Photo Credit: Kenneth C. Zirkel |This work is licensed to the public under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The City of Newport is hosting a special virtual joint inauguration ceremony on Tuesday, December 1st at 5 pm as the newly-elected members of the City Council and School Committee take their oaths of office.

Jeanne-Marie Napolitano, Jamie Bova, Lynn Underwood Ceglie, and Elizabeth Fuerte will be sworn in as At-Large council members. While Angela McCalla will be sworn in as First Ward council member, Charlie Holder as Second Ward council member, and Kathryn Leonard as Third Ward Councilor.

Rebecca Bolan, Stephanie Winslow, Raymond Gomes, Sandra Flowers, Louisa Boatwright, James Dring, and Robert Leary will be sworn in as Newport School Committee Members.

This COVID-safe ceremony will include a presentation of Colors and Pledge of Allegiance by the Rogers High School JROTC; national anthem by Thompson Middle School Eight Grader Eleanor Joffre; and an invocation by the Rev. Nathan Humphrey of The Zabriskie Memorial Church of St. John the Evangelist.

State Rep. Marvin Abney (D. District 73, Newport and Middletown) will perform the Oath of Office and members of both the Council and School Committee will deliver prepared remarks via Zoom.

Immediately after being sworn in, the City Council will meet for their first meeting for the purpose of formally electing a Chair and Vice-Chair and making appointments to serve as City Solicitor, Assistant Solicitor, Probate Court Judge, and Municipal Court Judge.

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Ryan Belmore

Ryan Belmore is the Owner and Publisher of What'sUpNewp.  He has been involved with What’sUpNewp since shortly after its launch in 2012, proudly leading it to be named Best Local News Blog in Rhode Island by Rhode Island Monthly readers in 2018, 2019, and 2020 and an honorable mention in the Common Good Awards in 2021.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors for Potter League For Animals. He previously served on the boards of Fort Adams Trust, Lucy's Hearth, and the Arts & Cultural Alliance for Newport County.

In 2020, he was named Member of the Year by LION and won the Arts & Cultural Alliance of Newport County's Dominque Award.

He is a member of Local Independent Online News (LION) Publishers, the Society of Professional Journalists, and the North American Snowsports Journalists Association.

Born and raised in Rhode Island, he spent 39 years living in Rhode Island before recently moving to Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife and two rescue dogs. He still considers Rhode Island home, and visits at least once a month.