Tyler Romero shares why he was running for Newport City Council At-Large, and why he's now withdrawing from the race

Tyler Romero, one of the ten candidates who had declared their candidacy for Newport City Council At-Large, today shared with What’sUpNewp why he entered the race and why he has decided to withdraw from the race.

Romero provided What’sUpNewp with the following letter on Friday morning;

“My Candidacy for City Council – Envisioning a Better Newport

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

For those of you I haven’t met yet, my name is Tyler Romero and I’d like to explain why I entered the race for Newport City Council At-Large, why I’m withdrawing today, and where I hope we are headed as a community moving forward.

I fell in love with Newport the second I moved to the Island and dove headfirst into my community by meeting people, rolling up my sleeves, and getting to work. With my background in government experience in other municipalities, I immediately wanted to get involved here. Over the past few months, I’ve had numerous coffee chats with passionate community members, attended City Council meetings, joined the NDCC, reached out to other nonprofits, and was recently appointed to Newport’s Affirmative Action Commission.

My conversations have largely focused on prioritizing pedestrian-centric transportation, praising the virtues of resilient housing, brainstorming actionable solutions for individuals experiencing homelessness, and ways to strengthen the responsiveness of our local government.

To that end, and like others have mentioned, there were only five candidates declared for the At-Large seats near the end of the declaration period. I decided to run for the At-Large position because of my fervent belief that civic participation creates a healthy democracy. The foundation of my campaign was going to derive from my experience as a Parks and Recreation board member, law clerk for a district attorney, legal extern for a United States Senator, a student of law, and teacher’s assistant in constitutional law. I continue to believe that I would be an asset on the City Council with my skills at both analyzing challenging municipal issues and engaging thoughtfully with all types of community members.

The main reason that I am deciding to withdraw today is because of the expansive field for At-Large candidates, which is now at ten, giving voters more options. I look forward to engaging with community members, press for a more substantive debate process, and be of service to my community in any way that I can.

The future of Newport looks bright . . . but it is going to take work. I encourage Newport voters to seek candidates that have substance. This means candidates that have experience, education, and drive. I want to thank all the people I’ve met these past few months. Like you, I will be watching this election closely, and I guarantee that you will see me around town. If you would like to connect, please direct message me on Twitter @TylerRomeroNPT or email me at TylerRomeroNPT@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Tyler Romero”

Candidates are now in the process of collecting at least 50 signatures from registered voters by the end of the day today. If there are more than eight candidates in the At-Large race, there will be a primary race in September to narrow the race down to just eight candidates for the November General Election.

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