Former Newport Mayor Napolitano Doubles Down on Hot Mic Comments - “I Said Them”

Former Newport Mayor Napolitano Doubles Down on Hot Mic Comments - “I Said Them”

Former Newport Mayor Jeanne-Marie Napolitano defended her comments caught on a hot mic on Saturday, in which she said she was going to make top Democrats in the city’s lives “miserable.”

Napolitano, who has served on the Newport City Council since 1991 — and served as mayor three times over the past decade — made the comments regarding Democratic City Committee Chair Susan Taylor and State Senator Dawn Euer at a meeting in City Hall between members of the city council and area legislators.

“I think the full comment was I probably…I said I’ll make them as miserable as they made me,” said Napolitano in an interview with GoLocal on Sunday.

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The meeting audio did not reflect that statement, but Napolitano, who now serves on the city council, doubled down on making her “miserable” comment.

“I said it,” said Napolitano. 

As GoLocal reported, the City of Newport then edited the public meeting video footage to remove Napolitano’s comments — but GoLocal retained the original copy. 

 

Napolitano -- and Euer -- on the Record 

“Let me explain something I have not said publicly,” said Napolitano. “After the election in November, I was told Taylor, who was head of the Democratic City Committee, was having regular meetings last year on a monthly basis — clandestine meetings with some of the female council members."

Napolitano said she was excluded from the meetings. 

“I’ve been a mayor three times and I didn’t know what was going on,” said Napolitano. “A former female council member and a female legislator upstate [told me] they attended a couple of the meetings, and it always went down to, 'Well, we’ve got to get rid of Napolitano,' and we don’t like this and we don’t like that. They made everything we were doing almost like a culture war.”

Napolitano said she believes one of the issues of contention was the Christopher Columbus statue in the city. 

“We have an Italian contingency in Newport and the Christopher Columbus statue, and we weren’t going to get into all that. History is history. I said that. They raised the money for the statue years ago, and families have enjoyed it as a tradition,” said Napolitano. “In my mind, it wasn’t talking necessarily about Christopher Columbus; it was about the contribution the Italians made not only to the City of Newport but the state of Rhode Island. They were very upset with that comment.”

“I felt like I was worried about residents and some school situations, trying to take care of the people in Newport. like I’ve done for the last 30 years," said Napolitano. “I feel like I was being constantly undermined. I didn’t put it all together until I spoke to those two members directly.”

Napolitano said she confronted Taylor directly following the election in November. 

“I said exactly what was on my mind — I said you spent two years making me miserable,” said Napolitano.

As for Euer, Napolitano said it was her inability to get a call back from the Senator that prompted her to include her in her comments.

“I had been calling Dawn several times when I was Mayor and she’d never call me back,” said Napolitano. “I saw her at some event at an election event last summer and I said Dawn, do I have the right number for you? I said you never call me back. She said I never get any calls from you and I showed her my phone. I said 'Dawn;' she said I swear, maybe I was out or something,” said Napolitano. “I don’t know what she said but she did apologize.”

Napolitano said she tried to reach Euer again “on a school issue” following that conversation — and never heard back. 

“I guess in some ways it’s a little bit unfortunate. I’m surprised it was women,” said Napolitano, noting when she was first elected to the City Council, she was the only female. “I think we should be promoting women in government. I’m surprised at the tactics used, and disappointed.”

Euer, when reached for comment about Napolitano’s hot mic remakes, sent the following statement. 

“I’m focused on doing my best for my constituents and it's disappointing that a long-term member of the Newport City Council would be focused on doing anything but the same,” said Euer. “Our constituents are facing increased pressures on their household budgets and I'm focused on advancing policies to ease those pressures. For me, that means focusing on addressing the housing crisis, utility reform, school funding formula increases, consumer protection legislation, and Whip Lawson's legislation to expand temporary caregivers insurance coverage.”

Taylor did not respond to request for comment at time of publication.