To the Editor:
“The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose, however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length, I would be avenged; this was a point definitively settled — but the very definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk. I must not only punish, but punish with impunity. A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.”
So begins Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tale, The Cask of Amontillado, in which the narrator lures his supposed tormentor into a carefully devised plot to seek revenge for perceived slights. Recently, our town has faced its own Fortunato in the form of our illustrious City Council. Over the past several years, we, the citizens of Newport, have been forced to endure the foolishness of our sitting council: half a million dollars a year spent on a private lobbyist to the state (I thought that’s why we elected state representatives?), a $50,000 stipend so the newly appointed city manager can buy a house, the atrocity that is the new bridge offramp, the mishandling of the Rogers High School bonds, and countless other missteps that would require a novel unto itself to detail.
This past week, however, we were struck by what may be the gravest insult yet from our elected officials: an $81 monthly tax on water utilities, on top of the already exorbitant water and sewer fees paid by local residents. At a time when so many of us locals are being driven from our homes by rising rent, property taxes, and the overall cost of living, it is downright insulting to raise the rate on the most basic of needs — water. That so many of the sitting City Council members are transplants from out of state, who do not share our local values or concerns, and who care more about tax revenue than our standards of living while pandering to the multi-state resident donor class, only compounds this insult.
This year, I threw my hat into the race for City Council. Unfortunately, as a single father trying to make ends meet, I was unable to devote as much time and effort as I would have liked — or that the people of Newport deserve — and for that, I apologize. However, I have no intention of standing by silently while this city, my home, is pushed further into destitution by interests that do not have to live with the consequences of their decisions.
During the nomination process, the most common response I received while gathering signatures was essentially: “I would love to, but I don’t live in Newport anymore. I can’t afford it.” This is from people who were born here and lived here for 20, 30, 40 years or more, until the city began to implode over the past five years. During that time, the cost of living has risen by over 50% while real wages, particularly in the hospitality industry where many of us once found employment, have plummeted. Employers have had to cut hours and keep non-salaried employees part-time just to stay afloat. This needs to end.
This coming Wednesday, September 18th, at 11 a.m., the City Council plans to meet to “address” this issue. I use quotes because I have little faith in the Council’s intention to reverse course in any meaningful way. I am writing this letter to reach out directly to our community and call upon my fellow Islanders to gather in protest at City Hall and call out this travesty masquerading as representative government. Like Poe’s narrator, I, too, have endured enough injuries, and one too many insults, to stand by any longer. I know I’m not alone.
While the fate of Fortunato — sealed inside a hidden chamber beneath the city streets — may be too harsh in our modern era, perhaps we can take a page from Poe and seal our City Council members off from political power at the ballot box this November. As long as we, the people, sit passively and allow our elected officials to undermine our livelihoods and well-being, they will continue to do so. We must stand together, regardless of political affiliations or petty differences, and show our self-appointed ruling class that we are not simply serfs to be taxed and regulated in some neo-feudal system. We must become the bricks, and our love for our home and community the mortar, so we can forever seal these fools out of the halls of power.
– Richard Spinney
Newport
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