First ever “Candidate Signature Event Tour of Newport”

Well, campaign season is in full swing!!

Earlier this summer I put together Newport’s first ever “Candidate Signature Event Tour of Newport”.

Each candidate running for office was required to obtain a certain amount of registered voter signatures for their name to appear on the November election ballot. For City Council, the Ward specific candidates had to obtain 50 signatures, and the At-Large candidates had to obtain 100.

Typically, candidates will go to their family, friends, neighbors, and supporters for signatures. 

However, I thought that it was important for the community to be involved in this process. The reason being is that one of the things I consistently hear from the residents is there is a lack of transparency between our city government and the people.

So, why not get the community involved from the beginning. And that starts with the candidate signatures.

There was a total of seven (7) signature events that I hosted in various local parks that were held over the course of a week and invited the community and candidates to attend.

This gave the candidates a chance to meet each other and the community a chance to meet the candidates. It also enabled the community to have an inside look at how the candidates interacted with each other as a preview to how they would work together if elected.

I just want to thank the candidates that participated in the events and the residents that came out to meet us!!

Overall, it was a great success!!

And it’s never too late to get our younger generations involved. My 4-year-old niece wanted to sign my papers when she attended the event at Braga Park with my parents!!