On a broader front, Cicilline, who was recently named vice chairman of the United States Conference of Mayors’ Committee on Jobs, Education, and the Workforce, readily concedes that the city needs to figure out more and better ways to help raise people out of poverty. “I don’t have all the answers,” he says, “but I do know we have to focus on initiatives that will give people a leg up.” Certainly, the situation isn’t made any easier by any number of factors, including a shrinking federal commitment to cities, and by how the repeal of residency precludes giving priority to Providence applicants for jobs as cops and firefighters.
That said, there are always potential places to turn. The thriving small businesses lining Eddy, Broad, and Cranston streets, and Elmwood and Chalkstone avenues, for example, suggest the possible benefits of fostering these entrepreneurs. Similarly, with the Providence building boom creating a need for local workers, a construction-training program for city residents could yield big dividends. (Although vague on the details, Cicilline says the city is considering pursuing a vocational development program with the labor group BuildRI.)
The need to accelerate school improvement
Despite some improvements in recent years, the Providence Public Schools collectively remain more of a liability than an asset — the kind of thing that leads many of those with the economic wherewithal to do so to move to the suburbs, rather than remaining in the city.
It was clear when Cicilline came into office that the schools posed his toughest challenge, so it’s no surprise that the mayor calls accelerating the pace of improvement his top priority for a second term. Acknowledging frustration, he says, “We know what we need to do to be successful,” and he suggests that the necessary pieces — including the hiring of Donnie Evans as superintendent, the composition of a strong school board, and growing community support — are now in place. Ongoing hurdles are posed, however, by the state’s property tax-based school-funding formula (an area in which Cicilline has fought the good fight, to little avail thus far), not to mention an entrenched bureaucracy, antiquated school buildings, and a teaching corps that doesn’t reflect the diversity of the student body.
The outcome of efforts to raise educational performance in a city with a large percentage of poor and immigrant students carries huge consequences. If as intelligent, energetic, and reform-minded a mayor as Cicilline can’t bring about significant progress over two terms, it will augur poorly for the entire state.
The capital city’s development boom
When it comes to the strains posed by surging development in Providence, the mayor makes this point: “This is a good challenge to have as a city. There are cities all across the country that have people fleeing and have nobody interested in coming or investing.”
True enough, but shame on the city if it doesn’t try to balance new growth with preserving the small businesses, working class residents, and artist communities that face possible displacement. There’s been a widening gap for some time, after all, between the rhetoric about Providence’s identity as an arts-friendly place and the diminishing amount of collective studio space. While growing the city’s tax base is important, so is maintaining the wellsprings of the local creative underground.
