Portsmouth council narrowly approves Police Chief Mark Newport's contract with $10K raise

PORTSMOUTH — The City Council, by a vote of 5-3, approved a five-year extension of Police Chief Mark Newport’s employment contract, which includes a hefty increase to his base salary from about $165,000 to $175,000, according to city records.

The contract extension, which starts retroactively on Feb. 1, 2024, runs through Jan. 31, 2029, and includes $5,000 annual pay hikes in 2025, 2026, 2027 and 2028, according to a copy of the contract extension released by the city.

Newport will also receive “an annual Education Attainment Bonus,” during the first year of his contract, which is worth 1% of his base salary, according to city records.

Searchable database: Salaries for all Portsmouth city-side employees in 2023

That education bonus will jump to 2% of his current base salary in the second year of the new contract and 3% in years three, four and five, the contact states.

Mayor Deaglan McEachern voted to approve the extension, along with Assistant Mayor Joanna Kelley and City Councilors John Tabor, Rich Blalock and Beth Moreau.

City Councilors Kate Cook, Josh Denton and Andrew Bagley voted against approving the contract.

City Councilor Vince Lombardi did not attend Monday’s meeting.

Newport praises contract, affirms his commitment to Portsmouth

Newport, who was a finalist for the Nantucket police chief job in the Massachusetts island community last year, began negotiating his new contract in Portsmouth last fall with the city's Police Commission.

Reached Tuesday afternoon, Newport said he was happy with the City Council’s decision to approve the contract.

He believes the contract extension they reached was “fair for both sides. ... Ultimately it will work well for both sides.

“I think it’s fair compensation,” he said.

Newport said he is committed to being in Portsmouth through the length of the contract, he added.

Monday was Newport’s 29th anniversary of working for the Portsmouth Police Department, he said.

The five-year contract will give him time to continue working on the new police station project, he said.

“It’s very important,” Newport added.

He called the efforts to build a new station that meets the City Council’s financial parameters “still a work in progress.”

Officials are “taking progressive steps to continue moving forward” on the project, Newport said.

As chief, Newport said, he continues to enjoy the help of a “very supportive community. The council has been very supportive, adding he's committed to “get the necessary resources for our department.”

“I think we have an excellent police department and a very supportive community,” Newport said.

Cook calls out 'huge increase' in pay for police chief

Before the vote, Cook asked about why Newport’s new contract would increase his base pay immediately to $175,000, which she called “a huge increase.”

City Manager Karen Conard said the increase “is reflective of years when the chief did not have a cost of living adjustment. This, I believe, would make up for some of that."

Cook later stated she had “no questions about Chief Newport’s performance. ... It’s fantastic, he’s done an incredible job."

Mayor speaks up for chief's contract

McEachern said because Newport came “up through the ranks” with the Portsmouth Police Department, rising to chief, maybe “the city got a discount” when it first promoted him.

Newport moved from interim to permanent chief in January 2021, when his hiring was approved by the City Council. HIs contract at that time called for a starting pay of $148,557.55, and he was paid $152,628 in 2021.

The mayor stressed Newport has done “an exemplary job” as chief.

“It’s hard to imagine that we would find a better chief for the city of Portsmouth,” McEachern said during Monday night’s City Council meeting. “I don’t think we are over our skis at all to increase this to the level it is.

“I would hate to see us not take the opportunity to support the chief … because of all he has done within the department to support the city of Portsmouth,” McEachern added.

Blalock pointed to Newport's long history working for Portsmouth Police.

“He’s been part of our community,” Blalock said. “I’ve run into the chief on duty, off duty, I know he’s recently bought a home in Portsmouth.”

Blalock understands the city’s taxpayers will pay for the new contract, but stated he believes “that having a chief that is home grown, and been part of our department for .... years, is priceless.”

Moreau agreed that Newport has done “a wonderful job” as chief.

But she acknowledged she had “a hard time swallowing the increase in the initial salary.”

But the city saved “all that money” by promoting a police chief from within the department, she said.

Education bonus questioned

Bagley too said Newport “does a wonderful job,” but he stated “there’s important things to consider with the leadership roles in the city.”

Bagley believes, he said, that the city manager should be the top paid employee in the city, followed by the superintendent of schools.

“While I believe this contract does over the length of it allow for that to happen, there’s not very much daylight there,” he said.

Conard was paid $182,731 in 2023.

Bagley also questioned the education bonus, stating “it’s not a stipend, it’s not for educational purposes, its monies because of the education that’s been attained.”

The 1% bonus makes sense, he said, but Bagley disagrees with a 2% or 3% bonus.

Importance of continuity emphasized

Tabor, too, pointed to the fact the city saved money when Newport was the interim chief.

“I think the chief is doing a good job, we’re making progress on body cameras, we’re making progress with the social worker,” Tabor said, discussing additions to the Portsmouth Police Department.

He also pointed to the need to have “continuity through the building of a new police station. I would hate to see us have to change leadership in the midst of that. I think it would cost the same amount of money or more to go out and search and find somebody else right now.”

More: Councilors question $38M price for new Portsmouth police station after Dover visit

Cook said later in the discussion the City Council has “to be really careful as we increase salaries” and “really mindful of the long term impact of those compounding salaries.”

Portsmouth Police Commission member Buzz Scherr told the council he was “very supportive” of Newport’s contract extension.

He said Newport has embraced needed changes in the department and is working to implement the wearing of body cameras by officers.

“While on the surface it appears like a somewhat large increase, it actually isn’t given where he started out when he first became chief and where he is now,” the commissioner said.

“We have ourselves a police chief committed to working with this department for the full length of this” contract,” he added.

Newport attended the meeting in City Hall but did not speak during the council’s deliberations.

The new contract calls for Newport to receive benefits that are consistent with those in place between the city and the Professional Management Association, according to the contract.

Newport will be provided with a vehicle to use on and off duty, and is required to live in Portsmouth, according to the contract.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth Police Chief Mark Newport's contract narrowly approved