Good evening, and welcome to the Providence City Council on this Thursday, October 1. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.
Council President Miller? Present. Deputy Majority Whip Vanderblois? Councilor Davidson? Present.
Senior Deputy Majority Leader Gonsalves?
Councilwoman Graves? Present. Deputy Majority Leader Harris? Present. Councilwoman Peterson?
Council president Pro Tempur Pichardo? Present. Council Arroyas? Is absent Councilwoman Ryan? Is absent Majority Whip Sanchez?
Councilman Taylor? Is absent. Councilwoman Anna Vargas? Present. Councilman Oscar Vargas?
Present. You have 12 present and three absent. You have a quorum.
Thank you, madam clerk. This evening, the invocation will be given by councilor Sue Anderwa. Will everyone rise?
Friends, as we gather today to do the important business of the city, just want us all to think about about each other and about the work that we've done over the last four years and how hard we've come to build partnerships and be together and really work. And we have so much work left ahead of us in the next several months, so I'm excited about this agenda. I'm excited about the work we have before us. But I'd really like to think... Us to think about that spirit of unity and continuing to be together and work together and partner together as we go forward.
Thank you. Thank you, councilwoman. And the pledge of allegiance will be led by councilor Jill Davidson.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Madam Clerk, item one please. Item
three please. Madam President.
Motion to waive the reader of item three and move approval. Second, madam president.
We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?
Any abstentions? The motion passes. Item four.
Motion to waive the reading of item four through seven.
Any discussion on items four through seven?
Councilwoman Peterson. Thank you, madam president. I am actually speaking on number six today. Essentially, while we're gonna do this over in committee, I did wanna make sure that we put it on record today that what this is was the former student impact fee, since I know so many of my friends are watching. The former student impact fee ordinance was going to be, as we have heard so much about the imposition of a fee from students and things, the other part of that important ordinance was also...
Had everything to do with reporting. And that is the part that we've highlighted and essentially separated in an effort to make sure that we can start receiving some compliance and support around the numbers of enrollment and understanding what off campus housing does in all of our neighborhoods. So I look forward to getting a lot of questions and getting a lot of feedback from my fellow counselors. Thanks.
Thank you, counselor. Further discussion on four through seven? Hearing none. All in favor. Aye.
Any opposed? Any abstentions? The motion passes. Madam Clerk, please refer item four to the committee on ordinances, five to the special committee on ways and means, six to the special committee on hope, and seven to the special committee on ways and means. So noted.
Madam president. Majority leader. Motion to weigh the reader of eight through 10 and pass on a voice vote.
We have a motion and a discussion. And a second. Any discussion on items eight through 10? Councilwoman Harris. Madam Clerk, can you please read item 10?
Whereas Thomas F O'Connor Junior is part of an enduring and distinguished tradition of neighborhood based public service in Providence, and whereas Thomas served in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War receiving two Purple Hearts among other medals and commendations. And whereas, following his distinguished military service, Thomas served on the Providence School Committee for six years. And whereas, Thomas was elected to the Providence City Council in 1978 as a... As councilman for the 11th Ward, serving with distinction for ten years until 1989, and demonstrating profound commitments to his constituents and the community in his charge. And whereas Thomas, an attorney by profession, brought his training, civic mindedness, and commitment to advocacy to his council service, remaining attentive to the need for housing and neighborhood development in the ward, as well as ensuring the agency and efficacy of his constituents.
And whereas, during his tenure on the council, Thomas chaired the Committee on Urban Redevelopment, Renewal and Planning, the Committee on Ward Boundaries, and the Committees on celebration of Veterans Day and Martin Luther King Day, and served with distinction on the committee on finance. The committee on public works, the committee on claims and pending suits, the committee on licenses, the Committee on Naming of Buildings, Bridges, Expressways, and Other City Edifices, the City Plan Commission, and the Capital Center Commission. And whereas, as Chair of the Committee on urban redevelopment, Thomas helped to shape the growth, development, and prospects of the neighborhoods of the city in accordance with a firm belief in the responsiveness to and support by city government to the people and neighborhoods experiencing change first hand. And whereas, among other notable acts during his tenure on the council, Thomas worked alongside members of the Puerto Rican community of South Providence to advance the renaming of Bishop Street to Borenquine Street in 1984, acting in recognition of the presence, identity, heritage, and belonging of the Puerto Rican community in South Providence. And whereas, upon his departure from the council, Thomas was commended by his colleagues for his loyalty, honor, duty, and grace under pressure, garnering respect for those qualities and their endurance amid difficulty and crisis.
And whereas, following his service on the council, Thomas served as an associate director of the Department of Planning and Urban Development and as director of the Port Of Providence. And whereas Thomas in his years on the Providence City Council and in public service elsewhere, meaningfully served the 11th Ward and the city with professional leadership, respect for an evolving and increasingly diverse community, and a belief in the strength of neighborhoods of the city that has endured and that is embodied in the present membership of the council. And whereas, the Providence City Council wishes to honor a former member whose career is an exemplar for all those privileged to enter public service. Now therefore be it resolved that the Providence City Council hereby honors the career and public service of Thomas F O'Connor Junior and encourages the people of Providence to emulate his commitments to inclusion and advocacy. And be it further resolved that copies of this resolution be sent to Thomas f O'Connor junior and the O'Connor family as a token of the council's abiding esteem and respect.
Thank you, madam chair. May I rise? I'm rising tonight to speak on this particular resolution. First of all, I wanna thank policy, Aaron Garden, who was able to get this done in such a professional way and to find out details and stuff that I didn't even have no idea, that happened in the past on Ward 11. I wanna thank the clerks for being able to get this prepared and here tonight on the docket.
But most of all, I am honored to say, and as you guys vote on this tonight, I wanna thank you for that as well, but I am honored and privileged to stand here tonight in the in the boots of such great abbassy of Ward 11. You know, it's a privilege for us to have the position we have. It's a real privilege. And the privilege in the... That we serve is that the...
There's people in the past that have made this work so important for us to be able to do. I'm here tonight and it's an honor to stand here and I wanna recognize that mister O'Connor, former councilman mister O'Connor's family is here tonight. We have his wife and his sister joining us tonight here to hear us pass this resolution, which is also great. Just to let you know, former councilman O'Connor is among us. We usually wait till people are gone, and then we recognize them.
Flowers are important right now, especially in the type of work that we do, the civic work and the stuff that we do. I'm standing here in those shoes of a man that came in here and decided back in the day that housing was so important for Ward 11 and to work on issues around that. Back in the day when the institutions began... Institution zoning became very important for the... For Brown University, Rhode Island Hospital, to start to embark upon land that folks once lived in, housing.
I came in here... When I came in here in 2014, I was just screaming to the top of my voice, there's a housing crisis. It's a housing crisis. That should have been discovered years ago, years and years ago, when councilman O'Connor was a part of this council who were also working on housing, who also made sure at the time of the zoning that houses that was being demolished around that neighborhood by the rural hospital, that people were able to take those houses and buy them for a dollar. He was a part of that movement, $1, and also asked the institution to also help the house be moved to some other property that people could have.
Way back then, housing was a big deal. I'm standing in the shoes of a man that fought for those houses, fought for people that have opportunities in housing. I'm also standing in the shoes four decades later. Right? Standing in the shoes of a man who served as a chairperson of IRIP committee.
That was important that I take that role. I didn't want any other committee, but some reason or the other, IRIP just seemed like a place to be to get to know the neighborhood even more, and so I stand in those shoes. I wanna say even then, as we celebrate tonight, mister Thomas O'Connor work and the stuff that he did back then, this should be an encouragement to all, not only the councils that are coming in, but the councils that are here now that your work will be valued and it will be recognized and it is important. It was important back in the eighties and it's important today. So I wanna thank you, council president, for allowing me and my colleagues to speak on an important article today.
You heard a long reading on, who he was. I'm asking the family to stay around for a photoshoot after because we have such a short docket. Thank you.
Thank you, councilwoman. Further discussion on items eight through 10.
Councilwoman Davidson is next and then go ahead.
Thank you, Madam President. First of all, thank you for your support on item eight. I'm not going to say much about it tonight because the event that we'll be celebrating the ceremonial renaming is going to happen at a later date. I do want to thank you all for your support. I'm also here to speak on item 10.
No glasses on. Okay. Item 10. To just sort of say a few words and ask for your support. You know, we know that the past few days have been difficult for the Providence Public Schools and the Providence School Board.
