Residents deserve consistency, predictability, and respect for the process that guides this town’s decisions.”

David Fiorillo, chairman, Portsmouth Parks & Recreation Committee

PORTSMOUTH — A divided town council on Monday rescinded its earlier approval of an 18-basket disc golf course at Glen Park, triggering an hour of sharply worded warnings from residents and volunteers who said the reversal undermined the town’s democratic processes and further eroded public trust in local government.

The 4-3 vote voided the council’s Sept. 8 authorization of a two-year trial period for the course — the fourth time in four months that the controversial proposal appeared on an agenda. The decision delighted neighbors of Glen Park who opposed the project but alarmed others who argued the repeated revisiting of the matter had become its own civic problem.

How the issue even returned to the docket set the tone. Council president Keith Hamilton began by asking town solicitor Giovanni Cicione to explain whether the council had authority to revisit the earlier vote. Cicione said the council could legally do so, noting that each meeting constitutes a new session under parliamentary procedure and that councils routinely revisit budgets or other decisions.

But for several council members and many in the audience, the procedural debate was secondary to what they saw as a deeper breach: that even after months of meetings and a formal vote, the council was once again reopening a settled question.

Dispute over transparency

Councilor Mary McDowell, who placed the item on the agenda, said she supports disc golf in general but opposes locating a course at Glen Park. She said a Nov. 12 presentation by a citizens’ group convinced her “more than ever” that her initial “no” vote was correct. McDowell argued that earlier steps in the process had been flawed and cited missing recreation committee minutes and historical precedent against golfing at the Glen.

Hamilton disputed her assertions, saying the process had been transparent and that only one unapproved set of minutes had been missing. He said repeated challenges to decisions place both applicants and the council itself in a poor light, especially after volunteers had been encouraged to begin fundraising.

Council member Juan Carlos Payero said the council’s pattern of revisiting matters — from curbside collection to lease agreements to housing authority issues — amounted to “kicking the can.” He called the council a “do-nothing” body that repeatedly gave “the semblance of action while promoting regression.” He urged colleagues to reject rescinding the disc golf approval.

Leonard Katzman, a local attorney and former council member, added a more formal warning, saying the agenda cited “reconsideration,” but the motion before the council was to “rescind,” which he said could violate the Open Meetings Act. Cicione said the agenda met legal requirements and that a motion to rescind was proper.

The council nonetheless voted 4-3 to rescind the approval, with vice president David Gleason and members McDowell, David Reise and Sharlene Patton in favor. Hamilton, Payero and Sondra Blank were opposed. Patton shifted from her earlier “yes” vote on the trial period, but did not offer a reason why.

‘Erodes the public trust’

If the vote settled the policy question, it opened a broader reckoning about civic trust.

Christine Stenning, president of the League of Women Voters of Newport County, said the league had no stance on disc golf but a strong one on democratic process. She questioned why concerns about process were raised only now, months into public discussion. She said repeatedly reopening settled decisions “undermines the legitimacy of decision-making” and “erodes the public trust.”

Stenning argued the presentation offered Monday contained largely recycled material that could have been presented at any of the prior meetings. She said overturning decisions under pressure or persistent challenge “raises concerns that the democratic process in Portsmouth is at risk.”

Her remarks were echoed — often with greater intensity — by parks and recreation committee chairman David Fiorillo, who said Monday’s reversal “feels like the democratic process is being undermined.” 

Volunteers had spent nine months examining the proposal, he said, only to see their work disparaged publicly. He criticized backup materials that accused his committee of not filing minutes promptly and noted that other committees had similar delays without drawing scrutiny.

Fiorillo said a member of the opposition group had filed a public records request targeting him personally, and said the controversy made Portsmouth appear “fractured and unprofessional.” He told council members, “Residents deserve consistency, predictability, and respect for the process that guides this town’s decisions.”

Reise objected to Fiorillo’s remarks, but Hamilton defended his right to comment, saying he was responding directly to documents submitted by McDowell.

Former councilor vows action

Also weighing in was former council president Steve Pappas, speaking remotely from out of state. He criticized the solicitor’s involvement in Monday’s debate and said he planned to file a federal Freedom of Information Act request for emails between Cicione and the four council members who voted to rescind the disc golf approval.

One resident, Bonnie Billington of Frank Coelho Drive, spoke in favor of the council’s reconsideration. She said she was actually a fan of disc golf, but that it wasn’t right for the Glen.

Yet the theme that dominated Monday was not the sport itself, but the town’s governance.

After an hour of discussion, the council voted 4-3 to close debate. As the disc golf talk came to a close Hamilton, clearly frustrated, remarked that based on the night’s outcome, “we can bring back an agenda item any time you want to talk about anything.”