Local elections shape our daily lives more than any other race on the ballot. Our roads, schools, flooding, housing costs and the future of our waterfront are decided by the seven people we send to City Council. That’s why I’m troubled by what this campaign season has become.
Instead of debating ideas, too much of the conversation about Ward 2 has turned into personal attacks on Emily Conklin. They aren’t coming from her opponent. They’re coming from former councilors and local commentators who aren’t on the ballot at all. Disagree with her conclusions if you like. That’s healthy. But dismissing facts because you don’t like where they lead isn’t debate. It’s avoidance.
We’ve also seen Emily criticized for exercising rights the Constitution guarantees to every one of us. Free expression isn’t a privilege reserved for people we agree with. When we punish it, we discourage exactly the kind of civic participation a small city like ours depends on.
I first noticed Emily at City Council meetings, taking careful notes and posting real-time updates. I assumed she was a reporter. When I finally met her, I learned she wasn’t being paid by anyone. She was doing it as a community service, so neighbors who couldn’t be in the room would know what their government was doing. She has done that at more than 100 council meetings, workshops and events since 2021. She also chairs our Energy and Environment Commission, works the polls on Election Day, and brings a background in marine biology and science communication, exactly the skills a coastal city needs when decisions depend on data.
Her commitments are just as clear. She’ll fight for year-round families by investing in our public schools, making city services more accessible, and tackling housing costs through smarter zoning and the plans the City has already paid for. As a renter herself, she knows firsthand what our families face. She’ll push to modernize our roads, utilities, energy and water systems so they can stand up to daily use and stronger storms. And she’s promised a government that listens, with decisions made in the open and shaped by residents’ real experiences.
Newport likes to call itself a world-class city. If we mean it, we have to choose leaders by the strength of their ideas and their plans to carry them out. Deep roots bring knowledge no newcomer can match, but where someone was born isn’t a qualification for office, and how long they’ve lived here doesn’t disqualify them either. Many of the people working hardest for this city chose Newport as adults.
Her opponent has laid out his own plans, and voters should compare them. That’s the conversation we should be having: shared facts, concrete proposals and tough questions, not attacks on character. When it comes to preparation, homework and showing up, few candidates have earned a seat the way Emily has.
As early voting begins today, I hope Newport voters will ask one simple question of every candidate: not “who are you against?” but “what will you do?” The clear answer on who will do the most for Ward 2 is Emily Conklin.
Sara Peters
Newport
