ProJo: Providence City Council challengers decry lack of affordable housing

By Madeleine List | Journal Staff Writer

Posted: Aug 22, 2018 at 10:01 PM

Updated: Aug 22, 2018 at 11:54 PM

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — At a forum Wednesday night hosted by Direct Action for Rights and Equality, an advocacy organization for the rights of low-income residents, City Council candidates from eight of the city's 15 wards answered questions about the dearth of affordable and low-income housing in the city.

Many of the challengers targeted the incumbents on their lack of action on issues related to housing, said Christopher Samih-Rotondo, a community organizer with DARE.

For any sitting City Council member to say that he or she has been working on the issue is “disingenuous” because the problem is out of control, said Justice Gaines, a Ward 1 council candidate.

When asked what the candidates would do about the criminalization of homelessness and poverty in Providence, many said they would repeal a downtown smoking ban, passed last year, that they said unjustly targets the homeless population.

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