As your newly elected Newport City Councilor, I want to share an important—and often overlooked—part of how our city leadership takes shape.
Most residents may not know that the role of Council Chair, known for the title of Mayor, isn’t chosen by the voters (or automatically by the highest vote count) but rather by the incoming seven councilors themselves. What’s more, only at-large candidates are eligible for this selection.
Unfortunately, this internal process of selecting the Mayor and Vice-Chair is often rushed and one of the least transparent aspects of our council. Traditionally, the selection has been performed in a “shotgun” manner as soon as a candidate believes they’ve received the highest number of votes.
While most of us are still processing election results, the incoming Council, before even being officially sworn in, already has an organizing caucus scheduled to informally vote for the Mayor and Vice-Chair. The caucus is scheduled for this Tuesday, November 12th – less than a week after polls closed.
New council members weren’t even briefed on this process before the caucus was scheduled.
This lack of transparency is a problem.
It’s a process that needs more public input, more deliberation, and greater accountability.
Residents deserve to know more about who is running for this critical position and why they are qualified to represent all of us as Mayor. Your voices matter in shaping the future of Newport, and that includes understanding and having a say in how the leadership of Newport is chosen.
For those interested, the first Council caucus is set to take place on Tuesday, November 12, at 5:30 p.m. at Innovate Newport.
I encourage anyone who can to attend in person as these meetings are not typically recorded.
As we move forward, I’ll make it a priority to shed light on moments like these— glimpses behind the scenes that, hopefully, will allow all of us to understand the inner workings of our city.
This commitment to transparency is my pledge to you.
Steph Smyth
City Councilor At-Large Elect
