PVD RENT: Council President Rachel Miller

Title: Providence Rent Stabilization Debate: Insights from City Council President Rachel Miller

This episode delves into the complex political and social dynamics surrounding rent stabilization in Providence, Rhode Island. City Council President Rachel Miller shares her perspective on the ongoing debate, the influence of special interests, and the urgent need to prioritize residents' survival amid a soaring housing crisis.

Key Topics:

• The current state of Providence's rent stabilization proposals and the political stalemate

• The impact of rent hikes on long-term residents and the city’s future

• How misinformation campaigns by corporate landlords complicate policy discussions

• The importance of effective communication and community engagement in shaping policy

• The broader national and global context influencing local housing debates

• The significance of building support within the council and navigating opposition

• The potential for rent stabilization to provide immediate relief and long-term solutions

• The political implications of current debates for upcoming elections

• The role of advocacy and community voices in influencing policy outcomes

Timestamps: 00:00 - Overview of rent stabilization controversy in Providence
00:31 - Council efforts to build support and address community concerns
01:05 - Personal stories illustrating housing affordability crisis
01:47 - Likelihood of political shifts among council members
02:02 - Addressing the information gap and communicating carve-outs
02:51 - Influence of corporate interests and misinformation campaigns
03:38 - Community engagement and correcting myths
04:47 - Outsized influence of corporate landlords on policy
05:17 - The city's survival and the impact of external networks
05:57 - The long-term decline of residents and housing stress
06:16 - Balancing growth with protection of existing residents
07:08 - The global and national context of housing issues
07:35 - The urgency of implementing bold policies despite imperfections
08:11 - The political reality and support from renters
08:48 - Evidence suggesting regulation does not harm construction
09:14 - The threat of well-funded interests stopping progressive policies
09:46 - The historical opposition from mayoral leadership

10:19 - Building a political roadmap and election implications

10:49 - Ongoing efforts to engage different viewpoints

11:16 - Attempts to strengthen and improve legislation

12:05 - The significance of the initial council approval and upcoming electoral accountability

12:54 - Final thoughts on potential political shifts and the future of rent stabilization

Resources & Links:

• Rachel Miller - Providence City Council President
• Additional insights on rent control policies: National Low Income Housing Coalition
• Related discussion on urban housing debates: Bartholomew Town Podcast

Connect with Rachel Miller:

http://www.navigantcu.org

Transcript

Bill Bartholomew 0:00

Providence Council President Rachel Miller joins us. President, thanks for your time. Thank you so much for having me. The general of this story on rent stabilization is pretty well understood. Right now, as it stands, the council has passed the proposal. In essence, it would cap rent at 4%, say for a large volume of carve outs. Mayor Smiley promised to veto this, vetoed this. It's a 9-6 vote, meaning that the council doesn't have veto overrides. What work have you been doing to try to build support for what your position is on this issue, yes, on the rent stabilization package from those counselors that voted no?

Rachel Miller 0:38

Yeah, I mean, a big part of it is just making sure that folks have a chance to answer any outstanding questions and to hear from both me and their constituents about how important this is. I mean, I think the thing that has really struck me as a counselor, I hear from people on a weekly basis, if not a daily basis, about affordability issues. Um the stories that have come to me as we've been in this debate, you know, since the beginning of the year, since there's been a policy in front of us, um, are next level, right? So uh hearing from people who um repeatedly have gone from apartment to apartment and every renewal um has been priced out of their reach. Uh hearing from people who renewals do become eviction notices, uh, it's overwhelming. It's a huge, prevalent problem in our city. Um and there's a path. I mean, there's a path to do it um to support residents, to protect residents uh that don't that um we could take right now. And I'm hoping that the counselors hear that message.

Bill Bartholomew 1:47

Aaron Powell Yeah. So do you sense that from any of the nay counselors, there's any likelihood that in anything close to what has been proposed right now, anybody's gonna flip? And to that end, do you think that there's any chance that the mayor flips on this?

Rachel Miller 2:02

Uh I think there's always a chance, right? So I don't think the I think the mayor has made his opinion clear um and isn't interested in talking about it. I think there's always a chance um for my colleagues to reconsider and to, again, as I was saying, learn more about um how this image issue is impacting their constituents.

Bill Bartholomew 2:20

What do you think is the the missing piece right now in terms of connecting the dots of what seems to be a pretty big information gap? I'll give you an example. We oftentimes hear people talk about this as rent control, and it it doesn't seem like there's a lot of leading conversation about the nature of or what carve-outs actually even are. In other words, this is a nuanced issue. So on the communications level, how do you communicate to the city and really the state, because there are so many actors in this conversation that don't live or work in the state, live or work in Providence, but are having an impact, no doubt, on the influence here. How do you communicate the urgency of the moment and the practicality of some of their concerns in a way that you could actually get to a compromise?

Rachel Miller 3:08

Yeah, that's a really good point. So uh because this issue uh is so widely felt, but also because it mobilizes a core um opposition that's gonna be opposed no matter what, right? Like it mobilizes the forces that have been profiting from uh a very volatile rental market. Um so we're talking about large corporate landlords, um, some of whom have um big uh policy networks um that extend well beyond Rhode Island. Um that uh throws a message into the conversation about that that represents a lot of myth, a lot of mistruth. Um and that gets echoed by everyone. It creates a climate of fear. So we so that's been a huge issue. That's something that we've been um working with since the beginning. Um it's also, you know, it's it's why we've had so many community meetings about this um ordinance. Um even at public hearings, I've made a point of at the end of a public hearing just offering uh when I heard things that were said that were uh not correct, just offering like that's a good point. And also this ordinance does not do that. Um it's a huge issue, but it's it's important to keep it in its place, right? Like it's those myths truths are being funneled by corporate interests that have a stake in um in this in this climate changing. Um and it's a unfortunate truth, and maybe it's the truth of 2026 and working in a policy environment um in 2026, but yeah, it's unfortunate.

Bill Bartholomew 4:47

Yeah, there's no doubt that that's uh an element that is so important to understand that there are outsized influences here at the end of the day. And I would say that you could make the same argument that no doubt those who have uh who are in favor of rent controls, plural stabilization, also have networks that extend beyond Providence that are involved in messaging. The question is, at what point has this become simply a matter of survival for the city is currently constituted, where any expertise other than the individual experiencing it is irrelevant. Do you think we're there yet? Because it seems like Providence is right on the verge of becoming a ghost city.

Rachel Miller 5:34

I'm just saying I think we've been there for quite some time. When I look at the way that my neighborhood has changed over the last 23 years that I've lived there, um, it's remarkable. But over the last five years, since right around COVID and forward, long-term residents have moved out. They've been priced out, long-term renters have been priced out. Uh, people who work in our city can't afford to live here anymore. Uh and so we're, you know, you're right that we're at this like balancing point of uh are we gonna act together to protect the people who live in our city now, um, or are we gonna kind of let things go uh and become a bedroom community for folks who work in Boston or work from home? Um, I think that we can absolutely preserve Providence uh for the people who live here while still growing, right? Like that has always been um my position. Part of what took so long for us to get in this term to get to rent stabilization was partially because of just researching a solid policy that makes sense for the city, but also because we had other things, other work to do, like other work to do on the um housing issue to make sure that we had everything in motion in terms of creating more supply, in terms of protecting existing stock, um, such that we could then do the move to protect renters um in the most realistic and and possible way. So yeah, I'm I'm I do think it's an emergency. I think it has been for a few years now.

Bill Bartholomew 9:29

Yeah. And it's a as you said, it's a in-league, these pieces functionally could serve a an immediate and a long-term solution to what is just uh look, I think actually someone who said it really well on here on Bartholomew Town recently was Ken Block, independent candidate for governor. And he really, I thought, was honest about this issue, which is it's a global issue, it's a national issue. How in the world can we realistically put forth whether it's white papers or press conferences and say we're gonna solve housing in Rhode Island like in the next year? It's just not gonna happen. So what does that mean? You have to adapt to the moment, and that means doing uncomfortable things. That may include implementing rent stabilization, even if it does thwart some of the optimistic views of what the development prospects are for the city. That to me seems to be the argument that the council is making. Yet, even if this is imperfect, it doesn't matter. The ship is sinking. Does it have that kind of urgency in your mind?

Rachel Miller 10:32

It absolutely does. And it has that kind of urgency in the minds of everyone who has reached me about it. Um, this is the first time the city council has had more than one or two renters. Uh, I think you see that in the policies that are coming out. Overwhelmingly, people who uh supported the ordinance are renters themselves. Of course they are. Um, overwhelmingly, people who came out against it are not, right? And and so like the degree to which we are talking about the survival of communities in the city of Providence versus um unfounded concerns about impact both um on the construction landscape, which I think we've had some convincing data from places that have had uh rent regulation policies in place for many, many decades. Um, but the case is, you know, there's not a correlation between regulation policies and the construction environment. Um, same thing is true in um like large, you know, when you look at a large scale, large timescale property values, we're not seeing a correlation. And so, you know, things become, are you afraid to do a thing that is a big thing, right? That threatens uh well-funded, moneyed corporate interests because it is new and doing new things is hard in any environment, right? Like it is hard to, you know, propose an entirely new policy. Um, and and it's hard for people not to feel some apprehension about how that works. Uh, at the same time, that fear is not a reason for inaction, right? And and it shouldn't be, and we should ask more from our our leaders.

Bill Bartholomew 12:08

Do you think there is ever been because look, I think back to moderating the debates for mayor of Providence now nearly four years ago when this issue came up, and it was a non-starter for the mayor. It wasn't something, it was a very clear issue that he just fundamentally did not believe in, and nor would he sign anything uh ordinance-wise that pertained to rent control, rent stabilization practices, anything that required or enforced a cap. And here we are now, no surprise that the mayor has retained that position. Did you ever, as president, really think that there was a chance that this could get through in a veto-proof manner? Or is this more of a, hey, let's sort of build a a roadmap to different viewpoints in the city, and perhaps this can play out in the political lane, in the mayor's race, perhaps this can play out in various council races, as in as if to say to the city, make a choice about which direction you want to go.

Rachel Miller 13:10

Uh yeah, I think that's uh I think it's a both and uh so my hope was always that we would get to 10, that this would become um relief for people who live in this city today, now. Um, that it, like I said, it's already past past time. Um one of the primary disappointments of this debate um has been, you know, folks who are just opposed to the idea of rent of regulating rent have not come to sit and talk about the ordinance. Almost, I can think of one developer in my neighborhood who uh we had a very productive conversation about it. Um the invitation has been there to actually talk about it. And uh, you know, even in opposition, there's ways to make policies stronger and better. That hasn't happened. Um and so, you know, from uh the mayor's kind of just point blank, absolutely not, to other people who have a stake in this not wanting to engage the discussion, I think that's a bad thing for the people who live here, right? Like I think that's I think that when uh big ideas happen, the opportunity is to discuss them and figure out how to make them work, not uh to just point blank shut them down. Um, you know, influencing the debate is great. It does not deliver for people right away. And so looking for uh an immediate way for renters to feel some relief was critical for me. Um I think, you know, uh uh in the climate of a veto, uh I think we lose, we lose track of the fact that the Providence City Council passed, overwhelmingly passed, right? Nine, nine out of six um passed a rent a rent regulation policy for the city of Providence. That's remarkable, right? That's that's not that's um that's not that's not nothing. And so um, you know, uh yes, of course, it'll be a part of upcoming elections. Of course, it's gonna be something that we all have to answer to to our constituents no matter what. Uh, but my my goal was passage, and um, you know, I'm still living in that goal.

Bill Bartholomew 15:15

And we will see if any of these, uh any of the the, I should say, nay counselors do flip their position. It doesn't seem as much. My reporting, I can say that I have no uh indication that that is going to happen. I'm at you as council president would probably have an indicator better than most. We thank you for your time today, Providence Council President Rachel Miller here on Bartholomew Town.