New Faces Join Council, School Committee

It was a night of farewells, thanks yous and welcomes during Monday night's swearing in ceremony for both the North Kingstown Town Council and School Committee.

The council welcomed new members Kerry McKay, Kevin Maloney and Richard Welch (who joins the council after four years on the school committee). The trio will join incumbents Carol Hueston and Elizabeth Dolan who were both re-elected during last month's election. Dolan will once again serve as the council's president for the third term in a row.

The council bid farewell to outgoing members Chuck Brennan, Michael Bestwick and Charles Stamm. Brennan and Stamm (who was not present at the ceremony) both chose to not run for re-election while Bestwick came in seventh out of 14 candidates for council.

"We haven't agreed on everything all the time, but our town council has shown that five people can work together," said Dolan.

On the school side, the North Kingstown School Committee welcomed new members Cheryl Clarkin and Robert Jones, who were sworn in along with incumbent Lynda Avanzato who was re-elected last month. 

Though the council quickly reappointed Jeannette Alyward as municipal court clerk/magistrate and Judge Joe White as municipal court judge, two of the new council members voiced concerns over reappointing legal counsel for the town – both for town solicitor and labor relations. Both Welch and Maloney wanted the services to go out to bid. Welch felt that the town should be going out to bid "every three years" for services.

According to Dolan, the council doesn't typically go out to bid for legal services and that law firms typically apply. Hueston added that no firms had applied for North Kingstown. Hueston also disagreed with changing legal counsel for labor relations, as the town is currently involved in litigation with the North Kingstown Firefighters Union – Local 1651.

In two 3-2 votes, the council reappointed Kelly, Kelleher, Reilly & Simpson as town solicitors and  Little Medeiros Kinder Bulman & Whitney as town solicitors for labor relations.