By Amy Russo at The Providence Journal, Updated March 38, 2022, 6:08pm.
Brett Smiley officially launched his campaign for mayor on Monday with a focus on what he called “simple quality of life issues” from roads to public safety, affordable housing and education.
At a launch event held at CIC Providence, a sleek co-working space downtown, Smiley spoke of a city that has become “dirtier and in disrepair” yet has “assets that most cities can only dream of.”
“Why is it that every time it snows, it’s as if it’s the first time we’ve ever plowed?” Smiley asked. “It shouldn’t take days to do snow removal, and proper snow removal includes not just cleaning the streets, but sidewalks and bike lanes.”
Smiley went on to call for the digitization of city systems, and blamed what he saw as a decline in quality of life on “long standing financial problems” and Providence’s pension crisis.
Smiley told reporters that in an upcoming citywide referendum he would vote in support of Mayor Jorge Elorza’s pension obligation bond proposal, which has been floated as a solution to the city’s massive unfunded pension liability. Smiley said residents are “going to take on this risk like I am,” and that the bond is only part of the solution.
On public safety, Smiley described an approach that would expand on Elorza’s, calling for a larger diversion services pilot program, and more opportunities for youth employment, criticizing what he described as limited hours offered by the city’s summer jobs initiative.
AMY RUSSO
“The summer jobs program last summer was great, and it was great that the city is paying kind of a living wage, but the feedback that I hear from young people is that they’re not able to make nearly enough hours to make it their summer job,” Smiley said. “They get one day a week or two days a week. They’re still going to find other work or have idle time.”
Smiley also criticized Elorza’s pursuit of a guaranteed income pilot, placing it among “shiny, new initiatives that are better left to the state or federal government.”
“If everything is a priority, nothing is a priority,” Smiley said. “And by grabbing onto all of these issues, it has become a distraction from the core things that only the city can do, which is properly care for our infrastructure, make our neighborhoods safe, and try to make our schools better in light of the state takeover.”
Smiley’s venue differed dramatically from two of his three challengers, Gonzalo Cuervo, who opened a modest campaign office last week in Olneyville, and Councilwoman Nirva LaFortune, who held her kickoff outside the Southside Cultural Center last fall. Michael Solomon is also running, but has not had any recent public events to which media have been alerted.
Smiley has reported the highest funding totals so far. The most recent available campaign finance data shows that as of the end of 2021, Smiley had more than $535,000, while Solomon had about $300,000 and Cuervo had roughly $216,000 and LaFortune had about $171,000.