Resolution 2005-xxx:
Creates 5th Ward Square
in the City of Newport.
RESOLUTIONS:
Liquor Licenses
Smoking Ban - Street Safety
Former City Councilor Paul Eckart approached me in the summer of 2005 with the idea of this resolution which celebrates an area of Newport known as the 5th Ward and remembers and recognizes many who have lived and continue to live there and their contributions to the City of Newport.

Last year a charter revision reduced the number of wards from 4 to 3. I still get people who refer to me as the 5th Ward representative and the most interesting thing I've found out with the help of City Clerk Kathy Silvia is that the 5th Ward only existed for 15 years. Due to a population spurt in Newport in 1915, the Rhode Island's General Assembly increased the number of the City's voting wards from 4 to 5. A charter revision in 1930 reduced the wards back to 4.

So, 2005 marks the passing of 75 years since there has been a 5th Ward yet the identity of the 5th Ward remains and is incredibly strong among so many Newporters. In an effort to recognize those who celebrate this identity which seems to have transcended beyond area of land to a concept or bond that lives in the hearts and minds of those who grew up in the 5th Ward and still live there today, I along with councilors Coyne & Connolly sponsored this resolution.

Costs associated with the project will be covered by private funding.
Smoking Ban - Receptacles
Marine Avenue
Department Head Reports
Thanking DOT for Dedication to Cliff Walk
Shimoda 50th Anniversary
School Budget Surplus & Budget Process
Thanking Senator Chafee re: World Heritage Application
Thanking World Heritage Committee
WHEREAS, When the Town of Newport was incorporate into a City in 1784, it was divided into four districts; however, by 1915, the population had grown to the extend that the Newport City Charter was amended to establish five voting districts, with the southern end of the City beind designated as the 5th Ward; and;
Creates 5th Ward Square
WHEREAS, The 5th Ward was heavily populated with decedents of Ireland, bearing sir names such as Coyne, Connolly, Fitzgerald, Kirwin, Fogarty, McGrath, Connerton, Sullivan, Kane, Connell, Mahoney, Behan, Corcoran, Hayes, Toppa, Murray, Murphy, Burns, Donnelly, Finn, Martin, Kelly, Egan, Gleason, O’Brien, Shea, Dugan, Walsh, Fitzpatrick, McDonald, Winthrop, Blank, Newberry, Dwyer, Meehan, Burrows, McNulty, Donovan, Phelan, Leary, Kinsella, Whitford, McCormick, Sheekey, McCarthy, Milburn, O’Maley, O’Hanley, Hanley, McMann, Reilly, O’Rourke, Dunn, Donovan, Cardi, Downey, Brown, Bryer, O'Connor and Boyle; and
WHEREAS, Over the years the 5th Ward became more than an area of land or voting ward but a place where a familial bond formed amongst all who lived there no matter what their nationality;and
although a Charter revision in 1930 reduced the number of wards within the City of Newport from five to four, and subsequently to three in 2002, the southern end of the City continues to be referred to as the 5thWard because the identity of the ward was so strong; and
RESOLVED:
2006 marks the 50th Anniversary of the St. Patrick’s Parade in Newport and it is vital to recognize and remember those who have laid a strong foundation and sense of community in the City of Newport; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED: that the area starting at Carroll Avenue and ending at the J. Joseph M. Martin Memorial be forever recognized as ‘5th Ward Square’ and a committee be established to host a Naming Ceremony on the first weekend of March followed by a 5th Ward Outing so that the 5th Ward and its residents forever be remembered in the City of Newport.

© Colleen McGrath 2005