37 changes were proposed to Newport's City Charter. Why voters will see just 5 of them.
NEWPORT — Out of the 37 revisions to City Charter recommended by the Charter Review Commission, the City Council approved less than a handful of language updates upon which voters can decide in November's election.
The City Charter is the legal document outlining the rules for how the city is run, much like how a constitution lays the foundational laws for a state or country. Every 10 years, the city is required to establish a Charter Review Commission to examine the document for any possible revisions and updates it may need.
The commission creates a set of recommendations that is forwarded to the City Council, which decides which proposed changes will be placed on the election ballot.
During its regular meeting Wednesday night, the City Council approved five items from the Charter Review Commission’s list of 37 recommendations, all of which are minor language adjustments to keep the charter in line with state law and current practices.
The council immediately scrapped 24 of the recommended changes outlined in the draft resolution submitted by the Charter Review Commission before considering each of the remaining 13 recommendations individually.
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Mayor Jeanne Marie Napolitano read a prepared statement on the decision to remove the bulk of the recommendations from consideration, saying the volume of changes recommended by the Charter Review Commission could have been overwhelming to voters at the ballot box.
“We also received a memo from our solicitor suggesting some (recommendations) could be addressed in a future resolution and placed in our ordinances, eliminating the need for a change in charter language,” Napolitano said. “We also realize some of the more salient recommendations needed a deeper discussion with greater oversight and review.”
The council also elected to add each recommended charter change to the ballot individually, rather than have one ballot question for all of the changes. Near the beginning of the discussion, Councilor Angela McCalla announced she would be voting against each of the recommendations for the ballot on principle.
Considering the council had held a workshop on the recommendations just one day prior to Wednesday's meeting, and the limited amount of time the Charter Review Commission was given to conduct its work, she said the process was being rushed.
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“We need a pause on this, and I don’t understand why we’re still steamboating this in,” McCalla said. “Whether or not it's rejected or not, I think this is wrong. I think it’s rushed. We just had the meeting (Tuesday), which gives no one any time to actually go through and give proper discussion.”
Councilor Elizabeth Fuerte was absent Wednesday.
The charter changes that will be on the November ballot
1. In the section governing how Newport City Council meetings function, the city would replace the line: “All members of the Council present must vote on any question coming before it, unless they disclose a personal interest therein and are excused by vote of the remaining members or are barred by law.”
The new charter would read: “All members of the Council present must vote on any question coming before it, unless they recuse themselves on the question before the Council on ethical or other legal grounds.”
Although this was the first item added to the ballot by City Council on Wednesday, it is actually only half of the charter review commission’s 11th recommendation. The other half, which would require the council to establish rules for proceedings by a resolution in the December after an election, rather than “from time to time,” as the Charter currently states, failed in a 5-1 vote, with Councilor Jamie Bova the sole member in favor.
2. In the section governing municipal elections, the city would increase the number of required signatures on a candidate’s petition for an at-large City Council or School Committee seat from 50 to 100.
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This was the 16th recommendation on the draft resolution from the Charter Review Commission. Newport’s Canvassing Authority already requires these candidates to obtain 100 signatures, so the language would be updated to conform to current practices.
The city would replace all the language in the section regarding the powers of the Canvassing Authority with the following: “There shall be a Canvassing Authority pursuant to the General Law of the State of Rhode Island.”
City Solicitor Christopher Behan told the City Council the charter’s language for this section was out of compliance with state law. This recommendation, the 22nd on the Charter Review Commission’s list, was advised by Newport Canvassing Board Clerk Tracy Nelson.
3. The city would replace all language in the section regarding the Trust and Investment Commission with the following: “There shall be a Trust and Investment Commission, which commission shall consist of five members which shall be chosen by the City Council on the basis of their knowledge of investments and financial management of pension and other post-employment benefit funds.
"This commission shall be responsible for overseeing the investments, including the selection and monitoring of all funds now held or hereafter held for the benefit of police and fire pensions; the payment of pensions for city police and fire department employees, including health benefits, and premiums for retired city and school department employees; and as trusts and scholarship funds donated or bequeathed to the city to be used for specific purposes.
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"The commission’s oversight does not extend to any funds held by the city in cash to pay current benefits and expenses. Said commission shall have the power to sell, exchange, invest or reinvest said funds and to receive, collect and hold all income thereof and for the purposes as prescribed by law or by said will, deed, gift or indenture.
"Said commission may recommend the engagement by the city of an investment advisor to help meet its responsibilities and shall have such other powers and duties, and its members shall be appointed to serve for such terms as the Council may by said ordinance prescribe. The commission shall be indemnified by the city pursuant to R.I. General Laws §45-15-16.”
Although this item appears to be a large change on paper, it actually only serves to clarify what funds and investments the Trust and Investment Commission has control over. Unlike the original language in the charter, it specifies the commission is only responsible for overseeing the management of police and fire department pensions, and benefits for retired employees.
This language was amended slightly from the language in the Charter Review Commission’s 23rd recommendation, following advice from Behan. Behan’s changes served to specify which funds the commission has control over.
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4. In the section requiring elected and appointed city officials to take an oath of office, the city would replace the line “Every officer, elected or appointed, shall take and subscribe the following …” with “Any elected or appointed individual assuming a city role or job, may be required to take and subscribe to the following…”. It also removes “Providence Plantations” from the oath.
This item, No. 32 on the commission’s list of recommended changes, was approved in a 5-1 vote, Councilor Angela McCalla against, with no discussion.
What proposed changes to the Newport City Charter were rejected?
Despite only approving ballot questions that updated the language in certain sections of the charter, the majority of the 24 recommendations initially removed from consideration also were slight modifications to charter language. These recommendation served to provide greater clarity to those reading the charter.
Councilor Lynn Underwood Ceglie, who motioned to remove the recommendations from consideration at the beginning of the discussion, said she wanted to make it easier for voters to make their decisions at the ballot box.
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“It’s very difficult for the public to look through all these arbitrary things to vote on on a ballot, and that’s one of the reasons why I voted against some of this. Because I don’t think people would really understand what it is they’re voting on, and there is some wordsmithing that needs to be done to modernize the language and I understand that,” Ceglie said. “I think it would be worthwhile to bring that forward in a resolution for us to do.”
There were a few substantial changes among the recommendations affected by this motion, however. One of the recommendations would have filled vacancies on the City Council with the next highest voter-getter from the previous election, and two of the recommendations would have codified a requirement for diverse representation on the city’s Planning Board and Zoning Board of Review.
Of the remaining recommendations reviewed and rejected by the council Wednesday, three would have impacted council membership, three would have codified the digital publication of city information, one would have added clarifying language for the section governing the city’s five-year strategic plan, and one would have eliminated the residency requirement for members of the Board of Tax Appeals.
The most debated of these topics pertained to the three recommendations that would affect council membership. The motion to eliminate ward-specific council seats died without a second, as did the motion to designate the at-large councilor who received the highest number of votes as chair of the council and mayor.
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The council also rejected the recommendation to set term limits for city councilors in a 5-1 vote. Bova, who voted in favor of term limits, said the restriction could give fresh voices an opportunity to sit on city council.
Current at-large City Council candidate Kate Jessup came forward to express support for the recommendation as well. Ceglie argued against term limits, calling them undemocratic. She said elections serve the same function, and she did not agree with presidential term limits, either.
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“When you look at two-year terms and you look at a four-term limit, that’s only eight years,” Ceglie said. “That’s just a snippet of time in municipal politics, let me tell you. Just as an example, it took me six years with (the state Department of Transportation) to get safety crosswalks on Memorial Boulevard.”
Allowing people who reside outside the city to work as members of the Board of Tax Appeals also was rejected by the council, despite Behan’s strong recommendation to add it to the ballot. Behan said decisions made by this board have broader implications for the city’s finances, but it has struggled to maintain enough members to constitute a quorum.
Councilor Kathryn Leonard, who works as a real estate agent, argued against eliminating the residency requirement for members, saying assessors from outside Newport often are not familiar enough with the area to do the job justice.
“If you get someone who applies from, and I’m going to say it, towns like Pawtucket or Central Falls, they’re not often familiar with the value of Newport that make it different, because Newport has the highest assessed values of any city in the state,” Leonard said.
Bova also objected to removing the residency requirement, but said she was more concerned about outside investors with varying interests obtaining positions on the board.
McCalla piggy-backed off the conversation surrounding the Board of Tax Appeals to point out the council generally does not require proof of experience when appointing members to commissions and boards regardless, something she has spoken against during previous council meetings.
“We do not require any of our members coming into our community boards and commissions to actually have a resume,” McCalla said. “We say, ‘You may,’ but it doesn’t necessarily mean anything. So for me, this is just kind of whatever. Also, too, I’d be curious to see how many real estate agents are serving on the Board of Tax Appeals right now.”
This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Newport RI: City Council OKs five proposed charter changes for ballot
