Today, the City of Newport announced that it has added a new bilingual problem-solving team member to its staff in an effort to make City Hall more accessible.
Keiry Lopez, a Newport resident with deep community knowledge, was recently hired as the City’s first Community Liaison. According to a press release from the City, the position is dedicated to answering resident questions and addressing neighborhood concerns.
The position was first proposed last year during the City Council’s Strategic Goal-Setting sessions. As part of the City’s new Communications Department, Lopez oversees an overhaul of the City’s popular 311 ReportIt! Newport system while also working to strengthen relationships with local community groups, according to the city.
Fluent in both English and Spanish with a working knowledge of Portuguese, Lopez has also been bridging language barriers for constituents inside and outside City Hall since coming on board earlier this spring.
Prior to joining the City, Lopez had been employed by the Newport Community School and Newport Public Schools, working primarily with multilingual learners. In her new role, she’s helping residents resolve a wide variety of requests, from potholes and zoning infractions to day-to-day questions related to doing business at City Hall.
Looking ahead, the City of Newport says that plans are underway to begin hosting open office hours at various locations around town and introducing new metrics to track the progress of individual constituent requests.
“If you’d like assistance to address a neighborhood request or need language assistance while visiting City Hall, please don’t hesitate to reach out to KLopez@CityofNewport.com or 401-845-5335,” the City of Newport shares.
