Dear Friends and Neighbors,
As I sit down to write this newsletter, I am reminded of a conversation I had on the porch of our neighbors Sara and Josie when I was campaigning two years ago. It was downpouring, and they let me take shelter on their porch and our conversation centered on - if Trump is ever re-elected, how do we best care for our neighbors most at risk? LGTBQ+ youth and adults, immigrants, women, journalists. How do we address the impacts of the climate change and the housing crisis when we're likely to see vastly dwindling support from the federal government?
I wish I knew what lies ahead, but I do know that the work we do at the local level will be increasingly important. I was telling a friend on Thursday that I was waking up "fierce and focused" -- and am here to redouble my efforts to work on behalf of you, our communities, and our City and all of its amazing and diverse residents.
The local elections had some really fantastic bright spots! A big congrats to our East Side state delegation -- Representatives Kislak, Ajello, and Blazejewski and Senators Kallman, Zurier, and Mack on their re-elections and to newly minted School Board Member Corey Jones!
As always, there's a lot going on in our City, so I'll jump right to it:
Upcoming Meetings, Events & Processes:
The last two full City Council meetings of the year are on Thursday November 21 and December 5th at 6pm at City Hall. Agendas and Zoom links can be found on the Open Meetings Portal.
The Finance Committee will continue to meet Tuesdays at 5:30pm at City Hall. Agendas or rescheduled/additional meeting dates can be found on the Open Meetings Portal. (I serve on Finance)
The H.O.P.E. Committee will meet on Wednesday November 13th at 5:30pm. The agenda is focused on education and we will hear a presentation from former Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune, current director of City Year, on their partnerships with PPSD. We will also have a general conversation about education policy. (I serve on this committee).
The North Main Task Force will meet on November 20th at 5:30pm. Our agenda will primarily focus on updates related to new lighting and ARPA funding and a discussion on the Road Safety Assessment and each department's roles in implementation. (I chair this Task Force)
Save the Date: Monday, December 9th at 7pm - Ward 3 Community Meeting! Location TBD. No specific topics - just general community updates & information sharing. If you have anything specific you'd like covered, let me know.
Save the Date: Monday, December 16th, 7pm - Holiday Lights Celebration in Lippitt Park! Music, food, community, lights! More details coming soon!
Mt. Hope Toy Drive -- Now through December 16th! See flier for details!
School Board Applications Due December 13th: As you know, we now have 5 school board members who were recently elected. The Mayor will now appoint (with approval from the Council), 5 additional members - also broken out by region. The Providence School Board Nominating Committee is accepting applications for qualified candidates, and applications are open online now through Friday, December 13, 2024, at 4:30 PM. We have so many engaged parents and caregivers in Ward 3 -- I encourage you to apply at this link: https://www.providenceri.gov/mayor/providence-school-board-application/
Timely Issues in the City & Ward:
One-Way Streets between Benefit & North Main: Thank you to the many residents who reached out with support, concerns, and questions about the proposed one-ways between North Main Street and Benefit Street -- and the 30 or so residents who joined our community meeting about this topic. If you missed the meeting and want to watch a recording, you can do so at this link (passcode: 0RZXf=09).
Lots of experiences were shared by residents. In conversation afterward with the traffic engineer, the Department of Public Works, and the Mayor's office, we've decided that just South and North Court will become one-ways for now. South Court will be West to East, and North Court will be East to West. I don't have specific dates on when the signs will be installed - that is under the direction of DPW. The Traffic Engineer Nate will be investigating if there are additional ways to make these roads safer and protect the historic sidewalks through things like stop signs, etc - but no decisions have been made.
Ticketing from Overnight Parking Permits: Current ordinances in Providence require you to have a permit to park overnight on the street. You can learn more and apply for a permit at this link. I have heard many good arguments on why this policy should be amended, but until and unless an update to the ordinance is passed, it is still required. The rules are being enforced, and I know several Ward 3 residents who have been ticketed. As a note - I know some folks have reached out wondering if specific cars on their streets have permits since they don't have stickers -- the process is all on-line and based on license plates - cars do not necessarily have stickers if they have the permit.
The Comprehensive Plan: On Thursday, the City Council passed the Comprehensive Plan for the first time. (All ordinances are required to be passed twice before being signed by the mayor). You can see the final version at this link.
As you know from prior newsletters & conversations with me - the Comprehensive Plan has been a big focus of mine. It guides our land use decisions and focus for the City for the next 10 years. I spent a good deal of time listening to the community, working and negotiating with other councilors, and providing literally line-by-line edits to the entire document to our policy team. We held five public hearings in the Ordinance Committee and received hundreds of official public comments.
As I shared on the Council floor, I think this plan is a big step forward in many respects, and I was proud to support it. Some of the things I supported that are in the plan include: increased gentle density across the city to increase opportunities for housing development; elimination of parking minimums in most areas of the City to focus land on housing and commercial development; codification of many elements of the Climate Justice Plan; a firm stance that the decision for the location of the central bus hub should be guided by riders' experiences; and much more.
Was this a perfect plan? No. But partly because there's no such thing as a perfect plan - we live in a diverse city in all the ways you can define diversity, and what is perfect for one community might not work at all in another. One area in particular I would have wanted to see even stronger was the language around the future uses of the Port to more strongly move away from uses that harm the health of the surrounding community. I will continue to have conversations with environmental justice advocates, residents, workers and unions, Majority Leader Espinal and others to work toward a more sustainable future for the port that also includes good-paying union jobs for the workers.
The next step in implementation is updating the Zoning Ordinance, which codifies the specifics of the land use section into the zoning code. I will keep you updated as that process moves forward.
Providence Public School Funding: As you have undoubtedly seen in the news, there are on-going serious discussions happening between the Providence Public School System (currently still under control of the State) and the City over PPSD's budget. Senator Zurier did a truly excellent job of outlining where we are and why in his newsletter this morning, so for a thorough background, I would refer you to his write up. This is an on-going situation, and my focus is on being an adult in the room that the kids deserve -- fighting both for the funding necessary for our students while also demanding additional financial accountability from RIDE-controlled PPSD without resorting to finger pointing and petty politics at its worst. I never want to share inaccurate information, so as I have more firm information in the coming weeks on what all this means for the schools and the City's finances, I will provide detailed updates in this newsletter and in my December community meeting.
How Else Have I Been Serving Ward 3?
As you can see above, much of my work is focused on the legislative and budgetary work of the Council. But you deserve to know what else I've been up to!
Halloween Celebrations on Camp Street! A big thank you to Rep. Kislak and Senator Mack for spending Halloween with me on Camp Street at Billy Taylor Park! We had so many awesome costumed kids stop by -- and we even had a visit from our very own Congressman Gabe Amo! We plan to make this an annual celebration, so get your costume ready for next year!
Friends of Lippitt Park: Big high fives to Ethan on 10th Street and the Parks Department -- we held a kick off of the newly-formed Friends of Lippitt Park! We had a packed room on a chilly fall night at the Rochambeau Library discussing the community's ideas for Lippitt Park! If you missed the first meeting, but want to join the mailing list, let me know, and I'll forward your name to Ethan!
Policy Implementation: I've been involved in two active internal working groups with the City. I am co-leading the Vision Zero working group with the Planning Department as we work through the plans to implement the Vision Zero resolution I led the passage of earlier this year. We should have a draft plan in early 2025 that I will share with you and will also be heard in Committee. I am also working as part of the Mayor's Stormwater Task Force, investigating solutions for investing in strategies to address the serious flooding we are experiencing. I share this because much of my work is not in front of cameras - working behind the scenes to implement the things we pass and the efforts that are important.
Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve this City and this Ward. While the challenges ahead of us are real and tangible - it is an honor to work with you and for you and fight for solutions. Please do reach out anytime, and I try my best to respond in a timely way (though sometimes do need to play catch up on weekends!).
With Gratitude,
Councilor Sue AnderBois
Deputy Majority Whip, Providence City Council, Ward 3
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