Bartholomewtown
Bartholomewtown is an independent news and interview podcast exploring Rhode Island through conversations with the people driving politics, culture, business, and public life. Hosted by journalist Bill Bartholomew, the show delivers insightful interviews, original reporting, and clear-eyed analysis from New England's smallest state—with stories that often resonate far beyond it.
Bartholomewtown
DEBATE: Mayor of Providence - Mayor Smiley + David Morales
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Bill Bartholomew moderates a debate in the Providence mayoral Democratic primary between mayor Brett Smiley and Representative David Morales.
This is the Bartholomew Town WPRO Candidate Forum Series. Today, a debate in the Democratic primary for mayor of Providence. I'm Bill Bartholomew. We're joined by Mayor Brett Smiley and Representative David Morales. Rep, you won the coin toss, you'll be able to deliver your opening and closing statements for 60 seconds each.
SPEAKER_01Hi neighbors, my name is David Morales, and for the last six years I've probably served as a state representative, and I'm running for mayor because I love our city. As the son of a single immigrant mom and a lifelong renter, I understand the challenges that families in our city are facing today. Throughout this debate, you're going to hear Brett Smiley brag and tell you that Providence is headed in the right direction. But for too many of our neighbors, that's not the Providence they're living in. Right now, far too many working families are feeling frustrated. They're frustrated about rising rents, increased property taxes, and city services that fail to meet their needs. So as our next mayor, I'm committed to capping rent hikes so you can continue to call Providence home. I'll work with our families and our school board to improve the quality of our Providence schools. In my administration, we'll actually appoint qualified department heads so you receive the excellent city services you deserve. Throughout this campaign, we've built a broad coalition centered around a vision of building a Providence for all.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, good morning, Bill, and thanks for hosting this. I think this election presents a clear choice. It's a choice whether we continue to move forward or whether we go back. I'm proud of my track record over the last four years. We have brought violent crime down to the lowest level in 35 years. Providence is safer than it has been in a very long time. But it's not just violent crime, it's also property crime. Things like ATVs and motorcycles have largely been removed from our streets. We've also worked really hard to protect our community from the Trump administration, ensuring that province police do not serve as civil immigration enforcement officers, made public spaces ice-free zones, such as city buildings and city property. And we have, whenever our community's values have been violated, we've taken it to the Trump administration. We've sued them now ten times over the last year and a half. We've also made meaningful progress in building new homes and new schools in every neighborhood in Providence. Over the next four years, we have some big challenges ahead. Most importantly, I think the return to local control of our local Providence public schools. A half a billion dollar budget, a couple thousand employees, and most importantly, 20,000 students. We need a leader who delivers not just sound bites, but real solutions. I've got a track record that I'm proud of, and I'm looking forward to continuing to serve four more years if I am returned and given the right and the opportunity to serve again.
Bill BartholomewThank you very much, Mayor. Uh Representative Morales, this is Democratic primary. What did you see that you felt it was worth your energy and and time to run in this primary? Why are you primarying the mayor?
SPEAKER_01Far too many of our neighbors are being priced out of the city they love. Providence has gotten less affordable over the last four years as we have watched rents continue to skyrocket, yet there is a lack of action that comes from this administration. The city council had put forward a rent stabilization proposal that would cap rent hikes at four percent a year with reasonable exemptions in place. And instead of working with the city council, the mayor vetoed it while finishing up construction of his third home, a mansion out in Tiverton. I believe that for the last several years, Brett Smiley has demonstrated consistently that he is out of touch with the needs of working people and families all across Providence. And for that reason, I launched my campaign ten months ago with a vision centered around building a city that our neighbors can afford and feel safe calling home.
SPEAKER_00Mayor, your response. Providence has gotten way too expensive. Uh, and it's because a lot of people have moved to Providence and we haven't kept pace uh with building new housing. This is a problem a decade in the making, uh, which is why I have focused so uh heavily on building new housing in the city. I'm incredibly proud of the progress that we've made. 2,000 new housing units since I've been elected, 22% of which are permanently affordable. Uh that means that tenants pay a percentage of their income as opposed to what the landlord wants to uh wants to charge, and that's twice the state target, uh more affordable housing than any other community uh by far. We're also building more housing on a per capita basis than Boston or New York. So we're we are on the right path. Uh that's the root cause of our unaffordability crisis in housing is a shortage, and so that's why it's been such a focus. But it's not the only thing that we're doing. We're also making sure that the affordable housing we do have uh remains both affordable and high quality. We've uh helped renovate significant housing projects in the city, such as Lockwood Plaza, which uh is we just finished renovating the townhomes. We're getting ready to do the tower, and those people who live there are so excited to have a newly renovated home that has been their home for a long time. And then finally, we are doing more uh than any other community in Rhode Island. We continue to lead by example to protect tenants. Uh, we know that in this current rental market, landlords can behave badly, which is why Providence is the only city in Rhode Island that provides free legal assistance to tenants facing eviction. We're doing a lot of landlord tenant education because we've uh heard time and time again that tenants don't know all of their rights and they should, and landlords don't know all their obligations, and they need to fulfill those obligations. And so that is a comprehensive approach uh and a long-term sustainable approach to how we can actually make providence more affordable and get it what is actually driving the unaffordability crisis.
Bill BartholomewWhat do you see in that, Rep, with that what the mayor just said right there? And how does that is that work in tandem with some of your ideas, or is that something that you are you look at and you say, Hey, I'm opposed to that position?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Well, Brett Smiley just said that we're on the right path. Yet say that to a working family that is getting priced out of Providence today. And this is why I continue to say that Brett Smiley is out of touch with the needs of our neighbors. Despite the fact that we've seen over a thousand new housing units come online, over 70% of them are above market rate, which essentially tells a working family and a person in Providence that this housing is not built or designed for you in mind. I believe that we need to take a more modernized approach with how we build housing, which is why we'll adopt a public developer model centered around having the city actively acquire vacant buildings and lots that you may find across North Main Street, down Smith Street, different parts of Elmwood Avenue, and throughout the city. I believe we need to have a much more active role as a city when it comes to the development of housing instead of being overly reliant on the public market, on the private market in this case. And while Rhett Smiley will only be able to point to one project where there's been a public-private partnership when it came to the acquisition of land, that is nearly not enough. And it is not meeting the moment when it comes to the scale of this housing emergency. So again, we are going to adopt a model that has been used in Seattle, Washington, in Atlanta, Georgia, in Montgomery County, Maryland, and we're going to deliver for our neighbors. And we're going to ensure that there are affordable rental units in place while also developing opportunities. So there are pathways for home ownership, very similar to what we saw in the 1990s when it came to the partnership between the City of Providence and SWAP, specifically designed to have deed restricted homes that would allow for a working family in Providence to ultimately become homeowners. And within the first hundred days of my administration, I will work with our city council so we pass rent stabilization and start enforcing the law so our neighbors don't find themselves in a position where they're being price gouged. And I can do all this because I don't take hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate real estate interest like Brett Smiley does.
Bill BartholomewBut first I just want to tee it up with the public housing development. Should Providence be doing more acquisition and development on the public side?
SPEAKER_00There's a lot to respond to there. So first of all, uh the representative said that uh that we're not moving with urgency and that the production of new affordable housing faster than anyone else in Rhode Island is not moving fast enough. Well, we have a program for short-term immediate assistance, for actual cash assistance for tenants at risk of uh eviction that's being held up for political reasons by uh David's allies. And that could be helping families today. Uh but and he's gonna tell you that there's not safeguards in place, that it's a check to landlords. Um, and if he would actually read the agreement, then he'd know that that weren't true. Uh we, uh not just Providence, but all of Rhode Island administered programs like this during the pandemic. It worked, it kept people in their homes. We went through a public process with the city council, through a public procurement process, and then signed with the Community Action Partners of Providence, a trusted nonprofit. Uh, and it is in the agreement with CAP that landlords and tenants are at the table when this cash assistance is given and that the lease is honored. Uh so there is an opportunity to help hundreds of families today that's being held up uh by the representative's friends. Uh as far as the public developer model, uh, what's what's not clear to me, we've had a bunch of debates at this point, and uh because it's never been answered, is how we're gonna pay for all of this. So he likes to criticize the fact that uh we've actually acquired uh a piece of property along the lines of exactly what he's proposing. Uh it's a surface lot on Washington Street across from the public safety complex. It's a win-win. It eliminates a surface lot, which is uh uh a policy objective of ours to have less parking lots in the city, uh, and it's gonna be contributed towards an affordable housing development. We took funding out of Providence's Affordable Housing Trust Fund in order to do that, and then we contribute that to the development. The the trust fund is now basically empty. I'm going back to the voters in November for a new $25 million affordable housing trust fund uh bond, uh, and that will recapitalize it. Uh he mentions, well, there's all these properties North Main Street, this, that, and the other. First of all, you can't just take it, you have to buy it. Um you can't just seize someone's property, so you're gonna have to go through an imminent domain process, which is gonna cost money, which we have no idea how he's gonna pay for it. And then to get back to this sense of urgency, that's an 18-month process at best to acquire the property. You might have read in the news what's happening in Johnston, which I think, by the way, is uh totally inappropriate that they're trying to block affordable property. That's right. Um but that was an imminent domain action that then got sued, overturned in court. The mayor says he's gonna go back at it. So we're gonna look at, I don't know, three years maybe to acquire that property. And so the representative's plan seems to be to acquire property owned by other people uh with no plan on how we're gonna pay for it, and then get someone to build something on it. That's a five to seven year plan. That's not acting with urgency. Is that the plan as you see it?
SPEAKER_01So many of the lots that I'm making reference to in addition to the empty buildings are already for sale by the respective property owners. So it's not even a case of eminent domain as much as it is a transaction between the city and a private property owner that already wants to sell the land. This is just, again, another example of Brett Smiley trying to mislead voters, trying to overcomplicate a system where in fact we can have a government that is much more responsive to the needs of our neighbors. And again, an example would have been signing rent stabilization into law, taking a more aggressive approach so there's more action coming from the city when it comes to property acquisition and having these types of conversations with private property owners. You look down Smith and Orm Street, that's a corner vacant lot that has been vacant now for about a decade. There should be some active conversation on how we can develop that. So we are building opportunities for our neighbors to have affordable homes right in their neighborhoods. What's the what's the funding mechanism? Funding mechanism would be through the means of a bond. And as noted before, Mayor Smiley has put forward a bond proposal, which I voted for within the General Assembly. And I think that there should be a strong emphasis as a part of these bonds when it comes to layers of land acquisition, but also working with the state. When it comes to the state that puts forward housing bonds, I applaud the work of Counselor Sue Anderboss, who wrote a letter to the governor's office requesting that $10 million of a recent state housing bond be used for the purposes of property acquisition on North Main Street so they could explore a public developer model. As mayor, I'm going to help champion those efforts alongside our council colleagues that want to see affordable homes coming into their neighborhoods.
SPEAKER_00Mayor your response. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01Let's talk about rent stabilization. Not your veto of rent stabilization.
Bill BartholomewWhat's what are the what are the key differences here between what is currently on the table and what you would support?
SPEAKER_01As noted before, I we are going to take a comprehensive approach to address our housing crisis. And that's going to start with ensuring that we cap the cost of rent so our neighbors don't have to worry that they're going to be price gouged. We're going to start to take action around a corporate takeover of our neighborhoods. You go down Elmhurst, you go down Wanscook, you have seen a rise of strive realty and amicus properties that have bought up homes and homes at a time. And we need to make sure that that type of predatory behavior is actually acted upon.
Bill BartholomewDoes the bond as currently constituted have any restrictions about who could be the recipient of those funds to develop?
SPEAKER_00No, we have a long-tested uh process that started before me, honestly, and in the Laura's administration, uh, where we do requests for proposals for um projects. And one of the ways in which Providence has been so successful is we're the only community that has its own affordable housing funding mechanism. And so most of these projects they go for federal low-income housing tax credits. Then they go to the state to Rhode Island Housing for Rhode Island housing funding. And then in many cases, there's still a gap. Uh and Providence is the only community that can fill that gap, which is why we're able to leverage so much state and federal money to happen in Providence, because the other communities don't have the ability to fill that gap. And so what we do is we do a competitive uh proposal uh request, and uh and then we take applications to see, you know, how can we maximize and leverage our dollars to create the most housing based upon uh what is almost always uh a proposal that's gotten funding from those other sources as well so that we can stretch our taxpayers' dollars the furthest to create the most affordable units. That's the right way to do it. Uh it's been working, and uh and I think there's consensus on that. Uh and so we're gonna continue to follow that process.
Bill BartholomewAaron Powell Sticking with you, Mayor, why did you veto the rent stabilization ordinance the city council passed? And you've been on record for at least back until the back through the previous, I guess, the 2022 election as generally opposed to rent control rent stabilization. Why is that?
SPEAKER_00Uh because it doesn't work. Uh it doesn't lower anybody's rent. Uh and in fact it guarantees annual rent increases. Uh it it is uh inequitable. Uh it's sort of luck of the draw whether you end up in a uh uh rent-controlled apartment or not. Uh the city council couldn't even tell us exactly how many units would have been uh restricted. Uh our estimate is anywhere between a third and a half uh of the apartments in Providence might have come under the proposal. And so uh you could be a low-income family in desperate need of assistance and end up in an unrestricted apartment, and you could be a rich student at Brown whose parents pay your rent and end up in a rent-controlled apartment. It's unfair. Um the uh experience of other cities has been really clear that when rent control passes, uh new construction plummets, uh, and the representative is gonna say, oh, there was a carve out for new construction. Uh that was true in other communities as well. It still plummets. Uh these are long-term investments that builders are thinking about building, and a 10-year carve out is not sufficient. Uh and so the root cause of our unaffordability crisis is a shortage of housing. Uh, and uh a policy that is gonna guarantee rent increases, not lower anyone's rent, be really unfair on who it's applied to, and reduce uh new construction uh is not gonna solve our affordability crisis, it's actually gonna make it worse. Uh and so that's uh that's why I thought it was the wrong policy uh for Providence. By the way, it was also sort of a bad version of what I believe is a bad policy. Uh it was complicated, there's gonna be a brand new bureaucracy uh created, it's gonna take years to implement uh Portland, Maine, which is a smaller community than Providence, took them five years to stand up uh their rent control policy. Uh I think we both agree that we've got an affordability crisis here today. Uh this is not a solution to that problem, and I think was actually going to exacerbate the problem.
Bill BartholomewYou're in favor of rent stabilization, Rhett Morales. Why is it?
SPEAKER_01Well, for starters, Brett Smiley's arguments against rent stabilization are just unserious. Of course, rent stabilization does not lower one's rent. It does what it intends to do. It ensures that there is stability when it comes to a tenant not finding themselves price gouged. It caps rents on an annual basis. If the mayor wants to talk about increases year over year, let's talk about the fact that our rents in Providence have increased by over 40% since 2020, which would have been prevented if we had rent stabilization in place. I believe that right now, far too many of our neighbors are finding themselves in a vulnerable position where you will have a working family renting a two-bedroom apartment that will then find themselves in a position where it's time to renew their lease, and now the rent's gone up to $2,000. In other words, rent increases are serving as eviction notices for so many working people in the city of Province. I believe it's important that we recognize this issue, take urgent action by actually working with our legislative branch in the city council, which is why I'm committed to passing and signing rent stabilization within the first a hundred days of my administration. We're going to make sure that we deliver for our neighbors, we provide them with that sense of relief that they need, but also beyond that, that we continue to focus on building new housing. Because again, debunking what the mayor has consistently said, imparroting the talking points of corporate real estate interest, you still see new development happening in communities that have rent stabilization, like Newark, New Jersey, that has had rent stabilization in place for over two decades at the same 4% annual cap rate. So I do not buy the mayor's arguments against rent stabilization. Again, I believe it is just another example of corporate interest influencing the decisions that are made from the mayor's office.
Bill BartholomewThe city council's complexion could be different if, let's say, you win this election, you go on to win the mayorship. There could be a different city council complexion-wise that President Rachel Miller will not be returning. Are you confident that if it's a different complexion, you could pass uh within the first hundred days rent stabilization, you'd you'd be able to persuade those who may even right now be opposed to rent stabilization. You you could you could make that happen?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. Rent stabilization is overwhelmingly popular in the city of Providence because our neighbors are struggling. And I have faith that with the new complexion of the Providence City Council as we head into 2027, many of them are going to be prioritizing the needs of their neighbors, considering that they just spoke with them on the campaign trail and heard the struggles of a working person in the city, and they'll recognize that we need to take action. But most importantly, I'm going to be a mayor that collaborates and engages with our city council. We're going to have conversations around the structure of rent stabilization and actually be thoughtful in terms of any potential amendments that may arise. We will hear concerns and have legitimate conversations as opposed to a mayor who would much prefer come on to WPRO radio on a weekly basis and complain about the city council or talk about how rent stabilization is bad policy and bad faith instead of actually having open dialogue and communication. So again, I look forward to working with our council and being a much more productive partner than what we've seen the last four years coming out of Rhett Smiling.
Bill BartholomewMayor, as you look to potential re-election and building a relationship with the city council that could look different on issues around rent and affordability. Is there an urgency to have more meetings, more direct engagement with the city council to find compromise or what whatever may come of it, is it important to meet with the city council with regularity on affordability?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, of course. And I do, and I have for four years. The city council and I have gotten a lot done together over the last four years. And credit to this council, even though uh I have some ideological differences or or there's some uh specific issues that we've disagreed on, uh, we've gotten a lot done together. And every time uh we've had a disagreement, it's been a disagreement on policy. It hasn't been personality, it hasn't been politics, uh, which is I think what the people of Providence uh want and should hope for, which is their elected officials debating and discussing ideas uh and staying on the idea to get something done for the city. And so together, uh City Council and I made changes to uh what's called eight law and affordable housing uh program. Uh they proposed a thing called the Build Ordinance, which is a way to try to uh help the early stages of affordable housing development, which I just signed uh a couple weeks ago. We have uh uh negotiated and balanced budgets that include historic investments in both housing and schools uh and education. And so uh over the last four years, the council and I have worked really well together. We meet regularly, we talk all the time. Uh there's been a couple areas where we just couldn't come to consensus, uh, but 99 out of 100 issues, we were able to work on a compromise and get something done, which is I think how the process is supposed to work.
Bill BartholomewAll right, lastly on this, and and is there anywhere to build in Provence long-term right now? From a very practical question, I mean a lot aside, this is very much a genuine question I asked to each of you. Where can we build where's the physical land, where can we make zoning changes, and what does that map look like for each of you? We'll start with Mayor Smiley.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I I get this question at neighborhood meetings a lot. You know, I've been going to neighborhood meetings every year for for four years, and uh um and sometimes residents say, Well, like, where's all this new housing gonna go? Um, I like to remind folks that peak population in Providence was two hundred and fifty thousand people. Um The borders haven't changed. Uh we're at 190,000 people right now. We have 25% more people in Providence with the same land mass. There's plenty of places. You know, there's 2,000 new housing units in the last four years since I've been elected, and uh and it's happening everywhere. It's uh largely small-scale uh in-filled development, which means you know, vacant lots or uh abandoned buildings that are coming down and getting rebuilt. It's you know, three and four families, which are the backbone of our neighborhoods. Uh there are a couple larger scale buildings. We just uh uh cut the ribbon on the Flynn, which was the old Flynn School, which was a site that was under redevelopment for years that finally got done. Uh new buildings on Upper Broad Street behind the classical uh high school football field there. Uh there's you know the two new buildings that are opening, the second one's opening next week in Fox Point, uh next to the church, across sort of from the new Trader Joe's, uh, which are all affordable, our first affordable housing on the east side in a long time. Uh and uh and so there are plenty of places for additional housing development. Uh and this city has uh has had many more people living in it than we have now.
Bill BartholomewDo you do you see the same thing, rep, in terms of ample space for development?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. You go down North Main Street, you'll notice a lot of empty buildings that could otherwise be converted into affordable homes. You go through downtown, you'll notice that we have empty commercial storefronts that could otherwise also be transformed. You look at the surface parking lots that exist right within the means of downtown. There are opportunities that certainly exist for the purposes of building more affordable homes, and that's something I'm determined to doing in collaboration with our city council. All right, thank you both.
Bill BartholomewOn that, Providence Public Schools. Let's let's shift there if we could. Mayor, is the city ready to re that the city has received control of Providence Public Schools? Is what what was the city ready then? Are you ready now as a city to take a reins?
SPEAKER_00Yes, yes. Um parents, families um uh spoke loud and clear, they wanted our schools back into local control. Um, you know, I got sworn in on a Monday, uh, and that Saturday I had my first community engagement session, which was just around schools. Uh, and in the years that followed, uh, the community spoke loud and clear they wanted our schools back. And so for the last couple of years, we've been preparing for that moment. I've been standing alongside other leaders to advocate to bring the schools back. We were successful to finally get them back this summer. Um, as as you know, it's been well documented. I won it the summer before and the summer before, but we finally got it this summer. Uh and it has already happened. And so the transition was seamless. Um there were no hiccups on July 1st. Uh, we're all very focused on the first day of school right now, which is coming up in about three weeks. And uh and so uh the community is ready, my team is prepared. We have uh we've published several reports uh informed by community. Uh I had dozens of community uh listening sessions on my own. Then the school board went and did theirs as well. All of those uh uh points of community feedback uh have been incorporated from teachers and parents and youth. Uh and so uh we are absolutely ready, and I think there's fresh uh enthusiasm and excitement for the community to now have a stronger voice uh in the fate of their schools, I think amongst if not the most important thing we can be focused on.
Bill BartholomewThank you, Mayor. Rep, you represent Providence and General Assembly, so from that standpoint, and just as a resident as well, and from what you know in terms of in this campaign itself, is Providence was Providence ready, and is Providence ready to take the reins of the Providence public schools?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell Well, in my last six years at the State House, I've been very proud to help lead the fight around gathering more resources for our Providence public schools by making reforms to our education funding formula, because now there are larger investments that are made towards diverse school districts like Providence that have a high level of multilingual learners in addition to high-cost special needs students. And those are measures that I've been proud to advocate for because I know that our Providence students deserve more. And that is why as mayor, I will be laser focused on making sure that we address a staffing crisis that exists within PPSD. Right now we have elementary schools with over 300 students, yet they only have one counselor. We have special education classrooms that lack teaching assistance. In this moment, as we transition back to local control, we need to be serious about making sure that every student feels that level of support, both inside and outside the classroom when it comes to mental health needs, in addition to students on individualized education plans and dual language classrooms that are going to serve the needs of our multilingual learners. And that's what I'm determined to do when I partner with the school board, when I listen to our families, and most importantly, when we develop a budget alongside our school district to make sure that when it comes to the following school year, we are in a position to better equip our students with the resources they need to succeed, while also being able to explore the mechanisms in front of us in the media, which is leveraging community partnerships. I feel very strongly that between Family Services of Rhode Island, Tides Family Services and the Providence Center, that we can build on existing relationships and allow for there to be more school psychologists, in addition to social workers that can be in our schools on a daily basis and thereafter are eligible to bill Medicaid. There are several ideas and initiatives that we should be acting on immediately as we transition back to local control, and I'm excited to do just that.
Bill BartholomewMayor, was the takeover the right move? Was it worth it?
SPEAKER_00I think ultimately it it certainly didn't meet its goals or objectives and was disappointing in that it didn't um dramatically change student outcomes and deliver for families that deserved more. You know, I understand at the time uh what we were doing wasn't working. Parents were frustrated, city leaders were frustrated that um uh we continued to have uh lackluster results, and uh too many families felt like their kids didn't get an ad adequate education, and so uh leaders at the time thought that something needed to change, but here we are seven years later, uh, and still uh almost seven out of ten of our students can't read or do math at grade level, and that's unacceptable.
Bill BartholomewYour take on that as well, rep. Was it successful or unsuccessful?
SPEAKER_01While we did see some progress when it came to our multilingual students in particular, as a whole, I still believe that there is still a lot of work to be done to better support our Providence public school students. And for that reason, during the time of the takeover, I was proud to be on the front lines advocating alongside other legislators in Providence to guarantee that we got more state resources for our schools. And I want to make sure that as mayor, I continue to take that similar approach where I engage with our Providence delegation between the House and the Senate to maximize state resources that can come back to our Providence public schools. I believe again, progress was made throughout the takeover, but we are not to where we need to be when it comes to providing our families with the reassurance that their child is going to receive the quality public education that they deserve. All right. Thank you, Rep.
Bill BartholomewMayor, you've been critical of Representative Morales on issues surrounding defund the police and evacuation. I've I personally, as a Providence resident, have received mailers, I've seen videos uh on this note. Why are you s why are you critical of Representative Morales on crime, public safety, and defund the police?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think uh any mayor's first responsibility is the safety of his or her community. Uh it's the job I take most seriously. And so uh it's also what I hear from residents is that this is like a foundational issue that you want to know your kid can walk to school safely, you want to feel safe uh in your community, you want to be able to enjoy everything that the city has to offer. Uh and so public safety is is paramount. Uh and it's been a real priority of mine over the last four years. I'm really proud of the progress that we've made. Uh, and I'm worried that uh were Representative Morales to be elected, that we would go backwards in that progress. Um, you know, uh uh years ago he participated in uh defund the police rallies rallies. He called the police criminals, he said they don't care about the community. Now that he's running for mayor, he's decided he doesn't believe that anymore. Uh which stays Tuesday, two nights ago, he actually now finally took back his criminal comment, uh, but it took me asking him to do that six times. And and so uh I think there's a real difference between us on this issue, and I think the voters of Providence need to know that uh that now that it's uh an inconvenient position because he's running for mayor, he no longer supports defunding the police. But for six years he had a chance to change his uh his position, uh and he didn't. And uh and he still hasn't really answered the question of out because he's gonna tell you why he uh advocated for defunding the police at that rally, but he still hasn't answered the question of when did he change his mind? Uh did he change his mind right before he declared his candidacy or did he change his mind years ago? Uh and and I think the voters deserve to know that. Uh it's a it's a really important issue to voters, uh, and so they deserve to be educated.
Bill BartholomewWell rep Morales, do you want to defund the police? And have you ever made statements that you wanted to defund the police?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Ross Powell So I do not support defunding the police. Yet and still my opponent has spent over $400,000 on television ads that have darkened the color of my skin, and hundreds of thousands more on mailers with racial undertones designed to make you believe that a young brown man is going to make Providence less safe. And these are just desperate attacks that one would expect to see from a MAGA Republican during these times. During these times, Brett Smiley is trying to leverage fear over our communities because he can't defend his record about the fact that Providence has become less affordable under his watch. I'm proud to share that we have built a broad coalition centered around building a city that's more affordable, but also one where our neighbors feel safe. Which is why I'm proud of the public safety plan that my campaign has put forward, one that is centered around being comprehensive to reduce youth violence by actually having intervention strategies that have seen success in communities like Baltimore. We want to make sure that there is stability within our public safety departments between both police and fire and ensuring that there is a more humane response when it comes to addressing the homelessness crisis in our city that won't lead to criminalization and will actually make sure that our families feel safe. Just about a week ago, there was footage of a neighbor that shared a bus stop on Broad Street and the unsafety aspects that existed around families that live near the South Side and the fact that there's been a lack of response. So if the mayor wants to talk about neighbors feeling safe and crime stats, reality is there are many families within the city of Providence that do not feel safe. I believe again, we need to take a comprehensive approach centered around case management, surrounded around social services, and above all, making sure that we have stability within public safety. So I understand the mayor will continue to lie, he will continue to try to spread fear amongst our community, and I encourage him and his consultants to continue wasting their money because thankfully neighbors are not falling for it.
Bill BartholomewAll right, I want to I want you I would like you to respond to a direct direct accusation, but I do want to follow up just have you ever been on record uh as pro defund the police? Have you ever called for the defunding of the police? And if so, has has your position changed over time?
SPEAKER_01So I have never called for defunding the police. What I have called for is making sure that after there was an incident where a child as young as four was pepper sprayed by Providence Police, that the following year's city budget did not increase funding for Providence Police. Uh since 2021, I have never advocated for again defunding the police. I do not believe that it is, again, something that the mayor in this case is just trying to exploit. He's trying to exploit a rally centered around police accountability for the purposes of spreading fear. And I understand he's going to continue doing that because his campaign is getting desperate. You don't spend over $400,000 on television ads designed to make the community scared of your opponent unless you know you're losing. And that's what we've seen coming out of Brett Smiley. I understand that those desperate attacks will continue.
Bill BartholomewDid your campaign darken Representative Morales' skin in that ad?
SPEAKER_00We did not alter his image. And uh, and if you just heard it there, uh he said, We haven't I haven't advocated defunding the police since 2021. Uh and yet uh very recently, just a month or so ago, um uh Representative Morales was applauding and enthusiastic about the fact that Providence is going to become a laboratory for municipal socialism uh at a DSA event. Uh and a key uh platform and plank of the DSA is defunding the police. Uh and so uh I don't think this this uh debate is over yet. Uh I don't actually know uh what he actually believes about this topic, but he also uh brought into play here his public safety plan. Um a couple weeks ago, maybe a month ago, he released a public safety plan um that has a laundry list of partnerships that we already have, a list of um programs that have been running for years. By the way, many of these I didn't create, they've been in place for 20 years. Uh it would have been helpful if he had learned a little bit about what Providence Police do before publishing uh that report. Uh and yet nowhere in this plan, this public safety plan, uh, is there any mention of continuing our progress on ATVs and motorcycles? Is there any mention about getting illegal guns off the street? Is there any mention about community policing, which is central to what we do? In fact, the word crime only appears in his public safety plan just once. Uh and so um it's not a serious plan. And uh and I think he can't be trusted to keep this community safe. And and I'll close out with this video that he referenced. Uh this came up uh at a previous debate too. He's really good at naming an issue, uh, but he doesn't actually say what he's gonna do about it. Uh, you know, there was uh uh a video of uh some unhoused neighbors who were in a bus shelter, uh, which is really hard. This is a really hard issue in our city uh about finding the right balance between treating people with dignity and providing them services, but also uh keeping the community safe. I've worked really hard to try to find that right balance. Um he keeps bringing this up, but he doesn't actually say what he's gonna do about it, uh, because he's trying to have it both ways, uh, in terms of uh trying to say that he's got a public safety plan that doesn't talk about crime, uh, but then also saying we should act with compassion. These are the tough choices that leaders have to make in the mayor's office, uh. And we're not getting clear answers uh out of him on that. Trevor Burrus, Jr.
Bill BartholomewWell let's let's put it into numbers. What which how many province police officers would a Morales administration like that have on staff?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell We're gonna maintain our current headcount. I understand that right now we have about 456 warrant officers. We expect a wave of retirements over the next several years, and as a part of anticipating those waiver retirements, we're gonna focus on local recruitment so we can ensure that there's stability in the department.
Bill BartholomewAaron Powell Is that 456 number where you wanna be right now, maybe?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, about 450 is right. Uh this was uh a couple times uh uh Representative Morales has been learning through this campaign. A couple times he said, uh, well, we're gonna we're gonna give extra points for local candidates. We've been doing that for 25 years. Uh and so uh I'm glad that he's catching up on what longstanding police policy has been. Uh Providence is a leader in this space. We're doing the right thing. And he doesn't have to give me credit for it, but the city's been doing this for a long time. And so that is the appropriate level of staffing, and our recruitment policies are working. Uh, we have got an incredibly diverse police department. Each uh recruit class these days have uh uh usually over 50% of the candidates are candidates of color, multilingual. There's over a dozen languages spoken uh on our police department right now. I'm really proud of this department, uh, and uh and we are uh making good progress to continue to recruit very good officers.
Bill BartholomewAll right. Uh one one last thing on this, and it's broader, but that it was ICE. Mayor, you've signed an executive order that prohibits ICE from staging gathering at city-owned parks, so on and so forth. Um let me ask you this question, I'll ask you as well, rep, obviously. Would you instruct at any point in time the Providence Police Department to engage with ICE if they violated any of those provisions?
SPEAKER_00Yes.
Bill BartholomewSo engage meaning you would what does that look like for you?
SPEAKER_00It would depend on the circumstances. Um the uh obviously, you know, our police department is uh uh trained and skilled in de-escalation tactics and uh and and we don't want a conflict if we can avoid one. Uh so if it's as simple as uh removing uh uh ice from city property, uh then that's what we would do. If it requires uh something else, it would all be circumstantial uh to determine what the situation required. Uh but our uh executive order is clear, our policies are clear, and the province police officers know it.
Bill BartholomewI think there's a gray area here that is important to close, which is what is removed from city property? Because let me frame this out if I could. There's some people who hear that and they would say, are we gonna have a clash between local law enforcement and federal law enforcement on the steps of City Hall or something like that, or remove as in, you know, hey, we're gonna go to court to try to have you removed. What does that look what does that actually look like in in practical terms?
SPEAKER_00That's exactly why I said it would depend on the circumstances. Um if it is as simple as asking someone to leave, a federal law enforcement officer to leave, or to make it clear uh where, you know, for example, I also just signed an executive order uh uh on uh election security here in Providence, uh as the Trump administration tries to intimidate voters, particularly um I I think immigrant voters, uh, we uh there's a new state law about a buffer outside of polling places. Uh and so we are making it clear uh through city action uh where that buffer zone ends, uh clearly marked, with province police uh present. And uh and so if it's as simple as making it clear where the buffer line extends to, it it might be uh not a conflict. Um but if it's more, it will totally depend on the circumstances. All right, rep, uh same question.
SPEAKER_01Well, right now so many of our immigrant families are just forced to live in fear because we have seen a rise in ICE activity all across the city, some of which has violated our sanctuary city laws. There have been warrantless arrests and neighbors have been kidnapped into unmarked vehicles. I believe we need to see real action. And for starters, we're going to make sure that the city is partnering with organizations like the Deportation Defense Line that are actively showing up when certain circumstances arise where ICE is violating the rights of our neighbors. Similarly, we're going to direct our Providence police officers to ensure that they make the request of ICE agents to leave the vicinity when they're violating our sanctuary city laws. And if they do not, we'll direct them to document and capture footage as this happens and our neighbors are being terrorized because we are going to take that evidence and we'll work with our city solicitor's office in partnership with the attorney general's office to file suit against the Department of Homeland Security and rogue ICE agents that are terrorizing our immigrant neighbors. A very similar approach that was done in the city of Philadelphia through their district attorney's office, where they saw a reduction in ICE activity once they started taking legal action. I believe that we need more than just words and rhetoric, which is what the mayor has done over the last several weeks and months, yet has failed to take real action to actually keep our immigrant neighbors safe. And above all, I'm going to be a mayor that communicates. Just last week we had an incident where ICE showed up on Pomona Avenue. I showed up alongside other community members to get ICE out of there. And thankfully they did without necessarily detaining an individual. Yet you'll never hear about that coming from City Hall. We have ICE detections and sightings that are happening almost on a daily basis all across Providence, yet and still you'll never hear a peep from City Hall unless it's time to do a performative press conference, and they'll be the first ones to invite the cameras and the community out. But when it comes to giving real life updates and real-time information, that is what we should be expecting from City Hall. Mayor, your response.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, he's been uh making this performative claim for a while, and uh and and I will tell you, and if you look at uh any of the footage from that first executive order and all of the community partners standing behind us, uh, to have the city's first Latino police chief who I appointed uh stand shoulder to shoulder with the mayor, uh, surrounded by leaders in the faith community, pastors, rabbis, imams, uh, lawyers in the immigration space who are providing services to our immigrant neighbors every day, standing behind and shoulder to shoulder with us to say and show our community that Providence is doing everything they can to protect them, that their police department, their police chief standing there saying you should feel comfortable calling Providence Police because we are here for your protection, uh, is not performative. It's actually really important. Uh, and then it's matched with uh resources. So we're working through our partnership with Dorcas uh for a 24-7 immigration legal hotline, which the city funds uh which uh I proposed and then have continued now uh with uh the other work that we're doing throughout our neighborhoods to mark public spaces. The question you asked previously about what will we do if we see ice in one of these ice-free zones in a public space, uh, to know uh that their community is doing everything it can uh to protect them uh is much more than performative. It's in fact very important.
SPEAKER_01Okay, thank you both for this. Uh yes, or rather. I think it's just important to note the mayor makes a reference to the fact that Providence Police will not collaborate with ICE. Yet we had an instance last July where Providence Police officers were caught collaborating with ICE. The police oversight board ruled that that was the case, and instead of taking action, the mayor had no forms of accountability. And this is why I say that we cannot take Brett Smiley seriously when it comes to actually protecting our immigrant neighbors. Because all we see is performative action, but very little results in terms of actually delivering for immigrant communities that otherwise continue to feel unsafe.
Bill BartholomewAll right. He's the head of the Providence Paternal Order of Police, the police union here. And on that issue, there seems to be some gray area about membership of the Providence Police, the rank and file. They're are they aligned with you and and and city policy?
SPEAKER_00Uh yeah, so I talk to all our union presidents regularly. Every mayor should and needs to do that. Um Uh I don't know what's in the heart of every member of the Providence Police Department, but I know they they understand clearly what their orders are, uh both from me and from the chief of police, uh and I have confidence that they follow those orders and in the instance when they don't, they get held accountable.
SPEAKER_01Unless they get caught collaborating with ICE, which was the case last July, then they don't get held accountable.
SPEAKER_00See there's important context here that he's leaving out uh as he likes to do. Uh the report that he references is a politically appointed third-party civilian board that we disagreed with. Yes. And uh and so the incident in reference was thoroughly investigated by the police, uh, and there was accountability. Uh there was uh body cam uh policy that wasn't followed, and uh officers were reprimanded for it. Uh but there was uh not a violation of our ICE collaboration policy.
Bill BartholomewAaron Ross Powell All right. Moving on to the unhoused right now, what's the greatest challenge we face right now on a specific basis, Mayor, when it comes to the unhoused improvidence?
SPEAKER_00I mean the root cause is uh a lack of affordable housing. But when we're talking about affordable housing as sort of a big term, when we're talking about our unhoused neighbors, uh it manifests itself differently than just more apartment buildings. Uh so we have uh made historic investments over the last four years in increased uh shelter uh capacity here in Providence. Uh but it's important to note that not all shelters are created equally and not all shelter space meets the needs of the individual in crisis. Uh there are many folks who are unhoused who uh understandably have had bad experience in the shelter system. Uh perhaps they're in a relationship and they don't want to leave their partner. Uh sometimes something uh it might sound as simple as not wanting to leave their pet, which is the most important relationship they have in their life. Uh and so uh we need to continue the progress we're making on uh more and better and more diverse shelter options. We need then that next step, which is uh transitional housing, permanent support of transitional housing, uh, which you know, Crossroads just opened a new building, which is a really important piece of the puzzle, but it doesn't, uh it sort of scratches the surface of the need, uh, which is uh sort of semi-independent living, apartments, but matched with services so that folks can get uh transitioned to full independent living. But you can't just provide an apartment for someone who maybe has unmet medical needs uh or other uh uh uh situations that need support along the way. And so uh we need like sort of every step in the chain uh to have uh more access and more options. Uh and uh and you know, this comes up a lot. We we talk about this a lot, the two of us in all these forums that we're doing. Um we need to also make sure that other communities are doing their part. Um, you know, Providence continues to do more than its fair share in all of this. Uh, you know, we're host, for example, to the only tiny home uh Echo Village in in Rhode Island. There should be 10 of those in Rhode Island. Those are a really good uh solution. Uh the units are lockable, people can bring their pet. Uh for anyone who's had you know stuff stolen or been a victim of crime and shelter, which happens, uh, this is uh an appropriate place for those folks who might otherwise reject shelter options when they're offered. Uh and uh but other communities need to need to step up and participate as well.
Bill BartholomewYeah, that's that that that that definitely I want to go back to that piece of it as well, Providence as a bully pulpit for other communities. And we'll get into that in just a moment, but I want to be clear about uh the very question I asked the mayor. What is the greatest challenge that the unhoused face right now in the city of Providence that you would inherit on day one if you were elected mayor?
SPEAKER_01Aaron Powell It's a lack of wraparound services for unhoused community members. Many of our neighbors have been suffering through chronic homelessness and are also dealing with struggles related to mental health distress, alcoholism, or substance use disorder. And I've spoken with many organizations that are actively on the ground and have been doing this work for years. And they share with me that they wish they had the capacity to hire more case managers or peer recovery specialists, but they simply do not have enough support. And I believe those are the moments where the city has to step in further and expand existing partnerships so we can have a cost-sharing agreement around having more case managers. We should be supporting some of our frontline agencies when it comes to helping them with actually applying for some of these grants that will allow them to have more capacity on the ground with the expectation that we can have more daytime shelters that are readily available. Because as we know, our shelter system, more often than not, essentially tells our unhoused neighbors that they have to leave by the morning and they're not allowed to come back until the evening. We need to have daytime shelter spaces that are readily available and not just concentrate on one neighborhood, but having a comprehensive approach across the city. And that's why I spoke earlier about the ways in which the city could be more active around owning certain buildings. Buildings that right now are essentially just empty. There was a daytime shelter that happened on North Main Street between the Providence Pawtucket line that was ran by Brother Gary from Black Lives Matter. And he did an excellent job housing an upwards of 30 community members that would otherwise have no place to go. I believe that again, it does start with dignity, having wraparound services as we continue to build and invest around transitional housing options. That's a comprehensive approach to addressing our homelessness crisis, as opposed to what we've seen from Brett Smiley's administration, which has been a continued violation of the homelessness bill of rights, which is state law, where you have had neighbors that have had their property seized and their encampments essentially torn apart. And I applaud Steve Alquist for being on the front lines and being one of the only news outlets to cover that type of egregious behavior.
Bill BartholomewMr. Alquist, it should be noted, it'll also endorsed your your candidacy here in terms of uh and cited that coverage as part of his his decision there. But let me ask you that, that mayor, are you violating the homelessness bill of rights in the state of Rhode Island?
SPEAKER_00No. We have uh uh so first of all, we have social service workers uh that we contract with. The city doesn't employ social service workers, and so uh we contract uh right now with East Bay Cap is our social service provider, but we also have partnerships with Matthewson Street Church uh and many of the other providers that uh the representative likes to say we will partner with, we already do partner with. Uh and uh and when it comes to encampments in the city, uh these are not suitable places for people to live. No one aspires to live in an encampment. I hopefully we can agree on at least that. Uh and uh and so uh in my time in office, I have uh I have firsthand knowledge of uh horrible acts of violence in encampments, particularly against women, uh, of drug overdoses, of fires, uh, and uh these are not safe or suitable places for people to live. And uh and so we have developed a policy uh that is a uh a balanced approach uh with respect to encampments that um at the request of advocates, by the way, we give 30 days notice. We offer to store everyone's belongings. Uh anyone who asks us to store their belongings, we will. Uh then we give a final 48-day uh 48-hour uh notice to vacate. Uh, and then um we clear the encampment uh because they are unsafe, because they are dangerous, because they're not suitable. Uh and uh throughout that 30-day window, we are through partners actively engaging with the people who are living there, offering available shelter beds, trying to uh provide other services uh in terms of health care, mental health care, uh other issues. Documentation is sometimes a major issue about getting someone their ID or benefits that they might be entitled to. Uh and uh and there's no easy solution to these challenges. It's a very difficult thing. These are these are our neighbors. Uh, but it is a thoughtful, uh, informed, uh, balanced approach uh to the safety of those living there and to everyone else in the community.
SPEAKER_01All right, thank you, very last word on this. I really wish that the explanation Brett Smiley just provided was the actual truth. Because as we have seen, documented time and time again by those like Steve Alquist, and including case managers who work for some of these social service agencies, they will be the first to tell you that the rights of our homeless neighbors have been violated under Brett Smiley's providence. It has been a case where people have had their property seized, not stored. It has been the cases where encampments have been cleared not with the 30 days notice. But instead, it has violated the rights of our unhoused neighbors and has left them in a worse position than they were before. And as mayor, we're actually going to make sure that we follow our state law and that we have a more empathetic and compassionate approach, as opposed to what the status quo has been, which is just punitive.
Bill BartholomewAll right, you're listening to the Providence Mayoral Democratic primary debate here on Bartholomewtown and WPRO. I'm Bill Bartholomew Challenger Representative David Morales, Mayor Brett Smiley. Um we're we're actually blasting through this right now. So just a couple of uh short ones here. I want to get back to something we just touched on. They say as the city of Providence goes, so goes the state of Rhode Island. You mentioned Mayor Echo Village and pallet shelters. Yet min municipalities that abut Providence have, including Cranston, uh Mayor Hopkins said, well, look, we don't want these pallet shelters in our community. Yes or no? Is it the responsibility of the mayor of Providence to advocate other communities to absorb portions of services and sort of the responsibility that the capital city shoulders? Is that your responsibility as mayor to advocate to other municipalities?
SPEAKER_00I mean it shouldn't have to be, but it is.
SPEAKER_01I have a strong track record in my time as a legislator working with other legislators from cities and towns on coming up with solutions that deliver for working people and our most vulnerable. And as mayor, I'm going to do just that. So yes, I believe I do have that responsibility, and I will be proud to leverage my partnerships and relationships to make it happen.
Bill BartholomewIn the in our lifetime, so we're about all about the same age. Do you do and if you were mayor, would you strive to at least initiate a scenario where Allens Avenue could be returned to beachfront and restored in some way, shape, or form to anything other than an industrial plant right now that has documented um look, it's documented that it's causing negative health outcomes in South Providence. Would you like to see that? And do you think it could be transformed back to natural space?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, yes. And I can say that because unlike the current mayor, I don't take thousands of dollars from the lobbyists representing C3 Terminal Station or some of the other industrial facilities near the Port of Providence. There?
SPEAKER_00Uh no. The uh we don't have enough good jobs in this community. And uh and economic development uh matters to everyone in Providence. Uh the deep water channel that it runs along the waterside of of Allens Avenue is a key economic asset to this city that will not be replaced anywhere else in our lifetime, as you say. Uh and so we need to take full advantage of that as a place for job growth and economic opportunity. Uh yes, there should be public access to the waterfront, uh, and uh and we're working on that with the community on Public Street, uh, but to turn all of Allens Avenue into a beachfront would give up on good jobs. Now, we can do better than scrapyards and salt piles, uh, to be sure. Uh and uh and I would like to continue to see the growth of uh job-intensive, uh generally uh industrial uh facilities along the waterfront. Uh we were really making some progress on offshore wind uh until the Trump administration came along, but I think that that uh will rebound once he's no longer in office. Uh and so uh I I think uh that needs to remain a place for good jobs and for economic opportunity for Providence residents.
Bill BartholomewOkay. Um there's some news at the zoo uh in Elmwood, my neighborhood, that the three elephants are going to be going to a sanctuary. Look, they were captured in an operation in Zimbabwe. Reportedly, their uh their their parents were slaughtered in that operation. Should we be replacing elephants and large mammals at the zoo, or is it time that as a community we move away from that practice, Mayor?
SPEAKER_00Aaron Powell I think the plan for the elephants is uh is humane and just. Um our elephants are geriatric, uh elephants are social creatures, and the fear and risk is that if one of the elephants passes, the other ones will die shortly thereafter because they've been a herd for so long. And so uh we have a thoughtful plan to relocate them to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee uh where they will join a new herd such that if one of them dies, the others still have a hope for longer life because they'll be part of a of a new pack. Uh so I think that's the right thing to do. And uh it'll be disappointing to a lot of families who love visiting the elephants, uh, but I think that's the the right balance of um keeping the zoo as a as an attraction that inspires and kids and families love um but while doing right by these animals.
Bill BartholomewShould they be should new elephants be brought into that exhibit?
SPEAKER_00Uh the expectation is that new elephants won't be brought into that exhibit. Uh the uh uh the zoo's working on uh what what animals might replace them.
SPEAKER_01Your take on that? So I agree. I think we should be in a position where we're not replacing the elephants, we have a more humane approach, and when we think about the zoo, it's a third space. The zoo serves as a third space that can go beyond just having some animals being held captive and instead can serve as spaces and opportunities for families to get together during the summer. I applaud the Allure's administration for thinking through what the zoo can be when it came to having programmings designed for kids during Halloween, when it came to programs being designed for families to get together during the summer to be able to enjoy a laser show. Those are the types of initiatives that we should be thinking about the zoo the same way we think about our libraries and our rec centers. All right.
Bill BartholomewOn the arts, um, look, Providence, the creative capital, it's uh it's been branded, it's out there. Uh, you know, in sixty seconds or less, Mayor, your take on what it would take for Providence to elevate as an arts capital on a national or even global basis from where we are right now. What kinds of investments, what kinds of energy needs to be brought in?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean I think we've got a great foundation uh from which to build. Uh the the vibrancy of our arts community is well known and uh uh and gets a lot of public support, but also you know has sort of an independent streak that's doing its own thing on its own too, which is great. Uh I think uh there's a couple things that are necessary. Uh first, uh importantly, part of the reasons that the arts community has thrived here was because of the proliferation of things like really inexpensive mill space and such, uh, which is uh vanishing. And so um uh we talked half this debate about affordability. So making progress on the affordability uh question and uh and bringing down the costs of rents and everything else through a comprehensive approach to housing uh is critical. Uh secondly, uh we have a proud track record in Providence, again, predating me, but including me of supporting artists. When the city uh engages, we pay our artists, we don't ask them to donate their time. They are professionals and they should be compensated for it. Um and uh one of the changes that we just made, however, uh is there's the 1% set aside for public art, uh, and we broadened the uh use of uh of that on public programs to support cultural infrastructure, uh, which means that we also could be supporting not just some new commissioned piece of public art, but also existing arts organizations that might need funding for their organization, their building, their theater, uh, what have you. I think that's gonna help us uh nurture and cultivate the talent that's already here. And then finally I will say, and you know, we we just finished a very successful summer with the FIFA fan zone, um, uh, which is culture and not arts, but it's demonstrates an important point that one of the ways we can help uh artists here thrive and sort of hit that next level is to bring audience to them. We have uh incredible talent here. And so uh when there are opportunities through public events and through festivals and through uh moments like that where we can bring tens of thousands, if not over 150,000 people in the case of the fan zone, to the community to highlight um and create audience and fan bases uh for our local artists. Uh, we can help them thrive and succeed. All right, thank you, Mayor. On arts.
SPEAKER_01We can't call ourselves their creative capital if the artists that make our city so special are getting priced out. And that's been the reality for so many working artists across Providence. They can't afford to continue calling our city home. And that is why I'm committed as our next mayor to capping rent hikes. Because I will not veto it like our current mayor. And we're also going to make sure that you have affordable workspaces that you can consistently depend on. We have seen a disturbing trend where artists are not just being priced out of their homes, but are also being priced out of their studios in general. I noted it before. There are tons of vacant commercial spaces that exist between downtown Providence, between North Main Street, and various parts of our city. I will have an administration that engages directly with private property owners and our artist community so we can have discounted leases that could be readily available for artists to be able to continue practicing their craft and be in a position to pay it forward. I want to take a segment of our arts community and ensure that they're a part of every fabric in the social life of Providence. And that will include incorporating more public arts into our schools, ensuring that artists have opportunities where they themselves are receiving a stipend and working directly with our Providence kids. Auntie's house, which is located right within the Valley neighborhood, has done an incredible job initiating those types of partnerships. And those exist both in school and after school. We also want to ensure that when it comes to our seniors living in high rises, that they have more opportunities to be able to access the arts. And some of these are initiatives that again were once envisioned and started by Mayor Jorge Alorza, who had a grand vision on how we can really uplift the creative arts. Now, unfortunately, some of that progress has been backtracked by this administration. We saw the ways in which PVD Fest ignored the needs of artists as they switched up the date, they switched the location. And thankfully, we're getting back to a place where PVD Fest is going back to a space where artists are actually being embraced. And as mayor, I will always ensure that there's an open door for our artists to be able to share their concerns and most importantly their ideas on how we can continue being the creative capital that artists could actually call home.
Bill BartholomewAll right, sticking with you, Rhett Morales, on multimodal transit in terms of bike lanes, in terms of pop-up scenarios. Is the city doing enough right now in multimodality? And what would you do to decrease or increase multimodal options?
SPEAKER_01Uh the city is certainly not doing enough. I mean, just last year, Rhett Smiley fought against the needs and wills of community members to relocate the bike lane on Southwater Street and instead open up another lane of traffic. You go to the public hearings, you hear communities say that they enjoy the bike lane that's on Southwater Street because it kept everyone safer. Yet and still he ignored those needs. And then now we're gonna be wasting over four million dollars in federal infrastructure funds for this project. When those federal infrastructure funds could have gone towards the expansion of more bike networks. Again, I will applaud the Jorge Alores administration that put forward a bike master plan that unfortunately has been collecting dust instead of actually being acted upon. I, for one, am going to take a more comprehensive approach to ensuring that we're providing more opportunities for those that want to bike in our city and they can do so safely. We'll also leverage our position as the capital city to have a stronger partnership with Ripta. We need to ensure that public transportation is a more dependable partner and a resource that all of our neighbors can rely on. I fought at the Statehouse when it came to some of the brutal Ripta cuts that were being proposed. And I want to ensure that when it comes to high traffic corridor lines like line 56, like line 92 and 57, that there is a partnership in place between the city of Providence and Ripta so they can be more frequent, they can be on time, and ensure that working people in Providence that need to get to their job, that need to get to an appointment, or get to school are able to do so, as opposed to just staying silent on the issue. Rev, thank you. Mayor, your response.
SPEAKER_00So uh we are continuing to work through the Transit Master Plan, uh, and and we have stayed true to the plan. There are uh there's now a mile of additional bike lane that's been built since I've been in office. Uh, not an inch has been removed despite some of the misinformation that comes out of my opponent's campaigns or from some of his supporters. Uh this summer we've been doing a ton of community engagement for the next big project, which will be down Broadway, all the way from Olneyville Square to the service road. Uh we're gonna re-orient uh and have a protected two-way bike lane on the north side of the street on Broadway, which is really exciting and uh has a lot of community support. We've already opened uh with uh, I think much fanfare, the Kinsley Avenue bike lane, which looks beautiful uh and is being used. And so uh we continue to build out the the bike network here in the city, uh, and we will continue to do so in a in a thoughtful way that uh learn some of the lessons. Some of the bike lanes that were installed in the past um were done so poorly. Uh my predecessor uh didn't think through some of the problems. You know, we get a lot of complaints in the winter that we don't plow the bike lanes because the way they were built, they're unplowable. Uh and so uh we're we're doing better now because we've we've uh learned from those mistakes. Uh and uh but it's not just bike lanes. You know, still a minority of the public commutes by bike. Uh and uh and uh we're making streets safer, we're making sidewalks uh more passable, uh, and we are advocating for additional RIPTA funding. RIPTA's, of course, a state agency, but uh but I've been up testifying in behalf of restoring the cuts that came down from the governor uh on uh on RIPTA because uh uh that is a critical part of the transportation infrastructure here in the city.
Bill BartholomewAll right, thank you very much, Mayor, and thank you, Rep, as well. Uh this is we are here. Closing statements.
SPEAKER_01Uh Representative Morales, 60 seconds. Neighbors, this election represents an important decision. A question and a decision about whose city hall should work for. The corporate interests or those of our neighbors. I'm proud to be the only candidate in this race that is focused on capping rent hikes so you can continue to call our city home. I will use every tool at our disposal to make sure that our neighbors feel safe calling Providence home regardless of immigration status. And I will have an administration that appoints qualified department heads so you are receiving the quality city services that you deserve. Throughout this campaign, we have built a broad coalition of support, of neighbors from all different parts of Providence, different political backgrounds, renters and homeowners, and unions representing our teachers and frontline healthcare workers because we're all aligned around a vision that city government can and must do more to support our neighbors. And that starts with building a city we can afford and feel safe calling home. Thank you, Representative Morales. Mayor Smiley.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thank you all for listening. This is a super important election and uh uh and it presents a clear choice of continuing the progress we've made or going backwards. Uh continuing the progress we've made on public safety, uh, bringing violent crime down to a 35-year low, removing thousands of illegal guns from our streets, and largely eliminating the ATV and motorcycle problem. Or do we go backwards uh for someone whose public safety plan barely mentions the word crime, makes no references to illegal guns or any of the other progress that we've made? Do we continue to move forward by building new houses and new schools in every neighborhood? Or do we go backwards uh with uh plans that already exist, programs that we already do, uh, and references uh to the past that didn't deliver on the results? Uh I am confident that my experience and pragmatic leadership uh will continue to deliver for this city so that we can continue to move forward and most importantly be prepared for the next four years with Providence Public Schools being under local control. There's no greater obligation or opportunity to do better for the 20,000 kids at PPSD that deserve a mayor who's prepared for this moment, who's prepared to do better by these students, and that has a track record of being able to run a large organization, uh, which is what the Providence Public Schools are, along with the City of Providence. So I'm asking for your vote on September 9th. You can start voting early at City Hall on August 20th, uh, and encourage everyone to please participate in this critical election.
Bill BartholomewProvidence mayor Brett Smiley, State Representative David Morales. Thank you both for being here. I'm Bill Bartholomew. You've been listening to the Bartholomew Town WPRO Democratic primary mayoral debate.
