Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong and Councilor Mark Aramli are responding to rumors that Easton’s Beach is for sale or facing privatization, calling such claims “utterly ridiculous” and a misrepresentation of recent public discussions about the beach’s future.
The controversy stems from a January 31 city council workshop on long-term capital project needs, where officials discussed options for addressing significant damage to beach facilities and ongoing erosion issues.
Watch the conversation on Easton’s Beach from 1:17 to 1:35 here.
On October 16, Newport Buzz posted on Instagram, “Is Easton’s Beach for sale?” and accused Mayor Khamsyvoravong and Councilor Aramli of wanting to privatize it.
The post has led to confusion and questions from Newport residents and voters, leaving some to unknowingly spread the disinformation and many more asking questions. At the same time, they seek the facts as they prepare to vote in the General Election.
On November 1, What’sUpNewp contacted Khamsyvoravong and Aramli, who are both seeking re-election to Newport City Council At-Large, to gain insight and background on their comments. Both refuted suggestions that the city is considering selling or fully privatizing the popular beach.
“There is no plan, nor have I ever suggested the privatization or sale of the beach,” Khamsyvoravong said in his statement.
He explained that the beach is losing about 1.5 feet per year to erosion, and there’s an “imminent risk” of the Easton Pond dam being breached. The mayor said the council’s priority is replenishing the beach and reinforcing the dam.
Aramli was equally emphatic in his denial: “Easton’s beach is not for sale, nor has it ever been for sale, nor was it ever discussed to be for sale by me or anyone else on City Council.”
Both officials say their comments during the January meeting have been taken out of context and misrepresented in recent social media posts.
The mayor acknowledged discussing a distinction between the beach itself, which he called “essential to our community,” and amenities like food concessions and bathhouses.
“Given the sheer magnitude of the deferred maintenance to our essential infrastructure, we need to carefully assess whether the taxpayers should be paying to build structures (which historically are completely wiped out in every hurricane) for the purpose of hosting private businesses,” Khamsyvoravong said.
Aramli said he mentioned the possibility of public-private partnerships for “a small plot” on the beach – similar to past arrangements for snack stands – but never suggested privatizing the entire beach.
“This was never a proposal, only sidebar public discussions on hypothetical options the City could look at in the future for solving our lack of money to put any new buildings at the beach,” Aramli explained.
Both officials criticized the timing and framing of the privatization rumors, suggesting they’re being used to influence the upcoming city council election.
“Newport Buzz is pushing a tabloid media misinformation approach with selective audio from a public budgetary workshop to influence the coming election with a sensationalized hit piece,” Aramli said.
The councilor noted that the workshop happened in January, but the issue is only now being promoted. He also pointed out that another council member, who he says is endorsed by the outlet spreading the rumors, has expressed support for exploring public-private partnerships at the beach.
Mayor Khamsyvoravong said those “seeking to cover up years of mismanagement and neglect of the beach selectively redacted and manipulated audio from video footage” of the January meeting.
Both officials stressed that any significant changes to beach operations would involve extensive public input.
“Even this hypothetical would never happen without extensive public workshops and public involvement,” Aramli said. “My job is not to push my own vision for the City, but the vision the residents have for the kind of City they want to live in.”
The mayor and councilor say the focus should be on addressing the beach’s urgent needs, including erosion control and protecting the nearby dam and reservoir.
“We’re losing the beach rapidly,” Khamsyvoravong said, emphasizing the need for open discussions about Newport’s long-term infrastructure challenges.
Full Statements
Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong
Those who are seeking to cover up years of mismanagement and neglect of the beach selectively redacted and manipulated audio from video footage of a public meeting on 1/31 at 1:17-1:35. That meeting was a live stream of a public workshop the Council held to discuss the long term capital project needs for the City. When I took office, I felt strongly that we needed to have open and public conversations about our long term capital needs – a process which has uncovered $500MM of unfunded capital needs to keep Newport functioning over the next five years.
The beach is one of these needs. There is no plan, nor have I ever suggested the privatization or sale of the beach. The audio redacted was from my summary of the Council’s discussion, not my stated position, and privitization is never once mentioned. As I discussed in that meeting, and have consistently said through multiple interviews, we’re losing the beach rapidly (losing 1.5ft per year), and face an imminent risk of the Easton Pond dam being breached.
What I did note is that there is a difference between the beach & dam, which are essential to our community, and the structures that host the amenities of food and beach concessions. Throughout the discussion the entire council agrees that physical structures housing facilities at the beach (snack bar, beach concessions, bath houses) are at extreme risk of being wiped out in any given storm and that our shared priority is replenishing the beach and reinforcing the dam. In the final five minutes we differentiate between the beach itself (an essential) and the “amenity” facilities at the beach. Given the sheer magnitude of the deferred maintenance to our essential infrastructure, we need to carefully assess whether the taxpayers should be paying to build structures (which historically are completely wiped out in every hurricane) for the purpose of hosting private businesses.
Councilor Mark Aramli
Easton’s beach is not for sale, nor has it ever been for sale, nor was it ever discussed to be for sale by me or anyone else on City Council. Nor was privatizing the entire beach ever part of any conversation.
Newport Buzz is pushing a tabloid media misinformation approach with selective audio from a public budgetary workshop to influence the coming election with a sensationalized hit piece.
In the actual audio from the public budgetary workshop, my exact words when toying with the idea of public-private partnerships at the beach were for “a small plot” on the beach – never the whole beach, which is an utterly ridiculous concept. A small plot, similar to a small space the city had previously leased to the snack shack – which in itself is a public private partnership. This was never a proposal, only sidebar public discussions on hypothetical options the City could look at in the future for solving our lack of money to put any new buildings at the beach. Every single gas station and a McDonalds at a highway rest area is a public-private partnership. It’s our job as City Councilors to evaluate all options for the City and determine in conjunction with resident public workshops a path forward.
Even this hypothetical would never happen without extensive public workshops and public involvement. And I listen to the public. My job is not to push my own vision for the City, but the vision the residents have for the kind of City they want to live in.
So how do we know this was sensationalized tabloid media reporting with intent to impact our election by Newport Buzz and Christian Winthrop? This capital planning workshop happened in January, yet the issue is just being promoted by Buzz now. One of our other Councilors who Newport Buzz endorses and has paid advertising with Newport Buzz (Charlie Holder), also endorsed by former Mayer Harry Winthrop by photos, indicated during the Newport this Week League of Women’s voters Candidate Forum that public-private partnerships for the beach were absolutely something the City should at least be looking at to solve our problems at the beach.
Same exact thing I said.
Yet Newport Buzz covers this as a Xay and Mark issue, failing to mention anything about other City Councilor’s support for at least looking at what our options are. That because this not actual real news, it’s about Buzz pushing their preferred candidates. The “save the beach from being sold” post from Newport Buzz is in its barest essence, a slimy, sensationalized tabloid political ad by Christian Winthrop to create apprehension and confusion with the Newport voters to influence a City Council election. Privatizing or selling the beach would simply never happen, it’s a ridiculous concept.
