Newport Public Works Union endorses Dean Sawyer

The union that represents Newport’s twenty public works employees has endorsed City Councilor Patricia Patrick-Joling for Mayor. Union spokesman Michael Eastman told News Lincoln County that their endorsement of Patrick-Joling was based on their belief that she will bring greater communication and transparency to discussions surrounding the city’s many challenges that lie ahead. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3275 also endorsed David Allen, Dean Sawyer and Melanie Sarazin for city council. Allen is a former city councilor, and has been co-chair of the Newport Citizens Budget Committee. Sawyer is a retired Newport Police Officer, and Sarazin is the wife of a current Newport Police Officer.

Transparency creates accountability

Transparency creates accountability, accountability creates restraint and with it cost reduction.

Sign in local shop

I talked with the shop owner and she had never met me before. She said that she decided on me after reading my comments in the voter's pamphlet and in the local newspaper. After we talked she made the correction to her sign. I really love voter's that are informed.

Questions from the News Times

Answers to questions from the Newport News-Times

Do you support Newport’s $6.8 million pool construction bond?

I would like to have a new swimming pool built in our community, but this is a bad time to be asking the taxpayers for the pool bond. With unemployment high and other city projects millions over budget I believe that the timing is wrong. I am willing to support it later when the economy turns around and we get the water treatment plant back on budget. I will work hard to make sure that the pool is on sound financial ground and that it incorporates sustainable fees.

 Do you believe the city should continue to subsidize the pool and recreation center given budget constraints or must they become financially self-sufficient?

The city needs to run these programs like a business and get them on a more self-sustainable footing. This cannot be done by raising the fees overnight.  That may mean looking at finding expanded revenue generating activities.

I will work to insure that our city budget is on sound financial ground. In this time of financial instability, we need to work harder with the fewer resources we have. We need to explore other options rather than raising taxes and fees in a bad economy. We need to increase the city reserves, look at consolidating positions, and find ways to partnership with other communities/governments. We should look at consolidating advertisement campaigns and subsidizing air carrier service to the whole region. Frugality must start with government.

The city’s reserve fund is less than half of the recommended minimum. How important is it to increase reserves. Would you cut services to do it?

Just as with any household budget, an emergency fund is important. We need to increase the reserves but need to be watchful that we do not cut into core city services to make this happen. We need to make sure that any expenditure focuses on our core services. We will have to say ‘no’ to certain new expenditures to make sure we increase the reserves.  I do not believe that cutting core services to add to the reserves is prudent.

What should the city’s top three priorities be in the next two years?

Finding a balance for funding basic services that we all need: public safety, water, sewer, street maintenance with the affordable amenities we all enjoy: parks, senior center, recreation center and library.

We need strong leadership from the mayor and council as we face the challenges of both a tough economy and an aging infrastructure.

Wise use of the resources we all share, including our tax dollars and to improve the environment in which we live.

What can the city council do to attract more businesses to the area?

We should work with our neighboring cities to create a strategic development plan for the local economy and hire the business talent to make it happen.  We need to examine our business license fees and Sewer Development Charges to see if we can set a payment plan to offset the initial sticker shock. I will work with the Chamber, NOAA, and HMSC to recruit supporting businesses of NOAA.

What makes you the best candidate for city council?

My strength as a candidate comes from my understanding of the entire city after 30 years of patrolling this community. I know the city and our residents from the ground up and know what will work in the real world. I will bring to the council my skills in bringing people together and mediating problems. After all that is what I did day to day for 30 years, mediating conflicts on the street in such areas as domestic disputes and neighborhood disputes. My job was not just putting people in jail but trying to help them with quality of life issues to make their lives better and that of the entire community.

The city gave me a great career and now I would like to give back to the city by serving on the city council.

Chamber of Commerce questions

How does consensus building meet with your experience and philosophy?

I worked for the City of Newport for thirty years and saw consensus building in decision making up front. There are several different groups in Newport and people with differing views on how the city should be run. The city faces many problems that are interdependent upon everyone working together. If we do not use the consensus building model, then some groups and people will become disenfranchised and may in turn spoil any decisions made.

Consensus building offers a mechanism for individual citizens and organizations to work together on solving complex issues in ways that are acceptable to all. The city council is not made up of different political parties and it needs to work together for the betterment of all the citizens of Newport. In national politics if one political party has 51% of the vote they feel they have a mandate to do things their way but they forget that there are another 49% out there as well. The City Council needs to serve 100% of the people in Newport.

How would you assign priorities to City services?

We need to concentrate on the core services such as sewer, quality water, police and fire services. Unfortunately the city has gone beyond the core services and due to budget constraints and dwindling tax revenues we need to get back to the basic services and wait until the economy turns around before we start adding to other matters.

Of course everyone wants more and more services from the city but we need to be realistic and work hard to stay within our budget and be honest with the citizens and say we can’t do additional services until the economy turns around. I will work very hard to get the city reserve fund back up to a level where we can be confident that we can cover the expenses that always come up as an emergency expenditure. Just like every family in Newport tries to have an emergency fund to cover things that come up from time to time that they didn’t plan for. 

I have worked hard to increase volunteerism in Newport. We need to build a ‘sense of community'. During lean times, people help others. Why couldn't we foster that now so it reduces the loss of 'extra services' we don't have the money for?

We need to look at the ‘Must Do’, ‘Should Do’, and ‘Nice To Do’ model when looking at city services. In this age of limited funding we need to stay closer to the ‘Must Do’ list.

Quality of life issues should be at the top of the priority list. We need clean drinking water, an efficient waste water system, and being safe in our homes by having highly effective police and fire services.

If elected, how will you represent your constituents including those who didn't vote for you or have a different opinion than you?

This is an interesting question as I will not know who votes against me unless they specifically tell me that they will not vote for me. Since we do not have political parties at the city level, the members of the city council represents ALL the citizens of Newport regardless of who votes for or against the council members. I will represent all the constituents the same with the goal of more sustainable and accountable city services.