What’sUpNewp recently sent every candidate for Newport City Council At-Large a questionnaire, an opportunity we hope will help voters get to know the candidates and learn about what they think are some of the most significant issues ahead of the November 5 General Election.
What’sUpNewp is reprinting these as they were provided to us.
Stephanie Smyth
Stephanie Smyth is a candidate for Newport City Council At-Large in the November 5 General Election.
Occupation:
Contracting Officer Representative at the Naval War College
Bio:
Born and raised in Newport, I attended Roger’s and graduated in 1992. While attending Rhode Island College, I worked for the Newport School Department as a substitute para-educator for grades K-12 and worked for various Newport restaurants. After college I got a job with Fidelity Investments in Smithfield where I worked on processing and managing non-retirement mutual fund accounts.
I stayed with Fidelity for 3 years and then took a job with Fairfield Resorts (now Wyndham Resorts) and was a hotel sales and marketing manager for 5 years. In 2006, I started working for the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) where, over the next 17 years, I worked as a Contracts Negotiator and Contracting Officer, and for the National Association for Government Employees (NAGE SEIU) Union as a Labor Negotiator, Union Steward, and eventually Vice President. I also served on the Federal Women’s Program Committee with the Equal Employment Opportunities Office and was a Process Improvement Facilitator and Instructor. I left NUWC in 2023 to pursue a job opportunity with the Naval War College as a Contracting Officer Representative managing the largest contract that the War College has for their Academics Services and I’m also a Workforce Resolution Facilitator.
In addition to my professional work, I served with organizations such as the NAACP Newport Chapter, the Newport Democratic City Committee, and Involve Newport.
Over the past few years, I’ve also served the City of Newport through my appointments to the Tree and Open Space and Affirmative Action Commissions – both of which I continue to serve on today.
And in 2022 I was tapped to join the Charter Review Commission, where I learned a great deal about our City’s governing document and the unresolved work that remains. It’s imperative we ensure our Charter not only brings Newport into the present day but also sets us up for success in the future. As such I strongly believe in terms limits so I will only run for and hopefully if elected, serve two (2) terms of office.
Tell us something fun or interesting about yourself:
I’m writing a novel and a few children’s books.
Rank the following issues from most to least important (ok to put numbers on the right):
- Ethics #6
- Increasing density #9
- Historic preservation #8
- Crime/safety #1
- Affordable housing #2
- Equity #3
- Environmental protection #5
- Economy/inflation #7
- Other – Infrastructure #4
What are the biggest problems facing Newport right now?
Affordable Housing, Quality Education, Environment and Resiliency, and Transportation and Infrastructure.
What’s your top policy priority?
Housing
What qualifies you for the office?
I feel as though my professional work history in hospitality, travel and tourism, finance, government contracting, negotiations, labor disputes, handling grievances, process improvements, and facilitation, along with my knowledge and experience on various municipal commissions will be a benefit to serving on council.
What’s the city’s biggest long-term challenge?
Environment and Resiliency
What is Newport’s greatest strength, and how would you utilize it?
Tourism, it’s the bread and butter of our economy. We don’t leverage it enough. I think it would be beneficial for our city to work with Discover Newport and any other tourism entity to find ways to leverage tourism to the benefit of the city and its residents. I would like to see a Tourism Commission that’s comprised of residents, business owners, and representatives from Discover Newport to find the best way to achieve this.
What ideas do you have to make the City more affordable and/or livable for its residents?
Newport isn’t the only community that is facing this issue and yet we keep spending money on consultants to tell us that we have an issue, but they aren’t exactly providing us with specific solutions. Why are we trying to recreate the wheel when we can research and connect with other communities that have done well with handling this issue. We need an Attainable Housing Commission that is comprised of homeowners, renters, business owners, and individuals that have backgrounds in real estate, taxes, and planning.
How can the city raise the revenue needed to fund the list of large infrastructure projects that need funding now and in the near future?
Again, I don’t think that we’re leveraging the money that the tourism industry brings to Newport, so we need to study that and find ways to make it work better for our community. I do support the General Obligation bond that will help us to invest in infrastructure resiliency.
What should be done about climate change in the City?
Much like the affordable and livable question above, climate change impacts aren’t specific to just Newport. There are many other seaside cities that are dealing with similar issues to Newport like Boston, New Orleans, and San Francisco. So, it would be a benefit to Newport to build a coalition of coastal communities facing resiliency issues and share information and ideas. We also need to tap into our own community and existing commissions, such as the Waterfront, Beach, etc. to help lay the groundwork. And we need to empower academia, the private sector, and nonprofits alike to get in the same room to talk about problems and innovate solution.
Anything else you’d like to share:
One question I get asked the most is am I related to Smyth Painting. And yes, that is my brothers’, Doug and Eric’s, business. As a public figure I feel as though this has been beneficial to me because I understand how hard it is for someone to run a small business and the importance of small businesses to our community.
