South Kingstown council elects Rory McEntee president; Mike Marin chosen vice president amid tense nominations

South Kingstown — The newly elected South Kingstown Town Council chose Rory McEntee as its president and Mike Marin as vice president during a meeting on Nov. 25, 2024, following contested nominations and a heated exchange over council dynamics.

The council held roll-call votes after nominations. A nomination for Deb Bergner to serve as council president failed; the motion recorded multiple ‘nay’ votes and was declared unsuccessful. The subsequent nomination of Rory McEntee passed by a majority, and the gavel was handed to McEntee, who thanked colleagues and said he would work collaboratively to “hit the ground running.”

The selection of vice president also required roll-call votes. Deb Bergner’s nomination for vice president failed, and Mike Marin was elected vice president by majority vote.

The nomination rounds included extended nominating speeches and sharp back-and-forth among council members. One council member criticized the leadership-selection process as driven by political alliances and said it ignored the preferences of voters who had given another candidate the most votes in the general election. Another member disputed an assertion that they had filed an Open Meetings Act complaint, saying the complaint had been filed by a community member. The statements and rebuttals underscored tensions on the dais during what had been primarily a ceremonial swearing-in evening.

President McEntee said he would lead by fostering collaboration and listening to colleagues. “I’m looking forward to getting back to work and achieving progress for the town,” McEntee said in his acceptance remarks.

Earlier in the meeting the council administered oaths of office to newly elected council members (terms set to run through November 2026) and to newly elected school committee members (terms through November 2028). The chair also read a land-acknowledgment referencing the Indigenous people on whose land the town sits; the transcript spelled the name “Nargansett,” which in this article has been corrected to the Narragansett Tribe to reflect the accepted local and historical spelling.

A council member moved to add a public comment period to the evening’s agenda; the motion failed for lack of a second. When a motion to adjourn was offered later, a council member used the opportunity to deliver a closing statement decrying what they called insider politics and reaffirming their intent to continue representing voters from their council seat. The council then voted to adjourn.

The meeting record shows approximately 60 people in the audience during the nominations portion of the evening. The council conducted its business by roll call; the meeting minutes and official record will include the formal vote tallies and recorded names for each roll-call entry.