I approached my term as Mayor of Newport as a “lunchbox” Mayor. I rolled up my sleeves and went to work. I did not take our Charter for granted and delved into appropriately putting in place the long-needed requirements the Charter charged the Mayor and other elected and appointed officials to follow. The challenging work has been done. It will be an easy transition for leadership to continue now that the compliant groundwork and internal operational infrastructure has been set up by my work with the current Council following the Charter and Statute charges.
Council meetings are now being conducted without interruptions and emotional reactions by elected officials. Business has been carried out. Reactionary walkouts by council members are no longer. Decorum change has allowed the council to conduct council business and discussions and proper interaction by the residents has been welcomed. We enabled much to happen. We moved the City from a historical momentum of being a drive through City to becoming a Drive To City.
It is with immense pride that voters saw the vision proven during my term and recognize the future of what needs to happen. The citizens have told me that they liked what they saw happening and I am humbled that they requested I run for another term. My vision supported multiple projects and capital improvements and focused on reclaiming the rightful assets of the City, as well as fixing the long-needed internal operations to aid the proper running of the City.
People told me that they weren’t being understood and that during my term they felt that they not only were welcomed and given a voice, but that their concerns were addressed. Decisions about just how cosmopolitan the people want Newport to become is an especially important discussion and requires much needed ability and guidance, clear of conflicts of interest and a divide between business vs. citizens. Now that historical practices have been shown and either changed or brought to the Council table for further decision-making, choices of projects and grants and the type of financing or what to bond for need to have expert understanding and assessment so that our people can continue to afford to live in Newport.
I spoke with Representative Brian Smith and we discussed how Derby and Newport need to unite. This is a community where Newport is the hub of the Northeast Kingdom and must work with all of its neighboring towns. These feuds of long ago need to stop.
My hope is that the City will take a slower and cautious approach to projects and grants now that the processes and a suitable Grant Manager has been put in place. These activities need to be checked and budgeted and assessed for cost and true need.
The Newport Daily Express did a PRA request for unauthorized contracts that were provided to it; however, apparently since they didn’t like what the documents showed they did not write about the results of the PRA. Biased journalism is not healthy for the City and the surrounding area. This type of unauthorized internal activity needs to be strictly overseen by the Mayor/Council to stop the ramifications of extra costs to the City and unauthorized activity and patterns of behavior that can be ingenuous. Letting this type of continued behavior occur is highly detrimental to the City and can be extremely costly and inappropriate. The Mayor is the CEO of the City and needs to work. This is not about just waving on Main Street and throwing kisses to babies. A true understanding of legal processes and upper level accounting and business municipal/legislative governmental experience is very much needed. Training wheel mayors need to be a thing of the past.
There will always be those who just want to attack, politically or for sport. Former Mayor Beth Barnes experienced it. From the very first day I took office to date this behavior has been continually predominant by some that will always create an unforeseen impact on taxpayers. So many citizens told me that they are sorry this was so outrageous and that they have never seen such a level of unconscionable behavior before. They thanked me repeatedly for the professional way it was handled. Your Mayor/CEO must be capable and needs to address and stop these activities professionally, legally, and quickly.
As your Mayor I did not let those attempts interfere with running the City. As those behaviors continue, they must not be allowed to interfere with the running of our gem of a City as specific projects need to move forward. Ethics and Conflicts of Interest are at the limelight of State and Municipal Government. There are avenues to address such concerns. I have placed these on the City Council agendas.
I will be working diligently on the various Board, Council, and Commissions that the Governor has entrusted me to with his appointments. I am grateful for that trust. And I am especially thankful to have served as your Mayor during the tumultuous time. I am proud of the Council’s progress in fixing the urgent issues and making the City compliant with strong policies that eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse. This process must continue to achieve what is needed in the revitalization plan approved by the Council.
Thank you for your confidence, Your Mayor, Linda Joy Sullivan
