Politics & Government
Farley to Mayor: Discussions Will Make Newport a 'Better Place'
A letter from Newport Council Member Michael Farley
The following is a letter submitted by Newport Councilor Michael Farley in response an Mayor Harry Winthrop's response to his recent proposals.
I just wanted to respond to Mayor Winthrop’s comments on Patch regarding the resolutions on the Yacht Club, the mooring permit rates, the Visitor Center and EBCAP. Mayor Winthrop seemed pretty angry about my raising these issues for discussion, but that’s OK. It’s good for colleagues to disagree because it demonstrates that there really are choices to be made. Harry Winthrop is a good man, and I’m confident we’ll work things out as brothers. Newport will be a better place for our having these discussions.
We disagree about his decision to give the Newport Yacht Club a 40-year lease, but it’s not really fair for me to be critical, because I have the benefit of hindsight. I am sure that Harry had a very good reason for signing off on that yacht club lease in 1993. It wasn’t worth as much, they were a natural tenant, and they’ve put it to great use – their youth sailing programs are wonderful, and are a terrific complement to those offered by Sail Newport, Ida Lewis and the New York Yacht Club.
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But now it’s 20 years later, and that city property is worth far more than the $2700 per month paid by the Newport Yacht Club. They’ve very kindly offered to renegotiate the terms, and I’d like to take them up on it. But if there is one thing I’ve learned as a litigator, it’s that negotiation takes loads of preparation. For that reason, my resolution asks the administration to gather all of the facts surrounding the lease. I don’t think selling city property is a good idea (unless the yacht club wanted to pay a fair price for it!) But either way, a good property owner knows the value of his property, and my resolution asks the city to assess it correctly, and put us in the best possible position to represent the city in negotiations.
On the mooring permits, Harry has a great point. We need input from the public about whether to raise the rates. I’d like to see that input take place before the Waterfront Commission and again when the recommendations are brought back to the Council. No other council member has expressed an interest in raising the mooring rates. I acted now because for the last eight years, the mooring rates have been fairly flat. Meanwhile, our property taxes have increased by 2-3% every year during that period. I’m just trying to get the mooring rates set correctly so that our taxpayers aren’t the only ones bearing the burden. My proposal didn’t quite double the rates, but it was close. I’m very pleased that other council members want to continue that discussion, and my door will always be open to discuss revenue ideas.
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On the Visitor Center, I was thrilled to learn that Mayor Winthrop is also interested in using that parcel for economic development. I will give him my support in whatever way I can. The Newport Economic Development team could use some public guidance from the council. Now with Harry’s support for the proposal, we can get them started on that project.
Finally, on EBCAP, Harry is somewhat right, they are an important organization serving the community. But they have evolved since being given a local tax exemption by the City Council. They are now a $21 million per year organization with about half a dozen employees earning over $100,000 per year. They have also expanded beyond their original charitable purpose, and they presently operate a medical center which provides care to all persons regardless of income. The idea for this came from East Providence, where EBCAP was stripped of their charitable exemption by their Budget Commission because it turned out that EBCAP was not entitled to an exemption. I thought we should do the same, but did not have the support from council. Ultimately the resolution was withdrawn because our legislature gave them the exemption two weeks ago. I know some think it was mean-spirited, but every time we give a break to someone who needs it, the middle class has to pick up the tab. And between cheap mooring permits to wealthy yacht owners, and 20% subsidized housing, the middle class are being squeezed out from both ends.
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