Questions and Answers?Go to Question 1,2,3,4, 5,6,6a,7,8,9,10,11,12,13
Question 6
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| Dias | #1 - The Police
Department's problems - according to the report this department has
had problems for the past 6 yrs. Why did this go on so long? Action
should have been taken by the past City Manager and the Councilors.
#2 - Sewer - I would have been more proactive
to stop the overflow of our storm water basins. Need to address this
problem of heavy rains closing beaches with a solution of the Wave
Ave. pump station and moat with the town of Middletown. A drainage
pipe that will take the overflow 500 Yds. (?) into the ocean where
it will have minimal effect on the Public Safety issue of our beaches. |
| Oliviera | The two big issues that I would have addressed differently are schools and future mandated responsibilities.Regarding schools, the lack of oversight provided is somewhat alarming. Our citizens are beginning to fall into two camps: those that no longer see value and those that think our schools are under-funded. This was the recipe for disaster in Portsmouth. We must reestablish the trust on both sides, since they are both correct in their summations, before we do anything.To correct the problem, we need self-funded performance audits before the next budget. The Sullivan situation should have caused alarm bells to ring. Instead, the Council's attitude seems to be "it is somebody else's problem."We also need to highlight the things that our schools do well. Those who have lost faith in the system need to be reenergized. They also need the opportunity to see firsthand how No Child Left Behind affects our budget.We must recognize on the future mandated responsibility side that we need budget reform. For instance, our "payment" to reduce our benefit liability responsibility was an afterthought at the last budget workshop. Our Capital Improvement Program is too far removed for the process as a whole and many citizens have been disenfranchised.Our sewers and our roads have been to long left to fend for themselves. By engaging in long term planning, and better communication to enhance grant opportunities, we can build small step processes to make our infrastructure something we can be proud of.In both cases, the current Council got distracted by the day to day. It also could not find the energy or passion to work on that which would not "pay off" immediately. The next Council needs to take a more interested, long-term view. Every day we wait, is another day we get behind. |
| Slee |
A) Knowing that beach closures had been a problem in the past, especially at Easton's Beach, I would have made it a priority to protect our tourism dollars. It should have been a priority to make sure that we had a strong stance on solving the problem rather than finding the potential root cause almost 3 years later. I would have made sure we had a fail-safe approach to partially treated sewage overflow instead of releasing it into the water. We should have temporarily stored it during rain events 3 years ago to prevent any closures. At least this approach would provide an opportunity to develop a plan, low cost financing and have more time to do it right. The real problem is that every time the beach is closed for testing more locals and tourists will lose faith in the Newport area beaches. B) I would have worked with business owners in and around downtown Newport to find a best practice for large events like the 2006 U.S. Women's Open. This event had the potential to really give Newport a boost for future tourism. We should have had all press operations in downtown Newport with even ESPN's Sports Center filming from Queen Anne Square. This was an opportunity for Newport and our neighbors to benefit. Businesses including golf courses and hotels from Portsmouth and Middletown could have found new business and new customers. Imagine if all parking lots led to the Gateway center, then to Newport National while offering the visitors the opportunity to walk around Newport. This plan would have allowed the golf fans the chance to shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants and get to their cars parked out of town. I think that in the future we need to do better planning as an elected body to capture all the business we can through large events such as this could have been. |
| Abney | I would have made efforts to keep the public informed in more than just the usual ways of council minutes. I would have worked to prioritized three or four major concerns of Newport, publish them and then cooperated to get them done. When people don't know the priorities of a government, then everyone's priority is number one. The perspective of some public members is that the council was reactive versus being proactive as related to issues. This kind of perception may have been lessened if individuals or groups were kept informed of what the council actually accomplished. Secondly, though the City Council and School Committee are separate bodies, with different operational focuses, I would have worked closer with the School Committee and stressed the need for tangible changes that would better position our educational system to compete for the resources that would enable researched based teaching and learning designed to close the achievement gaps which exist among our students. Under-resourced teaching and learning programs hurts not only our students, but also, our city as a whole. There is a workable balance that can be reached between those taxes that support our system and those who receive the education provided. |
| Cullen | This question addresses my responses to questions 11 and 12 as well because what I would have done differently on the council for the last two years focuses on the most important issues, one being the beach closures, so I must apologize for consolidating the responses for a well thought out questionnaire. As I have discussed with numerous citizens from my ward, most are concerned with the schools and our water. First to address the issue surrounding the schools. Unfortunately, the city council has little control over the details governing our public school system, except of course the budget; however, there is a liaison committee set up that has been established to better communicate the various issues between the School Committee and the City Council. It has been my understanding that the City Council has repeatedly missed all scheduled Liaison Committee meetings! This sends a clear message to the School Department and the citizens of Newport that there is a dramatic lack of communication that is sorely needed for what many feel is the most important aspect of any given city. It will be my ardent intention to strengthen this relationship to better expedite the revitalization of our school system. With my proven record of working closely with Official City Committee and Commissions, I feel that I would be the best candidate to encourage this relationship.The beach closures is another issue that makes headlines and dramatically affects the influx of seasonal visitors that depend and undermines that quality of life for the those that reside in Newport. Water is of paramount concern for me because I am a sailor, a surfer, a diver and avid beach enthusiast. This issue should have been aggressively addressed long ago before it became headline news and circulated through out New England. One solution that had been proposed by the City Management that I would have executed is the idea of pipe that would travel far past the currents of the beach that would alleviate CSO events during extreme wet weather. Granted this would be a temporary solution, but one that would be effective in preventing beach closures until such time that we can permanently fix that problem. |
| McLaughlin | · comprehensive
planning. · controlling personnel costs. My response to Question 11 discusses comprehensive planning, including implementation of a modern performance measurement system. I applaud the City Manager for putting before the council during the 2006-2007 budget development process a listing of major demands on future city revenues. Everyone running for office says we should maximize tax revenue by increasing our tax base and fully supporting local businesses. Obviously, the council will take the actions needed to do that. We need to do more out-of-the-box strategic thinking - with a horizon greater than the next election. More immediately, the council needs to aggressively control spending. And, in that the principal component of municipal (including the schools) spending comprises personnel costs (salaries and benefits), that means ensuring that all city services are properly-sized and efficiently run, and that employees make appropriate contributions toward funding their health and retirement benefits. It also means pursuing any and all avenues to achieve economies-of-scale and benefits that might derive from regionalization. It means working with state and congressional legislative delegations to ensure that we benefit from all available sources of funding. Ultimately, it means keeping the voters and tax payers informed about the economic challenges facing the city. |
| Leonard |
No Answer Given |
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