NEWPORT -- Pat Wingo, Newport's historic preservation director for 2 1/2 years, has a new focus.
Newport City Commission members voted Monday to name Ms. Wingo the city's economic development director. She wants to focus on housing revitalization and riverfront development.
The city is "extremely old," Ms. Wingo, 44, said. "I'm just continuing the development under way, to make sure it goes smoothly. "We're a real little city. We don't have any room to grow. We have to learn to use (space in the city) more effectively."
Ms. Wingo will receive an annual $52,000 salary in her new position. She already is juggling her new responsibilities with her old ones. But she expects to give economic development her complete attention in about two weeks.
Ms. Wingo is Newport's second economic development director. The position was created in 1983, when Newport was recovering from the closing of Wiedemann Brewery on Columbia Street.
She replaces Laura Long, who resigned in mid-October to become executive director of the Cincinnati Business Committee.
City officials said they were determined to replace Ms. Long with an internal candidate. City Manager Jim Parsons thinks Ms. Wingo will provide "good continuity."
