{"id":5058,"date":"2026-07-16T10:03:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5058"},"modified":"2026-07-16T10:03:33","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T10:03:33","slug":"as-election-looms-providence-mayor-accuses-city-council-of-obstructing-housing-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5058","title":{"rendered":"As election looms, Providence mayor accuses City Council of \u2018obstructing\u2019 housing help"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<div>\n<p><span>PROVIDENCE \u2014 With election season in full swing, Mayor Brett Smiley took aim at City Council leaders on Wednesday, accusing them of failing to approve an emergency rent relief fund that could provide up to $3,000 for people at risk of eviction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5056\">Father\u2019s Day in July this year, as Adrian Beltr\u00e9 Jr. plays at Fenway Park in front of Hall of Fame dad<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThis act by the council can\u2019t be viewed as anything other than a baseless political ploy aimed at obstructing progress during an election year,\u201d Smiley said in a press conference. \u201cOur neighbors are the ones that have to pay the price for it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><span>But council leaders said they have concerns about the program being too beneficial to landlords, and need more time to consider it. Council President Rachel Miller said she wants to tackle the issue this fall.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI don\u2019t play politics with people\u2019s lives, which is what I\u2019m being accused of, and I really take offense to that,\u201d Miller said.<\/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>The dispute is just the latest war-of-words between the mayor, a moderate Democrat, and progressive council leaders who have endorsed Smiley\u2019s left-wing challenger, state Representative David Morales, in the Sept. 9 primary. Smiley is seeking a second term after first being elected in 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>And it comes after Smiley recently vetoed Miller\u2019s signature priority to regulate rent increases in the city. She fell one vote short of enough to override the veto. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s really hard for me to view this as anything other than politics,\u201d Smiley said. Early voting in the mayoral race starts in five weeks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The $1 million for the fund was already approved by the City Council in the budget that took effect July 1, but the standalone ordinance creating the program never made it out of committee. Since the funding is approved, Smiley said his administration technically doesn\u2019t need the ordinance to pass, but does need council approval to execute a contract with Community Action Partnership of Providence, which would be administering the funds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Almost every city council member had signed on to co-sponsor the ordinance, including Miller, and she previously said she supported it as part of a larger housing strategy that included the failed rent stabilization proposal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMy administration is ready to launch this program immediately,\u201d Smiley said. \u201cOur community partner is ready to go immediately. All we need the city council to do is to do the job that they were elected to do.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Miller said she was not aware of the plan to start the program July 1, and she had not spoken to the mayor about it until last week.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cMy concern is that it does not actually do much to protect renter stability long term,\u201d Miller said. Depending on when a tenant\u2019s lease is up, a landlord could raise the rent right after they receive the funds, she said, blunting the impact of the relief.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThere\u2019s just no protections at all for what happens after that payment gets made,\u201d Miller said. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5054\">Varsity News: Toughest All-Scholastic decisions and predicting next year\u2019s stars<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span>Councilman Miguel Sanchez, chair of the Ways and Means Committee where the proposal is stuck, called it a \u201clandlord giveaway.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cA landlord could take a $3,000 check from the city on Friday and raise the rent or evict the tenant on Monday,\u201d Sanchez said in a statement.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The relief program is aimed at helping lower-income families who are at risk of losing their housing or getting their utilities shut off because of a financial hardship, such as a job loss or medical emergency.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>After someone applies for the relief, the rental fund would send up to $3,000 to the landlord or utility company to prevent the eviction or utility shutoff, according to the ordinance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Community Action Partnership of Providence, the vendor, said it has \u201cextensive experience\u201d administering rent relief and housing stability programs, and would be able to serve 266 to 300 families a year with the funding provided, according to the nonprofit\u2019s bid for the contract.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The social service provider said it would also follow up to help families with housing stability after they receive the money, including by helping them sign up for public assistance, providing financial coaching, and helping find new housing if staying in their current home is not financially sustainable.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Smiley proposed the program in March, and it was introduced by Councilman John Goncalves before being referred to the Ways and Means Committee, the same panel that approved the funding in the budget.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIf they had an issue with the ordinance, they\u2019ve had multiple opportunities to fix this,\u201d Smiley said. \u201cThis has been in their hands for months.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In a letter to Smiley on Tuesday night, Miller said it was the mayor\u2019s choice to go out to bid for a vendor before the council had fully considered the legislation, and she wouldn\u2019t pass it before the concerns were addressed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cThe appropriation remains intact for the entirety of this fiscal year, and your administration\u2019s preferred launch schedule does not create an obligation to approve an ordinance before significant policy concerns have been resolved,\u201d Miller wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The council is going on summer recess after Thursday\u2019s meeting, and is not scheduled to return until September.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cEvery day of delay increases risks that families will face eviction, displacement, and even homelessness,\u201d Smiley said. \u201cHow many people are going to get evicted between then and now, when we have the money sitting in the bank, ready to go?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=5053\">Barbara Olivieri scores early, defense holds on as Legacy defeat Pride for first road win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>City Council leaders have endorsed Smiley\u2019s progressive challenger, David Morales, in the Sept. 9 primary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5057,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5058","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 - 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