by Billy Kepner | Feb 6, 2020 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-6
Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia (Ward 6) introduced a resolution tonight calling on the city’s Department of Public Property to make immediate repairs to the city’s Public Safety Complex.
There are several issues that need to be addressed at the City’s Public Safety Complex, including the entryway and ramps in the parking lot which are in poor condition. There is also a need for replacement of padding in certain cells, and several leaks in the ceilings within the facility, amongst other issues.
“It was brought to my attention that there are important upgrades that need to be made to our Public Safety Complex,” stated City Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia and Chairman of the Committee on Public Works. “Providence has a history of putting band-aids on small problems, instead of addressing them from the beginning. I want to avoid this building, which is used daily by 1000’s of residents who come to pay fines or go to the Municipal Court and by our public employees, falling into disrepair. The building is 15-years old and it’s time to make fixes and upgrades before things go south.”
In addition to the repairs, the resolution calls for additional security cameras for the proper monitoring of the property, added security to entry and exit points where it is lacking, upgraded audio and visual equipment, and other general maintenance tasks throughout the building and the municipal parking garage.
After 60-days from passage, Correia is requesting that the Mayor and the Director of Public Property provide the City Council with an assessment of all repairs needed in the facility as well as a report outlining the steps being taken to complete the identified repairs and upgrades to the facility.
Council President Pro Tempore Correia continued, “Part of owning any property is maintenance, and after 15-years it’s time to give the building some TLC. Not just for the employees that spend much of their waking time there, but the 1000’s of others that visit the building and parking structure on a daily basis. I look forward to working with the Director of Public Property on ensuring that we are providing a safe and habitable workspace for our employees.”
by Billy Kepner | Feb 6, 2020 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-10, Ward-11, Ward-12, Ward-13, Ward-14, Ward-15, Ward-2, Ward-3, Ward-4, Ward-5, Ward-6, Ward-7, Ward-8, Ward-9
Tonight the City Council will introduce a resolution to honor the life and legacy of Michael Van Leesten, a Providence native and a pioneer in the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1960s.
Mr. Michael Van Leesten was a graduate of Hope High School, Rhode Island College, and was a veteran on the United States Airforce. Upon his graduation from Rhode Island College, he became active in the Civil Rights Movement and participated in SCLC SCOPE Project in Choctaw County, Alabama. He along with six other college students, worked doing community organizing and voter registration in rural Alabama during the height of the Civil Rights Struggle. He spoke of his time in the Movement as a “defining moment in my life,” and he believed that this singular experience made him a better person, better husband, better father, and better community leader.
“Michael Van Leesten was my friend, and a ray of inspiration and hope to many. We would talk over the phone and laugh and before we hung up he would also say ‘Nirva, I am so proud of you,’” stated Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune (Ward 3). “He was more than a board member, the executive director of OIC or a father, he was a community citizen, someone who was aware of and understands the broader issues that our community- and his place in the community and his role in effecting change. He was all of these things because he was a community citizen first and took an active role in his community and the people of his community. He was a bridge builder, an architect of connections and that is why it would be appropriate to name the bride after him. Like the new Pedestrian bridge he bridged gaps and created a platform for all to pass through and that gave others permission to do the same.”
Mr. Van Leesten served as the Executive Director of Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC) of Rhode Island, which he helped found, for more than 15years. He was also a consultant and the owner of Van Leesten Associates, and also served as the Director of Planning and Development in Providence. After which, he went on to be the Director of Public Affairs for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe, and then in 2006 he resumed his role at the OIC until his passing. He was board member of numerous organizations including the Board of Regents, Peerless Precision, and Fleet Bank, and was awarded honorary doctorate degrees from Roger Williams College, Rhode Island College, and the University of Rhode Island.
Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris (Ward 11) stated, “Mike played a very important role in my life. Through his vision as the Executive Director of Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC), he was essential to me becoming a welder. Giving me a profession and career that helped me raise my children and provide them with a quality education. His life’s work was ensuring that those living in poverty could find a way to rise up, learn a trade, and we are all better for having had him in our lives.”
Many community members have been working on several different ways to honor Mr. Van Leesten’s life and legacy, and the City Council and its members wish to make that process more cohesive. The resolution that will be introduced tonight and will be sent to the Council’s Committee on Urban Redevelopment, Renewal, and Planning, which is chaired by Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris. There the Committee will work to bring all the relevant parties together to discuss the most meaningful and fitting way to honor Mr. Van Leesten.
by Billy Kepner | Jan 6, 2020 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-6
Today the Board of Contract and Supply approved a contract to demolish the property located at 60 Ernest Street. The building was home to the City’s old VIN Station and housed several other departments within the Department of Public Works. After several complaints from employees, and after seeing the state of the building for myself, I along with the Chairman of the Council’s Special Committee on Public Safety, Councilman James E. Taylor, called for the City to remove all employees from that building and to relocate the VIN station to the Public Safety Complex. We also called for the building to be demolished, and that the City invest in a new building for the Department of Public Works. Demolition will begin once all necessary permits are in place in the next several weeks. Although a new building is a ways off – I am proud of the work my colleagues and I did to ensure the safety for some of our City’s employees who worked out of this building which had asbestos and a serious rodent issue, all employees were relocated to safer and cleaner working conditions. Michael Correia, President Pro Tempore Providence City Council Councilman – Ward 6
by Billy Kepner | Jan 4, 2020 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-6
Today, I read on social media that on Thursday, January 2, a school bus carrying approximately 50 students were bystanders to an incident involving two vehicles that allegedly traded between 1 and 5 gunshots. Thankfully these young students were unharmed, and the driver instructed them to get down. However, it has been reported on social media that once it was dispatched to the First Student Dispatch Center it was allegedly not reported to the Providence Police Department. It is my sincere hope that the Providence School Department is offering counseling services to the young children onboard the bus at the time of the incident, and that First Student is taking responsibility for allegedly failing to notify the police immediately.
As a Councilman, my first priority is to the residents of Providence, and as the Vice-Chair of the Council’s Committee on Public Safety, I take these incidents very seriously and will be calling for an investigation into this matter.
A member of the Providence Police Department has confirmed this incident, but that there was no evidence of gunshots, and they only have witness statements. If you know anything about this incident I urge you to call the Providence Police Department at 401-272-1111.
Michael Correia, President Pro Tempore
Providence City Council
Councilman – Ward 6
by Billy Kepner | Dec 22, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-6
The Providence Police Department has announced that they have arrested a serial vandal who has defaced multiple pieces of public property in the Manton and Atwells Avenue areas. I would like to extend my thanks and congratulations to Detective Mitchell Guerra for a job well done, and for his outstanding work in making this arrest. Vandalism will not be tolerated in Ward Six, or anywhere in Providence. I am a fan of “Street Art” when it has been commissioned or the artist has received permission to create art on a specific site. But, there is a difference between that work and vandalism, and we must remember that.
Michael Correia, President Pro Tempore
Providence City Council
Councilman – Ward 6
by Billy Kepner | Dec 9, 2019 | Council News, Press Release, Ward-6
Today the Providence Police Department announced the outcome of Operation “Bussed Out” which was a four-month-long investigation into drug trafficking in Kennedy Plaza. I was proud to stand with our hard-working Police Officers and their Commanders who worked diligently to make this operation a success. But let it be known, that this is not just a Kennedy Plaza issue, this is a city-wide issue and those wishing to traffic in illegal substances should be on notice that this won’t be tolerated in Kennedy Plaza or anywhere else in our great City. I commend the hard-working men and women of the Providence Police Department’s Narcotics Bureau for their dedication and determination.
Michael Correia, President Pro Tempore
Providence City Council
Councilman – Ward 6
