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Council creates My Antonomi Memorial Park advisory commission, appoints initial members
Summary
The Newport City Council voted to create a city advisory commission to manage My Antonomi Memorial Park and appointed seven existing local members plus liaisons from community organizations.
The Newport City Council voted Oct. 8 to create the My Antonomi Memorial Park Advisory Commission to guide preservation, restoration and management of the park and its on‑site war memorial.
The resolution establishes the commission as a city advisory body that must comply with the Rhode Island Open Meetings and Access to Public Records Acts and requires the commission to include seven named Newport residents from the existing commission as initial appointees. The resolution also authorizes up to four voting members nominated by specified community organizations — the Newport Tree Conservancy, the Audubon Society of Rhode Island, the Newport Historical Society and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 406 — and allows a non‑voting liaison from the Tree and Open Space Commission and a non‑voting council liaison.
Chuck (last name not specified in the record), representing the Newport Open Space Partnership and a drafter of the resolution, told the Council the structure reflects the original enabling legislation and the intent that community groups participate as voting members. Supporters said keeping existing members during a transition would create continuity; some councilors pressed for clarification that future vacancies would be filled by the Council through the usual application process and that existing council liaisons would be carried forward.
Council members spoke in favor of reorganization and cited recent cleanup, tree plantings and increased use of the park for recreation. The Council indicated the transformation is intended to encourage new volunteers and fundraising under a city rubric.
The motion to create the advisory commission and approve the initial appointments passed on a voice vote with no recorded opposition. Appointed initial members named in the resolution were Beverly Sanchez, Robert Cornett, James Dring, Roy Loth, Richard Haggis, Ann Marie Johnson and Robert Walker; the resolution also lists the involved community organizations whose representatives will serve as voting members.
Ending: Staff said the commission will be brought under the city’s boards and commissions processes and that terms for the appointed members will follow the schedule in the resolution.
