Three Rye City Councilmembers were inducted during a brief City Hall ceremony on New Year’s Day morning. New members Keith Cunningham and Jamie Jensen and returning member Josh Nathan were sworn in by the Honorable Judge Valerie Livingston of the Rye City Court.
The new members represent a power shift away from Rye Mayor Josh Cohn and his Gang of Four. The Mayor’s power base was already eroding with Carolina Johnson’s scheduled departure at the end of December and then exacerbated by the unexpected resignation of Councilmember Ben Stacks at the last City Council meeting on 2023. Now the Gang of Four will be two – the Mayor and Councilmember Julie Souza.
According to city code, the Council will vote by majority to appoint someone to fill Stack’s empty seat until the next election.
“Good beginnings, bright beginnings, they matter,” said the Rev. Kate Malin of Christ Church Rye during the invocation. “Every new year is rich with promise and possibility and every new year offers new life and new adventures and hope, plain and simple.”
“Give our local representatives courage, humility and foresight that they may consider the needs of all people, be good stewards of the earth and make wise decisions for the well being of our society.
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