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.