Newport City Council votes to enter executive session on charter revisions, directs mayor to publish revised draft

The Newport City Council on Dec. 22 voted to enter executive session to receive confidential attorney‑client advice about proposed charter revisions and later directed the mayor to prepare and distribute a revised draft charter for public review before scheduled January hearings.

Chair John Monette cited the statutory basis for a closed session under 1 V.S.A. § 313 (attorney‑client privilege) and asked the council to find that premature public disclosure could place the public body at a substantial disadvantage. Members split on the need for confidentiality: Anne and Jen (identified in the record) argued that councilors "deserve the same information" and that deliberations leading to proposed charter language are important for informed voting; supporters of the closed session, including the city attorney, said confidential legal advice can materially affect how the council frames proposals and that the public would have opportunity to hear proposals prior to any vote.

After debate, the council voted to find that premature public knowledge would be harmful and approved a motion to enter executive session under the cited statute to discuss confidential attorney‑client communications regarding charter recommendations; the motion was amended to invite Clerk Treasurer Jim Johnson and attorney Mariah Smith into the executive session and carried by voice vote. The council returned to the public meeting and announced that action had been taken in executive session.

Following the closed session, the chair and attorney led a line‑by‑line review of recommended charter edits. The attorney recommended a general drafting principle: remove provisions that merely restate state law and replace specific historical citations with phrasing such as 'as amended' to capture subsequent amendments without enumerating each year. Specific attorney recommendations reviewed by the council included:

- Appointment language (section 201(b)): revised wording to "appoint, direct, supervise and remove" certain officers, with questions about scope and clarity for which offices the council versus manager controlled.

- Vacancy and petition rules (section 205): replace references to 'legal petition' with a petition signed by 5% of registered voters to call a special city meeting to fill vacancies; change references from 'next annual election' to 'next annual or special city meeting' and require a special city meeting within 60 days if the council cannot agree on an interim replacement.

- Recall provisions and thresholds (section 206): lengthy debate over whether recall thresholds should be 5%, 10%, 15% or higher; members noted turnout realities and potential for frivolous recalls; council agreed to continue the discussion and to consider language revisions.

- City manager powers (chapters 3–4): attorney advised aligning language to 24 V.S.A. provisions (cited in the record) and warned that adopting the statute wholesale could transfer many duties to the manager; members pressed for explicit limits on manager authority, contract-signing thresholds, and clearer transition rules if the manager is absent or incapacitated.

- Clerk/treasurer appointments and transition language: attorney recommended drafting a transitional provision specifying that if the current clerk and treasurer leave before 03/08/2028 the council shall appoint successors to serve remaining terms; later language would set the clerk and treasurer term commencement at 03/08/2028 and make them appointed positions with council supervision.

Councilors asked the attorney to clarify statutory interactions (including references to 24 V.S.A. and Title 17 election law) and requested a one‑page summary showing which boards/commissions are mandated by state law versus those the council may create or abolish.

At the meeting's end, the council voted to empower the chair to prepare a new draft charter reflecting the night's conversation, distribute the draft as soon as possible (the chair said he hoped to post a version before Christmas), and formally warn public hearings in January. The council also agreed to flag sections where additional legal guidance is needed (notably mayor/manager balance in sections 203 and 302). No final charter text was adopted at the Dec. 22 meeting; the process will continue with the posted draft and upcoming public hearings.

Quotes in this report are taken from council proceedings and are attributed to the speakers as identified in the public meeting record.