Friday, January 24, 2020

Newport City Council rescinds resolution
Earlier this month the Newport City Council began the process of changing the city charter to provide for the mayor to serve on the board of directors of Newport Utilities. Because the city owns the utility, the thinking was that having the mayor on the board would provide a line of communication between city government and the utility operation. The Tennessee comptroller is currently investigating the utility following reports of irregularities, however the utilities board is under a gag order imposed by state investigators, and so the nature of the investigation may not be shared with city officials or the general public. But Thursday evening, City Manager James Finchum asked the council to rescind its earlier vote. He said after the vote to place the mayor on the utilities board, he was involved in a meeting with utilities officials who asked that the charter not be changed at this time. "It was related to us that the investigators who are conducting the investigation into the situation at the utility have requested that no changes take place on the board until this investigation is concluded. That includes new members or a change in the chair etc. So we want to comply with their request and show that we are cooperating with their investigation," explained Finchum. The council then voted unanimously to rescind the earlier action.


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