Swope Picked to Serve as Council VP

By Adam Swift

Suzanne Swope is the new Winthrop Town Council Vice President.

Swope was unanimously elected to the position by her fellow council members at last week’s meeting. She is the Precinct 4 Councilor, and served on the school committee before her election to the council in 2023.

A new council vice president is elected by the body each year, and is expected to run meetings in the event the council president cannot attend, according to Council President Jim Letterie.

Swope takes over the seat from Hannah Belcher, who gave up her Precinct 3 seat last year to mount a challenge to Letterie for the council president position.

The first regular meeting of the council saw several new faces on the council, including Paul Reardon, Kim Dimes, Kurt Millar, and Joe Romano. There is also an open seat in Precinct 6 after the resignation of former councilor John DaRos.

With several of the new councilors having served on other boards and commissions, Letterie said the town is seeking volunteers.

“We have openings on the board of license, board of appeals, conservation commission, (board of) registrars,” said Letterie.

Anyone interested in filling one of the vacancies is encouraged to contact Letterie or Town Clerk Denise Quist.

On the council itself, Letterie said at the next meeting he would like to discuss appointing council liaisons to other policy-making bodies in Winthrop.

“We try to do committee report updates, we are just doing updates as we see them from minutes,” said Letterie.

Having liaisons to boards such as the planning board, board of appeals, license commission, and conservation commission would help get the council more detailed information in a more timely manner, which could then be related to the public, Letterie said.