City Council - Special Meeting

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Good evening, counselors. Good evening. Calling this special meeting of the Providence City Council to order on Friday, May 15th, 2026. Madam Clerk, please call the roll. Council President Miller. Present. Deputy Majority Whip VanderBrug. Present. Counselor Davidson. Present. Majority Leader Espinal is absent. Senior Deputy Majority Leader Gonzales is absent. Councilwoman Graves. Present. Deputy Deputy Majority Leader Harris. Present. Councilwoman Peterson. Present. Council President pro tempore Pichardo. Present. Counselor Reyes. Proudly present. Councilwoman Ryan. Present. Majority Whip Sanchez. Present. councilman Taylor is absent. Councilwoman Anna Vargas is absent. Councilman Oscar Vargas is absent. You have 10 present and five absent. You have a quorum. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Majority whip Sanchez Madam President, motion to waive the invocation. Second. Any discussion on that motion? All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? The motion passes. Uh tonight the pledge of allegiance will be led by pro tem Pichardo. Will everyone please rise? 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. Thank you, pro tem. Madam President, motion to waive the reading of items one and two.

Second, Madam President. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? [snorts]

All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Any abstentions? The motion passes. Uh Madam Clerk, please note one and two as received. So noted. Uh at this point uh Madam Clerk, I would like to ask the pro tem Pichardo uh come and share item three. Thank you. Um Madam Clerk item number three Uh Mr. President, motion to waive the reading of item three and override the mayor's veto on a roll call vote. Second, Mr. President. The motion has been made and second. Any discussion? Uh, before we have any discussion, uh, I'm going to call on our, uh, Providence solicitor to explain to the, uh, our body, uh, some, uh, clarification on the vote. Of the vote that we're taking a yes or no. I thought on the override. Yes, so any yes would be to override the veto. Nays would be not to override the veto. That sounds good. Uh,

[laughter] Is everybody clear on that one? Just want to make sure that everybody's on the same page. Uh, any discussion on item number three? Mr. President. Madam, uh, President, uh, Councilwoman [laughter]

Rachel Miller. Thank you, sir. Uh, councilors and Mr. President, we are here on this historic Friday night. Um, thank you all so much for being here. In front of you is, um, an ordinance that will, of course, protect residents. It will do so while allowing property owners to have what they need to have to keep properties maintained, uh, to invest in their properties, to make sure that, uh, they then earn an investment that can go back into our city. It's also more than that. It is very much a fork in the road for the city of Providence. Together, this council has already made history. It's we've made it clear to the residents of the city the council's fighting for the beating heart of our city, for the people who live here, for the people who call it home. And we have heard from so many people, uh, over the last two years when we've really been discussing through the work of uh, uh Chairwoman Harris uh and the um housing task force through the other issues that we've taken on in affordability, as we've talked more and more about the principles that would lead to the ordinance in front of us, we have heard from hundreds of people. People who are sharing stories about how their lives are on the edge of a knife. That uh 40% increase in rent uh since 2020 is too much. That that edge of a knife is one bill away from catastrophe for themselves and their family. Uh and I hope that every councilor, and I know uh many have, have gotten a chance to hear from the many, many constituents of theirs who have stories to share about why this ordinance is so critically important to them.

[snorts]

We've also, of course, heard from many opponents of rent stabilization. Many of them themselves, property uh owners, realtors, representatives of corporations who have a lot to lose, frankly. Uh large corporations who have been driving up rent beyond uh property value, beyond what is needed to maintain properties. And we've heard a lot from opponents. Um but it occurs to me that there's something we really haven't heard, whether uh from opponents external to the city or government officials themselves, when confronted with the fact that for families across the city, for people across the city rent renewal comes with a rent increase that amounts to eviction. When asked, "Where should those families go?" That is the sound we hear. It is silence. There is not an answer from the government or from the city.

[applause]

So, of course, we know that we cannot build our way out of what is amounts to a catastrophe for families, an emergency for families, uh and a loss to our city as families move away and move out of the city. I also worry that in that silence, in that absolute nothing, by intention or by default, there's a a movement that is moving Providence for the wealthiest among us and not for the rest of us. So, of course, we will keep building as this council has dedicated millions of dollars to do. Uh we will keep protecting uh property values by ensuring that families can invest in their properties. We will keep moving uh families towards homeownership. But, for the 60% plus of us who rent, we have got to do something. Um and that time is now. Uh we've also heard from uh testimony that it would take over 30 years plus to build our way forward. Um Mr. President, I don't know where you're going to be in 30 years. I don't know where I'm going to be in 30 years. I don't know where our city's going to be in 30 years if we do not act to protect people today. Uh there's lots of other things to say about what we've heard. A lot of it's been comparing apples to oranges um from the industry that this uh threatens. And we shouldn't be surprised cuz this is a very, very, very old story. It's one we've all heard if we know it or not. Uh show me a regulation on an industry and I will show you an industry who resists that regulation every time. Right from seatbelts to breathable air to basic bank protections

[applause]

to controlling algorithmic pricing, right? We are told by industry representatives that if you regulate, catastrophe follows. And here we are. We have seat belts. We have regulations on air and drinking water, and we are better for all of those things. Uh and I know, and you know, that government regulation is not enacted because the industry clamors for it, but because the people demand it. I know, and you know, that our residents are in crisis, and they need their local government to step up to the plate. I know, and you know, that rent regulation does exactly one thing. It regulates rent. And that together we're going to keep doing all those other things that we need to do to move us from a larger affordability and housing crisis. And so I'm asking uh all of my colleagues tonight to vote to overcome this veto, to let tomorrow be the very first day that people can wake up in the city of Providence, uh and renters can wake up in the city of Providence and have some amount of security in their homes. Um

[applause] And I also know that tonight, if we stay as nine together, if we do not overcome this hurdle, there will be people in the city who are celebrating. [snorts] Uh they will think that this is defeated. They will think that this is the end. I guarantee, I know uh from first hand, that they are already planning uh to funnel their wealth into opponents for the nine of us and and others um [snorts]

to replace us. Uh and so I say to those kind of those wealthy interests, um fair warning. Because what I have seen over the city in the last uh months and years is that rent stabilization has lit a fire in the imaginations of the residents of this city. Uh [applause]

that it has let all of us dream together of a local government that stands for its residents, that protects its residents, that fights for its residents, no matter who we are, no matter how much money is in our pocket, no matter where we live. [applause] So, [applause]

while this not might might not be one tonight, it is a long way from being over tonight. Uh because we all we have seen it before. Once hope lights up the imagination of residents who have for far too long been given no reason to hope, been given no reason to think that local government on a broad scale is uh working to represent them against wealthy interests. They've had no reason to it. Now, uh that hope exists uh because of the actions of this council. And that will continue to light a fire in the imaginations of all of us. And so, Mr. President and colleagues, please join me in voting yes to override the veto. Thank you very much.

[applause] Thank you, Madam President. Councilwoman Athia Graves. [clears throat]

I want to start out by saying even if it this bill is defeated and he succeeds succeeds in vetoing this, the fight is not over. We are here to fight for the city of Providence. We are here to fight for the citizens of Providence. We are here to fight for those who cannot fight for themselves. You voted us into this office to fight for you, and we will continue to fight for you. WE'RE NOT FIGHTING [applause]

WE ARE NOT fighting for those who live outside this city and raise get all the money from the city and go vacationing somewhere else and spend their money in some other city, who put their children in private schools, who produce all these wonderful things for themselves, but do not do anything for us. We are here to vote for you, to pray for you. We're going to We're going to make it through. And you know how what why we're going to make it through? Cuz God is ON OUR SIDE. GOD IS ON OUR SIDE. [applause]

AND I'MMA TELL YOU SOMETHING. I am going to tell you something. I feel it in my bones, and the reason I feel it in my bones is because I know I know that all the times that we have struggled and fought and cried, we always come through in the end. And we're going to come through in the end. Because we know that we made this city. They didn't make this city. We made this city what IT IS. [cheering]

IT'S OUR BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS. And I a refuse I refuse to let FEW PEOPLE COME IN HERE and take our city from us. I refuse to let a few people come in here and let us all become homeless. It's not going to happen. Not on my watch. So even if we lose tonight, you know what? Those people that chose not to come tonight, the power is in the voting box. [applause and cheering]

THEY ARE TRYING TO VOTE US OUT. LET'S ALL JOIN together and get the right people out. LET'S SHOW THESE PEOPLE THAT WE ARE NOT AFRAID OF THEM. LET'S SHOW THESE PEOPLE THAT we don't care. THEY DON'T EVEN LIVE HERE. THEY DON'T HAVE A VOTE. AND THE FEW THAT DO LIVE HERE, THEY ONLY GOT ONE. SO, LET US SHOW THEM WHERE THE POWER IS. IT'S NOT with them. It is with us. It's with THE ONES THAT ARE SITTING AROUND HERE WITH WITH THE EXCEPTION of one, and it's with the odd. SO, MY PEOPLE, DO NOT FEAR. DO NOT FEAR. IF WE LOSE this time, next year we can BRING IT BACK. RE-VOTE. COUNCILWOMAN? COUNCILWOMAN? And we don't even have to DO NO MORE STUDIES CUZ WE ALREADY DID IT. SO, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED, we going to vote tonight, and if it's nine, that's fine. Cuz we know this nine is the nine that will continue to fight. I am proud of my sisters. I am proud of my brothers. Because I know that in their hearts of hearts, they truly believe in you. They truly believe in this city. And they are going to fight. I know the games that have been played, but they think they're the only ones that can play the game. But take it from me, the person that is a wiz at with a wiz at spades and a true CHESS PLAYER. I KNOW HOW TO PLAY the game. So, play with me. Thank you, Councilwoman.

[applause]

Councilman Justin Reyes Thank you, Mr. President. Uh Miss Aldea, uh Councilman Miller, all I got to say after this is amen, amen, and amen. [applause] [cheering]

Uh Mr. President, uh tonight um in this moment carries a different kind of weight for me because this council has already spoken twice on rent stabilization. Twice this body voted to pass this ordinance. Twice we said that tenants in Providence deserve stability, predictability, and protections from unchecked rent increases. And tonight, after the mayor's veto, we are being asked one final question. Will we stand by the votes we already took, the people who sent us here, and the tenants across this city who are counting on us to act, or will we back away now? As I said before our original vote, renters in this city have been told to wait for far too long. Wait for the market to correct itself. Wait for more housing supply. Wait while rents rise faster than wages. Wait while families are pushed out of the neighborhoods they helped build. Meanwhile, displacement has not waited. Speculation has not waited. Evictions have not waited. So, tonight, once again, I say we are not We are done waiting, Mr. President. And let's remember how we got here. This ordinance did not appear uh overnight. It came from years of organizing, testimony, coalition building, and relentless advocacy from tenants, workers, seniors, students, and families who have refused to be ignored.

[applause] [cheering]

Mr. President, people packed these chambers as they are doing now. People shared deeply personal stories. People demanded action. And this council, under this council leadership, with the help of our policy team, we listened. And we should be proud of that because it matters. Because this policy is not fringe. It is not radical. It is not disconnected from public opinion. 72% of Rhode Islanders support limits on annual rent increases. In Providence, the support is even higher. Nearly three out of four people support rent stabilization because they understand exactly what is happening around them. They see rents increasing without warning. They see neighbors disappearing. They see entire communities becoming unaffordable in real time. In many ways, even the mayor himself has admitted what the problem is. In a recent social media post, the mayor wrote, quote, "Providence is facing a serious affordability challenge driven by a shortage of homes that makes it harder for families to rent or buy." Now, let's decode what the mayor actually means. What he is acknowledging is that there is an imbalance in the housing market. An imbalance where demand is high, supply is limited, and landlords know tenants have fewer and fewer options. And what has happened in that environment? Corporate landlords and large property owners have taken advantage of that imbalance to push rents higher and higher because they know people are desperate to stay housed. This That is the behavior, Mr. President, at the center of this crisis. That This is not just scarcity. This is not just scarcity. This is not just economics. This is people looking at the housing crisis and

deciding it is the perfect moment to cash in on human desperation. When people have nowhere else to go, when vacancy rates are low, when families are afraid of displacement, landlords gain enormous leverage. And many have used that leverage to impose massive rent increases that working people simply cannot absorb in this city. That behavior, friends, is what we call exploitative.

[applause] And what rent stabilization says is simple. There must be limits. There must be guardrails against the unchecked exploitation of a housing shortage because if we acknowledge the imbalance exists that the mayor does, but refuse to regulate the conduct that flows from it, then what we are really saying is that exploitation is acceptable as long as the market allows it. I do not believe that. And respectfully, colleagues who vote against this override tonight [snorts]

or are not here, are not just respecting are not just rejecting a policy proposal. They are refusing to correct behavior that everyone in this chamber can plainly see is harming the people of this city. I also want to address something else we have heard repeatedly throughout this debate. The mayor has made a number of sky is falling claims about rent stabilization. We we keep hearing that the studies say that this policy will fail or that the research proves catastrophic outcomes. But here is the problem. Those studies are rarely ever cited specifically. We are told to trust unnamed studies. We are told to accept broad conclusions without seeing the evidence behind them. And meanwhile, the lived experience of tenants in this city is treated as somehow less credible than vague references to research that never actually gets put on the table. If we are going to invoke invoke studies to justify blocking protections for thousands of renters, then we should at least be honest and transparent enough to name those studies, debate them openly, examine who they actually benefit.

[applause]

Uh Because tenants deserve more than fear-based talking points dressed up as evidence. And what I also find remarkable in this debate is the contradiction that we are hearing hearing from some of my colleagues who oppose rent stabilization. Some of my colleagues supported this council's efforts to ban algorithmic rental price fixing fixing software because they recognize that it is wrong for corporate landlords and property managers to use software to manipulate rents upward in coordinated ways. And guess what? I agree with that. But what I cannot understand is this. If it is wrong for landlords to use software to drive rents higher, why is it suddenly acceptable when they do it without the software?

[cheering]

Order. Uh I just want to If the harm is families being priced out, if the harm is exploitative rent increases, then the harm does not somehow disappear just because a computer program is no longer involved. That irony is impossible for me to ignore because at the end of the day, whether it happens through algorithm or through unchecked market power, the result for tenants is exactly the same. Higher rents, more instability, and more displacement. Now, we have heard alternative proposals discussed. Short-term rent assistant programs that provide relief after someone has already fallen behind. But let's be honest about the difference here. Emergency assistance is reactive. What is before us right now is preventive preventive. One steps in after the crisis has already begun, the other creates predictability before the crisis happens. One asks families to to hit the wall first, the other tries to stop them from being pushed there in the first place. Those are not the same thing. And should the mayor's veto stand tonight, it will not change the underlying reality that brought this ordinance before us. The mayor's veto does not erase the housing crisis, the mayor's veto does not lower rents, the mayor's veto does not stop displacement. What it does do is force this council to decide whether we are willing to stand by the votes we already took and the residents who demanded action because the fallout from inaction will not stay in this chamber. As I've said before, they show up in eviction filings, they show up in families doubling up with relatives, they show up in children changing schools mid-year, they show up in moving trucks, mattresses left on sidewalks, and the quiet evidence of displacement that our

own DPW workers are left to clean up every single day. That is what instability looks like on the ground. And despite this veto, one thing remains true. You can veto this ordinance, but you cannot veto the will of this city. [applause and cheering]

You cannot veto the tenants who organized for years to GET HERE. YOU CANNOT veto the reality people are experiencing in every neighborhood of this city. And let me be clear when I make this point. No amount of money, landlords and development interests bankrolling political campaigns, can erase what people are living through in this city every single day. [applause]

Families still cannot afford these rent increases. Workers are still being pushed out of their neighborhoods. Seniors are still living with uncertainty every time a lease renewal arrives. And that is why this this movement continues to grow. It is rooted in lived reality. It is rooted in people fighting to stay in the city they call home. So, tonight is bigger than just one vote. It's about whether we believe stability should still exist in this city for working people, for seniors, for young fam- families, immigrants, students, and lifelong residents alike. It's about whether we believe people deserve a fair chance to remain in the community they call home. Years from now, people will look back at this moment and ask, "When families asked for protection, who stood with them?" Tonight, Mr. President, we have the opportunity to answer that question clearly. I urge my colleagues to vote to override this veto and stand with the people of Providence. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you. Thank you.

[applause and cheering] THANK YOU. MR. PRESIDENT COUNCILWOMAN JO-ANN RYAN. Thank you, Mr. President. [groaning]

Thank you, Mr. President. Housing affordability is the defining challenge facing Providence families today. No one in this change chamber disputes that. But, the question before us isn't whether we care, it's whether this ordinance actually helps them. It doesn't. This rent stabilization ordinance will not lower rent. In fact, the mere introduction of this proposal has already caused rents to rise. Across American cities, policies like this have produced the same predictable outcomes. Deteriorating housing stock, shrinking rental supply, intensified pressure on the very tenants that they were meant to protect. We cannot cap our way out of a housing shortage. This is simply bad policy. The proven path forward is building more housing. And Providence is doing exactly that. We lead the state in housing production. In 2025, we issued 778 permits, compared to 416 in Warwick, and roughly 20 uh 200 each in East Providence, Lincoln, and Pawtucket. That momentum is fragile. This ordinance threatens to kill it. The investment to speak, so please. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. That momentum is fragile. This ordinance threatens to kill it. The investment we need to solve this crisis won't come to a city that signals hostility to development. I want immediate

I want immediate relief for struggling families, and I support it. That's why I back the rent fund ordinance and the mayor's broader housing package. These proposals deliver direct assistance to families facing hardship and help prevent evictions without the destructive side effects of rent control. But beyond the policy floors, there are serious process failures here that this council cannot ignore. The city charter is unambiguous. A fiscal note must accompany any ordinance affecting the budget before any action is taken. That didn't happen. The sponsors chose not to partner with the administration or the council's own finance team on a financial analysis before advancing this proposal. We still don't know the full impact on implementing this ordinance, on housing investment, on property maintenance, future development, or the tax burden that will shift onto single-family homeowners. We are being asked to vote on a policy of enormous consequence with our eyes closed. That is not governance. It is guesswork at residents' expense. There is also a structural problem on how this ordinance was written. It gives the council president authority to appoint a rent board to adjudicate landlord-tenant disputes. These are among the most sensitive, high-stakes matters that come before any judicial body. A politically appointed board cannot deliver equitable justice. That should Council president, please maintain order.

A politically appointed board cannot deliver equitable justice. That should trouble every member of this chamber, regardless of where you stand on rent control. And let's be clear about who we are talking about when we talk about Providence landlords. They are not faceless faceless corporations. They are our firefighters, our tradespeople, immigrants and working family who invested in aging properties and in our city's future. As Mark Patinkin reported in today's Providence Journal, one local firefighter has already paused his investments here and is looking elsewhere. Not because of high costs, but because of the uncertainty this ordinance has created. We've heard the same from neighbors and developers across the city. That should alarm all of us. Sustaining this veto is not a vote against affordability. It's a vote for solutions that actually work. More housing, direct assistance, and smart investment. Let's not trade a decade of housing progress for a policy that will make this crisis work. Let's stop this folly. Let's get to work, and let's deliver something Providence families can actually count on. Thank you.

[cheering] [cheering] Order. Mr. President. Councilman Miguel Sanchez.

Thank you. People often ask me what what what's my guiding principle in this work and there's a lot of them. But but one that you know comes to mind right away everything that I do is is this quote by uh former Mexican president AMLO. And it was on his way out. He said, "For the good of all people, first the poor." And that's something that that I carry with everything that I do. If we take care of people that need it the most, then everyone will be okay. But unfortunately, that's not the reality. A lot of people right now are are not okay. The cost of living, the the quality of education, um the cost of health care, everything. People are struggling these uh complex issues are are compounding on people and you know AI talking points sound good on Facebook, on a letter. But it's try saying that to someone that is getting evicted. Try saying that to someone that is living in a tent. Try saying that to someone

[cheering]

Try saying that to someone that is getting torn apart from the city that they've called home for decades. Cuz that's what's happening right now. People that have called Providence home for decades are being forced out. I I made a reference a couple a couple weeks ago uh comparing the opposition of rent stabilization, rent control, call it whatever you want at this point. It's not something that that matters. What matters is doing everything that we can to protect people that call Providence home. But what the opposition is doing by opposing a very moderate policy cuz that's what this is at the end of the day. This is a policy that still lets people make money in in their business plan. All we're doing is adding a check and balance to to limit that. But what we're seeing at the federal level and you know I might get a point of order, but I'm going to still say it. Trump is destabilizing families. Opposition of rent control is destabilizing families.

[applause]

And like many of my colleagues have said this isn't a loss if we don't override it. This is just the beginning. This work I I see people from Dare here that has has started way before any of us were in office. Councilwoman Harris, maybe you were here and you led to some of that work and God bless you and thank you so much for all your support. But we're going to still keep fighting. And I don't say this lately. I I don't care if the opposition throws a candidate at me, if they throw money. I I don't care. I carried my grandpa's casket on the same streets that I REPRESENT. I WILL DIE FOR THE PEOPLE [screaming] OF PROVIDENCE.

[applause] [cheering]

COUNCILMAN THIS city I know everybody's passionate. Just let him finish. Everybody had the opportunity to do speak. Everybody's passionate, just let's get through this. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. This city has has given me, my family, so many opportunities. I'm not going to sit in the seat that the same people that have given my family opportunities and take those opportunities away from them. I would never betray my community like that, Mr. President. But that's what some of my colleagues are doing today, and that's something they're going to have to live with. But we're going to move forward, Mr. President. Voters are going to have an option in September to elect a mayor that does not oppose rent stabilization. And we're going to continue doing all of the work for the people. Housing stability is one of many issues impacting many of our families. But those same issues are are are compounding and and really forcing people out. And they just can't take anymore. So, when I sit here and I have the opportunity to to legislate and and fight for for the people of Providence, Council President Miller, I will forever be grateful for you for having the political courage to using that seat to bring such an important issue forward. And it's not a loss. My my mom always told me, you win in life and you learn in life. And we have learned a lot. We learned who truly is here for the people of Providence. We learned what landlords oppose development in their own communities then come oppose rent stabilization in our community.

So, Mr. President, like like I started, for the good of all people, first the poor. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [cheering] [applause]

Any further discussion? Any further discussion? Seeing none. Madam Clerk, open the vote and the call and call the roll on the veto on the mayor's veto on the Province Rent Stabilization Act. The vote is open. Council President Miller. I. Deputy Majority Whip Lander Boullard. Obviously, I. Councilor Davidson. I. Majority Leader Espinal is absent. Senior Deputy Majority Leader Gonzalez is absent. Councilwoman Graves. Most definitely, I.

[applause] Deputy Majority Leader Harris. I. Councilwoman Peterson. I. [applause] Council Council President Pro Tempore Pichardo. I. [applause] Councilor Reyes. I. [applause] Councilwoman Ryan. NO. [cheering] [applause]

MAJORITY WHIP SANCHEZ. I. Councilwoman Taylor is absent. Councilwoman Anna Vargas is absent. Councilman Oscar Vargas is absent. There are still some electronic votes. Councilwoman Graves. The vote is closed. You have nine eyes, one nay, five absent. The motion to override the mayor's veto has failed and the veto is sustained.

[applause] Thank you, Madam Clerk. [cheering] Is there a Is there a motion? Uh Mr. President, seeing as we have no further business tonight, I'd like us to adjourn in the memory of Janice Longo. Second. All those in favor, please rise. Motion carries. The meeting for today is adjourned. Thank you.