Citing all the work she has to do before moving her family to Houston next month, Councilwoman Suzanna Keith informed the Mayor of her desire to tender her resignation a few weeks early.
By Robin Jovanovich
Citing all the work she has to do before moving her family to Houston next month, Councilwoman Suzanna Keith informed the Mayor of her desire to tender her resignation a few weeks early. She stepped down effective May 23.
In a conversation with the paper earlier this week, Keith said she wanted to be able to be of help to her successor if needed.
Keith said it has been “a true honor to work with Doug French. He gets in front of the issues, and no one works as hard as he does or listens as well. It’s been a pleasure working alongside my fellow committed Councilmembers; the honorable and charismatic City Manager; a brilliant City Attorney Kristen Wilson who has saved Rye countless dollars; a superb City Planner Christian Miller; a talented Access Coordinator Nicole Levitsky; and all the absolutely amazing City staff.
“I also want to mention how much I have enjoyed working with the other members of our election team, Peter Jovanovich and Richard Filippi, who have inspired me and become great friends.”
When asked what she felt she’d brought to the position in her two and a half years in office, Keith replied thoughtfully, “Ensuring that the City is on a financially sustainable path, increasing pedestrian safety, and finding good talent.” She added, “We worked hard to get legal costs down, did a good financial analysis of city government, and have involved more citizens.”
Keith said she’s sorry she won’t have the pleasure of voting for the tree ordinance. “It’s good to look at our laws and update them as needed. There is a movement afoot for change — we don’t want trees cut down unnecessarily. We need them to maintain the beauty of Rye and help mitigate against flooding.”
As far as the upcoming capital infrastructure bond, she hopes the Council puts a larger amount in for pedestrian safety. “We are recognized as a Complete Streets community but many of our streets and sidewalks are in serious disrepair.”
Mayor French had this to say about his departing Councilmember: “Suzanna brought a passion, an insight, and a community rapport to the Council that will be greatly missed both as a colleague and personally. We came together to drive change for the future and solve problems — and in a short 30 months in office — we have done just that, and she leaves having accomplished much more than most.”
