The Providence City Council is set to host its annual International Women’s Day Celebration on Tuesday, March 8th, 2022 at 6 PM in the Alderman’s Chamber on the third floor of Providence City Hall (25 Dorrance Street).
This year’s event will feature a performance by Providence poet Sussy Santana, and include a panel discussion on this year’s International Women’s Day United Nations theme “Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow.” The Council is honored to host Monica Huertas of the Renew Rhode Island Commission, Vennicia Kingston and Darche Hood of the Women’s Council of Rhode Island Building and Construction Trades and ARISE Youth Leader Gabby Oulette as panelists.
In addition, local women-owned vendors will be at City Hall with a wide array of goods and services available for guests.
In addition to the performance and panel discussion, one woman will be awarded with the Anaija Strong: The She-Ro Within Award. This annual City Council International Women’s Day Award is named for fourteen-year-old Anaija Sanaa Griffin who passed away in November of 2020 after a long, courageous battle with cancer. Through her illness, Anaija amazed and inspired her parents, family, friends and teachers with her enduring commitment to her education and her unwavering spirit and humor.
This year, the Council will be honoring Theary Voeul with the Anaija Strong: The She-Ro Within Award. Voeul is a founding member of the Providence Youth Student Movement and is deeply involved in Providence’s South-East Asian community. She is a steadfast organizer of food and community events and helped families access needed resources throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Voeul works to advocate for families and individuals facing deportation and worked tirelessly to help immigrant families navigate the pandemic.
The City Council’s International Women’s Day Celebration is free and open to the public.
At tonight’s emergency meeting of the Providence City Council, councilors reviewed a proposed ordinance laying out new procedures and accountability in the event of mass terminations in the city. The proposed law was read into the record, discussed, and referred to the Finance Committee for further consideration.
“The City Council encourages all Providence employees to get vaccinated. I’m pleased and relieved no police officers were fired today. Our city neighborhoods are safer and more secure as a result. From the beginning, this action was about maintaining public safety and the risk to our city from potentially firing more than 70 police officers. The Council will monitor the situation closely and make sure the mayor and his administration have a concrete plan should they consider a mass firing of officers in the days and weeks ahead.
“At the close of city business today, we learned that there was no mass firing of Providence Police officers. We’re pleased the city administration has taken a reasonable approach to what could have been a disastrous situation if more than 70 officers were taken off the job and removed from policing our streets. At 5:30 tonight, the City Council will hold an emergency meeting to take up a proposed ordinance that will lay out new procedures and accountability for any mass terminations in the capital city,” said President Igliozzi.
Tonight’s 5:30 p.m. meeting will be held virtually, with remote access for the public and media.
Today, I’m respectfully asking Governor McKee, Chairman Robert Davis, and the members of the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission to consider final decisions on the development of Providence land happen “with the community” rather than simply “to the community.”
Over the past several months, our office has been working diligently to engage and inform the residents of Ward 1 on the development of Parcel 2, located along the Providence River at the edge of the College Hill and Fox Point neighborhoods. We have hosted virtual community meetings with each of the proposed developers and hundreds of community participants. Additionally, we have had ongoing discussions with the I-195 Redevelopment District, and we’ve held small meetings with each of the developers and neighborhood abutters who live near the site. We recently released a digital survey and received feedback via 75 written comments from neighborhood residents across the Ward. A letter sent to Commission with condensed feedback includes these concerns:
•The height of the three proposals is at odds with the community •Lack of parking •More green space is needed
“I am very cognizant of the complexities and the shifts in the market in light of the pandemic and deeply support economic growth and the creation of more residential housing stock in our city to address our ongoing housing crisis. However, residents who care deeply about our neighborhood should not bear the brunt of top-down development decisions that will have enormous implications on our neighborhoods for decades to come,” said Councilman Goncalves.
“I join with and share in the concerns of Councilman Goncalves and the community regarding the development of Parcel 2. It is critical that the I-195 Commission listen to the voices of the neighborhood and address community feedback in considering projects for this land,” said House Majority Leader, Christopher Blazejewski.
Moreover, concerns loom about the I-195 Redevelopment District Commission diverting from the original mission of creating a true Providence Innovation & Design District and life-sciences mecca full of vibrant “knowledge-based” jobs in information technology, engineering, biomedical, biotechnology, and other fast-growing sectors. In letters both to the Governor and the Commission, I respectfully request we:
•Formalize and establish a task force/commission of neighborhood abutters/representatives and local businesses who can help the commission develop Requests for Proposals •Creating a panel of neighborhood experts with expertise in architectural design, zoning, planning, development, and historic preservation to ensure exceptional architecture, design, and sensitivity to the historic vibrancy of our neighborhood to complement the commission’s urban design consultants and Downtown Design Review Committee (DDRC) review during the Design Review Process •A more comprehensive road planning and development plan is required to proactively address, and mitigate concerns of traffic flow, parking, and congestion
In the coming days, we will present a list of undersigned constituents who agree with these recommendations. We are looking forward to a formal response in writing and we are appreciative of all parties for their cooperation and good faith in advance. We look forward to working collaboratively to strengthen the District and ultimately, serve the people of our neighborhoods, the Capital City, and the State at large.
Councilwoman Nirva R. LaFortune (Ward 3), Council President Pro Tempore Pedro Espinal (Ward 10), Majority Leader James Taylor (Ward 8), Senior Deputy Majority Leader Nicholas J. Narducci Jr. (Ward 4), Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris (Ward 11), Majority Whip Carmen Castillo (Ward 9), Councilor David Salvatore (Ward 14), Councilwoman Helen Anthony (Ward 2), Councilwoman Kat Kerwin (Ward 12), and Councilman John Goncalves (Ward 1), penned a letter to Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee regarding the state’s response to the recent uptick in cases of COVID-19.