[Summit] Fw: Monday's Inaugurations and City Council newsletters from Sam Zurier & Nirva LaFortune

Mon Jan 7 02:06:48 UTC 2019

 Please note that the inaugural events for the City Council and Mayor are in a sense intertwined.
The Council members will take their oaths at noon tomorrow on the steps of City Hall and the Mayor will take his there at 2 p.m.
The appreciation event for retiring Councillor Sam Zurier is from 3 to 5 p.m. next Saturday (Jan. 12) at Rochambeau Library and the Mayor’s inaugural celebration begins at 7 p.m. that evening in the Waterfire Arts Center.
I plan to send out another combination notice (if I have the energy) with this week’s and month’s many neighborhood meetings.
Have a good new year,
Dave

 Inauguration day is on Monday! We wanted to take a moment to invite you to join us for an exciting schedule of events and help us celebrate the City of Providence.  Monday, Jan. 7 – Inauguration Day9:00am – Interfaith Prayer Breakfast                Providence Career and Technical Academy1:30pm – Seating opens for inauguration ceremony                Steps of Providence City Hall2:00pm – Official inauguration ceremony3:15pm – Reception with Mayor Elorza                City Hall, 2nd floor and Alderman's Chamber Saturday, Jan. 12 - Celebration Day7:00pm – Providence Inaugural Celebration 2019                Waterfire Arts Center                475 Valley Street, Providence                   * All events are free and open to the public. Please click here to sign up for a free ticket to the Providence Inaugural Celebration on January 12.  We are planning an especially enjoyable evening that highlights Providence’s world-class artistic, cultural and culinary scene. 
***Media Advisory***

Providence Mayor Elorza to be Sworn In for Second Term

Public is invited to free inauguration festivities including Interfaith Breakfast and Inauguration Ceremony being held Monday, January 7 and Inauguration Celebration on Saturday, January 12

PROVIDENCE, RI – Mayor Jorge O. Elorza will join dignitaries, community members and family and friends on the front stairs of Providence City Hall on Monday, January 7, 2018 at 2:00pm to be sworn in as mayor of the capital city for a second term. After his oath, Mayor Elorza will deliver an inaugural address detailing future priorities including investments in youth and education, expanding economic opportunity, building a city that works for all residents and fostering inclusive and thriving communities in every neighborhood.

Inauguration festivities will begin at 8:30am with an Interfaith Breakfast that will bring local faith leaders together at the Providence Career and Technical Academy, 41 Fricker Street. Deacon Senator Harold Metts will serve as master of ceremonies for the event, which will include remarks by representatives from various congregations. The Eastern Medicine Singers, an Algonquin Drum Group will give a special performance.

Chanda Womack, Founding Executive Director of the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE), will kick off the Inauguration Ceremony at approximately 1:30pm. Attendees will enjoy performances by the Lillian Feinstein Elementary Grade 4 and 5 Chorus, the Rhode Island Highlanders Pipe Band, Providence resident and artist Soraiya Marines and special guest Jamie Espinal. Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo will provide remarks and Chief Judge Frank Caprio will administer the oath of office.

An Inauguration Celebration will be held on Saturday, January 12 beginning at 7:00pm at the WateFire Arts Center, 475 Valley Street. To register for the celebration that will include live entertainment, special guests and refreshments, visit https://bit.ly/2CM3Ozu.

Mayor Elorza, a graduate of Classical High School, the University of Rhode Island and Harvard Law School, served as a Law Professor at Roger Williams Law School and Judge on the Providence Housing Court prior to being sworn in as mayor in 2015.

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Samuel D. Zurier <sam at samzurier.com>To:Sent: Sunday, January 6, 2019, 6:00:45 AM ESTSubject: January 6, 2019 Ward Letter

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| Painting by Jim Bush, www.jimbushart.com  |

 Ward 2 and City News for January 6, 2019 |

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Dear David, 

I hope the recent New Year holiday allowed you to reflect on events of 2018 and ponder your hopes and plans for 2019.  This week's letter reviews the recently concluded term of the City Council and offers my hopes for the new term that begins next week. 
Download a pdf copy.

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The Boycott That Caused The Cancellation Of This Term's Final Scheduled City Council Meeting 
This past Thursday night was the last scheduled meeting of this term's City Council. The agenda contained 45 items, including important collective bargaining agreements with school teachers and City workers. Unfortunately, the incoming Council leadership organized a boycott by their members, and the meeting had to be canceled due to lack of a quorum. City Council members are elected to attend regular meetings and take votes, but these council members decided to shirk their official duties until they can call the shots and claim the credit. The boycott likely will not change the ultimate outcome of the agenda's legislative votes, but it will delay retroactive pay teachers' pay increases and educational reforms, as well as other business, such as appointments to board and commissions that have vacancies that prevent their proper functioning. It is, to say the least, ironic that the incoming City Council leadership's first accomplishment is to prevent the City Council from performing its essential work.
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The Challenges And OpportunitiesFacing The Next City Council
I hope that the incoming leadership team's poor judgment on Thursday night will prove to be an aberration, and that the next City Council will follow the model of the first two years of my first term (2011-12), when under the leadership of President Michael Solomon, the City Council  worked with Mayor Taveras to, among other things, (1) bring the City back from the brink of bankruptcy, (2) install safeguards in the budgeting process to prevent future "fiscal hurricanes," (3) enact pension reforms to create a window of time for long-term solutions, (4) enact a new zoning code and comprehensive plan, and (5) pass legislation in a host of other substantive areas such as night-club regulation and tax reform to eliminate the "Florida license plate problem" and the "welcome to Providence" tax penalty.  Mayor Taveras referred to those years as our City's "finest hour," borrowing a phrase from the Apollo 13 movie (which the movie borrowed it from Winston Churchill during the Battle of Britain) and certainly this was the finest hour of my two terms on the Council. In contrast, the middle two years of the current City Council term (2016-17) were not its finest hour, and will be remembered for such fiascoes as (1) the resignation of the Majority Leader from his leadership position after a grand jury indicted him on felony charges, (2) the "zombie bond," (an infrastructure bond approved by more than 85% of the voters, but blocked by the Finance Committee and City Council leadership because they wanted "ward accounts" that would allow individual members personal control over the allocation of $1.5 million in each ward), (3) the former Majority Leader's recall from office by more than 90% of his constituents despite the efforts of the then-City Council President used his official position to interfere with the recall process, (4) the City Council President's indictment on felony charges and (5) his unsuccessful battle to hold onto his leadership position in the face of a 12-1 vote of no confidence, causing the City Council to cancel a meeting before widespread public outrage overcame his resistance.  In the final year of this term, after David Salvatore won election as Council President, the scandals that occurred this year (former President Aponte's admission of his second Ethics Code violation after losing a court battle seeking to exempt himself from its regulation, and former Councilman Jackson's sentencing to jail after ending years of false denials and admitting he committed the felony crimes with which he had been charged) took place outside the Council chamber, but the cloud of the previous scandals remained when the surviving elements of the old leadership team blocked the enactment of ethics reforms. In addition to respecting the law and avoiding scandals, the next City Council needs to take more seriously the City's $1 billion unfunded pension liability.  Last April, a working group of City Council members presented the City Council with a Report that presented the history and magnitude of the problem, described potential tools for its resolution and proposed the formulation of a plan to address it.  At its April 19 meeting, the City Council referred the report to the Finance Committee, which over the ensuing eight months never considered it.  I introduced a resolution at the December 13, 2018 meeting requesting that the Finance Committee review the report before the current term ended, but at the urging of the Finance Committee Chair, a majority of the City Council voted to reject the resolution.  I also introduced a resolution for last Thursday's meeting to urge the formulation of an action plan to during the coming year, but that resolution was never heard due to the aforementioned boycott.   The return of many of these Council members to leadership causes me concern, but I see a basis for optimism.  With seven City Council members and a Mayor starting their final terms tomorrow (due to term limits), there is an opportunity for all of them to dedicate themselves to the City's long-term well-being without the constraint of re-election worries, and I hope they make the most of this opportunity.
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| How You Can KeepInformed And Involved While this will be my last letter as your City Council representative, I encourage you to remain informed and involved through the excellent newsletter produced by Councilwoman LaFortune in Ward 3 (read her latest by clicking here,) and by signing up for the letters my successor Helen Anthony will send by going to her web page and clicking on the button on her web page to subscribe. Your thoughts and comments helped me do a better job, and the City needs your continued involvement to address its important challenges and advance our shared life in our wonderful City. Thank you again for your interest and trust, and please keep up the good work!  |

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Sincerely, 
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Visit My Website

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| Friends of Sam Zurier, P.O. Box 603032, Providence, RI 02906 |
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| Sent by sam at samzurier.com in collaboration with |

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| *********************************************************************************************************************************************

NirvaWard3 at gmail.com   |   401-680-0252  |   ElectNirva.com |

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| Happy New Year!

Dear Ward 3 Residents,
Happy New Year. I hope you had the opportunity to spend time with family and friends during this holiday season.
Thank you for re-electing me so that I can continue to serve as Ward 3’s City Councilor for the next four years. My first year on the Council has been a spirited one,  including two bone fractures, a 600-foot tower proposal and requested zoning change, school bus drivers and teachers’ contract deliberations, and of course elections.

This past year I have learned a lot. Ward 3, and the broader city of Providence, consist of deeply rooted residents from diverse backgrounds and this is what makes our city so unique. The needs of our residents vary from neighborhood to neighborhood and even block to block. I had the opportunity to meet with various residents, community members, and leaders to discuss issues and share ideas to help mitigate concerns. In the next four years, I hope to work with you and my City Council colleagues to bridge the communication between city government and the community and to develop policies to tackle issues such as affordable housing, education, economic development, and urban infrastructure and the pension.

Sincerely,
Nirva R. LaFortune
City Councilor, Ward 3

City Council Meeting Docket and Notes can be found on the City of Providence Open Meeting website here: http://providenceri.iqm2.com/Citizens/Default.aspx

Please share this newsletter with neighbors!  Encourage others  to sign up here: electnirva.com/contact.html,

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NEWS FROM THE CITY COUNCIL 

2018 Highlights:
I was selected as one of 11 leaders out of over 1000 nominations from across the country to join the NewDEAL (Developing Exceptional American Leaders): The NewDEAL facilitates the exchange of ideas by bringing together leaders focused on expanding opportunity, and helps them develop and spread innovative ideas to spur sustainable opportunity and development in local communities.
Introduced changes to the Providence Police Department’s high-speed pursuit policy: Last November after a fatal shooting on I-195 I introduced a resolution requesting an evaluation of the Providence Police Department’s shooting pursuit/high-speed policy and de-escalation practices and training. Although the resolution received criticism and push back, a few weeks ago a report from the Providence Police Department has recommended a host of changes to its high-speed policy and improvement in communication and training between public safety agencies that interact frequently.

Investment in our community: This past Spring I raised concerns about the condition of Vincent Brown (VB) Recreational Center and other centers throughout the city. Vincent Brown has undergone updates that will continue in 2019. I also hope to work with the City’s Director of Operations to develop a strategic plan to invest in our City’s rec centers, as they are used to serve our communities.

Last year I allocated over $70,000 to improve and replace the playground at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School.

I have also been working closely with the City’s Department of Public Works to update Ward 3 roads and sidewalks, and to improve communication strategies so I can provide the community with an annual work schedule.

Hope (Fane) Point Tower zoning ordinance:

   - Amends the City zoning policy to allow the developer to build a 600-foot tower in an area zoned for development at 100 feet high.
   - Ordinance dismisses the public input and effort that created our City’s comprehensive zoning plan.
   - Fails to mitigate the City and state’s affordable housing crisis by refusing to include an affordability component (which I introduced but was voted down).
   - Supports spot zoning.
   - Does not include a market study for the feasibility of a luxury apartment development in a city where the median household income is approximately $32,599 (not including the East Side).
   - The developer qualifies for an I-195 TSA, which grants a 20-year tax stabilization agreement which would save the developer over $81 million on a $300 million project; and, the developer may qualify for the Rebuild RI incentive, which could offer the developer redeemable tax credits covering up to 20% – and, in some cases, 30%  – of the project cost.
   - Yes, this development would bring employment opportunities for our hard-working local laborers, but so would any development that adheres to our City’s current zoning policies--spot zoning is not necessary. There is a significant equity issue in this circumstance as the developer is receiving all the benefits outlined above, which is why I voted “no” on the zoning change and made a motion to include an affordability component and sunset clause.
First Student, Inc:
The City Council voted to approve the contract based on the following reasons:   
   - Although the renewals contain the same “force majeure” clause excusing First Student from responsibility for a future strike, such a strike is unlikely because the bus drivers signed a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with First Student, so any strike over the next two years would be illegal. This would enable First Student to seek a court order requiring the bus drivers to return to work; that was not an option during last year’s strike.
   - The contract will provide two years for the school district and board to look at other transportation options and develop a comprehensive contract that not only holds our transportation provider accountable but also keeps our students safe.
 Providence Teachers’ Union Contract:   
   - Resolve a labor dispute that has been in place for over a year
   - Include a modest raise of 2% retroactive to September 1, 2% on the first day of the 2019-20 school year, and 1.25% on Jan. 1, 2020.
   - Provide more flexibility in school day schedule, increasing autonomy at the school level.
   - Create a reduction in health care costs for teachers.
Some of my concerns include:   
   - Lack of additional mandatory professional development opportunities
   - Lack of accountability measure to address absenteeism
I hope to continue to work with the school department and administration to help gather community input to ensure that these contracts also align with our students’ and families’ needs.

Providence Student Union (PSU): Last month, PSU launched its Counselors Not Cops Campaign. The campaign calls for a decrease of SROs in Providence schools and an investment in social-emotional support (e.g.: guidance counselors, mental health providers, and school nurses).  It is important for our city to provide for the education, health, and safety of our students in many different ways. I look forward to working with all parties involved, including Providence Student Union and Providence Public Safety, to submit an ordinance that addresses Providence Student Union’s concerns and invests in a holistic strategy for our students' health and safety.

Things to Look for in 2019:   
   - Last year I hosted about 10 community meetings and met with individual groups and community members. I also tested various forms of communication and outreach, which included a newsletter and social media. It seems like communication needs vary due to accessibility concerns. In response to these needs, I have developed a communications strategy, which I am in the process of rolling out. At the end of the year, we can assess it to determine what did and did not work. As always, I am open to suggestions and appreciate your feedback.2019   

Communication Strategy: to provide regular and sustainable opportunities for community stakeholders to share information, deliver important city and community updates, solicit feedback on community and policy/legislative initiatives.      
      - Communication Platforms:         
         - Monthly Newsletter
         - Quarterly Community Meetings (Dates to Follow):            
            - Q1: February/April
            - Q2: June/July
            - Q3: September/November
            - Q4: December

         - Bi-monthly Coffee Hours:

Upcoming events:

Providence City Council Inauguration
Date: Monday, January 7, 2019
Time 12:00-1:00pm
Location: Providence City Hall, (25 Dorrance St.)

Providence Public School Choice Fair 2019-2020
Date: Saturday, January 12, 2019
Time: 10:30am-1:00pm
Location: Providence Career & Technical Academy, (41 Fricker St.)

Appreciation Celebration for Councilman Sam Zurier
Date: Saturday, January 12, 2019
Time: 3:00-5:00pm
Location: Rochambeau Library Community Room, (708 Hope St.)

Honoring Mount Hope Cowboys
Date: Thursday, January 17, 2018
Time: 6:15-6:45pm
Location: City Hall, Alderman Chambers, (25 Dorrance St.)

Ward 3, Community/Interfaith Potluck
Date: Thursday, January 24th
Time: 5:30PM-8:00PM
Location: Martin Luther King Jr, Elementary School, (35 Camp St.)

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