The Newport Board of Commissioners serves as one of the most important institutions of the city, deciding on matters related to the city budget, infrastructure and policy.
November will prove to be an important election for the commission because longtime city leaders Jerry and Frank Peluso chose not to seek reelection. There are two incumbents seeking reelection, Beth Fennell and Ken Rechtin.
The commission is comprised of four commissioners and the mayor. Commissioners serve two-year terms.
Initially, there were 10 candidates running for the four open seats. Three candidates were eliminated from contention after the May 17 primary, leaving seven candidates left in the race.
As Election Day 2022 approaches, LINK nky spoke with each candidate, offering them an opportunity to detail their background, strengths and vision for the city.
INCUMBENTS
Beth Fennell
Beth Fennell is a fixture in Newport politics and is the second longest serving member of the commission. She is a native of Northern Kentucky and her grandparents were raised in the East Row. Fennell’s family has run businesses in the city for over 120 years.
Professionally, Fennell has served as the commission’s representative on the Ohio Kentucky and Indiana Regional Council of Governments since 1992. Transportation and infrastructure are one of Fennell’s main focuses as a commissioner.
As a member of OKI, Fennell said she understands how federal and state transportation dollars flow through the organization for evaluation and eventual granting of transportation funds. Through this partnership, Newport has received millions of dollars in transportation improvement funds.
“In recent years through the important work of the City Staff and our OKI representation we have been awarded millions of dollars for safer sidewalks and bike paths, improvements including accessibility to Festival Park, the redesign of Carothers Road, the replacement of pavers on Monmouth Street, improvements to the underpass and redesign of the South Monmouth Corridor,” Fennell said.
Some of the issues she and the commission are focusing on are to increase the affordable housing stock in Newport and amend the mandatory contribution to the State Hazardous pension fund that cities are required, which Fennell said imposes a burden on the city’s budget and results in cost cutting measures.
Fennell told LINK nky she prides herself in being available and open to the concerns of Newport residents.
“One of my focuses has been responsiveness to residents and businesses if they have a question, comment or concern,” Fennell said. “My phone number and email are on every piece of literature I put out. I receive resident and business emails and calls daily and direct those to the proper staff person or entity as applicable.”
Ken Rechtin
Ken Rechtin is the second incumbent commissioner and has a long career in public service throughout Northern Kentucky. Rechtin initially served as a Newport commissioner from 1992 to 2002 and as a Campbell County commissioner from 2003 to 2014. He was elected back to the commission in 2017.
Rechtin has experience in various professional spheres such as commercial banking, sales and marketing. Prior to seeking elected office, he was an Ombudsman for Newport from 1978 to 1980. Rechtin told LINK nky his most rewarding professional experience was serving as the executive director for Senior Services of Northern Kentucky.
“Our staff did wonderful work on things such as medical services, food programs, and recreation programs,” Rechtin said. “We had 12 recreation centers. We had a group of people that advocated on behalf of elderly so it was really a lot of fun and was rewarding. I enjoyed that.”
For facing the city, Rechtin said he is focused on continuing to rebuild the city’s reserve funds, which were devastated after the 2008 recession. Other important targets for Rechtin include continuing his support for the city’s police and fire departments, repairing or renovating obsolete infrastructure such as the combined sewer system and 4th Street Bridge, and improving the quality of life for citizens by challenging River City Metals and maintaining but also enhancing the walkability of the city.
As a sports fan, Rechtin said a vision he has for the future of the city is to look into the development of a sports complex that will be shared by both the Newport and Bellevue Independent School Districts. Newport’s Stadium was condemned by the state due to deterioration.
“It could be really a wonderful addition not only to the schools, but to our communities as well,” Rechtin said.
Rechtin told LINK nky he genuinely loves attending city and community organization meetings. Passion, knowledge and experience are three attributes Rechtin said he brings to the table when serving in public office.
“We run as individuals, but we govern as a team,” Rechtin said. “The electorate’s responsibility is to choose those team members. When people are looking at us and there’s seven of us up there, they’re going to choose a team.”
CHALLENGERS
Gordon Henry
Gordon Henry is a native of Newport, a graduate of Newport High School and the only African-American candidate in the race.
Henry has a 14-year resume of work in nonprofits. He currently sits on the board of ReNewport, a community development nonprofit, as well as the board of the New Leaders Council. He is also executive director of the Dayton Housing Authority.
Henry told LINK nky his extensive experience working in the nonprofit sector will translate well to public office.
“It’s very important to have that collaboration when it comes to working with those community organizations, whether it’s writing grants, helping raise funds and connecting members of the community to these organizations,” Henry said.
Henry’s platform is focused on key issues such as affordable housing, transportation and infrastructure improvements, cycling and pedestrian safety, local and small business development, and diversity and inclusion.
“There’s not really a real focus on creating more affordable houses in many communities across the country so looking into different ways and making sure that is a very important thing for any development moving forward,” Henry said. “We should focus on being more strategic and proactive in implementing and including affordable housing into the fabric of the city instead of on the back end because I recognize that usually once affordable housing is removed from an area, it never comes back.”
If elected to the commission, Henry said he plans to engage community organizations and real estate developers to help create more affordable housing throughout Newport.
Besides affordable housing, enhancing cycling and pedestrian safety is another key item on Henry’s platform. Henry himself is a cycling enthusiast. Some solutions he would propose if elected is to make Monmouth Street a two-way, install bump outs on certain streets to slow down traffic and potentially changing the speed limits within Newport.
Finally, Henry wants to attract more LGBTQ+, women and minority-owned businesses into Newport.
“I think it’s important that we have different types of diversity in the city and so when people move here, they feel welcomed and safe,” Henry said.
Dave Capella
Dave Capella has been a Newport resident for five and a half years, residing in the city with his wife, Becky.
Professionally, Capella spent 30 years in the environmental health, safety and sustainability fields for large companies, primarily Johnson & Johnson. Capella’s current passion is his involvement in jail ministry with the Catholic Charities Diocese of Covington which helps inmates in Kenton, Campbell and Boone counties.
Capella has also served on the board of ReNewport and did allocation work for United Way.
The biggest question fueling his run for the commission is what kind of community do the residents of Newport want to live in going forward.
“If you look at five to 10 years out, who are we going to be as a community,” Capella said. “Are we going to be defined by our riverfront, Ovation and the Levee, or are we going to be defined by our Main Street.”
Capella told LINK nky he is glad the city is supporting development along the riverfront but wants Newport to work its residents, not just the tourists that visit.
“I’ve had a chance to go door-to-door and talk to people in all the neighborhoods, and I get a lot of the same feedback and concerns,” Capella said. “‘What’s Newport going to look like in five to 10 years,’ and, ‘what’s going to be here for us as a community?'”
Capella said he wants to increase incentives for small businesses trying to open within the community, as well as simplify the process of starting a small business.
“When I walked around talking to people in our neighborhoods, the number of people that told me that they go to Bellevue for a Friday or Saturday evening instead of Monmouth or York streets was disappointing to hear,” Capella said.
Besides supporting small businesses, Capela’s platform priorities are public safety, maintaining neighborhood character, supporting police, fire, and emergency services, improving infrastructure, and transparent and responsible decision making in regard to spending taxpayer dollars.
Julie Smith-Morrow
Julie Smith-Morrow is a current school board member for Newport Independent. She was first elected in 2007. Now she is seeking to serve her community in a different capacity.
Smith-Morrow originally hails from Brookfield, WI where she graduated high school. As a single mother, Smith Morrow graduated from college with a Bachelor of Science in Agronomy, Crop Science and a PhD in Plant Genetics from Texas Tech University.
For approximately a quarter century, Smith-Morrow worked in a variety of roles for non-profits. Previously, she’s worked for Dress for Success Cincinnati, Freestore Food Bank, Goodwill Industries and the South Plains Food Bank. She also served on the Gateway Community and Technical College Board of Directors.
Smith-Morrow’s platform is focused on public safety, adequately staffing the city government, bringing revenue to Newport and providing good jobs for residents, improving the small business environment, increasing the affordable housing stock, providing more opportunities for homeowners and solving infrastructure needs.
“I think it’s extremely important to be responsive to the community and work hard to earn the position,” Smith-Morrow said. “Not just take it for granted, but to be responsive and to listen. I tried to do that as a school board member and would certainly do that as a commissioner as well.”
As a member of the school board, Smith-Morrow said she has worked to increase student achievement and graduation rates, build new operational arts programs and maintain and upgrade building facilities.
Smith-Morrow told LINK nky her experience as a school board member will help her translate to the commission because she understands the similarities between duties such as evaluating budgets, setting policies, engaging leaders, hiring and decision making.
“Both the school board and the commissioners are elected by the public to really understand the issues and to work hard to make the best decisions,” Smith-Morrow said.
Mike Radwanski
Mike Radwanski is a native of Detroit but relocated to the Greater Cincinnati area for work in 2005. 10 years ago, he bought a house in Newport and has been involved in the community ever since.
“I really fell in love with the community and the city and so I decided to stay here long term,” Radwanski said.
Radwanski has worked for major American corporations such as GE Aviation, Honeywell and currently Johnson Controls. He’s also been involved in community organizations such as serving on Code Enforcement Board.
Radwanski told LINK nky his experience managing teams and projects in corporate America will translate well to the commission.
“For my job, I help teams stay accountable, make sure processes are followed and that projects get done on time,” Radwanski said. “I think I can bring that accountability to the board to make sure that we keep the Comprehensive Plan going and keep Newport headed in a positive direction.”
He decided to launch his campaign for commission last October as remote working during the pandemic allowed him more time to focus on serving the community.
Radwanski’s platform is focused on meeting and exceeding the goals of Newport’s Comprehensive Plan, which he was involved in planning. These goals include increased financial transparency, upgrading infrastructure, creating a “smart corridor” on Monmouth Street, and bringing the community together with more events.
He also would like to contribute to building a dashboard for the city that would allow staff to see the meaningful metrics driving the city forward. Radwanksi said it will allow city decisions to be data-focused.
“I think I can lend a hand in helping get to that. I think it’ll make people see that we you have a transparent government, people can have questions then we can have a dialogue with them that’s data driven essentially,” Radwanski said.
Ed Davis
Ed Davis has lived in Newport for a long time, 49 years in fact.
“This is my home and I care about where I live,” Davis said.
Davis worked as a letter carrier for the US Postal Service. He retired from his career as a letter carrier to take care of his mother.
He began his foray into public service by planting trees around the city. Davis noticed when he would be on the job carrying letters, it would get really hot due to the lack of shade trees in west Newport. Throughout the process, Davis said he and a group of volunteers planned and implemented the planting of over 500 trees in Newport.
Davis previously served as the president, vice president and treasurer for the Westside Citizens Coalition. Davis also served as a vice president of the Steel Workers Union.
As an alum of Newport Independent, Davis was a member of the first education task force tasked with evaluating and reporting on the performance of Newport Schools, as well as being involved with an alum mentorship program.
“I’ve tried to do a lot of things for the city,” Davis said. “I don’t really know any other way to describe all the things I’ve been doing other than working toward putting our city in a better place.”
Davis told LINK nky the issues he wants to tackle if he gets elected to the commission is to advocate for housing that’s affordable residents of all income levels, making the city more friendly to cyclists and pedestrians and installing charging stations for electric vehicles around the city.
“I would like to work towards bringing all the neighborhoods together because we’re not that big of a place and all the problems we have truly are one city problems,” Davis said. “We’re in this together. This is our city and we set the goals we set the priorities.”
Lastly, Davis said he’d like to see a housing initiative implemented so that when developers buy land or property in Newport, they are incentivized to invest back into the city and its people.
