Providence City Council Meeting | September 18th, 2025
Item 9 - Housing Crisis Task Force Report
Council members discussed the report produced by the Housing Crisis Task Force, highlighting its recommendations for keeping long-term residents housed and guiding future council legislation. Following remarks from task force members, the council voted to accept and receive the report.
Items 10 through 24 - First Passage Ordinances
The council moved to waive the reading and approve Items 10 through 24 on first passage via a roll call vote. The clerk called the roll and the motion carried with 12 affirmative votes.
Item 25 - Receive and Approve
A motion was made to waive the reading of Item 25 and receive and approve the matter. The motion passed unanimously on a voice vote with no debate.
Point of Personal Expression - Hispanic Heritage Month
Councilwoman Peterson delivered a personal reflection honoring Hispanic Heritage Month, speaking on the resilience and sacrifices of immigrant families. She reaffirmed the importance of dignity, representation, and community pride for Latino residents.
Items 26 and 27 - Referrals and Approvals
The council moved to waive the reading of Items 26 and 27, approving them unanimously by voice vote. Item 26 was referred to the Committee on Claims and Pending Suits, while Item 27 was noted as received.
Item 28
A motion was made to waive the reading of Item 28 and pass the item on a voice vote. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously without opposition.
Memorial Adjournment
The Majority Leader moved to adjourn the meeting in memory of Dennis Quigley, Adele Thomas Jabbour, and David W. Varon. The motion was seconded and unanimously adopted to conclude the meeting.
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Body started in 2023 under the leadership of councilwoman, council president. And the committee started, you know, really talking to a lot of people about all types of the crisis that we... They were witnessing, the gaps and the problems they were having, even being able to build. This, again, I wanna point out because mistaken. A lot of people think that we have put out our point of view.
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I mean, it is stuff that we have collected, information, data. And again, we have to give the staff a lot of credit for all the background check and the data collecting and all of that to put this report out. Again, it is not an ordinance. I wanna copy something that was said to me and I think it works really well to talk about this. If you look at this report, which I encourage every council person to take this report to your neighborhood after you study it yourself and engage your community in the conversation because we gotta start cracking between these things and and making it making a move towards addressing housing crisis task force.
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I wanna say that this report, as we were working on it, served to me like it's a menu. It's recommendations. It's a menu that my committee, the committee on the housing price force put together. Now, if it was in a restaurant, you have a menu, you ask the chef to cook up something. Right?
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And when you cook it up, you need the right ingredients in season. That's what we bring in the community and the public. That's where they come with their expertise as well to sit at the table to help us really dive deep, to come up with other ways to really address this issue address the issue around housing price, the housing prices. And... Alright.
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Then after you have the chef, who serves
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it?
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Who serves this is the council people when they come up with great legislations that match the need of the community. I won't go on and on. Please read it. It's exciting. It's hot.
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It's off the off the press, and I encourage you to read it. I cannot exit without calling out certain names. Councilman Royas, councilwoman Peterson, councilwoman Graves, and of course, vice chairman Esperanal. Thank you. Work is done, and I appreciate everything that you guys did, the seriousness of taking housing.
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And just before I close, it's not just recommendations, it's work that we already did. The discounts... Discounts are here have done since I've been here. Since I came 2022, this work has started from all of you really taking this serious. So all of that is here.
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So I thank you. I encourage you to please read it, and let's try to figure out how to bring the community in on this conversation. Thank you, council president. Thank you.
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Thank you, chairwoman, and thank you to all of the committee members for all of your work. Further discussion on item nine? Madam president. Councilman Reyes.
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Thank you, madam president. I also rise to echo, what our our, chairwoman Harris just said, and I wanna thank the the chairwoman for her leadership on this housing task force. And I just... As a side note, when... Counselor Harris, whenever you speak and same goes for miss Aldia, how you say it and and what you say, I just feel like running through a wall sometimes because you inspire me on so many issues.
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I just wanna say that. This this housing crisis task force was established, it seems like many years ago, But over two years, we worked together. We've heard from experts, as councilwoman Harris said, and and we created a report that I think serves as a blueprint and almost a GPS, count... Councilwoman Harris says a menu, which I think is is a fair a fair description of what it is. But I think it's gonna guide this council in the coming months with tools.
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And, we we take serious action and implement what society's report. And it's and it's tools that I think serve for not just, you know... And we echo this, but it's not just maybe a supply side solution, but guardrails and keeping folks in their in their homes. And on that note, I think it's, you know, we just had a conversation around chronic absenteeism. And, you know, we...
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If you just look at the kids count numbers, the amount of children and families that are homeless and how that impacts their ability to access education and how that impacts our our chronic absenteeism in the city, I think it is worth knowing that we have some solutions here that could keep families in their home and keep children in their school without a significant disruption to their education. I bet if we'd asked principal Tessa and principal Scott about what their work is with students who are... And families who are homeless, I guarantee they'll say that it's, you know, high cost of rent and other barriers to housing. So I... You know, I'd be remiss to not highlight that because it...
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You know, this... There's today, it presents a sort of overlapping issues. And, you know, the last thing I'll say is just generally, our leaders in state... And state government always say, let's create province so that it's a world class city. Let's let's establish infrastructure and amenities so that we could attract outsiders into our city.
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And while there's so many things that I'm proud of that we offer in this city, I think along the way, we've forgotten about the people who built this city, who have... Who live here for... And and who have established themselves here. And I I just think that we need to put the focus back on our long term residents and to make sure we keep them housed. We keep family...
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Famous here for the for the long term so that they're not displaced by faceless developers. And so I think we need to take this report seriously. I really encourage you all to to take it home, read it, and and let's hopefully hopefully translates into real action in the months ahead. So thank you to our members of the task force, thank you to Chairwoman Harris, Council President, thank you for giving me time to make remarks about this.
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Thank you. Further discussion on item nine? Hearing none, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed, any abstentions?
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The motion passes. Madam Clerk, please note item nine as received.
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So noted.
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Item 10. Madam President. Majority Leader.
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Motion to waive the reader item 10 through 24 and pass for the first time in a roll call vote.
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Second, madam president. We have a motion and
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a second. Any discussion on items 10 through 24?
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Hearing none, madam clerk, please call the roll. Council president Miller. Aye. Deputy majority Whip Anderbois? Aye.
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Majority leader Espinal?
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Aye.
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Senior deputy majority leader Gonsalves? Aye. Councilwoman Graves is absent. Deputy majority leader Harris? Councilwoman Peterson?
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Aye. Council president Pro Tempur Pichardo? Aye. Council Arroyas? Aye.
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Councilwoman Ryan? Majority Whip Sanchez?
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Aye.
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Councilman Taylor is absent. Councilwoman Anna Vargas. Councilman Oscar Vargas.
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Aye.
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You have 12 ayes, two absent. The motion carries. The matters are approved for the first time on a roll
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call vote. Thank you, madam clerk. Item 25. Madam Prince. Majority leader.
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Motion motion to weigh the reader, item 25, and receive and approve.
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Second, madam president.
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We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on item 25? Seeing none, all in favor?
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Aye.
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Any opposed? Any abstentions? The motion passes. Please note 25 is received and approved.
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Point of personal expression. Counts Peterson.
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Thank you.
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Yes. Madam president, I just want to take a quick minute because I know we're about to end. I appreciate you giving me the time. Really quickly, I know that we acknowledged Hispanic Heritage Month at our last meeting, but I want to take just two minutes to reflect on what what it means, what Hispanic Heritage means to me as a Latina in this space. As we continue to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I want to share something from the heart.
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For me, this isn't just a month on a calendar. It's a reminder of where we've come from, what we've endured, and the resilience that carries us forward. I think about being Latina in this country, I think about my parents and my grandparents and so many others who left behind everything familiar family home, their family home, their language, family in general, to start over in a place where nothing was promised. They came with only a few dollars in their pockets and a lot of faith in their hearts. From that faith, they built families.
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From those dollars, they built businesses. They laid down roots. We laid down roots in communities that didn't always welcome us, and yet we stayed. They worked. They dreamed of a future where their children would have a fair shot.
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This is not so different from any other immigrant family that's come here. I carry this story with me every day in this chamber because being Latina here isn't easy. I've heard choice words, labels, even quiet attempts to diminish what I bring to the table. And I know I'm not alone. Our community hears them too.
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We're judged for our accents, the color of our skin, the way we look, the names we carry. We're told in ways both subtle and blatant that we don't belong. Now, more than ever, this rings true. Here's the truth. What others see as weakness, I see as strength.
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Our accents, they're proof of bilingual brilliance. The way we look, the proof of the beauty and the diversity that makes up our Latinidad. The names that we carry, they hold our stories, our sacrifices, our legacies, and those can never be erased. I learned that being Latina means carrying struggle and hope in the same breath. It means knowing that every barrier we face is also an opportunity to build something stronger for our next generation.
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It means refusing to abolit... To apologize for being passionate, for being intense, and for being too much. So as a neighbor, as I stand here as a neighbor, as an elected leader, I wanted to share this. I am here to listen, and I'm always here to support. To my neighbors, even when you don't agree with me, even when you don't support, I'm here because that is the responsibility that we carry as leaders.