Last week the City Council held a public workshop with a presentation from the Finance Department to discuss the proposed Capital Improvement Program (CIP). This week’s Council meeting will start with a public hearing on the CIP, followed by a Council vote on the adoption. I've spoken about the CIP and its importance in previous newsletters.
On Wednesday’s docket is a resolution that I submitted in response to the Planning Board’s report on equity and inclusion in the Comprehensive Land Use Plan. The Planning Board found that although the Comp Plan did not contain explicitly racist language or policy, the absence of a focus on equity and inclusion could still lead to potentially racist outcomes. The Comp Plan is the guiding policy document for Newport and if we are to move forward as a community in an equitable way, it must include equity as a priority. The Comp Plan was always intended to be a living document that we improve and amend over time; it has to be strengthened so that it will benefit our entire community.
The passage of this resolution would allow us to begin the process of amending our Comprehensive Land Use Plan to address equity, diversity, and inclusion. There are multiple steps in this process; the Planning Board has laid out short-, medium-, and long-term recommendations to improve and strengthen the Comp Plan. There has been a lot of discussion on how to improve equity in Newport and strengthening the Comprehensive Land Use Plan is a concrete way to make improvement.
Save the date - The Council will be holding a workshop on implementing a homestead exemption in Newport on March 18 at 5 pm. Please mark your calendar and attend. If you have any questions or comments regarding a homestead exemption, please let me know.