Providence mayoral candidates have their say at JCC forum
PROVIDENCE – The roughly 70 people who attended the Providence Mayoral Forum on Aug. 29 heard a lot of agreement from Gonzalo Cuervo, Nirva LaFortune and Brett Smiley, the three Democrats hoping to succeed Mayor Jorge Elorza.
The event, at the Alliance’s Dwares Jewish Community Center, was sponsored by the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island and moderated by WPRI’s Steph Machado.
Elorza, who has been mayor since 2015, cannot run again due to term limits. Since the three candidates vying to replace him are all Democrats, the Sept. 13 primary is likely to decide the race.
Cuervo has been a small business owner, worked for nonprofits and served under Providence Mayors David Cicilline and Angel Taveras, as well as R.I. Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea.
LaFortune is on the Providence City Council, representing Ward 3. She works in higher education administration at Brown University.
Smiley was Gov. Gina Raimondo’s chief of staff and director of administration.
Machado asked each candidate seven questions and gave them time to answer during the hour-long program. Here is some of what they had to say. For more, go to Jewishrhody.com.
On the schools and the teacher shortage
Cuervo: “This [state] takeover held great promise, and for a number of reasons, including the pandemic and multiple layers of bureaucracy, we’ve seen really poor results. We need a strategy to return control to our local authority … the morale of teachers is really low … we need to provide consistency, long-term action plans and adequate pay. … We need teachers who are professionally and personally in our community.”
LaFortune: “I’m a proud graduate of Providence Public Schools. … Our teachers are not getting the support they need. … Our schools have been falling apart for years. We need to create 21st-century buildings that will deliver quality education to every student. … We need to transition our schools back to local control in a responsible manner.”
Smiley: “Teachers tell me that the joy has been sucked out of the job. … It’s a combination of trying to teach during the pandemic … and the state takeover. Our teachers feel like they have whiplash from all the changes [in leadership]. … We need to provide some stability and continuity to our teachers and school system.”
On the rise in hate crimes and antisemitism
Cuervo: “It is unfortunate and surprising in the year 2022 that this conversation still has to take place. The mayor’s office has the power to lead by example. To really make it clear that we won’t accept any manifestation of hate against anybody.”
LaFortune: “I am proud to represent one of the most diverse wards in the city [Ward 3, including Mount Hope, Summit, Collyer Park and Blackstone]. This ward has been instrumental in bringing people together to show we respect everyone. A lot of these people committing these crimes don’t even live in our neighborhood or our city.”
Smiley: “It breaks my heart to see police outside of synagogues on Saturday morning …. We should be proud of the community response to the incident of hate on Camp Street [a neo-Nazi demonstration at Red Ink Community Library in February]. We need to continue to educate our children. The role for the mayor is to never stay silent when these incidents occur.”
FRAN OSTENDORF is the editor of Jewish Rhode Island.
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