they are on an unusually short schedule, and I remain concerned that we are forcing the voters to make a decision without due diligence.
This week there are two more virtual information sessions about the regionalization question: Tuesday June 21st at 6 pm in English and Wednesday June 22nd at 6 pm in Spanish. These sessions will be hosted on Zoom by the consultants Woolpert and Cooperative Strategies. The consultants have launched a survey asking residents what they envision for a regionalized school district without combined schools. There will also be more information sessions as the consultants continue their research.
Councilor Bova's Update for June 5, 2022
The School Building Committee is meeting tomorrow, Monday, June 6, at 5:30 at Pell Elementary School to discuss the progress and status of the Pell School addition and the Rogers construction. There is also a Newport Transportation Master Plan Open House at 6:30 City Hall on Monday.
The City Council is meeting this Wednesday at 6:30, and we have a fairly light docket this week. You can join us in person at City Hall or virtually via WebEx. If you join us virtually, you can still comment and participate in the meeting.
Congratulations to all the Rogers High School graduates and their families! Graduation is this Thursday, June 9 at Toppa Field.
City Council & School Committee Workshop
I hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed the unofficial start to summer while still taking a moment to remember those who sacrificed their lives in service of our nation and its people.
The City Council and School Committee are holding a joint workshop tomorrow at 5:30 in City Hall to discuss the proposed merging of our School Administration with Middletown. I maintain my skepticism about the potential benefit for Newport students and residents and whether this is the right first step towards a regional school district. This workshop will be the first time the Council and School Committee are meeting publicly on regionalization. It is so important that we have ample public input. I hope that you can attend in person or virtually.
Councilor Bova's Update for May 22
Wednesday’s Council meeting begins with the second Public Hearing on the FY2022-FY2023 Budget.
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and Newport will be holding celebrations in honor of our LGBTQ+ community. As part of this, there is a resolution on Wednesday’s docket requesting that three crosswalks around Equality Park be painted in rainbow pride colors in celebration. Newport has a vibrant and thriving LGBTQ+ community, and having rainbow crosswalks will serve as a symbol of support and recognition from the City.
Last Monday, the City Council held a Special Meeting to consider Middletown’s proposal to create a regionalized School District with separate schools. The public expressed concern that there had been no public discussion and information to understand the implications of regionalization. My motion to amend the resolution to include another chance to consider the proposal was voted down, so I voted against the proposal because I felt that it is moving too quickly without enough information or engagement. To attempt to address these concerns, I have submitted a resolution for Wednesday’s meeting detailing a plan to ensure that both the Council and the residents can get the information we all need to make thoughtful and informed decisions on this significant ballot measure that will have long term consequences for our community.
Special Council Meeting on Proposed Regionalization
Tomorrow night, the City Council is holding a special meeting after our budget workshop to vote on a resolution advancing the creation of a Regional School District with Middletown. I have several concerns about regionalization at this moment in time, primarily regarding the apparent rush to hold a vote before there have been any public meetings on the topic. I need to understand how this proposed merger will benefit our students before being asked to vote on this topic. The educational merit of the proposal is the most important component.
There are two upcoming Open Houses on the Newport Transportation Master Plan on Tuesday, May 17 at 5:30 at the Newport Library and Wednesday, May 18 at 5:30 at Pell Elementary School.
Councilor Bova's Update for May 8
This week’s City Council meeting opens with a public hearing on the proposed FY2023 City budget. We have held a series of budget workshops over the last few weeks, with the final workshop scheduled for Monday, May 16 at 5:30 pm.
Since the workshop on Broadway’s expanded outdoor dining, I worked with Councilor Holder and some of our local Broadway businesses to put together a resolution with a proposed draft ordinance to allow “street cafes.” Street cafes would be the seasonal usage of parking areas for outdoor dining. The proposed ordinance establishes standards and regulations for these street cafes and permits their continued use in a way that is beneficial to our businesses and our residents.
The Charter Review Commission has completed its work, and its report with recommendations will be delivered to the Council this week. The Commission recommends several different changes, which are outlined in the report. The two most significant changes would be getting rid of Ward-specific seats and making the candidate who receives the highest number of votes automatically become the Mayor. On Wednesday, the Council will just be receiving the report and will likely ask the City Solicitor to review the recommendations. In the near future we will have to consider these recommendations as a body and place them on the November ballot for voter consideration.
I spent the bulk of my newsletter last week discussing my concerns with Middletown’s proposal of regionalizing with Newport. Both Councils have had Executive Sessions, but there have yet to be any public meetings to discuss the proposal. There was originally going to be an item on this Wednesday’s docket regarding regionalization, but the City Manager has pulled it because it is apparently not yet ready for a vote. This speaks to how much discussion is needed on this topic. We need to have a public workshop so that our residents can understand what the proposal looks like and have the opportunity to ask questions and comment – this should happen before the Council takes any vote.
Councilor Bova's Update for May 2
Mark your calendars - there are two upcoming Open Houses on the Newport Transportation Master Plan on Tuesday, May 17 at 5:30 at the Newport Library, and Wednesday, May 18 at 5:30 at Pell Elementary School.
The Council is holding another budget workshop this Thursday at 5:30 in City Hall. This workshop will focus on the Police & Parking Fund, the Fire Department, Public Services, and the Harbor Fund. The Council has a final budget workshop on May 16 at 5:30 in City Hall focusing on the Water and Pollution Control budget. Both of these workshops will allow for virtual participation and if you join the meetings virtually, I’d love to hear your impressions.
Following our workshop this Thursday, the Council will be going into Executive Session to discuss the potential school regionalization with Middletown. Newport approached Middletown in 2019 to consider regionalization with the goal of building a consolidated, state-of-the-art high school to improve the educational opportunities for students in both communities with significant reimbursement from the State. After hours of testimony from the public and state and local officials, Middletown ultimately decided not to consider regionalization three years ago.
Now Middletown has proposed regionalization as they are faced with a possible $90 million bill for repairs to their high school, with only the minimum reimbursement from the State. The financial incentive for regionalization has been clear to Newporters for years, but it isn’t clear how combining districts without a concrete plan to improve the programs and facilities will benefit the education of students in Newport and Middletown.
I need to understand how this new merger proposal will benefit our students. I understand how combining a high school and increasing educational opportunities would improve students’ education in both communities, but I am not sure how much that translates when only district administrations are combined. How will it be determined which students going to which school? How will we prevent segregation so that one school is all vocational and the other is all on a college track? In Newport we have been working hard to provide all students enriching classroom and technical education and an equally enriching diverse community; we are building a high school designed to integrate our technical and classroom education classes to give each student the best Rogers education. It would be wrong to allow a merger with Middletown to undermine that work. If we are expected to make this decision, we need answers to these questions.
A regional school district on the island has the potential to provide our students with enormous educational opportunities, but only if the communities focus on the educational outcomes of such changes. In Newport we have always understood the financial benefits of regionalization, and we balanced our books after Middletown rejected our proposal to discuss the feasibility of regionalization three years ago. Any discussion we have on this latest proposal must be based on the educational merits for the combined student body – we can’t simply fund a new school for Middletown at the expense of Newport students. We need to hear from the professional educators in both communities on the benefits of an administrative regionalization before I can support Middletown’s proposal.
Councilor Bova's Update for March 27
The School Building Committee is meeting this Monday at 5:30 pm at Pell Elementary School. The School Building Committee is a body made up of community members, teachers and faculty, School Committee members, City Council members, City staff, and others. We are charged with overseeing the design and construction of the addition at Pell School and the new Rogers High School. During Monday’s meeting, we will be receiving an update from the SLAM Collaborative, the designers of the new Rogers High School, and a progress report on the construction at Pell School. These meetings are open to the public and I encourage you to attend to keep up to date on both projects.
This Wednesday the Council will be holding another workshop on food trucks and where they should be allowed in the City. We are meeting at 6:30 in the Council Chambers. You may remember that in 2019, the Council spent multiple meetings and many hours deliberating on the ordinances governing food trucks in Newport. We decided to go with a zoning-based approach when determining which areas of the City to allow them. Since then, debate continued centered on a section of Bellevue Ave based on councilors’ misunderstanding of the City’s zoning. As our ordinances stand today, food trucks may operate in all zoning districts where restaurants are allowed by right, so long as they are not closer than 250 feet to a restaurant. Now we may be looking at moving away from a zoning-based ordinance to restricting the food trucks to set locations throughout the City. I still believe that the current regulations are both clear and fair to business, but I am open to revisiting this idea as long as we can come up with a consistent plan for regulating food trucks across the City. I look forward to the discussion and hearing from residents and local businesses on the topic.
Councilor Bova's Update for March 20
The City Council is meeting in person this week for our regular meeting. We will be taking our second vote on the ordinance to disallow whole-home short-term rentals in residential zones in Newport. As I have previously written, I am firmly in favor of this ordinance change. These short-term rentals take away housing stock that could be utilized by year-round residents and negatively impact our neighborhoods and community.
The City’s Department of Utilities has been working with an engineering consultant on a drainage investigation and flooding analysis for the White Ave area. This investigation has shown that stormwater mitigation requires a comprehensive approach with the participation of both public and private projects. The Department is now recommending that a city-wide stormwater ordinance be developed to aid this approach. An agreement to partner with the same engineering consultant is on this week’s docket and would bring the ordinance to fruition by July.
As the General Assembly considers allowing quadricycle passenger vehicles (also known as pedal crawlers or party bikes), a resolution on the Council docket would ban them within the City. The resolution cites generic congestion as the reason for banning these alternative vehicles and implies that the quadricycles would negatively impact congestion without evidence. The recently published Existing Conditions Report of the Transportation Master Plan shows that residents support alternative transportation options in Newport. We as a City government should not impulsively take away potential transportation and business opportunities without having a concrete examination of their impacts to the transportation network.