After dedicating 44 years to Newport, Tom Fromme is set to retire at the end of the year, concluding a career that has spanned roles from police chief to city manager.
A proud third-generation resident, Fromme’s service to the city has been deeply influenced by his parents’ civic pride. Having never seen himself as a politician, Fromme said he looked at the police department to be a visible representation of the city.
“One person I always wanted to live up to was my dad,” Fromme said. “He was always a motivator to me. He was a really a smart guy, and he died a long time ago back in 97, but I always wanted to live up to his expectations and he was a big influence in my life. Both of my parents were.”
In 1980, Fromme became a Newport police officer. It was the only department he applied to. While working as an officer, Fromme became involved in different department functions, such as patrol, traffic and administration. This allowed him to be well-rounded when he became police chief in 1991.
One of the goals that he was given and achieved as chief was accreditation for the police department. Police department accreditation is a process that involves adopting and maintaining standardized policies and procedures to meet professional standards.
“I was lucky that I had good people my whole step in the police department,” Fromme said. “I had really good command staff. I had some really good officers, and they bought into the vision of the police department being a superior department and taking the steps necessary to achieve that.”
While working as the police chief, Fromme said his predecessors, as city manager, Jim Parsons and Phil Ciafardini let him be involved in the city administration. Fromme said he wasn’t just focused on the police department he also worked with departments like public works and code enforcement.
As police chief, he put together his own budget (which was then approved by the city manager), which helped him understand the city’s purchasing, budgeting, and financial concepts.
Fromme was named Newport city manager in 2005.
“One quality I always liked about Tom Fromme is that we could cover multiple topics in a single meeting,” Newport Commissioner Mike Radwanski said. “At times we agreed to disagree and moved onto the next topic without any problem. His level of professionalism was that high. I’m going to miss Tom’s candor and his deep knowledge of Newport. Working with him brought a healthy mixture of reality and a deep understanding of where the city has been.”
When Ken Rechtin joined the Newport Board of Commissioners in 2017, he said he immediately initiated weekly meetings with Fromme to talk about city issues and concerns brought to him by citizens.
“I knew Tom was once the police chief, so for the first few of these meetings, I would bring donuts to share,” Rechtin said. “Our relationship grew from there. We established an honest trusting business relationship. Both of us understood that we were united in the belief that our common interest in the betterment of Newport was our bond, even though we may differ in ways to achieve that goal. And we did disagree on many things.”
Rechtin pointed out some of Fromme’s pursuits to better himself in his leadership positions.
During his time as police chief, Fromme graduated from the FBI National Academy and later returned to Northern Kentucky University, graduating with a Master of Public Administration in 2001. He is also a member of the International City Managers Association.
“The professional leadership that he brought to the office of city manager will, in my opinion, be his legacy,” Rechtin said.
Fromme said in 2005 when he became the city manager Newport was broke, and developments stalled. He said all his department heads pitched in and they were able to weather the storm.
“There were times we were worried about making payroll,” Fromme said. “We had vendors cutting us off because we couldn’t pay our bills in a timely manner. But we survived that, and now we have healthy reserves.”
One piece of development that went live in Newport during that time to help weather the storm was the Newport Pavilion on Carothers Road. Fromme credits the Newport Pavilion project as one of his greatest development achievements because it helped the city financially.
Fromme said he started seeing an uptick in Newport’s success after the recession in 2008/09.
“When Kroger opened up, and Target opened up in the pavilion, we were running in full gear, and we haven’t stopped since,” he said.
When he became manager in 2005, Fromme said the city’s total appraised property value was roughly $500 million. What Newport has done since then and is planning for is nearly $1.5 billion in development today.
Because of development, Fromme said Newport’s payroll tax doubled or tripled during that period as well. He said payroll tax makes up 40%-plus of the city’s revenue. In comparison, the city’s property tax is only 12-13%.
“One thing that a lot of people don’t consider is that we’ve also been lucky; I’ve been lucky that we’ve had stable leadership at the political level,” Fromme said. “If you have a constant turnover every two years, you never keep your eye on the ball, your goals change. So, we’ve been lucky to have that stability so we’re able to achieve our goals.”
Fromme said that, as an example, the Newport Pavilion project took roughly 10 years from start to finish, and the Ovation deal went through in 2006 but didn’t really get off the ground until 2020.
One of those longtime Newport Commissioners is Beth Fennell, who will be leaving her role along with Fromme. She was appointed to the Newport Commission in 1992 but knew Fromme prior because he lived on her street. Fennell said they successfully worked together with many other neighbors to protest a zone change for an ill-conceived condominium project at the top of their street.
Fennell said she would remember Fromme most for his calmness and steady hand in emergencies.
“We have come so very far under his leadership,” she said. “Tom’s legacy will continue well beyond his physical presence at city hall.”
Fennel said she will also remember his sense of humor.
“When he lived on my street in south Newport, he said it was too quiet, except for the crickets, who were way too loud,” she said. “He was used to living downtown. When Tom lived on my street, he would often stop by to give me advice on my grass or other household maintenance items. The lawn advice was, ‘It is green but not grass.’ He was probably right, and it was mostly green weeds, I’ve learned.”
After the pair had worked together for a few years, Fromme would occasionally call her “Beatrice.” Her response was to call him the “Le Grand Fromage” (big cheese.)
Fennell also thanked Fromme’s mom, Mary, and Irene Deaton (former Newport mayor) for getting her interested in Newport politics.
“Irene and Mary would ride around in a big station wagon stuffed with the “Newport News,” the local paper they put together,” she said. “They put the flyer on my door about the aforementioned ill-conceived development, and the rest of the history wrote itself.”
Over his 44 years, Fromme said his greatest achievement is his vision for Newport to become a great city. Fromme said he has never been good at promoting the good things that happen in Newport.
“I always looked at Newport as too transient,” Fromme said. “We had too many people coming and going they weren’t establishing roots here. I think that we’re well on our way to creating a community again.”
Another thing Fromme said he was proud of was cleaning up the streets of Newport—literally. Fromme said he has pictures of Monmouth Street from 25 years ago with litter all over. He said under his leadership the city reimplemented its street sweeping program and leaf pickup.
Newport Commissioner Julie Smith-Morrow met Fromme in 2003 when she and her husband moved across the alley from him and his wife.
“Tom is a tall man who owns the room when he enters, but I quickly learned that he is a friendly and kind man who has a great sense of humor and loves cats and dogs,” she said.
One reason Smith-Morrow decided to run for Newport City Commission in 2022 was so she could have an opportunity to work with Fromme on city decisions and business.
Over the years since they first met, Smith-Morrow said she has watched him lead the city through public safety improvements, large economic development projects and growth of historic districts, which are all priorities for her.
“When I decided to become a candidate in 2022, I also knew that Tom would retire someday,” Smith-Morrow said. “I hoped I could serve as a member of the board that would fulfill its major responsibility of selecting and naming Tom’s successor and be part of the transition from Tom Fromme as city manager to a new leader. This is where we are now, and while it makes me sad to see Tom go, I know it is his time, and I am just so grateful for his years of passion, unwavering commitment, and hard work for the residents and city of Newport.”
Though it was hard for him to step down because he never wanted to let anybody down, Fromme said the city was in good shape with good staff. It was announced earlier this month that Newport Assistant City Manager John Hayden will replace Fromme as city manager on Jan. 1, 2025. He said the biggest failure for him would be if the city didn’t succeed after he left because that means he didn’t do something right.
Fromme said when his retirement is official, he will continue to do whatever the city needs of him, and he would never abandon the city as a “Newportian through and through.”
“I can look at myself in the mirror, I feel I did the best I could do, and people may not agree with everything I did, but it came from the right place,” Fromme said. “I always did what I thought was best for the city.”
