The Newport City Council met on January 14, 2026, to address a range of items including a proclamation honoring former State Senator David R. Carlin Jr., multiple liquor and entertainment license transfers, traffic management for the 2026 Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals, amendments to the two-tier tax classification program, and a resolution to establish a public health vending machine program. The meeting included public hearings and extensive debate.
Happy 2026. It's been a while. So we'll start off. Uh Madam Clerk, can you take a roll, please? David Carlin. Here. Charlie Holder. Here. Side Council Varavan. Here. Jean Marie DePolitano. Alan Pinnock. Yeah. Stephanie Smythe. There is a quorum present, Mr. Chair. Thank you. Please stand. Legislature. Under God. Liberty justice for all. Uh, Madam Clerk, uh, before we get to the citizens forum, um, I do have a uh some personal and also uh uh citywide item of business, uh, a proclamation that we're gonna read here uh tonight. Uh on December twelfth, uh a great New Porter, a great Rhode Islander and the father of our well renowned councilman David Carlin, uh, passed away. Um I knew Mr. Carlin since I was a young kid growing up on Thurston Avenue, and they just grew up the uh street over from me, and I uh I remember him from days of uh Little League and running around the neighborhood and uh was always a well respected man. Um great to the community, great to uh the kids in the community, and um what he did for for the city of Newport and the state of Rhode Island will won't be forgotten and shouldn't be forgotten. Um so in that regard, I want to read this proclamation from the city of Newport. Uh the city of Newport pays tribute and recognizes former state senator David R. Carlin, Jr. as a lifelong resident and devoted servant of the city of Newport in the state of Rhode Island. Mr. Carlin was born on April 9th, 1938, in Petsucket, Rhode Island, and exemplified a lifelong commitment to learning, graduating from St. Ray's Academy, Providence College, and earning an advanced degrees in philosophy and sociology from the University of Notre Dame and the University of Rhode Island. He dedicated more than four decades to higher education as a respected professor at the community college of Rhode Island, inspiring generations of students through his intellect, compassion, and unwavering belief in the power of education, retiring only after his eighty third day. Mr. Carlin served the public with distinction for more than three decades, beginning as a member of the Newport School Committee in 1975, later representing Newport and surrounding communities in the Rhode Island Senate, beginning in 1980, and elected as Senate Majority Leader from 1988 to 1990. He continues dedication to Democratic ideals as a Democratic Party's nominee for the Rhode Island's first congressional district in 1992, and sub subsequently resumed public service through his tenure on the Newport School Committee from 2001 until 2009, where he was chair of the Newport Democratic City Committee from 1995 to 2005. Guided by a deep and abiding Catholic faith, Mr. Carlin devoted his public his life to public service and private action to advocating for the most vulnerable among us, consistently giving voice to those without one. And he was an accomplished author and writer, publishing seven books and numerous articles, earning multiple writing awards, and leaving behind a legacy of thoughtful scholarship and discourse reflected in his extensive personal library. But above all, Mr. Carlin was a devout husband to his beloved wife of more than 55 years, Maureen, a loving father to his children, David Carlin, Joshua Carlin, and Margaret Carlin, and a proud grandfather whose family stood at the center of his life. Now, therefore, be it that I, Charles Holder, do hereby proclaim Wednesday, January 14th, 2026, as David R. Carlin Jr. Day in the city of Newport, and call upon the citizens to join me with my fellow city councillors. Carlin's dedication, intellect, and compassion. Thank you to my colleagues, the city administration, to the people of Newport. Who here thinks of me as a person who is at a loss for words? Probably nobody. Certainly myself.