The Providence City Council ultimately fell one vote short of passing rent control, after failing to override the mayor’s veto in a rare Friday night meeting.
None of the 15 councilors changed their positions as they cast their third and final vote on the ordinance this session.
Nine councilors remained supportive of the ordinance, which seeks to place 4% cap on annual rent increases in most Providence apartments.
Of the six councilors who opposed the measure in past meetings, five did not even attend Friday’s council meeting. The vote was scheduled on the last possible weekday before a Sunday deadline to override the mayor’s veto.
Councilor Jo Ann Ryan, the sole opponent of rent control who did attend, said that Providence is already on the right path to solving its housing shortage by building more housing than any other Rhode Island community.
“That momentum is fragile,” Ryan said. “The investment we need to solve this crisis won’t come to a city that signals hostility to development.”
Councilors who supported the ordinance spoke in passionate terms, framing rent control as the only way to ensure Providence remains a diverse and affordable city.
“Renters in this city have been told to wait for far too long,” said Councilor Justin Roias. “‘Wait for the market to correct itself.’ ‘Wait while rents rise faster than wages.’ ‘Wait while families are pushed out of the neighborhoods they helped build.’”
“Meanwhile, displacement has not waited. Speculation has not waited. Evictions have not waited,” Roias continued.
“We are done waiting,” Roias said.
But the ordinance failed to pass, as councilors still could not reach the 10-vote supermajority they needed to override Mayor Brett Smiley’s veto.
Council President Rachel Miller said campaign donations played a decisive role in the final outcome.
One councilor, Ana Vargas, received an unprecedented level of campaign donations just before the vote. She voted against the ordinance after supporting rent control during her election campaign.
Vargas did not attend Friday’s council meeting. Her absence effectively counted as a final vote against the ordinance.
“I think we saw people engage differently when campaign donations flowed,” Miller said in an interview after the vote.
Many councilors said rent control will be the defining issue of their upcoming elections this fall.
“I know there are recruitment methods happening from corporate interests, property developers, trying to find replacements for every single person who supported it,” Miller said. “I know that the majority of the city, the people that supported the ordinance, are also making choices around what happened and what they saw tonight.”
Miguel Sanchez said he is not intimidated by the prospect of a challenger backed by the real estate industry.
“I carried my grandfather’s casket in the same streets I represent,” Sanchez said. “I will die for the people of Providence.”
“God is on our side,” Councilor Althea Graves said. “Even if we lose tonight, the power is in the voting box.”
Mayor Smiley’s challenger this fall, David Morales, attended the meeting as a signal of his support for the ordinance.
Miller said supporters plan to redraft the ordinance before submitting it again next council session.
