Newport City Council appoints Kennedy new city manager, but first debate erupts

NEWPORT – While a majority of the City Council voted to appoint Navy executive Colin Kennedy as Newport’s new City Manager, the council erupted into a nearly hour-long argument as the councilors in the minority argued against Kennedy’s appointment.

“If we can take a charter that has been voted on by residents, our constitution, and manipulate it to serve the purposes of the majority, you might as well just discard the whole thing,” Councilor Lynn Underwood Ceglie said, later ripping a physical paper copy of the charter section.

Ceglie, alongside Councilors Jeanne Marie Napolitano and David Carlin, expressed dissatisfaction with the appointment, with Ceglie arguing the council has chosen a man with no municipal management experience over the other candidate, interim City Manager Laura Sitrin, who has served in the role for 10 months and worked as the city’s director of finance for years.

The Charter section Ceglie is referring to, 5-1, is the enabling section that authorizes the City Council to select a person “on the basis of executive and administrative qualifications and experience in and the knowledge of generally accepted practices in municipal administration,” to be appointed as city manager.

While Ceglie argued Kennedy was unqualified on the basis of the charter and Napolitano argued Sitrin deserved the position through her work and time with the city, Carlin primarily expressed disapproval over the proposed $225,000 per year salary. The salary is more than the former city manager’s $186,000 salary when he left office, the highest salary of any municipal executive in the state. Carlin argued it was inappropriate for a first-time city manager to have that large a salary, however, his proposed amendment to knock the pay down to $187,000 failed in a 3-4 vote, with Carlin, Napolitano and Ceglie in favor.

Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong said the salary was based on the estimated income needed to buy a house and live in the city.

When it came down to the vote, five of the seven City Councilors voted to appoint Kennedy to the position, with Ceglie and Napolitano against. Despite their opposition, both Ceglie and Napolitano said they plan to work alongside Kennedy in his new role.

As the city’s top executive, Kennedy will be responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the city. He currently serves as the chief executive officer of Navy Reserve Center Newport.

While Kennedy has not held a position in municipal administration before, Kennedy has served over two decades as an officer in the Navy, previously working as the director of operation training and performance for the Commander Naval Surface Force Atlantic, the chief executive officer for Navy Operational Support Center in Milwaukee and the director of travel for the Navy Reserve Forces Command. He received a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Oklahoma in 2010.

Kennedy’s selection concludes a months-long, nationwide search the city conducted to hire its next City Manager. While the full list of candidates where unknown, the city noted there were 27 applicants that were pre-screened by a group that included Middletown Town Administrator Sean Brown, former Warren Town Manager Kate Michaud and Ernie Almonte, the executive director of the RI League of Cities and Towns.

The decision to go into contract negotiations with Kennedy split the council during an executive session held on April 24, as three councilors voted in favor of the other candidate, Interim City Manager and Director of Finance Laura Sitrin. Sitrin has served as interim city manager for about 10 months following the retirement of former City Manager Joseph Nicholson, who served in the role for nine years. Councilors Lynn Underwood Ceglie, Jeanne Marie Napolitano and David Carlin voted for Sitrin to take on the permanent position, while Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong and Councilors Mark Aramli, Angela Lima and Charles Holder voted in favor of Kennedy.

Following Kennedy’s appointment, Khamsyvoravong told The Newport Daily News that the council’s disagreement over who should be city manager is evidence of this council’s strength.

“Very rarely do we have a unanimous decision, we have civil debate,” Khamsyvoravong said. “This was a big decision for the council, but at the end of the day, we’re thrilled we have a city manager to move forward knowing that, regardless of the way this vote went, the entirety of this council is going to be cheering for his success.”

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The city is currently undergoing negotiations with the Navy over procuring the former Navy Hospital property, however, Khamsyvoravong said Kennedy’s appointment is unrelated and he has not been involved in these discussions.

“He is not directly tied to that,” Khamsyvoravong said. “I do think that as we look forward, our ability to continue cooperating with the military, especially when you look at the sheer scale number of military families that are cited to move here over the next couple of years both with the new Coast Guard relocation and, while outside the military, still government related, NOAA locating out of Naval Station Newport, it is going to be invaluable insight he has given his professional background.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Colin Kennedy appointed Newport city manager despite councilor objections