With politics in his blood, Sen. Claiborne Pell's grandson eyes Newport City Council seat

NEWPORT — Clad in black yoga pants with words in Hindi and Tibetan tattooed across his forearms, City Council candidate Eames Yates may not fit the stereotypical look of someone with political lineage.

However, Yates said he has soaked in a lot of knowledge from the time he spent with his grandfather, the late U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell.

“My grandfather taught me a lot of things, but the most important was that to get things done, you have to take ego out of the equation,” Yates said. “Ask what’s truly best for people and don’t have ego take over.”

Despite his grandfather’s legacy as Rhode Island’s longest-serving U.S. senator, Yates was not called to run for elected office until he opened his yoga studio, Love Defeats Fear, in Newport last November.

Yates said he wanted to foster the growing feeling of community he witnessed during his yoga classes.

“Even in the winter, there’s a community being built,” Yates said. “It made me realize how important community was.”

Running as a city councilor will be Yates’ first brush with political office. Before starting his yoga studio, he worked for a few years as a television reporter in Georgia and Philadelphia, then as a content creator in New York for Business Insider and Mashable.

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It was during his career at Mashable in August 2018 when Yates somewhat fell into an opportunity that would change his life: He received an invite to meet the Dalai Lama.

“I sort of randomly emailed the website and mentioned my grandfather and his relationship and said I’d love to speak with his holiness, not expecting a response,” Yates said. “Meeting the Dalai Lama opened the door to my spiritual journey in a lot of ways.”

The 14th Dalai Lama, Gyalwa Rinpoche, and Pell developed an enduring friendship after the two met during the senator’s visit as the chairman for the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Yates amicably quit his job with Mashable so he could visit Tibet, where he said he and the Dalai Lama spoke for around an hour about the nature of happiness.

This visit would later spur Yates to invest more in his yoga practice, delve into Buddhist and Stoic philosophy and travel back to his home state of Rhode Island.

An Episcopalian in faith, Yates said Buddhist principles, especially those that connect to the Golden Rule of treating others as one would like to be treated, are fundamental to his campaign for city council.

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As a candidate, Yates said he wants to promote “radical transparency” in how local government functions and how money is spent. He’s been keeping an eye on the effort to regionalize Newport and Middletown’s school districts, which he is supportive of in general, but he’s concerned about the specifics of what the new district would look like for students.

At the end of the day, despite his connection to Sen. Pell, Yates said he doesn’t want to run on his grandfather’s legacy.

“I’m very grateful for having learned from my grandfather, but I don’t look at my family as my motivation and reason for doing this,” Yates said. “I’ve proven that I’m my own man. I’ve held jobs, moved around and paid my dues … Yes, there’s a political history, but I’m motivated from what’s in my heart.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Sen. Claiborne Pell grandson Eames Yates runs for Newport City Council