The Providence City Hall Council Chamber was packed over capacity. The crowd was so raucous and loud it was hard to hear the speakers on their microphones.
“I Sabina Matos, would like to pass the Community Safety Act.”
“Seconded.”
Voice after voice pledged their support for the Community Safety Act.
“I, Seth Yurdin, would like to pass the Community Safety Act.”
“I, Sam Zurier, would like to pass the Community Safety Act.”
The Community Safety Act (CSA) passed unanimously. Not a single voice spoke against it. The City Council Chamber erupted in cheers and applause.
It was a brilliant moment.
But the Providence City Council never actually voted. Minutes before the City Council was to begin their meeting, their last meeting before taking a break for vacation, hundreds of protesters in support of Black Lives Matter had crossed the street from Kennedy Plaza and entered the chamber en masse. They took the seats of city councillors and acted out what passing the CSA might look like.
The CSA never passed. It has only recently been scheduled for consideration, when the City Council comes back in September.
As the crowd filed out of the chamber, Nick Katkevich of the FANG Collective asked a just arriving City Councillor Seth Yurdin if he would really support the CSA when the time came.
“I don’t support the CSA,” said Yurdin.
Neither does Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza or Public Safety Commissioner Steven Paré.
Fifteen minutes earlier crowds gathered at Kennedy Plaza, across the street from City Hall. The Movement for Black Lives had called a nationwide, July 21 Collective Action for Freedom, in response to the recent slew of high profile police killings. In Providence, the action was organized by the Step Up Coalition to Pass the Community Safety Act and the White Noise Collective RI around the idea of supporting the CSA.
The proposed Providence ordinance has 12 key points pertaining to police interactions with community members, including providing interpretation, documenting traffic stops in a standardized manner, and limiting police collaboration with other law enforcement agencies such as ICE. The CSA would also reestablish the Providence External Review Authority (PERA) with the power to recommend that Public Safety and Police Department budgets be reapportioned to youth recreation and job training programs.
“We don’t want to compromise on the safety of our community. When you have women dying in jail because they didn’t use a turn signal or youth being shot in cold blood for having toy guns in an open carry state, we can’t compromise,” said Community Safety Act Campaign Coordinator, Vanessa Flores-Maldonado. “We need police accountability now because no one feels safe in our community.”
The campaign recently scored a win when organizers secured a public hearing for the CSA at the beginning of September. The “mock hearing” was organized to put additional pressure on the City Council to pass the CSA.
At the mock hearing, Flores -Maldonado spoke directly to the city council members present, including Council President Luis Aponte, saying that the city council should listen to what the people had to say.
The protest left city hall and marched up Washington St towards the Providence Public Safety Complex, where people gave a series of speeches in support of the CSA, hiring more teachers of color, community defense, and abolishing the police. Here the speeches were in turn thoughtful and emotional. I would recommend them to those seeking a better understanding of these issues.
After leaving the public safety complex the march continued on to Cathedral Square, where there was some last words before the march disbanded.
]]>When Jorge Elorza ran against Buddy Cianci for Mayor of Providence he highlighted the message that we cannot return to a culture of corruption. In the swirl of issues that surrounded Cianci’s campaign were allegations of rape as well as convictions for crimes committed while in office.
Today, the Providence Board of Canvassers, a body whose members are appointed by Elorza, will decide the fate of Representative John Carnevale, a man who has a similar history of alleged sexual violence against women, and a man who could be said to represent the very culture of corruption that Cianci represented.
Carnevale was one of Buddy Cianci’s principle boosters in 2014. He has faced multiple accusations of physically abusing his ex-wife, and in 2011 he was indicted for sexually assaulting a Johnston woman. Carnevale pleaded innocent. The charges were dropped after the woman died suddenly.
In June, a WPRI investigation discovered evidence that Carnevale has been lying about living in his district. The investigation seems to have revealed that Carnevale lives in Johnston, and that told the tenants of the Providence house he is registered at to lie when asked if he resided there.
These allegations should make Carnevale ineligible to run for representative again, but Mayor Elorza has struggled to build support in the General Assembly and, according to sources, has developed an alliance with House Majority Leader John DeSimone, a close friend of Carnevale.
The question is, will Elorza play cynical politics and pressure his Board of Canvassers to give Carnevale a pass? Elorza has had a rocky first two years in office, but from all accounts he is so far un-blighted by the overt corruption of Rhode Island politics. Appeasing John DeSimone and allowing John Carnevale to be allowed to run despite evidence he does not reside in his district would be akin to jumping into the deep end of the dirtiest pool in Rhode Island.
That kind of thing does not wash off.
Although Mayor Elorza is trying to make the case, as was reported by WPRI, that he is not responsible for this decision, the choice is clearly his to make.
Mayor Jorge Elorza has a chance to do the right thing today. After everything he said about Buddy Cianci and the political culture of corruption during his campaign, allowing John Carnevale to run would be a betrayal.
The Board of Canvassers meets at the Providence City Hall at 11am today.
Elorza’s legacy hangs in the balance.
]]>Back in August 2015, advocates held a rally in front of City Hall protesting the treatment of those experiencing homelessness in the city. They had found that with increasing frequency, people experiencing homelessness were being subjected to judicial and extrajudicial arrest, harassment, and discrimination. Additionally, they contended that individuals who were homeless were being treated as criminals for engaging in activities necessary to survival, foremost among them resting and sleeping.
Soon after the rally, in September, Mayor Jorge Elorza met with the advocates and declared that the harassment and discrimination happening was not in line with his Administration’s policy. At that time advocates asked him to make a public statement expressing that and to focus on solutions to homelessness rather than criminalizing the homeless. Fast-forward to now, four months later, and nothing has come out of the Mayor’s office.
To make matters worse for the Mayor’s office, advocates released results of a public spaces survey which show a clear and disturbing pattern of discrimination against those experiencing homelessness in downtown Providence.
“As an outreach worker I have both heard, and personally witnessed this kind of conduct, and it disgusts and enrages me,” said Megan Smith of House of Hope CDC.
“Essentially, only homeless people and formerly homeless people are being arrested for these activities,” said Dr. Eric Hirsch. The activities include, sitting, panhandling, standing, sleeping and talking, all of which are perfectly legal.
Eileen Boarman was homeless in Providence on and off for over two years. She has personally witnessed and been the victim of police harassment and abuse. She talks of being beaten, spray with water hoses, and having her arm twisted. She was treated as having no value and no rights. Her experiences are impossible to justify.
Several years ago, Providence City Councillor Mary Kay Harris and others spearheaded the creation of the Providence External Review Authority (PERA), a civilian lead police oversight board. In light of Dr. Hirsch’s findings, the re-establishment of this board in a must.
We need, says House of Hope CDC outreach worker Kate Miechkowski, “to address the cause of people having nowhere to go and nowhere to sleep, rather than arresting and harassing those who suffer from the effects of our failed economic policies.”
In November, Providence College students conducted a public spaces survey of random pedestrians in the Kennedy Plaza/Burnside Park areas of downtown Providence. The results were striking. Just over half (52%) of those surveyed were homeless or formerly homeless, but 95% of the citations and 94% of the arrests were experienced by homeless and formerly homeless persons.
Answers to other questions on the survey such as whether law enforcement had asked them to “move on” or to leave a particular area, how often they were asked for identification; and how often law enforcement searched their belongings without their permission show the same pattern of disproportionate harassment of homeless and formerly homeless persons by police. Other potential reasons for such targeting such as race, ethnicity, or age were not found to be relevant.
“It was stunning to see the degree to which homeless Rhode Islanders are subject to harassment by the Providence Police Department,” stated Dr. Eric Hirsch, Professor of Sociology and author of the Public Spaces Survey. “It was the only factor relevant to why someone was ticketed or arrested for everyday activities such as sitting, lying down, etc.”
Kate Miechkowski, Outreach Worker for the House of Hope CDC confirmed the findings of the survey stating, “This past summer and fall I had the opportunity to interview dozens of people experiencing homelessness about their interactions with Providence police officers. I was horrified by their experiences of degradation, humiliation, and blatant profiling. There was almost no one I spoke to who had amiable experiences with police officers. I personally witnessed multiple incidents in which people were told that they had to move for doing nothing except occupying a public sidewalk.”
Advocates point to the fact that Rhode Island was the first state in the country to enact a “Homeless Bill of Rights” formally banning discrimination against Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness and affirming their equal access to housing, employment and public services and believe the police’s targeting of people based on their housing status is illegal.
The Rhode Island law asserts that Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness have the right to use public parks, public transportation and public buildings, “in the same manner as any other person and without discrimination on the basis of his or her housing status.”
In the original letter to the Mayor, advocates stated:
Criminalization is not a solution to homelessness. It is incredibly cruel to those experiencing homelessness, dehumanizing the individuals and making it harder to connect to advocates and services. It also costs the system more by spending taxpayer dollars on court costs and incarcerations rather than on housing, medical care, and other long-term solutions.
The group asked the Mayor to implement the following action steps to address the current situation:
1. Instruct the Providence Police Department that they may not order people to move from public property, nor threaten arrest for the failure to move, absent reasonable suspicion that they are committing a crime.
2. Ensure that this order is followed by:
a. Re-establishing the Providence External Review Authority (PERA);
b. Establishing a designated hotline to report harassment or illegal arrest and regularly reporting on calls received;
c. Adding content on Rhode Island’s Homeless Bill of Rights to the training police cadets receive at the Academy and incorporating this material into re-training of current officers.
3. Provide an appropriate location and budget for a day center in the City.
4. Publicly support the hundred million-dollar bond ask and ensure that the City’s programs to rehabilitate vacant homes (such as Every Home) results in apartments that are affordable to very low income renters.
Nationally, there is increasing recognition of the need for cities to shift away from criminalization and toward a right to housing. In its report No Safe Place, the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty details the ways in which criminalizing ordinances are damaging both to individuals experiencing homelessness and to the cities that enact them. It also found that, despite a lack of affordable housing and shelter space, cities across the country are essentially making it illegal to be homeless with laws that outlaw life-sustaining acts, such as eating and sleeping, in public spaces.
Key findings/conclusions from the report are:
The Seattle University School of Law recently published a series of briefs exploring the monetary costs of criminalization and placing these laws squarely within the shameful tradition of Jim Crow, Anti-Okie, and Ugly laws. Earlier this summer, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest arguing that it unconstitutionally punishes homelessness to make it a crime for people to sleep in public when there is insufficient shelter.
Rhode Island’s Homeless Bill of Rights stands in complete contrast to this trend causing advocates to be dismayed by the growing complaints from those experiencing homelessness that the police are not respecting their rights.
The Homeless Bill of Rights sets an important foundation for Opening Doors Rhode Island, the state’s plan to end homelessness, which states as a core value that “there are no ‘homeless people,’ but rather people who have lost their homes who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.”
Opening Doors Rhode Island outlines a plan that significantly transforms the provision of services to Rhode Islanders experiencing homelessness. Consistent with the new federal plan to end homelessness, the plan seeks to sharply decrease the numbers of people experiencing homelessness and the length of time people spend homeless.
“Rhode Island has the potential to be a model for how to end homelessness,” concluded Megan Smith, Outreach Worker for House of Hope CDC. “We can do this by collaborating to provide safe, affordable, permanent housing and engaging with and educating our community. It is not done by harassing and further marginalizing our city’s most vulnerable neighbors.”
Mayor Elorza was invited to speak at the rally, but declined. His office issued the following statement:
“The Mayor is committed to working with our service providers, advocates and community partners to address the social and economic challenges these resident face. We have spoken previously with the Chief of Police and he has directed his officers not to target those who are struggling with homelessness.”
[Portions of this are from a joint RICH and RIHAP press release]
]]>Elorza is on board with the sentiment, at least in theory, saying in a statement that, “I am committed to finding new and innovative ways to support officers of color as they advance through the ranks” and that he, looks forward to “a diverse range of Officers being promoted and assuming the highest leadership roles in the Department.” Elorza notes that the new police academy class is “the most diverse in the City’s history” but also realizes that, “recruiting diverse new officers alone is not enough.”
Dennis is more pointed, asking, “If it’s okay to recruit black officers, why isn’t it okay to promote black officers?” Changes in the way the Providence Police Department operates are necessary, says Dennis in a statement, because, “The unrest in our country between law enforcement and the Black community is quickly becoming an epidemic.”
City Council President Luis Aponte stopped by in support of the demonstration, as did Councillors Mary Kay Harris and Wilbur Jennings, Jr. Jennings told me that he’s “definitely down with the idea behind the black major movement.”
“We need a police department that reflects the diversity of this city,” Jennings said. “That person doesn’t have to be black, but definitely a person of color.”
The demonstration lasted for three hours. Early on it was hoped that Mayor Elorza might step outside and address the crowd, but he did not make an appearance. The Extraordinary Rendition Band arrived and played for the demonstrators and passersby. The size of the demonstration ebbed and flowed, but gained new vitality in the last hour when over a dozen young people arrived with bright Black Lives Matter signage.
Despite the noncommittal response from Elorza, organizer Kobi Dennis took to Facebook to declare that this fight is not over, telling supporters to, “Stay tuned for PHASE 3 of the BLACK MAJOR MOVEMENT.”
]]>Hotel workers at the Providence Hilton and Renaissance hotels in downtown Providence are still working without a contract, and are still experiencing work-related injury and illness at rates 69% higher at the Hilton and 85% higher at the Renaissance Hotel than the national average.
Last night workers rallied at the Providence City Hall entrance used by Providence City Council members to let them know that The Procaccianti Group (TPG), the company that runs both hotels, is literally grinding profits out of the long term health of their employees.
People work so that they can maintain their health and lives, not so that those lives can be used up by greedy corporations that value profit over people. What TPG is doing is deeply immoral, which is why the boycott of all TPG hotels is so important. The utter disregard displayed by the Rhode Island General Assembly towards the plight of these workers and their rights has been sickening, and a stain upon our state.
Mike Araujo, on his way to receive his Progressive Hero award from the RI Progressive Democrats of America for his work with the Restaurant Opportunities Center and the One Fair Wage Coalition, stopped by the hotel workers’ protest to lend his support.
]]>Michael Sabitoni, business manager for the RI Laborers’ District Council, was perhaps a bit misleading when he rhetorically asked RI NPR reporter Ian Donnis, “Why pick on this one — we didn’t even build yet — when I got 50 percent unemployment in the Building Trades?”
Sabitoni was referring to Unite Here Local 217’s efforts to delay the construction of a proposed hotel on Fountain Street. Building a new hotel would provide much needed jobs to the building trades. The proposed hotel is to be paid for and built by The Procaccianti Group (TPG), a company that runs two hotels in downtown Providence: the Renaissance and the Hilton.
Unite Here Local 217 has been in a fight with TPG for a union, fair wages and a contract for over three years. These two hotels pay the lowest wages, demand the most work, and treat employees worse than any other hotels in Providence.
In short, TPG’s treatment of labor in Providence has been nothing short of disgraceful, and at times has been monstrous.
Short of a strike, one of the most powerful weapon a union has is a boycott. Unite Here Local 217 has called for a boycott of TPG hotels until such a time as TPG begins to sit down and work out a contract with hotel workers that ensures decent wages, decent working conditions and respect.
Geroge Nee, president of the RI AFL-CIO, knows the power of boycotts. In a story Nee tells often, he famously came to Rhode Island in 1971 to help organize a successful lettuce boycott for the United Farm Workers of America.
Boycotts are difficult to enforce. With a boycott you’re asking all those in support of workers to change their buying habits. Sometimes you’re even asking workers, businesses and supporters to suffer economic privation as they avoid purchasing needed commodities.
Boycotts depend on worker solidarity.
Union busters know that strikes and boycotts can be broken as soon as workers become hungry enough. Tactics include waiting out the workers, or playing one set of workers against another. Few people are going to honor a boycott when their kids can’t be fed and their mortgage can’t be paid.
When Sabitoni said to WPRI‘s Dan McGowan, “We cannot wait any longer. We need jobs and we need them now,” he was basically admitting that for his people, the boycott is over. They were too hungry to wait anymore.
Solidarity, like a chain, is only as strong as it’s weakest link.
[I reached out to Nee and Sabotoni for comment, and haven’t heard back from either of them yet, but this post will be updated if they chose to respond.]
]]>John Prince was not the only person to successfully file a complaint against the Providence Police Department in recent months.
At a press conference held outside Mayor Jorge Elorza‘s offices in the Providence City Hall, Morgan Victor told the story of her and her friend’s verbal harassment by Providence police officers in November 2014. With the help of Shannah Kurland, the lawyer representing John Prince in his complaint, Victor endured the long complaint and hearing process to a successful conclusion. “Ultimately they were found guilty for what they did to us,” said Victor.
Monica Huertas took the microphone to tell the emotional story of her complaint against the Providence Police, still in process. When her brother, a veteran suffering from PTSD, was in need of medical help, she called 911. When the police arrived, instead of attempting to deescalate the situation, they tased him.
The event was emceed by a sword wielding Victoria Ruiz, dressed as Justice. Steven Dy, lead organizer at PrYSM, spoke about the Community Safety Act, which Mayor Elorza promised to support when he was a candidate, but has not moved on since taking office.
The only elected official in attendance was Providence City Councillor Mary Kay Harris. At least five Providence Police Officers kept a watchful eye on the proceedings from a respectful distance.
The press conference ended with a plea to those who have endured abuse at the hands of the police to come forward and lodge formal complaints. Community groups such as DARE and PrYSM will be happy to help you through the process. A hashtag, #AllEyesonProPo, has been created to publicize the effort.
You can watch the full press conference below:
]]>