Chuck Newton is Moving to South Carolina

Photo: Chuck Newton, center, hangs out with fellow GOPers at a Republican Town Committee meeting earlier this year.

Charles “Chuck” Newton will never forget moving to East Greenwich in 2001.

“We were unpacking boxes when the planes hit the World Trade Center,” Newton said in an interview. “I’ll never forget moving into East Greenwich.”

And East Greenwich will have a hard time forgetting Newton, who quickly became an active member of the community shortly after his arrival, eventually serving as the chairman of the town’s Republican Town Committee and on the Planning Board, to name just two roles.

Today, Newton is preparing for another move. This time, he’s heading to South Carolina, where he’s bought a house and he and his wife plan on starting a new life where he said “the economy seems to be moving.”

“The kids are out of school, and neither one of them will be coming back to Rhode Island,” Newton said. “There aren’t any jobs here.”

With no family to tie them to the Ocean State, Newton said there aren’t many reasons he and his wife feel inclined to stay put.

A man who never minces words, “this just isn’t a place anyone in their right mind would want to retire,” Newton said.

Still, Newton said he will look fondly back at his time here in EG and expects to become involved in South Carolina when he gets there.

“I’ve always been active in any community I’ve ever lived in,” he said. “I hope that doesn’t change down there. Too few people do.”

There’s no question Newton was effective as the town’s GOP chairman. East Greenwich is considered one of the most Republican towns in Rhode Island and a glance at the makeup of the Town Council, School Committee and state Representatives and Senators shows that Republicans have thrived here.

Will he get involved in politics in South Carolina?

“Well, there are more Republicans in South Carolina,” he said.

The Town Council next week will formally thank Newton for his seven years serving on the Planning Board — a position he officially will resign from on Oct. 15.

“I do this with no small amount of regret,” he wrote in his resignation letter. “But it is necessary as a result of our family’s plans to relocate. . .I have enjoyed serving on the Board and with people for whom I hold the greatest respect for their time and energy and commitment to the town and its processes. I hope in some small way I, too, have made a useful contribution.”