Newport City Councilman John Florez has announced his intention to resign his seat from the Newport City Council effective January to pursue business opportunities for Drupal Connect, his award winning technology company.
Florez announced his intentions Wednesday morning in a letter to the Newport City Council and city administration.
I have been honored to serve these last few years on the City Council. Serving my community has been one of the most rewarding and humbling experiences of my life. In the last three years I’ve spearheaded legislation that made us one of the first cities in Rhode Island to have Police wear body cameras, we were one of the first cities in Rhode Island to ban single use plastic bags, and I helped make critical improvements to our technology infrastructure which will include a new state-of-the-art website that will go live in the coming year.However, effective January 9th I will resign my seat as Councilor-at-Large. I’m going to be spending more of my time focusing on personal philanthropic endeavors such as Boys Town and the Rogers High School after school technology program which I’m hoping to grow in the coming years. Also, for the next year or two I’ll be opening up new office for my company in Austin Texas and this will require me to be there approximately half time.Finally, I’d like to thank my colleagues on the Council. While we didn’t always agree on the issues, There’s no question that each of you is deeply committed to the progress of Newport. Each of you works very diligently to ensure that our city is moving in the right direction.Thank you again and I wish each of you the very best.Warm regards,John
As per the Newport City Charter, the city council will appointment a replacement to serve the remainder of Councilman Florez’s term.
