{"id":4987,"date":"2026-07-15T11:03:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4987"},"modified":"2026-07-15T11:03:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T11:03:16","slug":"providence-has-term-limits-so-how-is-this-former-councilor-running-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4987","title":{"rendered":"Providence has term limits. So how is this former councilor running again?"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PROVIDENCE \u2014 In the 2022 election, the Providence City Council had an unusual number of wide-open seats. Term limits had kicked in for the first time, barring a third of the council members from running for office again. One member had been in office since the 1990s.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4985\">N.H. lawmaker who claims police can\u2019t arrest her for speeding meets resistance from fellow Democrats<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Now, one of those term-limited councilors is making a comeback bid. Carmen Castillo, who served three terms as Ward 9\u2019s councilor before hitting the term limits, filed late last month to run for her old seat. And city lawyers confirm it\u2019s perfectly legal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Castillo is the first term-limited politician to seek her old seat back under the term limits overwhelmingly approved by Providence voters in 2006. The reason it\u2019s allowed boils down to one word: consecutive.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>Unlike the US presidency, which limits the president to two total terms, the charter change that voters approved limited city councilors to three consecutive four-year terms, and limited Providence mayors to two consecutive four-year terms. Mayor Jorge Elorza was the first mayor to hit the limit in 2022, and technically could run again after sitting out a term. (Elorza told the Globe he has not considered running again.)<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><span>Get Rhode Map<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span>A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State.<\/span><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><label>Enter Email<\/label><\/p>\n<div><button>Sign Up<\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>\u201cThe city\u2019s legal department confirmed that city councilors who have served three full terms are eligible to seek election for a non-consecutive fourth term provided that there has been a break in service of at least one full term,\u201d said Josh Estrella, a spokesperson for the city.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There\u2019s no limit on the total number of terms an city councilor or mayor can serve, under the city\u2019s interpretation, as long as they aren\u2019t in office for more than three terms in a row. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThat doesn\u2019t sound like term limits to me,\u201d said John Lombardi, who was City Council president in Providence at the time the council asked voters to approve the charter change. Lombardi, who is now a state representative and a municipal judge, said he intended to limit the total number of terms a city councilor or mayor could serve.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cPeople thought that would be the way to avoid a Cianci-type situation,\u201d Lombardi said, referring to former Mayor Buddy Cianci, who served for 20 years in two separate stints and ultimately went to prison for public corruption. \u201cIt was to avoid the accumulation of that kind of power, so that we could avoid even the temptation of those types of situations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>He has repeatedly proposed similar term limits for state representatives and senators, which have never passed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Lombardi said he thinks the city charter\u2019s language could reasonably be interpreted both ways, though he didn\u2019t dispute the city solicitor\u2019s decision.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be the first time the Providence City Council passed an ambiguous charter change,\u201d said John Marion, the executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, a good government group.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Marion has previously criticized the council for writing vague ballot questions that required later interpretation, including when the council asked voters to approve a hybrid school board in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Common Cause opposes term limits in general, Marion said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cTerm limits empower lobbyists and legislative staff at the expense of legislators who can develop expertise over time,\u201d Marion said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The language of Providence\u2019s term limits dates back to 2002, when the Charter Review Commission recommended a series of charter changes, including term limits. The group\u2019s report said members were particularly concerned about mayors being in power too long, and noted that other executive jobs, including the president and governor in many states, have term limits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cWhile voters can always use the ballot box if an incumbent overstays his or her welcome, term limits represent a more effective safeguard against any one individual accumulating so much political power that he or she becomes entrenched in office, thus essentially precluding any challenge from other candidates,\u201d the commission wrote in its 2002 recommendations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4983\">\u2018A campaign of chaos\u2019: Maine shooting raises fresh questions about ICE accountability<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>The commission also recommended creating citywide council seats, which did not come to fruition. The group envisioned term-limited ward councilors potentially coming back to run for the citywide seats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Kelly Sheridan, who chaired the commission at the time, said if the commission wanted to cap the total number of terms, it would not have used the word \u201cconsecutive\u201d in the language.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt was clearly an intentional move,\u201d Sheridan said. \u201cWe have to assume that the voters understood the plain language of the amendment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The commission\u2019s report also noted that term limits could help make the council more diverse, which did come to fruition. A majority of current council members are people of color. The council also shifted to the left after the 2022 term limits, with several conservative Democrats replaced by progressives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The City Council opted not to send the recommendation to voters in 2002, but later put the question on the ballot in 2006. It asked voters: \u201cCommencing on the first Monday in January 2011, shall any mayor be limited to serving two consecutive full terms (excluding any partial term of less than two years previously served) and shall any council member be limited to serving three consecutive full terms (excluding any partial termof less than two years previously served)?&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Castillo, a longtime hotel worker at the Omni downtown, told the Globe she\u2019s running again because of the \u201clove I feel for my community.\u201d She said constituents have continued to call her since she left office four years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI resolve a lot of problems for them,\u201d Castillo said. \u201cI never disappeared.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>She\u2019ll face incumbent Juan Pichardo, who replaced her on the council, in the Democratic primary on Sept. 9.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s within her right to run, and it\u2019s democracy,\u201d Pichardo said. \u201cI continue to work hard for my district.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The two Democrats differ on rent control; Pichardo sponsored a measure earlier this year to limit rent increases in the city to 4 percent a year. Castillo said she was \u201ca little concerned\u201d about rent control, but would be willing to discuss it if elected.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Pichardo said if he wins reelection, he\u2019s interested in seeking the presidency, which is open after President Rachel Miller decided not to run for reelection.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Other city councilors that were term-limited in 2022 include Michael Correia, Nicholas Narducci, John Igliozzi and David Salvatore. (Sabina Matos was also term-limited from running again, but left her seat early to become lieutenant governor in 2021.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>None of those officials opted to run for council again this year after sitting out a term. In this year\u2019s election, Councilors Jo-Ann Ryan and Mary Kay Harris are barred by the term limits from running again.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Another former city councilor, Michael Solomon, is also aiming to make a comeback this year, running for his former seat representing Ward 5. Solomon served two terms \u2014 including one as council president \u2014 before running unsuccessfully for mayor, so he never hit the limits.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=4981\">How a tragedy changed the timeline \u2014 and the politics \u2014 of Maine\u2019s Senate race<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>In total, 39 candidates filed to run for the 15 council seats.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the first time, a term-limited city councilor is aiming to make a comeback. Providence lawyers say it\u2019s legal because of the way the term limits were written into law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Providence has term limits. 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