I wish to thank Senate President Dominick J. Ruggerio for his leadership on this important issue.
It is with pride that I share in this historic victory in the Senate and hope that the House will pass similar legislation so that our Governor can sign this important piece of legislation into law. A statewide bill is not just a big win for the state of Rhode Island, but for our planet.
Since my first term on the City Council I worked with my colleagues in state and local government, ZeroWaste Providence, the Racial and Economic Social Justice Committee, and several community organizations to bring Providence’s Single-Use Plastic Check-Out Bag Reduction Act to fruition. It was passed unanimously twice by my Council colleagues and had its final passage, serendipitously, on Earth Day 2019. It was one of the proudest moments in my legislative career, and I could not have done it without their support.
Since then, I have worked to support a statewide bill banning single-use plastic bags.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the Conservation Law Foundation and the other Rhode Island communities that came before us, they led the way and provided support and information that helped shape my legislation, and I stand with them urging the House to pass statewide legislation so that we can rid our towns, streets, and waterways of this very harmful contaminant. I urge the House to pick-up and pass the legislation that Senate President Ruggerio shepherded through the Senate.
The Rhode Island Resource Recovery Center is overly burdened by these single-use plastic bags. In Providence, we spent nearly $1M on rejected recycling loads every year. It’s not just about our physical health that these contaminants do harm to, but also our fiscal health as a city and state.
Earth Day 2020 is not that far off, I could think of no better way to honor this day then the great state of Rhode Island having a Plastic Bag Ban.
Jo-Ann Ryan, Majority Leader
Providence City Council
Councilwoman – Ward 5
Tonight Council President Sabina Matos (Ward 15) and President Pro Tempore Michael Correia’s (Ward 6) amendment to the Code of Ordinances that creates a $40K fund specifically for the support of Providence youth sports programs was passed for the second and final time.
The fund will support funding for equipment, costs associated with travel for sports competitions, and participating in sports-related activities. These funds are in addition to other funding that youth sports organizations may already receive from the City. Any youth sports group that applies for and is granted monies will have to refrain from the practice of “canning” (which is when young people raise money by standing on the corner at a stop sign or redlight and ask drivers to donate monies to their group).
“As a mother seeing young athletes trying to raise money while standing on our busy streets, and looking for donations from drivers at stop signs or red lights causes me great concern,” stated City Council President Sabina Matos. “These young athletes are risking their personal safety to get the funds they need to support their programs. I am glad that we have finally brought this Fund to fruition.”
The Youth Sports Fund & Grant Program will be held in a separate permanent fund of the city and will be held in trust by the City Treasurer. The fund will be administered by the City’s Recreational Advisory Board who will grant funding to Providence-based local non-profit youth sports organizations. The fund will be seeded with $40K annually through an appropriation from the City’s budget.
City Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia added, “The Council President and I introduced this last November, and I am thrilled that we will now have this fund in place for our City’s young athletes. It is a highlight of my time on the Council that we have found a way to support our local non-profit youth sports programs that do so much for our community and our young people. This fund will provide access to youth sports clubs in every neighborhood of our city, and it will go a long way to ensuring that our young athletes are spending time practicing and not having to raise money.”
The fund will be set-up by the City Treasurer who will work with the Recreational Advisory Board to help implement a grant submission application process.
Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune (Ward 3), Councilwoman KatherineKerwin (Ward 12) and Councilwoman Rachel Miller (Ward 13) tonight will introduce a resolution calling on the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) to increase funding for social and emotional learning and support services. They are also requesting that RIDE eliminate school-based School Resource Officers (SROs) in the City’s school district.
In multiple studies that assess the overall effectiveness of counselors, social-emotional support and learning generate positive student outcomes. An increase in funding for social, emotional support and learning; the implementation of a comprehensive safety plan that includes protocols for emergency drills; and the creation of a School Safety, Culture, and Climate Team in each school provides a more engaged and supportive learning community where students can thrive. The two resolutions provide a framework for the role of SROs, an increase in social and emotional support and learning, elimination of school-based School Resource Officers and most importantly, an avenue for more robust community engagement with students, families, teachers and administrators in the planning and monitoring of school safety.
“I have met with our young people and student groups on multiple occasions over the past year to discuss student needs. I have also researched numerous educational structures and models around safety and climate in public schools. The need across the board is for additional school counselors and social-emotional support. Our students want to learn and thrive in an environment where they feel safe and where they can escape adverse experiences and encounters that happen outside of school walls,” stated Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune. “Students want to be able to walk through the building without fear of being arrested for nonviolent criminal infractions. Teachers and administrators see the need for social-emotional support in our schools. They want to work in an environment where they feel safe and can focus on educating and developing our young people. It is our responsibility to provide the tools and resources to create an environment where teachers can effectively teach, our students can learn and thrive, our administrators can focus on developing strategies and opportunities to move our schools forward and our families can feel supported and know that their children are safe. School Resource Officers can serve as excellent partners and resources but not as a first line of defense when addressing minor and common adolescent infractions, which could be better addressed by school administrators. Our schools are not prisons; they are environments for learning. It is time that we invest in proactive approaches that do not lead to violent incidents or create a pipeline to prison instead of a pathway to success. We need counselors, social-emotional support and learning in our schools, not armed officers.”
According toLeadership for Educational Equity, studies conducted by the University of Maryland in 2011, and a study included in 2015’s Adolescent Research Review, schools with an increased police presence saw higher rates of incidents than schools without. Other studies cited that a disproportionate amount of students of color and those with disabilities were referred to law enforcement for school-based incidents over their Caucasian counterparts.
Councilwoman Kat Kerwin stated, “I am so proud of the youth organizers of Providence who have spent hours of time advocating for a school district that no longer accepts the school to prison pipeline as the norm, but instead demands dignity. This is an excellent first step to ensuring that school resource officers are not the first line of defense for disciplinary issues as we begin to envision a district with more social and emotional support rather than armed school police officers.”
The resolution clearly lays out that it is the role of principals, teachers and other educators to administer school disciplinary action, and that any disciplinary action must support personal growth, as well as provide opportunities for the students and their peers to learn from any incident that might occur. Most importantly, any discipline administered needs to be done in a way that keeps students in their classrooms whenever possible. School-based incidents should not be punished by harsh or exclusionary measures or through the justice system.
With the takeover of the Providence Public Schools by RIDE late last year, changes to the current school culture are necessary to improve the overall holistic health of our system and the students within the care of the district. Organizations like the Providence Student Union (PSU) have galvanized students across the City to ensure that their “frustrations, demands, and dreams are heard.” One of PSU’s main objectives is ending the racist and arbitrary disciplinary practices in and out of Providence’s city schools.
In addition to this resolution, Councilwoman LaFortune, along with her colleagues, Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris (Ward 11), Councilwoman Katherine Kerwin (Ward 12), and Councilman David A. Salvatore (Ward 14) will put forth a resolution requesting that the Providence Public School District and the Providence Police Department enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the role of SROs in Providence city schools.
The MOU would set forth guidelines to ensure that the School District and Police Department have a shared understanding of the role and responsibilities in maintaining school safety, improving the climate in city schools, and supporting the educational opportunities and outcomes for every student in the City’s care.
The primary role of the SROs is to improve school safety and the educational climate of schools; any disciplinary action should fall to the school’s principal and educators and must support personal growth and learning opportunities.
At tonight’s City Council meeting Councilman Pedro Espinal (Ward 10) along with his colleagues, Council President Sabina Matos (Ward 15), Councilwoman Helen Anthony (Ward 2), Councilwoman Rachel Miller (Ward 13), Councilwoman Carmen Castillo (Ward 9), and Councilman David A. Salvatore (Ward 14) will call on the City Plan Commission to deny the application of Allens Providence Recycling LLC.
“As the Councilor for Ward 10 it is not my intention to stand in the way of bringing new businesses to my Ward,” stated Councilman Pedro Espinal. “That said, when the business in question could potentially have serious consequences for the environment and the well-being of my constituents, I will speak out. Our residents deserve to have clean air and clean water. I believe that any new business development along the Port should incorporate multi-use buildings and our goal as a City should be to clean-up Allens Avenue and the waterfront and make the area more hospitable for all of our residents and visitors alike.”
The proposed facility could potentially accept, process, and haul 2,500 tons of construction and commercial waste per day. This increase in industrial traffic will undoubtedly cause more pollution along Allens and Thurbers Avenues, in an area that is already considered a “frontline community” by the City of Providence’s recently published Climate Justice Plan.
The neighborhoods adjacent to the proposed industrial recycling location have the highest rate of childhood asthma in both the City and State and are ranked ninth in the nation, along with the highest rates of emergency room visits among children on Medicaid with Asthma in the City.
“I stand with Councilman Espinal in his support for the well-being of the residents of Lower South Providence and Washington Park,” stated Council President Sabina Matos. “I, like my colleagues, are always looking for ways to bring new businesses to our city, but we must do so with an eye on the ramifications of what proposed businesses can have on the environment and the surrounding communities. The proposed location, being so close to the Port of Providence, causes me further concern due to my fears of the potential for further pollution of the Narragansett Bay.”
The sponsors of the resolution have serious concerns with the project’s failure to meet the City’s Comprehensive Plan’s provisions regarding environmental sustainability and their ability to avoid disproportionate environmental burdens on residents. They are also concerned with the potential health impacts posed by the proposed industrial recycling operation in an area that is already highly impacted by pollution. In addition, they have concerns about the long-term impacts that a facility like what is being proposed might have on future development in and around the Port of Providence.
Councilwoman Carmen Castillo stated, “We must work to protect the safety of our residents at all costs. It pains me to know that so many young children are suffering from asthma in this one section of our City. It is a wake-up call that we, as elected officials, need to do more to protect our residents. I ask that the CPC deny this application.”
Upon passage, a copy of the resolution will be sent to Chairwoman Christine West of the Providence City Plan Commission, Director Bonnie Nickerson of the Department of Planning and Development, and the registered principals of Allens Providence Recycling, LLC.
City Council President Sabina Matos announces that the Providence Parks Department is making several enhancements to Donigian Park.
“Donigian Park is a special place in Olneyville and is changing the way the neighborhood interacts with nature,” stated City Council President Sabina Matos. “Over my years on the Council I have invested nearly $100K in funding to create a waterpark, play spaces, and now a brand new concession stand that will include restrooms. Being a park along the Woony River Greenway so many visitors come through the park, and having facilities to enhance the park will make for a wonderful visitor experience.”
Currently, the construction of the concession stand and bathrooms are about 85% complete and with good weather will be completed in early spring. In the coming months and years, there will be even more improvements. Through 2019 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Funding the City will be making improvements to the field including regrading and installation of an irrigation system. In addition, there will be some fence replacement and reorientation along Cutler Street. All projects will begin construction in early summer of 2020.
Council President Matos continued, “I’m very excited to announce that we will begin a design for playground improvements later this year. Those improvements likely won’t come to fruition until 2021, but it is great to see things moving forward. I look forward to seeing my neighbors there this summer, especially for our annual Movie Night at Donigian!”
Much of the funding for improvements in the park have come from Council President Matos’ Neighborhood Infrastructure Funding, CDBG funding, and part of the City’s Capital Improvement Plan that was recently passed by the City Council.
Pictured is the new concession stand and restroom facilities at Donigian Park.
