“The Providence City Council and its staff serve the people of Providence and they ask us to do so compassionately, with integrity and respect. In public service, there should be zero tolerance for haphazard comments that divide and hurt.
Furthermore, as elected leaders and de facto supervisors of our hardworking staff, we should exemplify noble service both publicly and privately.
The comments made by Councilman Correia are not only unprofessional, but are extremely harmful to our LGBTQIA+ community and our Council staff who were subjected to them.
As a leader of the Council staff, I take my responsibility very seriously. My goal and commitment has been to ensure that the City Council staff feel supported and valued and that the council office provides a harassment free workplace. This is why when, even prior to learning of the existence of the recordings, when I learned that a Council employee had felt personally affected by Councilman Correia’s comments, I took immediate action. I reached out to him and coordinated several meetings with him imploring him to be mindful of his words and reflect on the impact they may have on staff morale. I was in frequent contact with the Human Resources Director to guarantee that we did all we could to ensure the affected employee feel supported. The Director and I even invited the Councilman for a joint meeting to discuss his behavior, but he did not attend.
Issuing an apology and asking for sensitivity training are first steps-not only have I conducted preliminary discussions with Council Chief of Staff and the Human Resources Director about providing this and other sensitivity training workshops for our City’s elected officials and workforce in the coming year; also, and under my direction, this past December 14, a Leadership training (inclusive of topics of Diversity and Inclusion) was delivered to the Council and the Staff.
However, as community leaders we need to be extremely mindful of our actions and reflect honestly and intensively on our individual and collective prejudices and intolerances and how they affect others. If we don’t, we deservedly risk losing the trust of our colleagues and neighbors and the positions we are privileged to occupied.
As the Council President, I’ve met individually with members of our administrative staff and have reiterated my open door policy on matters negatively affecting their workplace and morale. I remain committed as ever to provide a workplace where our employees feel safe, welcomed, and empowered and to lead a branch of government that embodies and promotes love of community.
Sabina Matos
President-Providence City Council
Councilwoman-Ward 15
