The residents of Newport, took their time to dig deep, weigh the pros and cons of each candidate and the result is that the voters have chosen Xay to be on the City Council. Additionally, since Xay won by a majority vote it is only logical that the new Mayor of Newport would be Xay. The voters have exercised their "right to vote" in a sense they have "spoken" clearly on this contest. One would expect Jeanne Napolitano to warmly welcome Xay and politely offer her assistance and experience and allow him to carry on . . . and we all march forward to a new beginning.
The majority voters in Newport have overwhelmingly voted for Xay and I feel that it is the correct way to choose the Mayor. It is time for new and fresh set of eyes to approach issues and furture , for the City and Citizens of Newport. I also believe that the City should send a special thank you to the former Mayor Jean Napolitano for all of her work on behalf of the City, as Mayor.
The City Council elects it’s Chairperson who is given the honorific title of Mayor.
It is not a political title as in found in other cities with a strong mayor form of government. Newport voted to abandon the strong mayor form many years ago in favor of a City Manager as Chief Executive of local government and a City Council as the “Board of Directors” that establishes Policies, oversees the City Manager’s performance and selects the City Manager by appointment, or terminates the Manager if dissatisfied by the incumbent’s performance.
Thus, the role of Chair of the Council is to work as the Council’s leader in running meetings and functioning in a ceremonial role representing the City in public appearances etc.
Accordingly, it is appropriate that the Chair, or “Mayor” be selected by majority vote of the elected Council Members as their leader in the functioning of the Council in carrying out its duties. The top vote getter may or may not be the person favored by the majority of Council Members to be its Chair. The present system has worked for many years and Newport has had many excellent “Mayors” since converting to a City Manager form of government. It’s best to leave it up to the Council to decide whom they should select as their Chair for a new Council.
First, logically it should go to the top vote-getter. That said, it is time for political leaders at ALL levels to mirror the age and demographic of their constituency!
The next highest vote-getter should be vice-mayor, hence Jean Marie Napolitano. Anything else is ugly; such as "you don't get my vote for mayor, if you don't vote for me as vice-mayor."
With such an overwhelming majority of votes it should be an absolute no-brainer that Xay receive the title of Mayor.
The person who gets the most votes should be mayor. That is how democracy works. The alternative is cronyism.
Spot on, Anne!
It should continue to be the person with the most votes.
The residents of Newport, took their time to dig deep, weigh the pros and cons of each candidate and the result is that the voters have chosen Xay to be on the City Council. Additionally, since Xay won by a majority vote it is only logical that the new Mayor of Newport would be Xay. The voters have exercised their "right to vote" in a sense they have "spoken" clearly on this contest. One would expect Jeanne Napolitano to warmly welcome Xay and politely offer her assistance and experience and allow him to carry on . . . and we all march forward to a new beginning.
The majority voters in Newport have overwhelmingly voted for Xay and I feel that it is the correct way to choose the Mayor. It is time for new and fresh set of eyes to approach issues and furture , for the City and Citizens of Newport. I also believe that the City should send a special thank you to the former Mayor Jean Napolitano for all of her work on behalf of the City, as Mayor.
The City Council elects it’s Chairperson who is given the honorific title of Mayor.
It is not a political title as in found in other cities with a strong mayor form of government. Newport voted to abandon the strong mayor form many years ago in favor of a City Manager as Chief Executive of local government and a City Council as the “Board of Directors” that establishes Policies, oversees the City Manager’s performance and selects the City Manager by appointment, or terminates the Manager if dissatisfied by the incumbent’s performance.
Thus, the role of Chair of the Council is to work as the Council’s leader in running meetings and functioning in a ceremonial role representing the City in public appearances etc.
Accordingly, it is appropriate that the Chair, or “Mayor” be selected by majority vote of the elected Council Members as their leader in the functioning of the Council in carrying out its duties. The top vote getter may or may not be the person favored by the majority of Council Members to be its Chair. The present system has worked for many years and Newport has had many excellent “Mayors” since converting to a City Manager form of government. It’s best to leave it up to the Council to decide whom they should select as their Chair for a new Council.
First, logically it should go to the top vote-getter. That said, it is time for political leaders at ALL levels to mirror the age and demographic of their constituency!
It should be Napolitano. She has a lot of experience. The top vote getter can get experience and become mayor next time.
Xay has tremendous experience running meetings. Jeanne's had her chance.
She's been fumbling about for some time now.
As Chair, she's allowed the tenor of the Chamber to become very unprofessional -- to the point of condescension with her colleagues -- and the public!
It is time to cut the old cords!
Newport deserves a fresh start with NEW leadership in both the Mayor AND Vice Chair positions.
Such a commanding majority of votes makes it obvious that Xay must be the next mayor. The election of the next mayor must be done in public.
Yes, in public! As should the choice for Vice Chair.
Open the doors and windows - let out the backroom smoke - let the disinfecting sunshine IN!
It's time to move on with NEW leadership!
The next highest vote-getter should be vice-mayor, hence Jean Marie Napolitano. Anything else is ugly; such as "you don't get my vote for mayor, if you don't vote for me as vice-mayor."
I disagree -- the vice chair runs the meeting -- so without proper skills -- putting her in that position is a complete mistake.
Xay was elected in an overwhelming landslide. He deserves the title.
That said...we need to enact both governance CHANGING recommendations set forth by the 2021-2022 Charter Review Commission:
1) Mayor = Highest Vote-Getter
2) Term Limits
That would solve all of this...