Before I dive into an in depth discussion, here are some quick highlights for the coming week:
The School Building Committee (SBC) is meeting tomorrow at 5 pm to receive the Design-Build contract recommendation from the SBC Working Group for Pell School
The City Council is meeting this Wednesday at 6:30 for our regular meeting.
The Council is considering a resolution to allow the City to begin the bond process for the Pell School addition and the new Rogers High School projects.
The question of whether food trucks should remain on Bellevue was continued from the last Council meeting and we will be taking it up this Wednesday. I covered this in-depth in my last newsletter.
I want to take some time in this newsletter to talk about equity and City Planning. This has been an ongoing conversation on the City Council with our Community, primarily focusing on how we can do better. The Council approved the North End Urban Plan (NEUP) recently and while that is an excellent step, there is still a lot of work to be done.
This Tuesday, we are holding a workshop with the Planning Board and Smart Growth America to discuss equitable development in Newport, and specifically the North End. Newport residents and community stakeholders sought out Smart Growth America (SGA) to consult with them as our Community stays engaged with the implementation of the NEUP policies. When SGA meets with the Council and the Planning Board on Tuesday, the conversation will help us to better understand what equitable and inclusive development means to our residents and what we as the City Government can be doing to accomplish it.
Since the summer, the Planning Board has been studying whether they had unintentionally permitted unfair racial outcomes in their decision making. As part of the effort, the Board has been reviewing how our Comprehensive Land Use Plan addresses equity and how it can be improved, and the Council will be receiving a report of their review at this week’s meeting. Newport’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan is the guiding policy document for the City, and the Planning Board found that it does not adequately address diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Board recommends beginning the process of amending the Comprehensive Land Use Plan to correct these omissions. In order for that occur, the Council must introduce and then pass a resolution directing the Board to begin this work and following through on the recommendations they made in their report. I will make sure that we follow through and keep moving forward.
Access to information is necessary for all Newport residents. We have a large Spanish-speaking community, and they are not always able to adequately interact with City government because information is not always available in Spanish. On this week’s docket, we have a resolution that would direct the City Manager to establish a Language Access Plan that would allow the City to translate documents into Spanish and other languages so that we can meet the needs of all our residents.
The work of weaving equity and inclusivity into our City's policies and practices is ongoing. I am committed to this work, and to ensuring that each voice in our Community is heard.