I pledge allegiance to the flag.

Moment in time that took place in Potucky and for the family.

Remind everyone that as you came in, you saw a sign there that uh had some of the practices to keep this conversation in this hearing respectful and addressing it to the chair and I'm making it personal.

I also like to remind everyone that this uh hearing is being streamed in YouTube.

I also like to remind everyone that this uh hearing is being streamed in YouTube, uh so you're able to uh see it on your phone and play it back, but also I also thank uh those who are here uh such as the um frequent uh media that's always in this uh in these venues.

Uh thank you for being here.

Also the emergency exits as you as you know they're to your left and to your right and to the rear uh as you go down the stairs the same way if you notice on the first floor exits on in the rear and both sides.

As you also may know, uh on the second floor, the restrooms are being uh rehabbed.

So if you need to use the restroom, the downstairs in the first floor.

I ask everyone to respect uh the chambers, respect uh the message, speak to the issue, and I also encourage organizations that feel that they're delivering almost the same message if they have a lot of members, that's up to you.

Uh that if you would like to step forward and speak on behalf of that organization and just bring your members and say we are 10 or 15 strong here, you have that option.

But we are committed to be in this chambers as long as possible, so that way we can listen to your feedback, to your recommendations, whether the pros or cons.

I also would like at this time also to recognize my colleagues, the vice chairwoman Shelley Peterson to my right, uh Councilman Miguel Sanchez, Councilwoman Sue Andua, and Justin Councilman Justin Royas.

In addition to uh our colleagues, from my left to the right, we have Councilman John Goncalves, Councilwoman Jill Davidson, Majority Leader Pedro Espina Pedro Espinar, Councilman Espinal, Councilwoman Mary K.

Harris, and our councilwoman and president Rachel Miller.

So with that said, I welcome all of you, and also I'll say this in English and Spanish.

If you have a language barrier or need uh some translation or you want to help someone, there's a QR code outside that if you go use your smartphone, it will take you to an application with your e piece that you also could have any uh this hearing translated in any language.

So para la persona can necessit, tenemos una application.

See using the telephone intelligente que tienen, I un application que pueden trans traducir que quieran in espanhol or other languages, y el QR code sta afuera.

As you lo pueden usar y lo pueden su audio uh escucha in su in su orejas.

As you keep aquí estamos aquí para escuchar atrás, hasta que no I got us in the salon.

El comité está dedicado a escuchar lo que es el pro y el con is sugerencias.

Par eso estamos aquí para crear un mejor providencia.

So with that said, we're here to listen to everyone and making sure that we hear the pros and cons and any other suggestions that you may have.

Thank you very much.

And madam excuse me.

And since I have your full attention, I'll make the announcement again.

Uh the Honda Pilot, color green, license plate VS513 is parked in the famous spot for New Haven, the Haven Brothers uh food uh restaurant.

And as a reminder, if you get hungry, you can also go out there and get some burgers afterwards.

So Honda Pilot Green VS 513, you need to move your car, they're about to tow it.

Sorry to deliver that bad news, but we're trying to make sure that you don't, please.

With that said, Madam Clerk, if you could please read item one.

In ordinance amending chapter 13 housing of the code of ordinance of the City of Providence to add the next appropriate article, the Providen the Providence Rent and Stabilization Act.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Uh with the sergeant at arms, can you please bring the sign-in sheet that you have before us?

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Could you uh enter the letters of testimony into the record?

So noted.

Thank you.

Um just to remind everyone this is uh hearing.

We're gonna be listening to the testimony.

Uh this this hearing, there is no vote needed uh or uh and even to adjourn.

So with that said, I would like to first call uh Larry Mancini, Chief Financial Officer.

Actually, give me one second.

Uh yes, the first person I would like to call is Larry Mancini, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Providence.

Thank you.

Uh Mr.

Mancini, and just to you know you've been here for many years.

Um everyone uh is going to receive a uh three minute, and obviously, Mr.

Mancini being the chief financial officer uh has an exception on that at least five minutes, right?

Or so I'll do my best to stay within the rules, Mr.

Chairman.

Thank you very much.

I uh I appreciate it.

And if you could also speak directly into the mic so that way the people in the rear can listen and hear uh what uh testimony is being provided.

Thank you, Mr.

Mancini.

You may proceed.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

Once again, good evening, Mr.

Chairman, honorable members of the committee and the city council.

My name is Lawrence J.

Mancini, and I'm the chief financial officer for the city of Province.

This evening I'm here specifically to provide testimony on the unknown potential financial implications this policy could have on the city.

On January 26th of this year, the administration formally requested a fiscal note on the impact this proposal will have on our budget.

Only today, the finance department was provided with such a note, which estimates that the cost of this program administration at more than a half a million dollars next year alone.

There hasn't been enough time for this to be fully viewed to review this note, so I can't provide any assurances that this includes the full cost.

Without that necessary information prior to today, the finance team conducted a limited analysis of the potential impact to the city or province's tax revenue and hence the budget, based upon information gleaned from a similar study from the city of Portland, Maine, based on rent control provisions.

The finance department reviewed the number of residential dwelling properties that could be subject to the rent control provision and arrived at approximately 44% of those dwellings, using those affected properties and its combined assessed value of 4.3 billion, and when applied against the respective tax rates, the cumulative projected tax loss using the Portland model would result in a projected property tax loss of between 1.9 million and 3.25 million of tax revenue.

Applying the same impacts observed in the Portland, Maine and St.

Paul, Minnesota studies, the tax revenue loss in province could approach actually 10.3 million to a range of 17.5 million.

This exercise does not take into account the potential decrease in property valuation we have seen because of these policies in similar cities, which would further decrease revenue.

As an example, St.

Paul, Minnesota saw an average property value fall by 4.4% when the implementation of rent control policies was completed.

Clearly, any lost revenue would have to be made up by shifting the tax burden to single family homeowners, which resulted in tax raises for neighbors across the city.

Hence, even an average tax revenue loss or shift of 4.3% could result in significantly higher tax bills for the median valued single family home.

These are families, elderly neighbors, and community members who cannot bear the burden alone and afford an increase in their tax bill or a decrease on the property value.

I hope that the city council will consider the financial, economic, and policy impacts of this legislation, and invite the experts in the administration who were not consulted during the drafting of this proposal to the committee for a more transparent discussion prior to any vote being conducted.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I appreciate the opportunity to pair before you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Benson.

The next person I would like to call is Emily Friedman, Director of Housing and Human Services.

Good evening, honorable members of the committee.

I'm Emily Friedman, Director of Housing and Human Services.

The City's Department of Housing and Human Services shares the deep concerns of so many neighbors here in Providence who are struggling with unaffordable rents and a real housing shortage.

The pressure on families across our city is undeniable.

But while the urgency is real, we must also be thoughtful about the solutions we choose.

The department is immersed all day, every day in the work of increasing the city's supply of affordable housing and designing programs that protect, preserve, and produce housing for our residents.

We see firsthand the scale of the challenge and the importance of solutions that expand opportunity rather than restrict it.

Some on the council have proposed rent stabilization.

The department understands why it sounds appealing.

But to be clear, rent stabilization does not freeze rents or lower them.

It simply regulates the pace of future increases.

Further evidence and direct conversations with day-to-day administrators in peer cities urge extreme caution when considering such a policy.

In St.

Paul, Minnesota, strict rent control adopted in 2021, like is proposed here, led to an over 80% drop in new housing permits while rents still increased.

Colleagues there have shared how difficult it has been to unwind the unintended consequences.

In contrast, nearby Minneapolis experienced a building boom and declining rents after pursuing zoning reforms to increase supply.

This is one of the clearest real-world case studies we have available.

In Portland, Maine, leaders have had to muddle through administrative complexity, unclear roles, and a multi-year backlog of exemption applications and appeals.

Research also shows that rent control policies often disproportionately benefit higher income white households who are more likely to secure and remain in controlled units, not the lower income residents most vulnerable to displacement.

If our shared goal is to protect those residents, targeted means tested programs such as rental assistance, expanded eviction defense, and housing stabilization supports are far more effective tools in our pro housing toolbox.

And I hope the council will support thoughtful proposals like those when the administration submits its FY27 budget this spring.

Vacancy control provisions like the one proposed here, which most cities have ultimately dropped or are seeking to unwind, can also backfire.

When annual increases are capped at 4%, landlords are incentivized to take that full increase every year to keep pace with rising costs.

That structure institutionalizes rent increases rather than moderates them.

Additionally, the 99-year deed restriction requirement would mean nearly all of our existing affordable housing developments would not qualify for exemption.

Combined with a new construction exemption period that is misaligned with standard mortgage terms.

This creates underwriting uncertainty that could slow desperately needed production housing production now.

I urge you to review the expert testimony submitted to you by Rhode Island Housing and other housing finance experts.

Here in Providence, the city cannot afford policies at risk reducing investment or delaying new homes, and I urge you not to unintentionally undermine the good work we've been doing together to address this housing crisis.

Together, we must focus on proven strategies that grow housing supply and protect affordability.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Would you like uh your both testimony?

Do you want to turn it in for us?

Or send us those email if you've probably sent it already?

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

The next person we have here.

Gregory J.

Rice.

And there's someone here with to the right.

We'll give you notification.

How long you have left, and then you mustn't.

Thank you.

Thank you.

When I began testifying at the State House years ago, rent control was a boutique radical idea that was scoffed at by mostly everyone.

The Overton window has since shifted to where we are today.

It has become reasonable and acceptable to propose support and endorse rent control and/or rent stabilization.

When I testified, I would spend time researching and studying the issue diligently.

I would bring forth data, information, case studies, quotes from experts, facts about my experience, comparative city analyses, and beyond.

My colleagues who are here in solidarity tonight would do the same.

Year after year, however, after doing the same thing and seeing no results, actually seeing worse results, I have come to the realization that rent control has surpassed its original intention, and now instead has become a religion.

And as we all know, facts and information are the enemy of religion.

What I've also noticed is that the Providence City Council official Facebook page has shifted from a neutral, unbiased informational hub to a mechanized propaganda arm of the progressive wing of the Democrat Party.

The official Facebook page is a government-funded resource that has been weaponized to promote an institutional consensus and belief to the untrained public eye that they have reached their determination on this matter.

This is arguably one of the most controversial policy issues the city has seen.

And the overwhelming majority of the content promoted is one-sided.

That is as un-American as it gets.

That's what they do in North Korea.

Thank you.

Next person is Rain Thomas.

The position for you could restate your name and your address.

Yes.

Where do you live?

Oh, at least live.

My name is Raina Thomas, and I live in Ward 3.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Hello.

My name is Raina Thomas, and I'm a member of Sister Fire here to speak in support of the rent stability bill.

Mostly because this is a moment of urgency, and I have not heard an alternative plan to address the rising costs of rent in the city of Providence.

And while I cannot speak on behalf of everyone, I know that limiting a landlord's ability to raise the rent by 4% would, if nothing else, give me time to find alternative housing options.

From reading the bill, I understand that this is not about rent control, but about rent stability.

Rent control means that I move into your apartment at a price, and it stays that price as long as I live there.

Rent stability says you cannot increase my rent by a certain percentage each year.

So you can increase the amount of rent each year.

Secondly, one of the things that I'm also understanding is that my landlord would not have to raise the rent to 4%.

That is also another misfact that is being spread.

But they cannot exceed that 4% without justification.

As a tenant who is subject to background checks, credit reports, criminal background searches, and references.

I would love some transparency in why my rent is increased by more than 4%.

Especially, excuse me, especially since I have been priced out of two homes in the past six years.

My rent has increased by 11% in the past six years.

11% in Ward 1 and in Ward 3.

I am a high school history teacher.

I make less than $3,000 a month, and I cannot afford rent.

I am teaching your children, I'm teaching your nieces and nephews, your neighbors, and I cannot afford to pay rent.

I can't afford to teach.

This impacts your kids just as much as it impacts your tenants.

There is a teacher shorter in Providence right now because teachers are walking away and transitioning into other industries because we cannot pay rent.

So this isn't just about money.

This is also about your children.

And if we're being honest, even you who are small landlords, you are being impacted by this as well.

Right?

If we're thinking about it, you actually should be outlining with your tenants, right?

Because the big corporations, the reason why you're seeing such high cost and maintenance, why you're seeing such high costs in your taxes, is because they are buying up all of the land, and they're increasing your taxes.

They are increasing your taxes.

Okay.

And so I recommend that you highly support this bill because this is urgent.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I I would also remind everyone that as you clap, the time keeps going.

So you're shortening the three minutes for the speaker, please.

So I know that we're passionate and we want to be supportive, but we want to make sure that we hear the testimony and that people can have the time that they've dedicated to come out here and have the time to testify because we have about three pages and more coming.

Thank you very much.

The next person is Donald Martone.

Against Welcome.

What's up?

We don't want you to shut the fuck up.

We want you to have a voice.

Just let you know, there's no outburst.

There's also you will be escorted out if there's any incidents or any shouting back and forth.

Let's remind you about being respectful, and just we're here to listen to testimony, just as the democracy of our city, and that we we are here dedicated to make sure that we listen.

Thank you.

Welcome, Mr.

Martin.

Uh thank you for your time.

I don't I don't need the entirety of the time.

My good friend uh put my name in the ring here, and um, he knows that I'm just as passionate about this subject as as he is, and as uh as well as my constituents.

My name is Donald Martin.

I am an unlikely candidate for mayor for the city of Winsaket, 19,436 residents strong, but I'm also a former resident of the city of Providence and an investor, and I can speak to both ends of this uh challenging issue that we're facing.

Uh, but I can tell you as a former resident having sold uh last year before your tax increases, I can tell you that before we have a conversation about rent stabilization or control, as you it's been misconstrued, because we don't have control, the city has control.

So if the city has control, why don't we have a talk about the cost of the property before we talk about what it's required to maintain a property for the safety and the health of our tenants?

I do want to call to attention of this 17-page document, a very alarming definition called fair return.

And according to this um committee, it's defined as a return sufficient to maintain property in decent and habitable uh habitable condition.

And what does that mean exactly?

Um, not only am I uh a former investor of Providence and decided to put my money elsewhere because of what's coming down the pike here.

Thank you so much.

I don't need that much time.

Thank you.

The last 12 years of investing in selling real estate and helping people in this very situation.

You bring back the free market, you allow the market to do what it has to do.

These properties, multifamily investment properties are based, the cost is based upon the GRM, the gross friend multipliers, and the cap rates.

Prices have already come down on these properties because people simply won't stand for it.

There's your free market.

When the prices come down, the rents come down.

It's not justifiable anymore for an individual to want to spend 650,000 on a three-unit property in Providence.

Let the free market live.

You will have your rent stabilization.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next person is Alexa Briga.

Members of the Providence City Council Hope Committee, good evening.

My name is Alexa Barriga.

I live in Wandscook in Ward 14, and I'm a member and I'm an organizer with Sistifier.

I'm here because my family and I have suffered from the lack of housing stability and tenant protections in Providence, and because I believe that rent stabilization is one critical step towards protecting the safety and the dignity of people in this city.

I have lived in my current apartment for one year.

I moved there after experiencing a 40% rent increase in 2024 in the West End, where I lived for four years with my younger sister and my best friend.

And one year our rent went up from 15 a month, $1,500 a month to $2,100 a month with no explanation.

Our landlords became hostile and we were forced out.

Before that, I lived in another apartment in the West End for three years.

During my last year there, I was in and out of the hospital with respiratory infections caused by high levels of toxic black mold.

Despite repeated requests, our landlords refused to test the apartment, and after months of being sick, I paid for the testing myself.

When the results confirmed the mold, the landlords asked us to leave for a week so that they could treat it.

On the first day that we left, they posted an eviction notice to our door, one that we didn't see because we lived on the third floor.

They never treated the apartment.

Instead, they sold the building and moved to Florida.

We were forced to move our belongings into storage for three months.

I slept in my car, I stayed with friends until we were able to secure another apartment.

And during that time, I was really scared.

I've changed how I eat, I skip my health care visits, all to make sure that I make my rent.

So please vote yes on rent stabilization.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next person is Karen Seiler.

Against Karen Seidler.

Hi.

I live in Ward 2.

Um, I own property, uh rental property in Ward 1, um, and also in Ward 2.

Uh, my husband and I became landlords in Providence in 1989.

So though we're small landlords, we would not be eligible for an exemption under the proposed ordinance.

Uh, one of our properties in Fox Point has six units, so it's not eligible.

Um, and I came with a little bit of real numbers here to talk about the landlord side of this for these types of small multifamily properties.

And I and I know uh a six-unit facility in Providence is considered commercial, but it's too little tiny, small three families.

There's two five apartments that are two bedrooms and one apartment that's a one bedroom.

Our property taxes this past year on that property in Fox Point were 24,000.

So we can't have this conversation without talking about the expenses.

If you divide the 24,000 by apartment that and by month, that works out to 332 a month per apartment property tax, which is a huge number when you think about what people are paying in rent.

I took a look at the last four years.

Our average annual rental increase across those six units was 2.4%.

Our average annual increase in our base operating costs.

So I'm not talking about repairs, I'm not talking about improvements, I'm not even talking about mortgage.

I'm only talking about property tax, insurance, utilities, and basic cleaning like snow removal, that kind of stuff.

12.5% annual average increase across the same period.

Now, those expenses are unusual.

Things like utilities and insurance are out of are out of control.

And the property tax number I shared with you is 50% of that number.

So we have a systemic and a structural problem here in this city, and rent stabilization is not going to do anything to control it because if I don't have the flexibility to respond to the actual costs, especially in between tenants, then I'm just going to de facto raise my rent by 4% every year, which is going to hurt my tenants.

They have not been experiencing those kinds of rent increases.

So if there are abuses in the system, address the abuses.

Don't penalize good landlords.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

One last uh time.

The Honda Pilot.

License plate.

VM 513.

You need to move.

It's gonna be gone.

Haven Brothers is ready to move into their place.

I also would like to remind everyone that on Monday, this committee is going to be meeting at 5 30 for deliberation of the feedback that we're getting here and also out in the community.

And so there will also be another uh rent stabilization listening session on Tuesday, February 24th at 5 p.m.

at the subside cultural center.

And then on the March 4th on the Federal Hill West End rent stabilization rent civilization hearing at that time at the Bell Street Chapel.

So with that said, the next person would be Sophia Gums 4.

Hi.

Hi, welcome.

Members of the Providence City Council Hope Committee.

My name is Sophia Gums, and I'm a member leader with Systifier.

I live in the West End.

We organize women and non-binary people of color across the city, and we're here because our members' stories show one clear truth.

Rent is destabilizing Providence.

This testimony is grounded in more than 40 interviews and direct rental support to over 100 families across the South Side, West End, Fox Point, Olneyville, Smith Hill, Wanscook, Mount Pleasant, and beyond.

These are not isolated stories, they show a pattern.

Rent is rising faster than wages.

Many of our members spend 40 to 70% of their income on rent.

People on fixed incomes pay 60% or more.

One member told us every year my SSI goes up a little bit.

Every time it does, my rent goes up too.

Another said rent keeps going up, but my income has gone down.

Rent stabilization is not about the lack of housing.

This is about triple deckers with mold, basement apartments with water pooling through the walls, units with roaches, mice, and no heat.

Flipped apartments with broken plumbing and freezing water.

One member said the rent is always crazy, it's never worth it where I live.

Another shared we were paying almost $1,300 for a freezing old apartment.

Quality does not improve, yet the price goes up.

Displacement is happening quietly and constantly.

People are pushed out through rent hikes, non-renewal notices, and month-to-month leases.

It is legal on paper, it's devastating in real life.

One member told us the lease wouldn't be renewed.

That was it.

Another said I moved three, I moved four or five times in a few years.

Families are leaving Providence for Pawtucket, Cranston, and one socket, not because they want to, but because they cannot afford to stay in the neighborhoods they grew up in and helped build.

This instability creates impossible trade-offs.

People skip medication, they ration food, they delay doctor visits, they fall behind on utility payments to keep a roof over their heads.

A parent told us I skipped meals so my kid could eat.

Another said there are nights when food isn't even on my mind.

I'm worried about rent.

Housing stress is a public health issue.

Members describe chronic anxiety, sleepless nights, and preparing mentally for homelessness.

One person said, I actively think about whether I could live in my car.

Another said I cry every night.

This is the emotional cost of unchecked rent increases.

We also see the structural pattern.

Corporate landlords replace local owners, communication moves to portals, repairs require five requests, rent increases are sent via email with no prior notice or conversation.

Decisions are made without community input.

At the same time, we see long-time black-brown immigrant and working class neighborhoods transform.

Development is not built for the people who live here now.

It is built for higher income newcomers.

Rent stabilization will not fix everything, but it will do something critical.

It will set boundaries, it will prevent sudden rent shocks that destabilize households.

It will reduce non-renewal pressure.

It will give families predictability.

It will allow people to plan, not just survive.

Our members are not asking for new homes.

They're asking for stability in the ones they have.

Thank you.

Providence is not Boston.

Wages here do not match the rents being charged.

Without intervention, displacement will continue outward, families will continue to fracture, neighborhoods will continue to lose their cultural anchors.

Thank you very much.

Next next we have Jeremy Costa.

Jeremy Costa.

Against you guys were probably expecting that.

Probably weren't expecting for me to be against rent stabilization.

And after listening to a few people here, I'm really against rent stabilization.

A lot of these people don't really understand.

So I want to take the time for a quick second and have everybody, because they all use the same search engines.

You know, they're all gonna be replaced by them soon.

So I want them to go into their phones right now and ask their search engine if rent stabilization is fiscally responsible, is economically responsible.

I want them to ask that question.

And the first person to raise your hand, sir.

No.

You address the okay, but listen, listen, listen.

But we're addressing the city.

And so I'm gonna do so since you asked.

But I just wanted to.

Because there's a lot of people that had a lot of questions.

One question that I have in regards to the city, I want to address, make sure you guys get this real quick.

This is a simple math question.

When you are paying 4%, and then you would add additional 4%, and then you add additional 4%, and then you add an additional 4%, and then you add an additional 4%, and then you add an additional 4%.

How much percent are you gonna end up paying at the end of six years?

Does anybody have the answer to that?

The city council?

I heard somebody.

24%.

So 11% ain't nothing.

So you know, but I want to go back into the testimony because I think it's more important for you guys to really understand.

What we're doing is we're pricing our people out.

We're creating the chaos because we're staking, we're taking all the funds to fill these to fill these seats with bureaucracy.

We can use those resources to help the schools.

We need our school system back.

They just tried to take 10.

We just we just had to pay 11 million dollars in fines and fees.

We don't need any more litigation.

We just paid 11 million dollars for an accident that could have been avoided.

It's 22 million dollars.

That could be enough to finance this committee, probably for the next three years.

Because we don't know what type of litigation is coming our way.

So we need to take a look at the at the at the bare minimum.

The numbers, the math doesn't lie.

But I just want to add just real quick because I don't have much time and I know that there's a lot of people that have an opinion on this.

You know, this isn't about the city.

It's not just about rent.

I'm not standing here trying to defend landlords either right now.

I'm standing there because I love the city of Providence.

Do you know what?

I moved here because of a do not contact.

I moved here because I was forced to move here.

I moved here because there was no other place to give me sanctuary.

Thank you very much for your test.

So I want you guys to understand.

Don't force these landlords who are your only revenue stream right now because you could be cut off at any moment by the man in the by the man in DC that I just went to go see.

You can be cut off at any time.

Thank you.

And so who's gonna support you then?

Your time has run out.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have uh Celine means for it.

Celine means Hello, can you hear me?

May proceed.

Good evening.

My name is Celine Means, and I live in the Ward 13, and I'm a member of Sistifier.

We are in strong support of the Rent Stabilization Act.

We believe this ordinance is necessary.

We believe it must remain strong and equitable in its final form.

As you've heard from our members, rent is rising, and the quality of the housing does not match these prices.

I am one of these people where all of my income goes towards paying for rent while freezing in a poorly insulated apartment with mice.

Sistifier has supported over 100 families through rental assistance and mutual aid in neighborhoods across the city, and we see these patterns.

Rent goes up and conditions do not improve.

We support this provision that no rent increase shall be allowed if that unit is not in compliance with housing code.

No one should pay more for unsafe living conditions.

If a landlord wants to raise rent, the unit must be safe and dignified.

We support the per 4% annual cap.

This is a moderate guardrail.

It allows for steady increases while preventing shock hikes that destabilize families.

We support the requirement of landlords to petition the rent regulation board for increases unless they demonstrate an exceptional circumstances.

This creates much needed oversight and transparency.

It balances housing stability with a fair return standard for property owners.

We support the municipal complaint process through the rent regulation board.

Tenants need a clear place to go when there's retaliation, overcharging, and failure to maintain services.

The ability to file complaints collectively through unit tenant unions is essential.

Collective rights create safety.

We do want to name some areas of the policy that we have challenges with.

First of all, is the default annual anniversary date of January 1st if there's a no documented lease.

January is one of the hardest financial months for families.

Heating costs, holiday debt, seasonal work slows.

We ask the council to consider alternatives to avoiding concentrating increases, specifically around the more financially strainy period of the year.

Secondly, there's a requirement that board members of the rent regulation board must be qualified voters.

And we have many residents who are long-term community members but are not eligible voters.

They pay rent, they raise their children, and contribute to our economy, and we believe that lived experience and residency should be sufficient to serve.

And so we hope that you do not exclude impact of residents from decision making on the basis of the citizenship.

Lastly, we um uh would like the council to examine the 15-year exemption, um, whether or not this timeline is appropriate.

Providence needs steadiness in its rental market.

This ordinance establishes clear rules, a structured petition process, and protections.

It does not freeze rent, it does not eliminate profit, it creates guardrails.

Housing is not a luxury, it is a foundation for health education and economy.

When rent is in unpredictable, everything else becomes unstable.

We urge you to pass this strong rent stabilization.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

I also would like to recognize Consulman Oscar Vargas, who's here with us, and also Councilwoman Ana Vargas, who's just joined us also.

Thank you.

Next person is uh is Andrew Kyan.

Andrew Kyan against Andrew Kine here.

All right, moving forward.

Next person is Janice Hannert against Janet Hannert.

If Andrew comes in, uh just put him on the side for me, please, and uh we'll call him next.

Thank you.

Janice, welcome.

Thank you, members of the Common Council, City Council.

My name is Janice Hanard.

I've been a landlord in Providence for over 40 years.

I respectfully ask that you do not pass rent stabilization.

This ordinance, if passed, will not achieve what it's trying to do and will in fact hurt housing.

It will produce rent destabilization rather than rent stabilization.

Landlords want to have stable long term tenants.

It's very disruptive when a tenant moves, you renovate the apartment, you advertise the apartment, you have a vacant month or two, you pay the utilities.

It's not, you get a new lead certificate.

It's not good for either the landlord or the tenant.

In the past, landlords have not raised rents every year.

They tried not to raise the rent until the tenant moved, but that won't be possible under this ordinance.

I'm afraid that I'd have to raise my rents 4% every year for every tenant because I couldn't raise them when the units vacant.

And it wouldn't hurt the tenant.

If I look at some of my tenants, they've been there 24 years, 19 years, 17 years, 16 years.

These people might have to move if I raise my rents.

It applies to everyone.

As a small private landlord, I try not to raise rents on people that I think might have to move.

A good tenant is gold.

They help you maintain your property.

My house is also in a local historic district.

I have a historic home with wood clapboard wood windows, which cost much more to maintain than vinyl windows and vinyl siding.

I'm concerned that I won't be able to maintain my property if this ordinance is passed.

In addition, rents went up during COVID when people from New York were moving here because they were remotely.

People now have to go back to the office, and a lot of those people have left.

I think rents are softening now.

I feel that rent control will hurt the city of Providence.

The assessments are based on the rents that landlords charge for their rental real estate.

Property values will go down, and the amount of real estate tax that the city can collect will go down, and the city may not be able to pay its bills.

My water, sewer, insurance, labor utilities have all gone up.

And I don't know how much they'll go up in the future.

I don't want to raise my rents any more than I have to.

So adopting this proposed rent stabilization ordinance is a bad idea.

Landlords will not be able to maintain their properties, and I feel the city will suffer.

It will destabilize the housing market rather than stabilize it.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much.

Next person is Vivian Sutherland.

For Vivian Sutherland.

We are told a fairy tale in Providence.

We are told that the market alone can fix the housing crisis.

Landlords want us to believe that a right to housing is less important than their right to a profitable return on investment.

But let's be honest about what's actually happening in Providence.

Our housing system isn't failing because we forgot how to build.

The law, the landlord lobby hides behind the mask of the so-called mom and pop housing provider.

They don't want you to see the LLCs, the shell companies, the massive accumulation of land.

We are told they provide housing.

No, the working class built the housing.

Landlords simply gatekeep it.

Providence is standing on a cliff.

Over 55% of our homes were built before 1940.

The iconic triple deckers, the backbone of our neighborhoods are being pushed towards demolition by neglect.

What is the market solution?

Wait for the buildings to be condemned and develop luxury condos with only 10% affordable housing.

In 15 years, by 2020, uh by 2040, our city will be a gentrifying corporate playground for the rich in some neighborhoods and slum apartments costing probably about 4,000 in others.

Not a place to raise a family.

These won't be homes, they'll be investment vehicles for real estate developers and investors to park cash while our neighbors are priced out of the city.

Rent stabilization is often called market interference.

I call it a stay of execution.

It would provide the foundational stability to required to live a life not defined by the terror of an impending 30 or 40 or 50% rent hike.

If rent stabilization makes landlords and lordism uh less profitable for speculators, that's great.

It should.

Landlords shouldn't exist.

While we need to prevent price gouging, what tenants really need is a rent freeze, a permanent cap that actually lowers the rent and ties it to the quality of the housing.

The city needs a first right of refusal to take more housing into public ownership and municipalize the corporate landlords and the slumlords.

Housing should be a human right, a public utility.

Rent stabilization is the floor, and our demands are not the ceiling.

We are asking for a discount.

We are asserting our right to a dignified life in the city of Providence.

Thank you.

Thank you.

His Andrew.

Is he here?

No, moving forward.

Next person would be Jordan Frank.

Jordan Frank.

Against.

This is Jordan.

He's coming.

Okay.

Welcome, Jordan.

Thank you.

Sorry.

It's Jordan Frank Ward 2.

So there's a scene in the Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark.

It happens really early on.

We're Indiana looks across the desert and he says to his colleague, they're digging in the wrong place.

Rental rates are too high.

We're totally square on that.

It's hard to afford the life that you need to have in the city of Providence.

The data says that.

But is that the problem or is that a symptom?

If you solve the symptom, you're putting ointment on a heart wound, not actually doing the surgery that you need to do.

The root cause is a vacancy rate problem.

We have a vacancy rate emergency in the city of Providence.

A good target vacancy rate is 6.5%, somewhere between 5 and 8.

We're at 3.2%.

Statewide, I think we're at two 2.6%, so you leave the city, it just gets worse.

We haven't seen a 5 to 8% vacancy rate since 2014, where the 26 some odd years before that, we sustained that vacancy rate all but two years.

We have a vacancy rate emergency.

In the year 2023, 439.

That's nearly double.

We are building our way out of this problem.

Building your way out of this problem does work.

It worked in Austin, Texas, where rents got really high in 2022, and average rent in Austin, Texas was $1,673.

Four years later, with inflation, it was down to $13.55 back to inflation adjusted rates of 2017.

They built their way out.

What happens with rent control?

You put the brakes on the building.

You put the breaks on saving people from higher rents, which is a symptom.

Econ 101 is hard to like believe it actually works, but when you take supply and demand and you add a rent control, you have a dead weight loss to society.

That's a deadweight loss both to landlords and to renters.

You can't get away around that.

And does that really happen?

Yes, it really happens.

In St.

Paul, it was mentioned building permits went down from 1600 to 332.

In San Francisco, supply decreased 15%, rent increase 5%.

In Portland, Maine cost burden renters were 47% before rent control.

They were 52% after rent control.

It got worse.

But Providence rent control, it's not it is a NIMBY policy.

Not in my backyard.

It says don't build here.

What will happen?

Builders will leave.

They will build, they will go to other towns around Providence, or if they're smart, they're gonna go to neighboring states like Massachusetts, which had rent control and then banned rent control.

And that puts them in one of uh a cast of one of 36 other states who have in fact banned rent control.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

Again, if you want to submit your testimony, you could leave it with the sergeant at arms and with just leave it with the sergeant at arm over there.

And uh he'll bring it forward uh to the clerk.

Next person we have is E.

B.

Saldanya.

Uh four.

E.

B.

Saldanya.

Come on.

Hi, members of the committee.

Uh my name's Elizabeth Saldania.

I am a resident of Ward 5 and assistif fire member.

And I am here tonight in support of the rent stabilization ordinance.

I support rent stabilization because I support stability and predictability in the rental market.

I lived for five years in a beautiful apartment on the east side.

We were exemplary tenants, never missed a payment, took care of the place, and I thought I had a good relationship with my landlord.

But in 2022, he informed my partner and I that he would be raising our rent a thousand dollars a month up from 1950 a month.

For those keeping track at home, that is a 51% increase.

We did our best to negotiate with him.

We tried to request a smaller rent increase, but he insisted that the market had changed since we moved in, and that he now needed to put the apartment at market prices.

As a tenant, I had no recourse.

I felt totally powerless to fight back.

There was no one I could complain to, there was nothing I could do.

My options were leave or be squeezed for another 12,000 dollars a year.

The six months that we ended up spending trying to buy a home in Providence were some of the worst months of my life.

I saved every last penny for a down payment, and I spent every waking moment looking at real estate websites or going to open houses.

Whether as a renter or as a buyer, finding a place to live here is a full-time job on top of the full-time job I already have.

It exhausted me.

Everything here was wildly overpriced or literally falling apart.

I stopped sleeping and sincerely believed that I would not find a place to live.

What should have been a happy moment was a desperate race against a rent kite that I had no control over.

Many of the people who oppose rent stabilization insist that a market solution is necessary to solve the problem of high rent.

But in my experience, the market solutions that have been used in my life turned me out of the home that I loved, had been in for five years, and put me hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt for overpriced homes that didn't match the quality.

I'll end by saying that this is actually the best case scenario for young homeowners and people looking to buy here.

My partner and I have stable, well-paying jobs.

We are squarely in the middle class and still face a 51% rent hike with literally no recourse.

Most of the people in Providence are dealing with a lot worse.

It is sad that that is the best that this city has to offer.

A difficult overpriced home market for buyers or being squeezed for every last cent as a renter.

And it doesn't have to be like this.

We deserve better.

The people of Providence shouldn't have to rush major life decisions like buying a home.

And we shouldn't have to anguish for weeks and months about where we're going to live because someone else decided they wanted more money from us.

I love this city.

Rent stabilization is about taking care of Providence by making it affordable for the people who do love it to stay.

Thank you very much.

Next person is Joe Luca.

Joe Luca, good evening, council members.

My name is Joe Luca.

Realtor.

I've been a realtor since 2006.

I'm a housing educator and someone who works every day with renters, homeowners, and small housing providers across Providence and all of Rhode Island.

I'm also president of the Providence chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, and I speak on our behalf as well.

Housing stability indeed does matter, but respectfully, this ordinance will make matters worse over time.

Not better.

Providence has a supply problem.

This ordinance does not build a single new unit of housing.

It does not reduce construction costs.

Most Providence landlords are not corporations.

They are retirees, immigrant families, and local owners of two and three unit homes.

When regulations make it harder to cover rising costs like taxes, like insurance.

Accelerating consolidation and long-term rent pressure.

Research from cities across the country shows that consistent outcomes with rent control and rent stabilization.

You have reduced rental supply, deferred maintenance, and higher rents in the uncontrolled market.

If we truly want affordability, we should focus on policies that expand housing opportunity, allow more multifamily housing by right, reduce zoning barriers, speed up permitting, incentivize new construction and rehabilitation, and expand targeted rental assistance for households in need.

Rent control treats the symptom, housing supply cures the disease.

For these reasons, I respectfully urge you to vote no on the Providence Rent Stabilization Act.

Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you.

Next is uh Daniel Denver Daniel Denvere.

Denver for it.

Welcome, Dan.

Thank you very much.

Um my name's Dan Denver.

I'm a co-chair of Reclaim Rhode Island.

I live on Forest Street in Mount Hope in Ward 3.

Rents in my neighborhood have increased truly dramatically over the past five years, resulting speeding along spectacular gentrification that will soon spell the end of Mount Hope as one of the city's most diverse neighborhoods, a place where black, white, Latino, Asian, working and middle class families call their home.

The landlord lobby argues that rent stabilization won't work.

We know that's not true.

If rent stabilization had been in place in 2020, just six years ago, Mount Hope families would have been stabilized.

Our community would have been stabilized.

And I really want to emphasize this because both sides of this debate argue over all sorts of things, cite different academic studies.

There isn't no academic debate over whether rent stabilization achieves its core goal of slowing rent increases and stabilizing people in their homes.

On my block, on my block, triple deckers are being bought up by speculators, charging twice as much for the squame same square footage as longtime owner occupiers, and you can tell which houses are which.

The speculative absentee landlords, you can identify them right now because they're the homes where no one is bothered to shovel the sidewalks.

Rent stabilization will keep people in their homes.

It will also slow down speculation.

It's runaway rents that we see driving landlords, corporate landlords like O2908 and strive to gobble up properties all over the city.

If this was about anything other than landlord profits, then why don't we see anyone, anyone but the landlord lobby here in opposition to this ordinance?

Is rent stabilization enough?

No.

Supply does matter.

The landlord lobby says this ordinance will stifle development.

They point over and over again to St.

Paul, Minnesota.

We just heard from a representative of the mayor that this was a clear-cut real world example.

That is false.

Check out the Boston Globe, University of Minnesota professor Ed Getz, just at an op-ed.

He's one of the country's most eminent housing scholars, based at right next to St.

Paul, and he made it clear that this was an absolutely misleading example cited by RIPEC and now the mayor's office against rent stabilization.

And anyways, it is very clear that sky high rent is never going to incentivize sufficient development to solve this crisis.

That's why we need to develop a new generation of mixed-income public housing.

Finally, we know this is popular.

A URI poll from last year, 72% statewide support it.

In working class progressive Providence, we know that is far higher.

So the evidence backs us and the people of Providence support it.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Ryan Ferranti.

Ryan Ferranti.

Against.

Put someone in there.

Ryan Ferrenti.

Welcome, Ryan.

Thank you, thank you.

Thank you for letting me speak today.

My name is Ryan.

I'm here with NARA at Providence.

I'm the government affairs director.

I think we all can agree that rent control is intended to help the average person living in Providence.

As a mortgage professional, I find rent control particularly dangerous to the health of our economy, housing market, and those who are looking to buy a new home.

Whether they are a first-time home buyer or a repeat buyer.

Here are some uh consequences of rent control.

It reduces the incentive for investors to build new units, decreasing an already short supply, reduces the amount of investors buying and sub uh subsequently improving the properties through renovation.

It also hinders first time homebuyers because we have to use the rents that are established in 75% of that to in order to qualify those home buyers.

So to conclude, investors are going to be discouraged from investing.

First time homebuyers are going to be barred with higher barriers to entry.

So what is this cause?

This causes an increase in supply with a decrease in demand.

So rent control can very strong possibility that this will cause a housing crash for your constituents.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Dennis Hogan.

Dennis Hogan.

Is Dennis Hogan here?

Seeing none.

Moving forward.

Then we have uh is it uh Michael Perry?

Michael Perry for Hey, how y'all doing?

Uh just my first time here, right?

And uh I could tell you one thing, there's not no AA meeting.

You know, I uh I'm I'm a disabled veteran, right?

And uh which I have a lot of mental issues, right?

And uh one of the things that keep my uh depression and my PTSD and stuff like that down is laughter, right?

But one thing I know it's not allowed to matter is the high cost of rent.

You know, I I'm from Virginia, and I came down up here uh with the help of Operation Standown, and since I've been here, I um lived in veteran houses, right?

So I had no concern about the community and the high cost of the rent until I had to get custody of my two boys.

I love my boys, and they 14 and 16.

Well, now this was like a year ago, and uh, so I heard of getting them right then, and I had to move out of government housing and to the community, right?

And my rent went up a hundred and twenty-five percent, you know, and and it was shame.

And and and you got two teenage boys, they eat a lot, you know.

So um and you know, I it's it's hard on me, you know, it's hard on me, and uh I'm starting to realize that you know it I can't afford it.

As a matter of fact, I'm behind my rent right now, you know.

Um but uh thanks for letting me say that.

Appreciate it, thank you, and thanks for your service, sir.

Next person is Harry Belladie, Harry Belladiewell is Harry Belladine here.

He's coming, okay.

As he makes his way in, just to remind everyone that you also uh could visit our website and uh submit your testimony to uh city clerk at Providence RI.gov.

Thank you.

Thank you, thank you, counselors.

Um I wanted to just make a point about expenses, really.

That over the last 50 years, the uh councils have uh increased taxes in Providence by approximately 4,000 percent.

Four thousand percent.

These increases over the last 50 years have greatly contributed to the rent increases in Providence.

This proposal may be called rent control or rent stabilization, but as a matter of fact, as has been explained by any other name.

The proposal is actually for rent uh for revenue reduction for the city.

It should be rejected as a violation of the charter, which specifically calls for a balanced budget by expense reduction in section eight oh nine.

Property owners and managers are custodians of real estate, which is one of the most significant economic engines in Providence.

Their stewardship enhances an essential source of the city's revenue.

Yet, by capping the wealth of the city, this ordinance will reduce the value of the real estate sector of the city's economy.

Follow this little set of notes.

In simple terms, by approving this ordinance, councils counselors will cap revenue, which will retard investment, which in turn will reduce property values, which finally will reduce taxable revenue to the city.

Yes, capping housing revenue will injure, injure the very city that you all are committed to assisting.

Rent control is a mistaken movement that will not help any of us.

The charter in Article 8, Section 809 instructs the council to take certain steps to do the job of balancing the budget by reducing expenses, not by reducing revenue.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Casey Gruppioni for Casey Gruppioni.

Welcome, Casey.

Thank you so much.

My name is Casey Gruppioni.

I'm in Ward One.

I don't understand how we could possibly be debating.

Choosing profit over people.

Being a landlord is a job.

You choose what you do for your profession, you choose your career, you don't choose to be a tenant.

Who would choose to be a tenant and have their lives be decided on a whim by someone who has no incentive to care about them as a whole person?

Everyone wants to own a home.

That's the American dream.

How can we prioritize profit over people?

All I hear from the landlords here is threats.

Threats they will raise the yet the rent at the maximum every year.

Threats that not making a profit will mean they will not maintain their units.

Threats they will leave the city, threats they will not be as benevolent and kind.

Threats that they won't be able to maintain their historical properties.

How is it my fault?

You made a bad business investment and can afford your lead removal bill.

The renters are asking for safety, dignity, and the right to have roots.

Renters are vulnerable.

If you can't afford your rent, you could become homeless.

If your rental investment loses money, you sell it, you take a loss, you don't have to live in your car, crash on your friend's couch while still working a full-time job.

Please protect the most vulnerable people in your ward.

Lastly, we've heard a lot about Portland, Maine in St.

Paul, Minnesota.

Let me name all the other cities in the United States that have enacted rent stabilization.

New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Barkley, San Jose, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Washington, Tacoma Park.

Please vote yes on rent stabilization.

Thank you.

Next person, Linda Androni.

Linda Androni.

Linda Androni.

Yes, it is.

Welcome.

Against.

Thank you.

Yes, I am against.

After review of the above Chapter 13 housing below, are my concerns, comments, and reply.

I serve as a landlord, manager, and owner at 221 Waterman Street, which is also the address of the property.

It's a realty LLC.

This property was built in 1930.

Can you just get closer to the mic, please?

Thank you.

This property was built in 1930 and has been in our family since 1970.

This property, main building, consists of seven residential apartments.

The rents range from $865 to 1900.

Rents are dependent on square footage and amenities within each unit.

Rents include water, sewer, and oil, steam heat.

Electric and gas, but cooking is the tenant's responsibility.

Due to the building's age, maintenance and updating are year is a yearly struggle.

Adding to these expenses are taxes and insurance, which make a fair rate of return a challenge.

My concern is the new restrictions, rate caps may hasten the plan to sell this property.

Many purchases will review the options of a tear down, removing the affordable units that I already offer with more expensive choices.

Our plan is to hold on to the property if it is feasible and pass this property on to my children.

So finally, rent control may make may move the sale of the property, resulting in perhaps another high rise, as my neighbors did on both sides of my property.

My taxes, along with insurance, maintenance, and water, sewer, and oil are challenging the opportunity of a fair market return, even before the rate cap.

So my answer is no to Providence rate stabilization.

We have some good landlords out there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Julia Troce Rosa.

And as Julia is coming up, just reminding everyone that's coming in.

If you want to speak, uh you can come in in the front and sign and sign in.

So at this time, Julia Treche Rosa.

Julia.

All right, moving forward.

Oh, here we go.

Welcome, Jiu.

Hello.

Um, my name is Fiuvia Trocher Rosa, and I am a renter in ward 10.

Um, as many as us know, as many of us know, Rhode Island has been seeing one of the largest increases in homelessness across the country.

According to the Rhode Island Coalition to End Homelessness, between 2023 and 2024, overall homelessness increased by 34.9%.

Between 2024 to 2025, overall homelessness did go down by 2.8%.

However, unsheltered homelessness went up by 15%.

I keep hearing statements from people on the fence or against rent stabilization, where they talk about how it will shrink the housing market or how it will lower construction in the future, but I never hear so anyone talk about the present.

I never hear people talk about the way our communities continue to be gentrified and forced to leave their neighborhoods we grew up in because all of a sudden rent increases or sales of their homes to corporate moguls price them out of their homes.

No one wants to talk about the increasing number of us ending up on the street as a result of the current housing market.

When I hear this constant discussions about how rent control will ruin new development, I can't help but wonder new development for who?

Five, ten, fifteen years from now, the people who lived here for generations won't be able to afford the cost of these new buildings or these exponentially rising rent prices.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not foolish.

Policies should not just focus on the present.

The future is just as important, and obviously we want more housing to be built in order to account for our population growth.

At the same time, rent stabilization is meant to be an ordinance to help the community.

I think it's important to point out the simple reality that our community is struggling with rental prices, and we'll continue to do so regardless of new developments, unless some sort of protection is put in place for them.

So often when I talk to other renters, I hear horror stories about having rent raised by hundreds or of hundreds of dollars every few months, and then upon attempting to move, being unable to find an apartment that is not only affordable, but even just in a decent condition.

It's also worth mentioning that there are plenty of exemptions and fail stations placed within the ordinance to account for rentabilization concerns.

Many landlords worry about being unable to raise rents after the property taxes go up, but within the rent stabilization ordinance, there are clear steps to take in the event that property taxes increase by more than 5%.

And the four percent and of if they increase by more than 5%, and a 4% rent hike isn't enough.

Similarly, exceptions are in place for small mom and pop landlords who live in one property and rent out a second one.

And for those who worry about reduced constructions, um the except there are exemptions for rentabilization for the first 15 years of new developments.

Some people talk about how it the 4% um rent hike makes it so that there will be a definite 4% rise in rents and how it'll add up within the years.

But there's a big difference between having your rent go up by 50% within one year and having it go up within 50% within several years.

Rent prices factor into your property taxes.

So shouldn't you want lower rents so that you're talking property taxes go down?

St.

Paul.

Thank you very much, Juvia.

Appreciate it.

Max, I'm calling uh Joe Joseph Pellino against Pellino?

Yes, good evening.

My name is Joseph Paellino.

Welcome.

Thank you.

My name is Joseph Paellino, and I'm a resident of Providence my entire life.

I still think and always will believe that Providence is America's best city.

But let me, but I'm here today to congratulate all of you.

I think it's important that you have this debate, you have this dialogue.

But I think the rent control issue is the wrong prescription for the wrong illness.

Now think about the city of Providence.

How do you generate your tax dollars for your budget for schools and police and fire?

You don't have the luxury that the state of Rhode Island has with the income tax.

You don't have a sales tax, you have property tax.

The real estate industry is not the enemy here.

Times are, the pandemic is, the craziness that's been going on in Washington are problems, the high interest rates that we see today with banks, the high insurance rates that we see on property, the high electric rates we see that's going on in real estate today in your homes every single day.

Those are the challenges you have.

Now you have an opportunity.

In fact, even more than that, I think it was 120 million.

Have the members of the city council or the government here in Providence, have you sat down with the state and with the housing secretary and to see how that money can be invested in the neighborhoods of the city of Providence?

And how it's going to be affordable for the people.

Have you come up with any ideas of how that's going to be done?

The state's looking to do another 100 million dollar bond issue in the 2026 election.

Are you sitting working to try to come up with solutions for that?

That you need to expand your tax base.

What the pandemic did just to the office market itself.

Ask Mr.

Mancini here.

All these big buildings downtown were once valued here, and now they're valued here.

And there's a discrepancy.

Where is who's taking that burden of taxes?

It's going to the homeowner.

And it's unfair.

So I I tell you now, or I suggest you, I don't tell you anything.

I suggest you.

Be very careful on this.

I think you have the wrong medicine for the wrong illness.

And I believe that with everybody here, the residents, the contractors, the real estate people, the landlords, together.

Let's figure out collectively how you can get affordability and housing.

But rent control is not the answer.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next uh is Jacob Kramer for it.

Coming from the top.

We're gonna be calling uh Bruce Borowski Borowski.

In favor?

Well, Jacob makes it down.

Bruce around here we go.

Thank you.

Moving things along here.

Bruce Borowski, thank you for uh thank you for taking me tonight.

Um a little bit closer to the mic.

Thank you.

Rent stable is rent stabilization is a necessity here in the city of Providence.

I have been able to talk to neighbors throughout the city, whether on the east side down to Admiral, down to Ward 5, Ward 14, Ward 3, 4 and 5, all the rest of them.

I hear stories about rents going up 300 year over year, 300, uh over over one year, 200, 400.

These are the kind of stories that are going to continue to divide this city.

The point is, of course, we could talk about how this is only going to increase the misery of those living in this city.

But we can also talk about, of course, something that I've already seen in Atlanta, Georgia, after the 2008, 2008 recession, an overheated real estate market led to such dire consequences that it led to not only an overheating of a of a real estate market, but the floor falling out from under it.

I saw houses that were in that were six digits go down to 50, 40,000, 30,000 all over the city of all city of Atlanta.

I would hate to see that simply because of increasing an over-speculating speculated market, simply to say that see the same thing here in the city of Providence.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next person is uh is Jacob here?

All right, come on, Jacob.

Thank you.

My name is Jacob Kramer.

I'm a renter on Camp Street in Ward 3.

I grew up in Providence, and I've seen this city change a lot over the years.

And gentrification has its perks.

Like sometimes you get $7 donuts.

Um, which there's a treat.

And but uh housing's not a treat.

Um and the galloping increase in rental prices comes at a steep cost in money, community, and human lives.

Um, I'm not gonna go over the numbers because those have been quoted here, but just think that one number that really stands out to me.

In metro areas in this country, 36% of adults could not cover a $400 emergency.

So that's what we're talking about when we're talking about these huge rent increases.

I'm a social worker, and I see the consequences of these numbers.

Most of my clients live on fixed incomes.

I have one client who lives with his partner in a one-bedroom.

Three months ago, their rent jumped over 25% from 1,500 to 1900.

There were no improvements, just pure extraction.

This client earns less than a thousand dollars a month on SSDI.

He is on the brink of eviction, and so are thousands of our neighbors.

And eviction is essentially like you can never rent again if you have an eviction on your record.

It's over for you.

I have witnessed the homelessness crisis firsthand.

Rhode Islanders are crowding into shelters or are pushed into patches of woods or highway mediums.

People are at constant risk of exposure, hypothermia, and death.

What's worse, Mayor Smiley has consistently gone out of his way to actively persecute unhoused people, bulldozing tent encampments in the name of quote public health.

In 2024, 54 people experiencing homelessness died just last week.

Irina Kozov, age 75, and her hun and her son Stanislav Kozov, 49, froze to death in the cold outside of the Miriam Hospital.

They appeared to have been living out of their car.

The unregulated rental market is literally killing our neighbors.

And for what?

For a return on speculative investment.

The ruinous increases in rent are due to unregulated house flipping and huge neighborhood buy-ups by corporations.

Corporate landlords effectively act as a cartel, hiking their prices in synchrony to maximize their profits.

Providence should do everything it can to regulate this parasitic behavior out of existence.

I also want you to think about who is here to testify and who is not.

For instance, one of my co-workers uh works three jobs.

Um, and so she didn't have the time to be here, but she experienced a doubling of her rent over six years.

And landlords who passively extract more and more money from working people are sure to come out if they feel like their future speculative profits might plateau.

They have plenty of time to advocate for themselves.

Some even have lawyers to do it for them.

So thank you very much.

I'll just end with this.

Housing is a human right, and we must always choose people over profit.

I urge you to exercise power for justice and pass this legislation.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Alexandra.

Alexandra Gonzalez.

Alexandra Gonzalez.

Against up next will be Joe Stewart.

Good evening, council members.

Um, a lot of people are like, hey, Alex was formerly homeless, she's housed hundreds of people across the state.

Why would she come out against this?

There are many reasons I'm coming out against this.

There are several people in this audience that I have developed relationships with.

That is how I housed over a hundred people by creating relationships with landlords that actually have below market rent.

So let me say this here.

I live in Providence, I lived here my whole life.

I care about Providence, and I agree housing stability is a moral issue.

Families deserve security, kids deserve consistency.

No one should feel disposable in the city that they grew up in.

But we need to ask the honest question will this ordinance actually stabilize housing in Providence, or will the structural problem become worse?

Problem has a housing supply issue.

Our vacancy rate has hovered around two to three percent in the recent years.

That is critically tight.

There's nobody for any money to move into.

It's common sense.

This is not ideology, this is math.

Also, in all you guys can name every single county that this has ever been in, it's never worked.

So we're gonna implement a policy that has no absolute metrics or anything that we've ever seen at work.

At the same time, small property owners, I myself who live in a low income, I am a tenant.

Owners are facing rising property taxes, which in cost is insurance premiums in some cases have doubled since 2020.

The maintenance costs that have cost them pre-increased 20 to 25 to even 40 to 45% because of inflation of materials and labor.

These aren't corporate landlords in Manhattan.

This is Providence.

Most rental properties are two to three family homes, four to six, they are owned by working class families.

When policy increases, regulatory burden without addressing supply, what happens?

We've seen this in other cities.

Small owners sell.

They've all said it tonight.

When we sell, we often sell to larger, bigger capitalized entities.

And I'll get to the end.

The bigger concern here is that if none of this builds what not one unit of housing, we this is what we need.

Zoning reform to allow more density in appropriate areas.

First-time home buyer program assistance, so renters can become owners.

I'm sick of renting, I deserve to own a home.

Property tax relief, tied to affordability commitments, direct rental support, and stabilizes tenants without destabilizing small providers, investment in building, not just regulatory reforms.

This is not a solution.

This is a band-aid and a political move.

We can go down to Kennedy Plaza and organize all the homeless people because it sounds good to them.

Thank you very much.

Joe Stewart.

Joe Stewart.

Welcome.

Hi.

I'm here because I know from firsthand experience that housing instability prevents working class people from cultivating a true, dependable sense of safety and belonging, both of which we desperately need to sustain our ordinary, courageous life sustaining work and providence.

In the fall of 2024, my housemate and I began an apartment search with a reasonable combined income and spotless rental history.

We toured dozens of small, badly repaired apartments with bewilderingly high rents.

Our rental applications were rejected over and over again, citing our low income, despite it totaling three times the cost of rent.

During those months, I lived between three or four homes of friends and family.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Shannon Weinstein.

Shannon Weinstein against Welcome, Shannon.

Shannon.

Someone left their phone.

Okay.

Welcome.

Hi.

My name is Shannon Weinstein.

I'm a landlord, property manager, and realtor with almost two decades of experience, deeply rooted in Providence.

I am testifying on behalf of the Rhode Island Coalition of Housing Providers, a statewide organization that advocates for balanced housing and landlord tenant policy.

Quite frankly, the very serious consequences of this ordinance are above and beyond what can be addressed in this forum.

It is also important to recognize that unintended consequences historically and repeatedly follow this policy wherever implemented, regardless of exemptions.

The exemptions set forth in this ordinance are common practice.

Rent control often excludes groups like new construction and owner occupants.

You may be exempt from this ordinance, but not from its negative consequence.

You will continue to hear from landlords' perspective tonight, but that is not our only viewpoint.

Single family homeowners will bear a disproportionate tax shift as multifamily properties values decline.

This happened recently in Portland, Maine, where property owners exempt from this ordinance incurred millions of dollars of new responsibility.

Destruction of the tax base means city services will be reduced, impacting all residents.

And while this ordinance causes massive tax revenue loss, it also costs millions of dollars to implement.

The Red Board, administration, and legal support needed would create significant staffing expenses.

The passage of this ordinance would definitely invite extensive litigation that the city would be forced to defend.

Additional power is also granted over a dozen times in this ordinance for the board to make additional rules and procedures as it sees fit.

This ordinance and its associated costs are incomplete and lack transparency.

No fiscal note has been provided, well, until today, very late, to show proper due diligence and responsible stewardship over constituent tax dollars.

Everyone is aware by now of evidence showing the reduction of existing housing units due to rent control and of course the decline of new construction, regardless of exemptions.

This is even true of Portland Maine.

And with the double loss of housing supply, who suffers, tenants and even prospective home buyers.

Data shows that housing costs over overall tend to rise, and increased risk creates scenarios where exactly though those this ordinance intends to serve struggle.

Application requirements become more stringent and will not have enough housing supply to meet our needs.

Many are still left out.

This does not lower the rent.

Lastly, we are dis disappointed and extremely that this extremely consequential policy is being based on an incomplete report.

In this report, private public sector stakeholders set policy on private sector without representation.

Landlords, property managers, realtors, mortgage bankers, and builders can provide some of the expertise missing from this report.

There is room for all of us in this discussion.

We urge you to vote no on this policy and instead opt for results-oriented approach, including further zoning reforms, incentives, and targeted means tested rental assistance.

Thank you we have submitted written testimony and are available to work with you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Kimberly the Coupe.

Kimberly de Coupe for Kimberly, the Coopie.

Move.

Okay.

Great.

Welcome, Kimberly.

Yeah, thank you.

I was not expecting to talk, so I don't even have a speech ready, but I've been organizing the rent stabilization campaign for a while.

Other people now have the reins, so I'm glad that it's coming up for a vote finally.

Renters deserve some kind of relief.

And I think it is very interesting hearing the landlords talk here.

Oh, we've heard our threats that they're gonna raise the rent if this comes up, that they're gonna sue the city, that they're gonna do all this other stuff, and that rent stabilization is gonna stop uh you know, people from being able to build housing.

And I guess my question is if rent stabilization is what's gonna stop you from building housing, why haven't you built it yet?

Right.

Please, I want someone to show me where is the building that's being built right now that's all for working people, right?

That they can afford.

We're talking about $30,000, $40,000, $50,000.

Where are those apartments, right?

If rent stabilization is stopping you, where are those apartments being built?

Because it's a lie.

You people don't want to build apartments for the people who live in Providence.

You want to build apartments for people who make $100,000 coming out of Boston.

That is what you want.

Can you also stick to the bill in front of us?

Well, yeah, but we also have to address what the opposition is saying because the opposition in Rhode Island and Rhode Island Providence on the landlord's side is tough.

I mean, we see these people out there, they all have really nice suits, and I want you to look at who's coming up to testify, right?

The people who are coming up to testify for rent stabilization, we're all younger folks.

We can't afford to rent, we can't afford to buy.

The people who are coming up here and saying that it's great that they can raise their rent a thousand dollars a month or whatever it is, these people are old.

They bought their homes when Ronald Regan was alive.

That is the truth.

And we we need to pass this, not only because we're in a crisis, but this is a very moderate policy, right?

What we need to do is take housing out of the private hand.

That's what we really need to do.

You guys are there's a lot of complaints about how this is so radical.

You don't understand radicalism.

Here in the United States, we actually used to have rent control, and we used to have public housing, meaning you weren't allowed to just corner the market the way that it's happening right now.

This is a very moderate policy.

I would advise the landlord class back there to actually take this before we move to real radical measures, like totally you know, making housing something that the public owns.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next person is Leslie Hand.

Leslie Hand against Leslie.

Hi.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Uh, my name is Leslie Hand.

I started as a tenant in this city over 20 years ago.

I'm now a property manager.

I'm a small-time landlord, like many people that are in here.

I don't I don't see the black black rocks and the big corporations.

It's really gonna impact the people like us.

I'm a local investor in the Providence community.

I stand here strongly opposed to the proposed ordinance.

Rent control will literally choke off all investment into increasing the housing supply and into improving the quality of the housing stock that we have.

When I first came to town, the very first property that we bought was a pit.

And pretty much everything around us was the same.

We decided to invest in the West End because we wanted to revitalize the properties over there.

The East End was too expensive for us.

And the properties were either blighted or really one step from being blighted in the West End.

Providence is not unique.

Like many post-COVID markets, rent increased significantly post-COVID.

But for Providence, a one-time blip happened, the expansion of remote work, migration from higher uh higher cost cities like Boston.

Um the bridge collapse didn't help.

People started moving over to this side because their work was over here.

And basically, we had a blip rent spike that honestly it hasn't happened for, I would say, I mean, we had we had people for 10 years that we hadn't increased, maybe even longer than that.

So for the first time we did make increases, we had to.

Unavoidable costs that were way beyond what CPI was.

Property insurance for us in the last five years have gone up 60% on our buildings.

Uh property values have caused our taxes to go up 16%.

Citywide, just in the last year, there was a 5.85% increase in tax, but the increase was disproportionately hitting rental apartments by targeting the two to five unit properties.

Those are the properties that we owned.

Now we're expected to shoulder the biggest brunt with an average 13% increase on our properties, triple what the whole city is.

So a single family was less.

Meanwhile, all the material costs and you know, labor costs and everything else have also gone up.

So the increases that we have made on our tenants haven't even caught covered the costs that we're that we're covering.

Umks very much.

Appreciate it.

All right.

Welcome.

Thanks for having me.

I think there's two things that I really want to say tonight.

Um, you know, I could go on about a number of other things, but I grew up in St.

Paul, Minnesota.

Most of my family still lives there, and if I were interested in exploiting people, like I could benefit from a deregulation of rent stabilization there.

But the fact of it is that I believe in rent stabilization.

I believe that renters and and tenants here in St.

Paul and cities around the U.S.

deserve some kind of semblance of stability as we move forward.

And another thing I want to, you know, bring up is just that the opposition to this keeps saying that we, you know, can't do our research and we don't know how to cite our sources.

But the fact of the matter is is that I am, you know, a published research scientist.

I have patents under my name, right?

And I'm not the only professional researcher who supports rent stabilization, and we can do our due diligence, and so I implore city council to please take seriously what the supporters are giving you, the numbers and the data that we're crunching because we are doing the due diligence that the opposition claims that we can't.

So just you know, think about the lives that you might be giving just like a little bit of protection to when you decide to support this.

Thanks.

Thank you very much.

Missy Rose Benson.

Missy Rose Benson against Welcome.

Thank you.

Well, thank you.

Um I'm here on behalf of the Greater Providence Board of Realtors, and we oppose the stabilization ordinance now before the Hope Committee.

We share your goal.

Providence needs more safe, attainable homes.

However, this ordinance will move the city in the opposite direction.

It will shrink rental supply.

It will slow needed investment, it will limit mobility and choice, it will hit small owners the hardest, and it will create cost and complexity.

Providence should not address root causes.

Excuse me.

Providence should root address root causes.

We encourage policies that approve more homes by streamlining approvals for infill, mixed use, and accessory units, and set clear, fast timelines, protect tenants from sharp spikes with targeted tools using time-limited safeguards tied to inflation and documented cost increases.

Preserving existing affordable renters by offering rehab grants and tax abatements in exchange for reasonable rent commitments and code compliance.

Reduce cost drivers by aligning fees, timelines, and utility connections to here to lower per cost units without cutting safety.

We respectfully ask the committee to hold this ordinance and direct staff to return with a package that grows supply, preserves existing units, and protects vulnerable renters without capping prices citywide.

Our members stand ready to help draft practical plans and deliver data on production costs and vacancy across Providence neighbor neighborhoods.

Thanks for your consideration.

Thank you very much.

Michelle Salcillo for Salcillo, Salcillo.

Okay.

All right.

How about uh Tobika?

Fast Fastrana Cabrera.

Cabronky.

Tamika Eastman.

Cohen.

Tamika.

How about Jordan Tao?

Jordan Tao.

All right.

Welcome, Jordan.

Thank you very much.

Hello, folks.

My name is Jordan.

I'm a lifelong Rhode Islander and a resident of Ward One.

I want to put out a different perspective here.

That is someone who has managed about 50 properties in the Greater Providence area and been a renter.

I'm in favor of rent stabilization.

I used to be one of the folks who worked getting calls late at night about broken pipes flooding an apartment.

And I know there are some mom and pop landlords out there who were shoveling snow late at night a few weeks ago.

That's why I'm in favor of this ordinance, because it protects folks like that who just want to have something to invest in and pass down to their kids.

I don't hate anybody for that.

Despite that, I want to put something to us.

That the radical perspective is continuing the status quo without rent stabilization.

It's radical that landlords who have more than an owner-occupier does don't have anything stopping them from doubling the rent if they want.

And they do in our city.

That the radical fact is that our city of Providence is the least affordable metro area in the nation.

And we have done so little to protect our renters.

Thank you very much.

The next one is Ronald Khaleri.

Ronald Kaleary.

He's for he's against it.

Ronal Kaleri?

How about Michelle Sumbrowski?

Michelle Sombrowski.

Okay.

Welcome, Michelle.

Hello.

As a resident, taxpayer, and disabled veteran, I am writing to express my strong opposition in the proposed rent stabilization measure.

For many veterans like myself, home ownership, small scale property management, well the only pets financially survivable survival survival and stability for uh after our service.

Can you finish a reading?

I just instead of being supported, we are now being punished by policies that threaten our livelihood.

I oppose this measure based on the following critical points.

Financial hardships for mom and pop landlords, rent control historically fails to fix housing shortages and instead crushes small property owners who cannot keep up with rising maintenance costs, inflation, and property taxes.

Government overreach.

My private property and my financial life are not the business of the city council.

The city the council has failed to fix the city's core infrastructure issues, yet continues to demand more money, higher taxes, and more fines from citizens.

Conflict of interest.

It is deeply concerning that several members of this city council work for, sit on boards of, or volunteer for organizations that stand to benefit from these housing policies.

This creates a clear conflict of interest.

If no one on the city council is benefiting personally or professionally, why is there such a desperate push to pass this?

Lack of transparency.

This is a major policy shift that affects every homeowner in the city.

I demand that you delay any vote and insist mail and insist mail a comprehensive information packet to every homeowner in Providence, just as you do for tax assessments or for the information card sent out last year regarding undocumented residents.

The homeowners of Providence deserve transparency and the right to defend their property rights.

Those are all my neighbors.

You all can get you all can't get the education right, the housing issue problem problems fixed, mental issues, crimes.

The list just keeps on going on, and everything that government touches, it absolutely destroys.

Michelle.

Thanks for your service.

David Morales.

David Morales.

Welcome, Representative.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair and members of the committee.

I am here proudly supporting the rent stabilization ordinance because the status quo of inaction is not working.

The status quo of inaction has led to Providence having median rents that have increased by 40% between 2020 to 2024.

We have watched as our city has become ranked the least affordable city in America for renters.

And these are not just headlines.

They have real world consequences.

Just two years ago, Providence Public Schools shared that over 300 Providence students were chronically homeless.

These were working families that found themselves priced out of apartments that they used to call homes, before spikes to their rent kicked in, and they could no longer afford to renew their lease.

This has become the norm in our city.

Working families whose wages are not keeping up with the rising cost of rent.

And so before us, we have an ordinance that has been well constructed to ensure that there is a layer of stability, a layer of stability to guarantee that a modest 4% increase to rent be able to ensure that many of our families continue to call our city home.

Because far too often we have watched is our neighbors, whether it is on the east side, whether it's in Silver Lake, whether it is on the South side, they are being priced out.

In my five years as a state representative, the most common phone call that I receive is the question of whether or not a person's lease renewal that is now watching them pay $300 more in rent is legal.

I get calls asking if I know of affordable apartments because this working family renting on Academy Avenue is now being forced to pay $300 more.

And we've watched what the results are.

Whether it's families going homeless or being priced out and moving to Woonsocket, to West Warwick, or to Pawtucket, the trend continues.

People cannot afford to live in the city that they want to call home.

As a young adult, I watched units that I used to live in spike to outrageous rent hikes.

The one bedroom apartment on Mount Pleasant Avenue that I used to rent back in 2021 went from 700 to now being listed at nearly 2,000.

An increase of nearly just 200% in just five years.

And that is the shameful reality that so many of our families are struggling with.

And so I applaud Council President Miller and every co-sponsor on this rent stabilization ordinance.

It was well crafted, it was well thought out to ensure that there were proper exemptions in place while also being able to count for spikes around property taxes.

This is a reasonable ordinance, and I urge the committee to adopt it as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Danny.

Danny by Jeho.

Danny Vajeho.

Welcome, Danny.

Hi, how are you doing?

Well, going after him, huh?

Okay.

Which kind of works out perfect.

Good evening, Council President and members of the council.

My name is Danny Vallejo.

I was born in Providence at St.

Jose's Hospital.

I've been a Providence resident.

Today the real estate office I work in operates here in Providence.

I am a firefighter, a housing provider, and the father of a three-month-old son, also born in Providence.

I stand here respectfully opposed to this rent control ordinance.

But before I go further, I want to read a brief scripture.

Galatians 6, 9 10 says, let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone.

That is stewardship.

That is long-term thinking.

Affordable affordability matters.

We all agree on that.

But the question is whether the this ordinance actually solves the problem.

Providence has a housing supply issue.

This policy does not create supply, it restricts it.

When in this when investment slows, when small housing providers exit, when maintenance gets deferred, when development becomes less feasible, the pressure spreads.

It affects tenants, owners, neighborhoods, and the future growth.

So I ask respectfully.

Who does this truly help long term?

Especially during a campaign season, can we surrender self-glory and political positioning and instead work together toward durable solutions?

Solutions that increase housing, protect tenants, and make Providence accessible for families who are invested here, not just transient, but those planning roots and building a future.

Transparency matters.

Public trust matters.

When policies reshape an entire housing market, we must ensure there are no conflicts of interest or future incentives in influencing votes.

I'm not waiting until he is older to prepare for him.

I steward now, I build now, I invest now.

We'll only plan for our children once they arrive, or will we prepare the ground so they can inherit something stable?

Genesis tells us we are placed in the garden to work it and take care of it.

We are called to cultivate, not constrain what has been entrusted to us.

I am my brother's keeper, but I cannot do that if I'm not allowed to plow my fields and reap the harvest that enables me to serve others.

For these reasons, I urge you to reject this ordinance.

Let's pursue growth, let's pursue accessibility, let's pursue long-term housing solutions that strengthen Providence, a city that I love for the next generation rather than restrict its future.

God bless you all.

Thank you.

Angela Ford.

Welcome.

Four.

Hi, members of the hi members.

Hi, members of the council.

Uh, my name is Lindsay Ford.

I live in Mount Pleasant Ward 5.

I have, and I'm here with Sistifier.

I have wonderful landlords who have chosen to offer me stable rent and transparency about changes.

And renting from them has changed what living in Providence has felt like.

My landlords consider the impact of their decisions on me, and their actions result in me feeling safe and valued.

Despite living in Providence and renting since 2010, I can say now for the first time, Providence feels like a place I belong.

My last department in Providence was a more common experience.

Between 2019 and 2024, which is five years, my rent increased four times.

I paid the increases.

But the cost to me was that I never felt safe where I lived.

I loved my neighborhood, but in less than a year, maybe I couldn't live there anymore.

How much more money would I need to stay?

I had no idea.

Why was the rent changing?

I had no idea.

As I became more connected with my neighborhood, lease for new rule became a scarier and scarier time because the people in places that were important to me were at the mercy of forces that were unregulated and opaque.

I work hard to be a good tenant, but I've always felt living in Providence more like a body in a room rather than a person that loves the city and brings value.

Voting yes on rent stabilization isn't about suppression.

It's about balance.

Housing is a way to make money, but it is more than that.

It is a place from which we get to our jobs and take our kids to their school.

It's a place where we celebrate birthdays and our holidays and make memories that define our lives.

Make memories that define our lives and keep the people we love the most safe.

Housing is a container for the things that are priceless.

And what does it mean if our city doesn't value them?

Make no mistake.

Money matters, but our lives are short, and just as valuable is our time spent with people in the places we belong.

And if we must leave our home, it's important that our city, our home, make sure it's justified and truly worth it.

Thank you for your time.

Please vote yes on rent stabilization.

Best wishes.

Thank you very much.

David Sison.

David Sizen.

Against the thing called Davidson.

That's me.

S-I-S-S-O-N.

That's me.

Against.

Yep.

Thank you.

Good evening, members of the Providence City Council.

My name is David Sisson.

I am an architect.

I am a former resident of the City of Providence.

And I'm currently in process of designing over 100 housing units in the city of Providence.

Okay.

That's not all that's not for me.

That's for my customers.

And it'll be homes for people who are gonna live in this city.

I'm sorry, uh, people who work for the Providence building uh department, for the planning department, the zoning department, and these are good hardworking people who uh are working with us to produce more housing in the city.

And I would like to say that I also work daily with all of you because you, the members of the city council have passed some of the most progressive zoning ordinances in our state.

And I've seen firsthand how those progressive zoning ordinances have changed the ease of producing housing in this city.

If you'd asked me 10 years ago about the city of Providence, I would have left because we were producing zero housing units in the city of Providence 10 years ago.

It's the hard work that you have done, the people in this room that have made those changes, and some of those people are also members uh or are the folks at the State House.

Uh they've made some changes.

Now these reforms have had a positive impact.

More housing, more construction activity, and more momentum towards addressing the housing shortage.

But that progress is fragile because nothing gets built when financing disappears.

And I think we've seen a few people mention tonight that uh financing is a huge challenge when rent stabilization is enacted.

Construction costs rise, insurance rises, property taxes rise, insurance rates fluctuate.

But if lenders won't project stable revenue, they won't finance projects and without financing projects stop.

When projects stop, contractors don't have jobs.

Renters don't have jobs, I don't have a job, my employees don't have jobs.

My employees don't have jobs.

Existing buildings don't get maintained.

Some of our work is maintaining those buildings.

If you want long-term affordability, please work with the work you've already been doing on making housing easier to produce so we can produce more housing and we can get costs down for everybody.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

We have Molly Richard for Molly Richard.

Just one uh, she's coming from upstairs.

Just want to remind everybody that you could also submit your testimony, and we're gonna call now Gloria Oviedo.

Gloria Oviedo.

Wow, she's making her way down.

Is it Gloria Oviedo here?

Okay.

Gloria Villa is not present at the time.

How about Ada Turbi?

Ada?

Turbid.

Here we go.

Please state your name because I called about three names there.

Yeah, this is Molly Richard.

All right, hi Molly.

Welcome.

Hi, so um, my name is Dr.

Molly Richard.

I'm an assistant professor in public health at URI.

Um, and I research the causes, consequences, and prevention of homelessness and housing insecurity.

So I'm here in support of the ordinance.

Um I live in East Providence, um, but I'm here in behalf of people that I know can't be here tonight.

Whether it's my friends who are unhoused, um, or my students who are working full-time, sometimes more in addition to their work, uh, to help their parents uh pay rent, and I can see it um impacting their education and well-being.

So I submitted written testimony uh with a lot of research and resources, and I'm catching my breath from the stairs.

Um, but I'm gonna emphasize a few key points.

Um, first, rent stabilization is a public health intervention.

My own research shows that for every $100 in increase in median rent, homelessness, specifically unsheltered homelessness increases by 28%.

We've seen that lived reality in Providence.

In the past month alone, we've heard this a few times that three people died outside.

We can invest in shelters and supportive housing, and we should, and we are, but without addressing rising costs of housing, we're bailing out the water from a boat that is still filling, and we really need to move upstream.

Homelessness is only part of that harm.

Rent burden is associated with food insecurity, depression, increased hospitalizations, especially among children, and even early death.

This uh cost of rent is actively harming our neighbors' health right now.

Second, and really importantly, from a public policy perspective, design of policy really matters, and it matters enormously when you're evaluating the research on rent stabilization.

The current policy is moderate and carefully structured.

This isn't the kind of failed policy, scary headlines that so many people are repeating.

And AI, if you Google it or whatever, is repeating.

Yep.

Um, opponents often cite St.

Paul or Montgomery County, but these aren't fair comparisons.

St.

Paul's ordinance had no new construction exemption, a hard 3% cap, and its construction slowdown began before the law took effect.

Montgomery County is an investor-dominated market of more than a million people.

Its permitting slowdown corresponded with historic interest rates, and the federal cuts, the workforce cuts that the federal government employees, they've said how that impacted them.

So we've looked at Maine.

There's data on Portland, Maine in my testimony that shows that um housing constructions actually increase, um, has remained steady.

So the debate among researchers is absolutely not settled, even when we're talking about the recent examples, but also in the past.

I linked reports from economists from MIT, Columbia, UMass, Rutgers, and more that have publicly supported rent stabilization.

There's letters signed by more than 30 economists recently.

Um we know that uh these are not textbook econ 101 models, just like we had debated minimum wage, it's not reality.

That used to be seen as radical, um, but today it's accepted as an important part of having a healthy community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Next, we have Angelo Simali.

Yeah.

Angelo, welcome.

Hey, thank you all for having me.

Hi.

My name is Angela Capsamalis.

I'm a small uh landlord here in Providence.

Uh me and my wife owned uh a couple of uh three family houses.

I came here to speak today.

I'm opposed to uh the rent control.

You know, obviously, as we all know, rent control does not work, it hasn't worked in the past.

It's not gonna work in the future.

Uh you know, the market, you know, dictates the rent and also the expenses and uh you know the expenses of the cost of doing business is what dictates the price.

You know, unfortunately, having a four percent rent cap on on the rent, for example, doesn't account with all the expenses that are involved.

And uh, you know, in a rental business, you have dozens of dozens of expenses.

The obviously those are not capped.

You know, water, sewer, taxes, insurance, you know, electrical gas bills, maintenance, repairs, pest control, loan care.

I could go on and on, you know, snow removal, all that.

And those are not capped charges.

You know, there's also bigger things that come in unexpected, like you gotta replace a roof for 10,000, 15,000, 20,000.

You gotta replace a heating system, a hot water tank, you gotta renovate an apartment, you know, capping something four percent, for example, but you're not capping all the other expenses associated with that.

It doesn't make any sense.

It's not feasible.

The math doesn't math.

You know, so I just wanted to give you guys my input.

You know, I'm uh I'm a legal migrant in this country.

I came here, you know, with nothing.

I didn't speak the language.

Me and my wife were able to buy some rental property to improve ourselves, and this policies is detrimental.

This policy is against the American dream.

Is it gonna crash the real estate market?

Definitely in the city.

You know, obviously the valuations are gonna go down, property income is gonna crash, and then we're gonna put the burden to probably owner-occupied single family homes and so on.

So that's about it.

I urge you to vote yes for housing, but no to rent control.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thanks for your testimony.

Uh Gloria Oviedo.

Gloria Viedo.

How about uh, I know I called earlier.

Angela, uh, we've got Molly Richard, Gloria Oviedo.

How about that?

Ada Turbid.

Ada's not here.

All right, we're going for page two now.

How about Francis Weber?

Francis Weber.

Okay.

Thank you.

Uh, good evening.

My name is Fran Weber, and I'm a renter in Ward 3.

I'm here today to urge you to support the rent stabilization ordinance to protect the 60% of our Providence residents who, like me, are renters, many of whom are financially burdened by rising rents and at risk of losing their homes.

I moved to Rhode Island in 2022 from Arizona, so I could pursue graduate studies in oceanography at the University of Rhode Island.

We immediately, my partner and I had difficulty finding housing that we could afford.

We ended up in a small one-bedroom apartment in a renovated mill building on At Wells Avenue owned by Strive, but we had issues from day one.

When we moved in, renovations had not been completed and never were.

In time, we learned that about one in five units in the building were actually being used as Airbnbs.

Noise and security issues related to the Airbnb units were never addressed despite dialogue with management.

When we looked for housing elsewhere in Providence, the options were bleak.

Old buildings with small units in poor condition were renting for over $2,000 a month.

Many landlords will tell you that they need to be able to raise rents so they can pay to repair and renovate apartments.

Rents have been rising precipitously since the pandemic, yet we did not see much evidence of investment in rental units when we were looking for a home in this city.

Because rental housing stock is in such poor condition, competition for high quality units is strong.

And because of this competition, we felt we were in no position to negotiate rent, lease start dates or repairs before moving.

We had to take what we could get.

But we have an out-of-state landlord who we have little relationship with, and we live with constant anxiety that he will raise the rent.

Though we think we are the kind of renters a landlord would love to have.

Because we already put more than a third of our household income towards rent, even a few hundred dollars in increased rent per month would mean that our home is no longer in our budget.

We would have to move out of our home and begin the get difficult search to find a new one all over again.

That's why I support the rent stabilization ordinance.

It would give me and renters like me the peace of mind that our rents won't sadly increase more than we can afford.

We can plan to stay in our homes and be contributing members of stable communities.

You will hear many landlords today say that this ordinance disadvantages them.

I hope you will remember, however, that landlords are not disadvantaged people.

Even a small landlord who owns several properties is someone with potentially millions in assets.

All renters are asking for for is reasonable protections against rising rents that provide the stability that property owners take for granted.

Many landlords will also tell you that this ordinance will discourage investment in our community.

But as my partner and I learned investment is not created equal through our experience with Strive.

Thank you very much.

Mike.

Mike Pereira.

How about Arev?

She had a good evening.

I'm a first generation Palestinian American, born right here in Rhode Island.

I've lived and worked in Providence for 15 years.

Palestinians ha understand displacement.

We understand that it means to have what it means to have your home taken from you, not by choice, but by forces beyond your control.

And that is in my blood.

So when I hear people in this room talk about housing as a human right, about the fear of losing your home, about dignity.

And I'm not here, so I'm not here to fight against tenants.

I'm here because I've spent weeks in the city's own data compared Providence to cities across the country.

And what I found, I think, explains why rents are rising uh faster than really anywhere else in uh in America.

So this ordinance assumes every property owner is the problem.

It doesn't distinguish between the operator who hasn't raised rent in three years and the one who raises it every six months.

It doesn't distinguish between the owner who reinvests in their building and the one who lets it fall apart.

It treats us all the same.

And the ones who get her are the ones doing it right because we're the ones with the thinnest margins between what we can charge and what we could charge.

And remember, this isn't this is Providence.

This isn't Manhattan, San Francisco.

The property owners in the city, we don't have teams of lawyers and lobbyists.

They they don't have uh we don't have they we don't have Wall Street capital behind us.

And many of these families, like myself are immigrants.

Uh so people, you know, people who saved for years to buy a building because that was a path available to them.

And again, this isn't so this isn't fighting blackstone, it's it's it's hitting and finding against your neighbors.

Uh regarding the housing supply, everyone in this room agrees on one thing that Providence needs more housing.

Uh 2004, the General Assembly passed the statewide ADU legislation that requires every municipality to allow accessory dwelling units.

Build out basements, add units to existing buildings.

That is the fastest, cheapest way to create housing in existing neighborhoods without displacing anyone.

Now look at what this ordinance does to that exact same activity.

Section 13-72, C3.

If I take an existing building and add a unit, convert an attic, finish a basement.

That new unit is immediately subject to rent control from day one.

Those are new units.

The rent board reviews the initial rent, full regulation, no exemption.

So think what this means.

The city's zoning reform says to add units to existing buildings, and this ordinance says if you do that, you're regulated immediately.

You're punishing exactly the kind of small-scale neighborhood level housing creation that every level of government is trying to encourage.

You've heard the headline that rent that Providence has the fastest growing rents of any major metro in America.

The answer in that data is that Providence has the highest residential to multifamily tax disparity in the entire state.

3.48 to 1 compared to 1.36.

Thank you.

That's 60% of the renters who bur who who shoulder all the burden.

We need to focus on the single family owners who pay a significantly lower tax rate than everyone else.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Next, Denis Hogan.

Dennis Denise.

Dennis Hogan.

Yes.

Welcome, Dennis.

Thank you very much.

And thank you very much for the opportunity to address you all today.

Counselors, if like me, you're a fan of the now classic TV show The Sopranos, you might recall that at one point uh Tony turns to his son AJ and gives him some excellent advice.

He says, buy land, AJ.

God's not making any more of it.

And I think the truth here is that it reflects that real estate is good business.

It's always gonna be good business.

And that's the reason why so many people are interested in getting into this business.

And that's why I chose to buy a home myself in Ward 2, uh, where I live in an owner-occupied house with another unit.

Now, the reality is that no amount of regulation that you pass, especially not this bill, is gonna change the fundamental good sense of getting into the real estate business.

And so what's really at stake here is whether you have the power to issue regulations that limit profiteering.

I so strongly support this rent stabilization ordinance because my costs as a homeowner are relatively controlled.

My mortgage is predictable, it doesn't change year to year.

Yes, there have been costs associated with maintenance, yes, there have been costs associated with rising taxes, but fundamentally, I can plan long term to stay in my home, and I can plan long term to afford my home.

Now, my tenants have the same predictability because I don't ever raise that rent.

But there's nothing stopping me right now from deciding that the market will bear a much higher cost and kicking out people who've lived in the neighborhood now for six or seven years and who are saving so that they can get their own start in life and someday buy a home themselves.

I think all renters deserve that same deal, and I think all of our neighbors in a city where the average income is less than 70,000, where uh 20% of our neighbors live in poverty deserve the same protections that homeowners get, the same fairness, the same predictability.

Now, I just want to address in the time that I have left a couple of quick things.

First of all, you know, I think there's a difference between the kinds of market goods that you know are luxuries that are optional and the kinds of goods that are necessities.

And I think by right, they're subject to much stricter forms of regulation.

We regulate what's in the food, we regulate health care.

We need to regulate the housing market because right now it's so out of control that people are really suffering.

We've got a housing crisis, we've got a homelessness crisis, we've got an affordability crisis, and very unfortunately, we've got a greed crisis.

Now, the other thing I'll say is that you know often the debate comes down to whether we should regulate the housing market or whether we should build.

But I've lived in Providence now since 2014, and for most of that time there's been talk about housing and affordability and a rising cost of housing, and I'll just finish by saying we haven't built.

If we don't pass this, things go right back to baseline.

We're not gonna build.

Thank you very much.

Then Estherkin, then Astakin against the Dr.

Good evening, and thank you for the opportunity to speak.

My name is Dan Estriken.

I own and operate apartment communities on the east side of Providence.

Housing affordability is a serious issue, and I appreciate the council's focus on it.

I would like to share several potential unintended consequences of the proposed rent stabilization ordinance.

First, I encourage the council to consider the substantial body of empirical research on rent stabilization.

Well, these policies can benefit some tenants in the short term.

Study after study shows they reduce the overall supply of rental housing and lead to lower quality housing over time.

Ultimately worsening affordability, not improving it.

Housing economists have reached a long-standing consensus when rent growth is artificially constrained.

The housing market contracts.

Fewer units are created, and housing quality declines as investment falls.

In fact, research has shown that rent controlled properties are significantly more likely to be converted to condominiums, permanently shrinking the rental housing supply.

We are already seeing how these incentives shape real investment decisions.

Even with a temporary exemption for new construction, buyers will discount property values, knowing rent growth is kept at 4%, and many will choose to invest in markets with more sustainable economics.

Meanwhile, operating costs such as insurance and property taxes have been rising well above that level.

When revenue cannot keep with pace with expenses, capital flows elsewhere.

The same is true for projects that add new units.

These projects just don't pencil out.

The result is simple.

Fewer homes get built and fewer units get added at a time when Providence needs more housing, not less.

Second, and somewhat counterintuitively, this ordinance may lead to more consistent rent increases for residents.

Historically, rents rise and fall with operating and market conditions, sometimes increasing modestly, sometimes not at all.

But if a 4% cap becomes the standard, many housing providers like us will feel compelled to implement the max allowable increase each year to hedge against future cost spikes.

Ironically, tenants could face more predictable and higher increases than they otherwise would.

Finally, Providence has an aging housing stock that demands continuous reinvestment.

These improvements are not optional.

They are part of responsibly and properly operating older housing.

When rent growth is capped, owners may have little ability to recover these costs.

Over time, this creates a strong incentive to defer capital improvements and housing quality declines as reinvestment slows.

This creates a potentially dangerous dynamic.

Policies intended to protect residents may unintentionally discourage the very upgrades that make housing safer.

It also complicates compliance with lender and insurance requirements, both of which increasingly demand meaningful capital improvements.

Well-intentioned policy can produce unintended consequences.

When rents rise, developers respond by building more housing, and over time supply helps moderate prices.

We have seen this in cities like Austin, where rents decline materially and continue to decline.

Terry Wright.

Terry Wright.

Not a policy that will stop housing development.

How can we all stand around and put a price on human value?

I asked the question: where do people go when they have no place to go?

Due to rising rents.

Without rent stabilization, we will see the decline of our neighborhoods.

When families are displaced, our schools lose students, our local businesses lose customers, and our streets, streets, excuse me, lose the people who actually care for them.

This is where property values truly sink.

When a neighborhood becomes a revolving door for strangers rather than a home, and not because tenants have protections such as rent stabilization, but when the livelihood of tenants becomes numbers this numbers crunch in game to cause more systemic harm.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

No, no, Dominic.

Is it height?

James Light?

Height.

Okay.

Sam Levy.

Sam Levy.

Good evening.

My name is Sam Levy, and I'm not very good public speaker.

So I'm just gonna make I got some notes that other people have said things better than I can.

But this bill seems to be like a blank check with too many to be decided in it.

And I don't know of any lawyer that would say, just sign this piece of legislation and we'll decide what's in it later.

Uh as far as that goes.

And to the people that think landlords are rich and all have suits.

Well, my suit's at least ten years old.

It was given to me at that point in time, and that's the only one I got.

As far as that uh concerned, this is um taking away my property rights as a landlord and a homeowner.

Uh I started off sleeping on somebody else's floor, worked two full-time jobs, marching over for two full-time jobs, and at one point I was working five jobs to be able to get the house that I that I own.

Uh it's a two-family house.

Uh, this is a totally against capitalism altogether.

Um I think I think uh if there's a cap, it's gonna deteriorate property in general, uh, which gonna increase the uh criteria for any tenant coming in.

Um I've taken plenty of chances on tenants before.

Um I will not take those kinds of chances again if there's any kind of chance that you that the city can say you can't get rid of this tenant for whatever reason.

Um I will start things with you know the FICO, your FICO score is gonna have to be 750, uh 10 years on the job, you know to that's extreme, but you get the point.

Um if you're gonna do this to landlords, um then what what are you gonna do to the lawyer, the social worker, um, the carpenter, you know, the doctor, you're gonna limit their income or the person that puts money in the stock market.

Are they limited to four percent a year?

Uh or are you gonna take it?

Um my rents are my income.

I'm retired.

Um if you limit my income, who else is uh are you gonna limit?

Um are you gonna tell the the carpenter that wants to tell sell his business?

Uh you have to sell your tools to the city first or to your customer first.

I mean what at what point do you stop taking again?

I'm very much against this.

Thank you very much very much for your time.

Thank you.

Francis Weber, Francis Weber.

Okay.

Um for Harper Keene for.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Harper Keene.

I'm a tenant and small business owner in Ward 13.

Many of us were here when the bill was introduced.

Hundreds of people on the stairs, stomping and chanting, melt ice, freeze rent.

You could feel the building shake.

Inside, a developer type in a blue suit chanted back, buy a building, charge what you want.

Cartoonishly villainous on a day when people could freeze to death outside, but also refreshingly honest.

The core tension in our debate is between two answers to the question, what is property for?

On one side, so well represented by the man in the suit, property is an instrument of individual freedom.

Owning things, including buildings, is how people exercise autonomy, build security, and pursue a good life.

Interference with that is a kind of violation.

This view is so dominant in American political culture that it often goes unstated.

It's the water we swim in.

On the other side, some things are too essential to be left to the market.

Housing is one of them.

When something is a genuine necessity, not a preference, not a luxury, but a condition of survival and dignity, then the logic of the market, charge what you can get, becomes extraction rather than exchange.

From this view, housing policy should be organized around human welfare, not return on investment.

This second position feels counterintuitive, not because it's fringe.

It's enshrined in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and most wealthy democracies treat housing as a public good.

It feels radical because property rights aren't just protected here, they're treated as almost sacred, prior to other rights.

The fight over rent stabilization is partly a proxy war over whether that premise should go unchallenged.

The landlord lobby doesn't need to explicitly argue that their right to profit should come before others' right to shelter, because the legal and cultural infrastructure of our country already assumes this to be true.

The pro tenant side has to argue argue against an invisible default.

Is housing an asset or is it infrastructure?

Infrastructure serves everyone.

We don't let private owners charge whatever they want for roads or water.

The question is whether housing belongs in that category.

And in Providence, we've largely said no.

Yes, there will be unintended consequences.

There always are when you intervene in a complex system under pressure.

This worries me too.

But we are in a crisis, and the cost of inaction is also a choice with consequences, ones we've already seen.

The question isn't whether this bill is perfect, it's whether doing something is better than doing nothing while we wait for a perfect solution that the market has no incentive to provide.

New construction in an unregulated rental market will only make the market bigger, increasing profits for owners while doing very little for tenants.

We need both construction and regulation, which this bill makes possible.

But nothing will change if nothing changes.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Some levy.

Against?

Okay.

Already called them.

How about uh May Gamino?

May Gabino.

How about Lois Leitian?

Lois Louis Leytian.

May's here.

Excuse me.

Well, May.

I think that's a good one.

Thank you.

Somebody I appreciate it, ma'am.

I'm gonna address that.

So what I'm what I do is a for and against, and there's a whole lot of people in columns.

So I'm going trying to go in in order.

So you will be called though.

Welcome, May.

Hi, I'm a little out of breath.

I was downstairs.

It's okay.

I'm speaking with Sue, as a matter of fact.

Uh so I'm a small landlord, and I mean small, I own one unit.

It's a condo.

It's on the east side.

I also own a single family home that I share with my wife.

And it's difficult for me to oppose this ordinance because the horrible behavior of a lot of landlords is kind of grouping all landlords.

And I see as the ordinance is written.

There's there are carve outs, and I think that you folks are really trying to work and figure out a solution.

And I I think that there are other ways that we can approach this, and I don't know whether that's through more money in enforcement.

Um a better system to track who is who is you know abusing tenants and not making improvements that need to be done.

But as the ordinance is currently written, it's difficult for me to support this.

And again, I'm just speaking for myself and um someone else who can't come this evening.

You know, we're not owner occupied.

You know, I have this one condo that I bought in the 80s when I was in my 20s, and the plan was to pay it off, and then as I got older to be able to use it to help in my retirement, and then have an asset at the end of it.

And so for me personally to be grouped with like these larger landlords, that I'm going to have to like have this limit on what I can increase when in fact I actually charge below market rent.

Um, the person living in my unit is a risky professor.

Um, she's been in there for five years, and I hope she stays.

You know, I just would ask that you speak to more people like us and some of these other, actually, a lot of women who have come up here and said, Look, I no longer live in my unit.

Um, but my situation is such that a limitation on what we're able to do.

We already place that limitation on us because we prize our relationship with our tenants, we prize our relationship with with Providence.

We live here, we're longtime residents, and I just think that I know this is a starting point with what you folks are doing, but I would encourage you to have more people like us come and sit with you and really try to sort a way where we can we can remedy the people who are being exploited, we can figure out ways to do this, we can look at large landlords, and they have economies of scale, right?

And so maybe they could absorb some of these hits, but we're small landlords by and large, we're already regulating ourselves.

Please don't ask us to be further limited by uncertainties, especially when we rely on this to help us make our ends meet too.

So thank you for your time, and I appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

Shandel Wilson.

About uh Justice Gaines foring, counselors of the Hope Committee and the other counselors who are present.

Thank you for being here.

My name is Justice Gaines.

I'm a tenant living in Southside Ward 11.

I'm an organizer and member of Sistifier.

I've lived in Providence for over 13 years, and in that time I have watched rents double.

Today I'm writing and here to support rent stabilization.

I live in Providence because I love its people.

The people of the city have welcomed me, nurtured me and my growth, and treated me with dignity and respect.

Providence is where I found my chosen family, where my creative community is, and where I found my sense of self.

Providence is my home.

Yet during my time in Providence, many of my beloved community who are born and raised here have not been able to stay in the city.

From 2018 to 2022, I was working at an organization supporting queer and trans youth of color at the transitional ages between 18 and 22.

Every week, every week, at least one youth reached out to me for help paying rents or to find a new place to live.

Many of these young people, again, born and raised in Providence, were forced to move to Pawtucket, Edgewood, or even Woundsocket to find stable, affordable housing.

Meanwhile, as their rents increased, they still had rodents, mold, and water issues that would go unaddressed.

At Sistifier, we found these stories are only increasing.

Women and non-binary people of color in this city are becoming more and more dependent on mutual aid networks, GoFundMe's and the goodwill of their neighbors to remain in their homes.

Families are choosing between buying groceries and paying rents.

Is that the city we want?

A city where we are too busy struggling to afford our roof, that we have no time to spend and care for each other.

It's not the city I want.

Providence could be thriving if renters weren't so burdened by unfair cost and unsafe living conditions.

The people of Providence deserve better.

The people of Providence deserve more than a living crisis that an unhindered market created.

On the opposition, we hear that folks won't maintain their properties if rent stabilization happens.

But the slum lords and property management companies aren't maintaining them now.

They say it's dangerous to the health of the economy, but housing instability is dangerous to actual people's health.

They say it won't freeze or lower rent, and I am for freezing or lowering rent.

Rent stabilization is the moderate solution.

A market, every solution that benefits the opposition to benefits their bottom line, but it does not keep people housed.

The people of Providence deserve a city that keeps us housed, safe, and in community together.

Keep Providence a great city by keeping Providence residents housed, past rent stabilization, an ordinance that prioritized the dignity and safety of tenants and renters in our city.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

We have uh Lois Latin.

About Christopher Smith.

Thank you for letting me speak.

Uh I'm a small landlord in a city right next door.

And the reason I'm here is because I don't want to see this go through or state your name, please.

Christopher Smith.

Okay.

So as I was saying, um I want to put this on a personal level because I am a small landlord.

I am an owner-occupied landlord.

I only own one property.

Uh as of recent, my mortgage, which I still have a mortgage.

Um I have 10 years left to pay on it.

Uh, with tax increases, which are amortized went up 400.

Uh because I live in the property, I split the cost with the tenant.

I'm absorbing 200 of it.

The tenant is absorbing the other 200 of it.

Uh under a rent control policy with a cap at 4%.

I would have only been able to up their rent $90, and I would have had to eat another 110 on top of the $200 cost that I am now being incurred.

Um I understand that the city of Providence has slightly lower taxes than we do, so I would be looking at 174 increase, which is is still sizable when you're paying a 2500 mortgage taxes and insurance.

Um I also find it a little odd that members of this council are proposing a 4% rent cap increase when you couldn't live within it.

You're increasing your taxes on property almost six percent, 5.85%.

It doesn't make sense.

Um this policy isn't fair, it doesn't work, rent control doesn't work, it's never worked.

You can call it rent stabilization or whatever you want.

It's the same thing.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Next we have uh not uh now's shebu Shiva.

Okay.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Hi, good evening.

Um, my name is Naoko Shibusala.

I'm a member of I'm a member of Reclaim Rhode Island, but I'm also a Brown faculty member in the history department.

I mentioned my um academic credentials because last month in this very same chambers, a council member chided supporters of rent stabilization because um he said that we weren't doing our history, we weren't doing our research, right?

That we didn't know what we're talking about.

He stated that the history of rent stabilization in Minnesota suggested that rent stabilization does not work.

But we've done our research, we know our history, but uh I'm not giving you a history lecture.

Be happy about that.

But I hate I do want to talk about research.

Um, I know that other councils are interested in studies about rent stabilization and how it may impact our city, right?

So as a scholar, I'm speaking to remind you all that not all research is good research, right?

Not all research is properly done.

So, for instance, the off-sided working paper on St.

Paul, Minnesota, which was mentioned by both the speakers at the very beginning of the session about rent stabilization is based on faulty data.

This 2022 paper by Ahern and Gio Colletti makes the claim about a decline in property values due to rent stabilization, but their conclusion rests on insufficient empirical evidence.

They were unable to show what the trends were prior to rent stabilization, and they had only one post-rent stabilization episode to make a comparison, right?

And this is not enough to actually draw any sort of conclusions.

In other words, they lacked the empirical evidence to make a statistically valid comparison.

Professor Ed Goetz, the director of the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota points out that this paper is actually unpublished.

It's a working paper, it's unpublished.

And he thinks that that's because it's unpublished, it's not published in a peer-reviewed journal, right?

Because he believes that it's you know mostly due to its invalid quantitative analysis.

Um, this other sort of thing that was also mentioned by one of the speakers at the very beginning about rent stabilization hurting renters, is even more it also comes from the studies even more absurd based on no evidence from renters or from landlords.

Others opposed to rent stabilization have argued that this dramatic drop in new housing construction in St.

Paul.

But Professor Goetz points out that this decline in multi in the decline actually happened before the the stabilization passed.

It also happened before, you know, um it actually went into effect in 2022, and actually even started to happen before it was even introduced as a campaign in St.

Paul.

All right, so in short, this is this drop about the cause of you know new construction is also wrong.

So we have to be discerning about the research.

We can talk about research, right?

People talk about studies, but please know what you're talking about.

So I just want to end to urge you, as all members of the Democratic Party, to think about which side you're on.

You know, the vast majority who are renters in the city.

What's more important?

Preventing neighbors from freezing to death, or making it easier to for someone else to make another investment.

What's more important?

Making houses in Providence more within reach of first-time homeowners?

Thank you.

Or to continue to make Providence a bonanza for outside investors.

And so I'm just please thinking about, as Democrats, please think about what side you're on.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Oh, wait.

Yeah.

Thank you, Mr.

Chairman, honorable members of the Providence City Council.

Thank you for hosting this debate this evening, this discussion.

Uh I think the effects of an inflation crisis can be devastating to family budgets.

When the cost of living goes up, something has to give.

I am, of course, referring to the 1989-1991 cost of living adjustments awarded to union pensions as a result of the 1980s inflation crisis.

History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes.

Those CNT-era cost of living adjustments granted to a key constituency that were genuinely hurting financially.

They helped people.

A 4% rent control will compound.

Loss of multifamily property values hurts revenue.

Reduction in multifamily rehab hurts revenue.

Mass uh conversion to condominiums moving multifamily units out of the commercial tax rate into the residential tax rate hurts uh revenue.

The end of multifamily investment really hurts revenue.

I do not say this derisively, I say this because I understand politics.

Our schools need money, our pension liability is massive, but those are inconvenient realities someone else can deal with after the election.

Rent hurts today.

I'm asking the council to consider our history and answer this question.

Is rent control just another cost of living adjustment that our city cannot afford?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh Clay Thompson.

Four.

Hello, Clay Thompson.

Um until this past fall, I lived in Fox Point, a neighborhood with a long working class history, immigrant history, and that has been changing drastically in these past number of years.

My apartment, the rent went from about 1,200 a month, and in only four years it reached over 1700.

That's more than 4% a year.

It was tough.

I made it work because I love Fox Point.

I still do.

I miss it every day.

Last fall I got the news that my landlord was selling the apartment.

I knew what that meant.

I checked the asking price.

My rent was going to go up.

I couldn't afford it.

I started preparing, expecting a 60-day notice of rent increase any moment in my mailbox.

And I could not find a single place in Fox Point in my budget.

I could barely find anything in Providence in my budget.

And then the letter came.

30-day notice of lease termination.

It was more profitable for my new landlord to kick me out of a home I'd been in for years than to even try and ask if I could pay whatever absurd number they had in mind.

I am no longer a resident of Providence.

I was displaced like many others have been.

But it is something.

It is something that if it had been passed five years ago, I might still be in that apartment in Fox Point with my same neighbors in those same streets.

So that way the workers of this city, the ones who have built it, the ones who have maintained it, the ones who make it run, can finally and peacefully continue to live in this city.

Please pass this.

Welcome.

Chair.

Can you state your name, please?

My name is Cameron Moakwin.

I'm proud to say that I live and work in the city of Providence, and I live on the west side of Westminster Street.

In Providence, we know we have an instability lifestyle here.

It used to be that 30% of your income went to your housing.

Now, in order to do that at $2,100 for rent per month, you need to make 85,000 a year.

The median renter's income is currently 43,000.

That leaves them about 500 left after all rent and utilities are paid at the end of the month.

That's not enough for groceries, let alone medicine.

Two-thirds of all Providence renters are still under that threshold.

$85,000.

They're all trying to make ends meet, and they're having a hard time doing it.

I meet families like this every time I go to work on the Providence Fire Department.

Work on the rescue.

And you see these parents working multiple jobs, just trying to make ends meet.

And you know that they're struggling to get the food on the table.

And the first thing they cut is their own medication.

They can't take their insulin.

They can't take their blood pressure medication.

Next thing that happens is they're in the ER.

This is the human cost of inaction on rent stability.

Rent stabilization is so important.

The people who died outside of Miriam Hospital in their car is the human cost of inaction on rent stabilization.

This ordinance does not punish honest business.

It protects tenants from landlords and management companies that treat them like a disposable line item.

I support this ordinance because it gives tenants leverage.

Hold hearings, roll back unlawful rent hikes, order refunds, and impose fines.

Those are real tools.

That is real progress.

And it builds on the city council's earlier work to ban rent.

Uh setting algorithms.

We need action that is clear.

We need action that is fair.

And we need action that is enforceable.

We shall not normalize the displacement of our fellow residents, but instead we need to operationalize policy for the containment of this affordability crisis.

Thank you.

Have a good night.

Thank you.

Daniel Harkins.

Daniel Harkins.

Welcome, Daniel.

Thank you for having me, everyone.

My name is Daniel Hankins, but please call me Cole.

I figured government name and a government building.

So yeah, I'm a renter in Providence.

I just learned on Google that I am on Ward 11.

So that's Pine Street around Broad Street area.

And I'm also an actor and a teaching artist.

And I work with folks that are struggling with substance use disorder.

And I teach a lot of kids around here too.

And as someone that is also in recovery, I can't tell you how hard it is for somebody to be in recovery with housing hovering over their head.

One of our main one of the main studies in recovery sciences is that if you have proper housing, you're gonna have a much easier time getting through life itself, let alone crippling addiction, let alone crippling debt.

And it's hard.

It's rough.

I put in the hours and as much work as I do month after month, year after year, it's still not enough.

I am behind on most of my bills, including my rent.

I'm putting up 70, 80% of my of my monthly income just to keep a roof over my head.

And I'm constantly behind.

But not only am I behind, my entire neighborhood on the south side is suffering.

Every day I walk out of the house and see my neighbors on the south side freezing in tents, asking me for change to take the bus to work, asking me to get them a sandwich at the gas station because they can't afford to live.

And you don't have to take my experience for this.

We've heard so many different statistics today on either side of the board.

Um, rent stabilization is something that can help mitigate the problem.

It is not something that will solve the problem.

The big problem is these corporations taking money from all of us for everything.

Um but the rent burden also reveals a structural racism in our local economy as the burden falls disproportionately on people of color.

If you've been paying attention to who's around here giving their testimonies, it is people of color who are affected the most by this.

And this is why we can't just stop with rent stabilization that keeps rent from increasing too fast.

We need to be working to reduce or freeze rents entirely.

Freezing them, this stabilization is a good step, but ultimately the goal has to be ensuring that every pres every resident of Providence has a safe, secure space to lay their head at night.

And that means we need affordable housing.

We've seen so many decades of failure of this.

Also, I just want to talk a little bit about the system that we live in where we have to have a testimony and hearing about something as basic a human right as housing.

This is housing.

Well, a lot of people over here are talking about the health of the economy.

What about the health of the working people that are running your economy?

You need them in housing in order to in order to uh commit to their economy to in order to put money into the economy, they need to be able to live in it and work in it and activating it.

Also abolish ice.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Alex Moore.

Alex Moore.

Okay, here we go.

Thank you, Chairman Pichardo.

Uh, thank you, honorable council members and other members of the city council.

Uh my name is Alex Moore.

I'm the political director for SCIU 1199 New England.

And we represent about 7,500 health care and service workers across the state, including about 3,000 who live and work here in Providence.

I'd like to talk about who our members are, who they care for, and why housing stability matters for the health and stability of the city.

In Providence, we represent approximately 3,000 workers at women and infants and Butler Hospital.

Women and Infants, our members support mothers and newborns every day.

They're the frontline staff who help make sure babies are born safely and that new mothers receive the care they need during one of the most important moments in their lives.

At Butler Hospital, our members care for people experiencing serious mental health and substance use challenges.

Rhode Islanders who are often in crisis and need experienced stable caregivers.

We also represent about 300 workers at Providence Community Health Centers who provide primary and preventative care to tens of thousands of Rhode Islanders.

In addition, we represent approximately 1,800 home care workers, most of whom live in Providence, and many are caring for seniors and people with disabilities, often their own family members, helping them remain safely at home and connected to their communities.

We also represent about 400 family child care providers.

They run small businesses out of their homes caring for the children of working families across the city.

Some are renters and some are homeowners, but their programs depend on stable local families.

When families are forced to move because of rising rents, children lose consistent care, and these small neighborhood businesses lose enrollment.

And the same pattern shows up across the workforce we represent.

When workers can no longer afford to stay in Providence, the effects show up quickly.

Hospitals and clinics lose experienced staff.

Seniors lose trusted caregivers and families lose stable child care.

Patients lose continuity of care.

Thank you.

Trevor Chase.

Trevor Chase.

Welcome, Trevor.

Thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

I just want to preface by saying I think we really do share common goals here.

Now I'm gonna should probably say that I work on behalf of the Rhode Island Association Realtors.

But one radical idea that we can all kind of agree on is the fact that there needs to be more collaboration between city officials and local nonprofits as well, or local nonprofits in addition to other local nonprofits.

Now I'm all about collaboration, but I yet to hear from any organization that is serious about this.

We had members and we spoke up when we were trying to get the uh pallet shelters up and running.

But the reason why that was delayed is because there are zoning restrictions in place.

And I can go down zoning restrictions, I can give you numbers, I'll leave that all up to my written testimony.

However, when there is a bill for more housing to build more, and I know that's been the you know, the norm of the night is try to advocate for new housing.

Where's the other side when we need them to support us at the State House?

We don't get support.

We're the only organization that's up there advocating to increase the number of units, increase the number of rentals, but then we change and we try to you know go down the road of um not just it's more demonizing a lot of you know the small mom and pop landlords.

So, in all honesty, this is not necessarily a providence issue.

This is also considered a state issue, allowing again cooperating with our association, cooperating, how we can find a middle ground, and there is a middle ground, there's also short-term relief.

Whether or not we bring that up, you know, as much, probably on us.

But what I can't say is that there are housing housing tax credits, there are rental rental assistance, but yet whenever we are testifying somewhere, again, there's no collaboration.

So before we jump to the conclusion, harp down each other's throats.

Um, let's take a step back.

And if we want to get really radical, we can really say, how about collaboration?

Thank you.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Look forward to that.

Paul coming from upstairs.

No, quite once.

Okay, we'll move in.

Next, uh, we have Siraj Sindhu.

Siddhart.

He's upstairs.

We'll while we wait for him, we're gonna call Shana Crandau.

Shana's upstairs.

About uh we have we'll wait.

How about the Zerraybi?

Desiree Kabibit.

All right, here we go.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Thank you for uh having me here.

As you said, my name is Desiree Kababi.

Um I'm a first-generation immigrant, came to this country from a war-torn uh country.

We had nothing but the shirts on our back.

Uh my brothers and I worked very hard to take care of two elderly parents, worked full-time jobs, part-time jobs, we learned what we needed to do.

We lived in Packet, Central Falls, we rented for a long time.

But through being able to learn what we needed to do, we were able to buy property in Central Falls, and we were able to provide housing for others, okay.

Um I've done a lot of work with nonprofits.

I've lived in many areas throughout Rhode Island.

Um, as you can see, I occasionally have health issues.

Um, but I'm still trying to build a future here in Rhode Island, and sometimes that's a little difficult.

But we have opportunities.

We have opportunities to work together for everybody to come together and provide housing, right?

We're trying to solve a problem here.

Safe, affordable, reasonable housing, and property owners do that.

Housing providers do that.

Um I'm opposed to this particular proposal because it has not worked anywhere.

And if we're trying to solve the problem, I'm asking why can't we come together and actually have conversations to find common sense solutions, right?

There are too many things that we can do together.

We we heard from people about um people freezing to death.

Imagine if we actually were unified to have conversations to come to common grounds, like battling electric bills, increasing wages and jobs.

I worked in South Providence for many years.

I've worked with the homeless, I've worked with nonprofits that help homeless, that help empower individuals.

We just did a program at the ACI for you know post-release, which would include housing.

So there's a lot of solutions if we actually come together and work on them rather than try to push forward things that don't make sense and actually hinder the problem going forward.

So I'm, you know, just just asking everyone to really consider coming to the table, finding solutions that are common sense that are long-term and impactful together.

Because this does not solve the problem.

Year over year we have money that goes out to a lot of nonprofits and organizations to help solve housing.

That money disappears year over year, and we still are faced with the same problem.

So I think we have better conversations, we ask better questions, and imagine the force we would have if both sides, because we're not an enemies, if everyone just came together with the unified thing to actually solve the problem.

Imagine what a beautiful state we would have if we had conversations about it, rather than coming up with things that don't make sense.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

I think I called a Shirad Siddhur.

And then Shana Krandell, too.

Welcome.

Thank you.

Thank you, members of the council.

Uh Ramadan Mubarak to uh all my brothers and sisters out there.

Um my name is Siraj Sindhu.

I live in Ward 13.

I wanna start by just saying some basic facts about what landlords are and what tenants are.

If you're a landlord, almost always it means you own the home that you live in and you own other additional, at least one, other properties that other people live in and pay you for the privilege to live in.

If you're a tenant, it means you don't even own the roof over your head, and you are reliant on other people to provide you for that roof over your head, and you pay them every month for that privilege.

And I think we need to just get that straight, because that is at the core of the power relation between landlords and tenants here.

It's a deeply, deeply imbalanced power dynamic.

Landlords can raise the rent whenever they want by however much they want.

There is no legal limit on how much your landlord can raise your rent by.

And your landlord can evict you with no reason because we don't have just cause eviction protections.

All of this means, bottom line, tenants as a class are at the mercy of landlords as a class.

And yes, there are good landlords, there are landlords who keep their rents below market rate.

But think about what that phrase means: market rate.

What is market rate?

It means as much as the landlord can get for it.

Anything below that we consider affordable.

Market rate doesn't mean what the tenants can pay, what people can comfortably afford.

No, it means as much as landlords can get.

So I think we should think about that power dynamic because it's at the core of what we're all doing here.

We're all here to exercise our democratic right to participate in this public policy making process.

Think about if you're a tenant and your landlord was up here speaking against this proposal right before you.

Would you have the guts to go right up next and speak up against it?

Would you?

The power dynamic between landlords and tenants impedes the very democratic principles that are at the heart of our society.

And that is why that is why I am so strongly in support of this ordinance, which drags the landlord-tenant relationship out of the shadows, out of the private sphere, out of dingy kitchen tables and dark street corners across our city and into the light of day, and finally provide some much-needed public oversight through a rent board to provide that public scrutiny and and uh oversight to make sure that tenants and landlords are able to resolve whatever complaints or conflicts come up in their in their uh dealings with each other.

And so I want to thank the city council for putting forward this really common sense democratic proposal that upholds our basic values as a society.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Shanna?

Welcome.

Good evening, City Council.

My name is Shana Crandall, and I'm a renter in Word 13.

Last week I didn't have hot water, and I went down into the basement to look at what was going on.

The thing was completely rusted.

I've got big gaps in my windows, got a hole in my bathroom floor.

My landlord is required by state law to fix those things.

But he doesn't because he knows he can charge market rate for my unit and always have a tenant, right?

Um if I wanted to really contest that stuff, what I would have to do is withhold rent, wait to be evicted by my landlord, have an eviction on my record, and go to district court to get an abatement for those days that I couldn't take a shower, couldn't do the dishes, you know, for all the gas bill that I'm paying for the air leaking out of my extremely drafty windows.

Right?

We need this rent board to be able to address the extremely common conditions that exist in Providence and elsewhere.

I'm also a tenant union organizer, and just in the last couple of months, I've talked with more than two dozen tenants who regularly don't have hot water.

That is the reality here, and the rent board is a way for us to navigate those conflicts and have units actually brought up to code.

We've heard so many landlords say that if rent stabilization is enacted, they won't be able to maintain units.

The reality is people are living without hot water now and paying market rate for rent.

I want to close by emphasizing just how moderate this proposal is.

Protections like this already exist for homeowners and owner occupiers.

Homeowners and owner occupiers are protected from unsustainable massive cost increases through the homestead exemption.

This is about extending basic protections that allow people to stay in their homes to tenants as well.

So please support this common sense bill.

Uh yeah, rent stabilization.

Thanks.

Robert Dais.

Robadia's Dais Dais.

Robat Dais.

Welcome, Robert.

Michael.

Robert Dayes.

Robert?

Oh, Robert.

No, I'm Michael.

Yo, Michael Dais?

Yeah.

Do you have a Rabat Day's brother here too?

No.

I have a I have a Robert Dais.

So 147 ice?

Is that you?

No.

No.

All right.

Rabadais is here.

No?

Okay, he left.

How about uh Christopher Kretsch?

Kreshki.

Christopher Krisk.

Well then I'll find out.

Welcome, Christopher.

Thank you.

Good evening, City Council.

Thank you for being here.

I'm honored to have the opportunity to talk about being a small landlord in this city who would not be exempt from these policies.

I have um I made I self-manage with my wife a total of seven apartment units and three buildings in wards one, two, and three.

We do the work ourselves to the extent possible.

We hire local contractors who have worked with us and who we like to work with over and over again.

They like working with us too.

Um I'm here to oppose rent stabilization because it does things that are unintended.

And so I want to be clear that this is not in the best long-term interest of our city.

The best it ever gets is on day one, but every year after that, fewer and fewer apartments are gonna go to the people who need it most under laws like this.

And I can tell you this because I had a family member who was homeless here in Providence.

Okay.

People who think that this is gonna solve the homeless problem, it's not.

Because he was paying rent, it was not his landlord who evicted him.

He had to be, he was kicked out by his fellow roommates because of a mental health and substance abuse crisis.

Some of the other tenants had substance abuse in their past, and they didn't they couldn't live with someone like that.

So he was out on the street getting a handle on the problem and just getting him to follow some basic house rules.

We couldn't even let him in our own house for quite a while until he finally came around.

It's it's just not um if it was as easy as me just offering him an apartment, that sounds like a reasonable solution, but it's not because I would have to think about the other tenants I have in that building as well, too.

So we brought him into our own house.

We took him into our own house in our living room because that's what all we had was an air mattress for him.

Okay, but we were able to work with him, and through a lot of the resources that are available to the homeless, um, we are able to get we were able to get him a lot of help, and he's a lot more stable and he has housing now.

But I want to bring the point is is if he was looking for an apartment with rent control, and when rent control takes or rent stabilization takes apartments from the the pool of apartments are available, what happens to someone like him?

Sure, the rent he might satisfy for 30% uh the rent income, but what happens when someone has five times the amount that they need?

They're gonna win.

It's not over time as apartments turn over, they're not gonna be allocated to the people who need it most, and that's why almost universally we moved away from that in the 70s and 80s, and we went towards a voucher program.

And the only way we're gonna be able to provide housing for everyone is if we build, but if we destroy property values with rent stabilization, there's gonna be no building.

And when people see the direction of legislation in the city, they're not gonna they're not gonna want to do it.

So it's it's chasing small landlords out.

We can't be part of the solution if we're if we're all leaving.

Thank you.

Uh Durwood Pinkett.

Durwood Pinkett.

Coming from upstairs?

All right, we're gonna be calling about uh Arlo Narva.

It is nine o'clock, and uh, we still have two pages to go.

Just want to let everybody know this is how important it is.

Thank you.

Welcome.

Good evening, thank you.

Hello, council.

My name is Arlo Narva.

I am a homeowner in ward three, here to share my support for rent stabilization.

My partner and I moved here and purchased our home during COVID at the heart at the height of the market.

I did not grow up here, but my father and grandfather did.

My great grandparents immigrated to Providence over a century ago, and my father was born at the Merriam Hospital in 1946, just a few blocks from where I live now.

The Miriam Hospital is also where, as we've heard tonight, exactly one week ago, two dead bodies were found.

A 49-year-old man and his 75-year-old mother having frozen to death in the car where they were living.

How is it that two people, including an elder of our community, can die in their car in the freezing cold in the parking lot of a hospital in one of the richest neighborhoods of our city where homes cost upward of seven, eight, nine hundred thousand dollars.

The silence on this is loud.

How is it normalized in the city of Providence for people who do not have homes to freeze to death to be so pushed to the margins of who and what matters that they were there for days under a foot of snow before anyone even realized?

I work in social services here, supporting folks who use substances and are facing homelessness.

I'm sure it's not news to you that you can ask any person at any social service agency or any health care provider in all of Providence, and they will tell you that the biggest crisis facing the people they serve is housing.

Any solution to this crisis will be imperfect, but it is well past time to try something new.

You have the opportunity and responsibility to do that.

Leading this city in this moment requires courage and creativity.

Those who have died in the cold this winter, those who do not have a place to lay their heads tonight, those who are pushed out of their homes due to skyrocketing rent, you are accountable to them.

You are their leaders.

Think of those outside and those for whom rent stabilization will help stay housed.

Please honor our neighbors with your action.

Please be brave and pass rent stabilization.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um I called someone before.

Where is it?

Come on over.

Welcome, uh if you could just state your name also.

Okay.

One second.

Uh my name is Durwood Pinkett.

I currently live in Ward 4.

Um, give me one second, apologies.

Good evening, everybody.

For several hours, we have all sat here and listened to the landlord class give every excuse in the book as to why rent stabilization is an unviable solution to the housing crisis that is plazing plaguing not only our city, but our country.

Yet, despite the intense debate, two facts are certain, which is the fact that the status quo has failed in this city, and the rent is too high.

So, what is to be done?

If the landlords are to believe the solution is to build, build, build.

However, there does not exist before us a serious proposal to construct high quality affordable housing.

There is not a proposal to expand housing vouchers or rental assistance.

There is one proposal before us, and that is to stabilize the rent.

No to rent control, yes to more housing is a lie told by landlords to themselves and to us so they can sleep at night while they profit off of the destruction of our city.

That is why the supposedly good landlords who have not raised their rent for years are threatening to jack up their costs.

That's why they are threatening to abandon the city that they supposedly care about, and that's why they've spent thousands of dollars pushing propaganda and lies onto the people of Providence.

Allow me to make myself clear, counselors.

The proposition before us is not stabilize the rent versus build more housing.

The proposition before us is rent stabilization versus the status quo.

The same status quo that has driven up rental costs, driven down home ownership rates, and led to the death of three of our neighbors.

We all know what the landlords think, and we definitely know what the people need.

And we all know that all of you care about building a more a safer, more affordable Providence.

The question, counselors, is what will you do?

Thank you.

Thank you.

Connor Blair.

Uh excuse me.

Yes.

Yes.

What's your name, sir?

Connor Blier.

Yes.

Calobalier.

Umbre.

And none is all right.

Thank you.

Can you continue, please?

I'll address it in a minute.

Yo abro ahora.

Um great.

So as I said, my name is Connor.

I'm a 33-year-old middle class office worker, uh, third generation Rhode Islander, a Federal Hill local, and through real estate, a small business owner.

Uh, I'm asking you not to restrict my rights and running my small private rental business for which all my rents, all of my rents are beneath market rent rate.

I do not fit the profile of a greedy landlord taking advantage of our local community through mismanaged rent hikes.

Uh, in 2015, I purchased my first multifamily in need of renovation, most of which of the work I have done myself.

Um, I was picking something up that was desperately mismanaged, like many dated Providence properties, it had leaking fixtures, sagging floors, collapsing walls, mold, lots of the things that you've heard from people here locally today.

I fixed it myself with all of my savings.

This home was almost completely uninhabitable today, through years of hard work and personal investment.

That same property is beautifully restored.

It is home to two married tenants I consider I consider my dear friends, whose wedding I just attended.

I've repeated this process over the last couple of years, or last ten years.

Now I'm starting my third multifamily, which I've begun renovation of this winter.

Uh, when I speak on behalf of this housing issue, I speak as a local, a non-silverspoon worker, a renovator of our city who rolls up his sleeves, and a friend to every tenant I house who lives in undermarket rate rent.

There are currently jurisdictions with statewide rent control or rent caps.

We've heard mentioned.

I'm not gonna go through these stats.

I've read into them.

It looks like everywhere this gets deployed, essentially two things happen is there's additional renovation or uh there are additional updates to whatever gets rolled out.

57% of everywhere this has been released, there are follow-up mandates that further restrict people like me from being able to operate my property.

Uh essentially this is opening up the gates to continuous uh controls for me being able to run my business, which I I don't appreciate.

Uh the outcome of this is very well documented.

It's capital investors shift their money to other uh cities, there's less housing production in general.

We heard someone come up here saying they're building a hundred units in Rhode Island.

He's speaking here obviously for a reason.

It's because that person's considering not building here.

Uh and reduce property investments for renovations from small owners like me.

Uh Providence has one of the oldest housing stocks in the country.

We've already heard this.

55% of homes here are 85 years old.

I have boilers go every year, I have to fix.

I have sinks dripping all the time I have to fix.

I find mold in places I don't expect.

And not to be rude, but it is ludicrous to suggest that a city in the smallest state government can outperform the national average on this specific issue, implementing the same tired and failed policies with a different outcome.

A city whose collective government routinely ranks nationally at the bottom for road maintenance, one of the most mundane logistics of government.

That's all.

Appreciate it.

Uh the next person I have is uh Dina Marcelino, and as Mardina Marcelino is coming forward.

So I personally favorance la presentation.

Marcelina Marcelino.

So you're toyendo Polarista, say Marcelina Adina is now here.

She's coming down.

How about uh Chris Hansfeld?

Okay, thank you.

Can you guys hear me good?

Okay.

Hello.

Thank you for holding this hearing.

My name is Adina Marcelino, but I go by bean, and I'm a lifelong Providence resident, 20 plus year community activist, a member of PSLRI here today to testify about why we need rent stabilization, and why we also need to do sorry out of breath from running down the stairs.

And why we also need to do much more and make housing a human right.

I'm a small business owner who due to housing costs had to close my dining room, and let me tell you, whether you work for a wage or work for yourself, the rent takes more and more of what you make every year, and we need a change.

This excessive rent, these excessive rents are a drain on our entire economy.

This is isn't just a reflection of the nationwide housing crisis.

Providence is exceptionally hard on renters.

Since 2018, rents have increased over 60%, while wages have risen by less than half that.

A redfin report released last year named Providence the least affordable city for renters in the country.

Housing costs have risen nationally, and we need national action.

But we know that's not coming anytime soon.

So you need our local and state governments to act, especially when Providence housing costs are 35% above the national average.

We need dramatic action now.

The rising cost of rent doesn't just make it tough to go to eat.

For far too many families, it means not being able to afford a home at all.

Homelessness has skyrocketed it since the pandemic, right along with the explosion in price of rent.

Myself and my kids were homeless last year.

It seems absurd that we have to fight so hard for so long just to get something as simple as basic as a cap on how much rent can increase when just last week two of our neighbors who I knew froze to death in a parking lot because they didn't have a place to stay.

People are literally dying in the streets, and yet we are here debating whether a rent cap is going too far when in fact it isn't even going far enough.

We need to make housing a human right and ensure no one ever dies outside in a cold again in the city because they couldn't afford housing.

By the way, glasses, insulin, epi pens, we want that regulated because it's a human right.

What about housing?

Thank you very much.

Chris Huntfeld.

And then Harrison Turtle.

Chris Hoffeld, Ward One.

Today I'd like to talk about the relationship between rent stabilization and eviction.

I'd like to do so in a way which is supported by research.

The cause of evictions is overwhelmingly the rent being too high.

The American Housing Survey found that 75% of evictions were due to non-payment of rent.

If rent stabilization keeps rents low, and the evidence shows that it does, then it will also lower evictions.

Here's why we should care about this.

And opportunities for civic engagement remain untapped.

A peer-reviewed paper in 2015 showed that neighborhoods with higher eviction rates have higher violent crime rates the following year, even after controlling for past crime rates and other relevant factors.

A devastating psychological impact on those who experience it.

Providence has experienced an average of 11 evictions every day per day for six years.

There have been 24,000 evictions since 2020.

Those figures are from the housing crisis task force report that came from this city council.

It doesn't have to be this way.

We can stop the cause underlying these evictions.

We can reach towards what Dr.

King called the beloved community.

And we have to bring them to court.

So we're here in the United States.

And none of you help me with this.

When I ask for help because my because the tenants don't uh pay the rent.

Or because romp in paredes, rompen bano, piso y todo eso.

Or because they're um repeat me performance.

Repeat me performance, disculpe.

Break puerta pictures, baño, como mi ha tocado a me like it's happened to me.

I don't receive any help from anyone.

So now all of us can be in favor and have uh be like the landlords that can charge high rent.

But us like uh homeowners have a lot of responsibility.

Mortgage, the mortgage, lose the lo Pasillo, the light, recoged it, nieve, sal, so na persona no se caiga de la calle because if they fall, then they're gonna come and look for us.

Okay, all right, here we go.

Thank you.

Gracias.

Um then I have uh no stabian Harrison Turtle.

Much gracias.

Okay.

Harrison Turtle.

Is Harrison here?

No.

Left.

Okay.

About uh Jordan Tao.

I think we heard from him already.

Yeah.

About uh Lubia Emma Carnes.

How about Emma Carnes?

Emma Carnes, no uh Diane Gillow.

She's up there here, coming.

You coming down?

All right, we'll call someone in the meantime.

We have uh we have Danila Hernandez Danila Hernandez.

Anyone here?

Okay, Danila Hernandez.

No, okay.

How about uh Carolina Pichardo?

You may need to translate this too.

Carolina Pichardo English or Spaniel.

Um my English is now 100%, but maybe you can understand.

You could do it.

Good evening.

We got we got faith in you.

One second.

If the people that are upstairs and uh you signed up, just come downstairs.

There's plenty of seats here.

People that are in the back or outside, they could have a seat.

I know you've been standing here for a while, so you can just come down so that way we can keep it flowing.

Gracias, thank you.

Yes, okay.

Good evening.

For me, today was really extremely sad because I saw this signants, this size landlord.

That's that's you are dividing providence.

We need uh we need to be united.

And you know why you you are dividing?

Because you're not supposed to approve three times taxes increase, twice was taxes increase for RIA, and the other the other one was the other time was that you increase the base for the taxes.

So because that's the consequence for tax, because if you increase the taxes and you and and you increase or uh providence sole the sua, because we have two water, so the sua increase two months.

I used to pay every quarter 44, and now every month I am pay as landlord 100, the last the last bill was 100 fix it to dollar moly.

So every C increase for the landlord, and now you put it one lit uh lead uh how do you say lead inspection?

That's 400 something.

But if you don't have that inspection, you have to pay 50 dollars per month.

And now this ordinance is very dangerous.

It's dangerous.

Don't forget that.

You know why?

Because in this ordinance, there are one commission.

And that's commission is five people.

You never talk about that.

So those people, the presidents or the council, choose four people of that or this one.

And the major choose one more.

So I know that's saying, I know that's saying how does commission will be work at parallel to closer enforcement.

If in the last tenants said, if the tenants said that's the uh oh, you you have broken uh sources broken the apartment and you're not fixed the apartment as landlord.

We have to pay 100 per day.

That's just crazy.

That's that's all the nuts is crazy.

Or the nuts.

How a lot has to pay 100 per day because one tenant says that source is broke.

So that's commission is very dangerous, and the president's of the council has too much power with that commission because that president chose four people, and she has the power over that four people.

And that's four people has to will be the people in chat for putting the landlord.

Oh, if he says broken, okay.

Uh night.

That is dangerous, danger, danger, all the nanks.

Thank you.

Appreciate it.

Um like to bring David.

Uh is that?

Oh, she's waiting.

Come on over.

You you got a cur called earlier?

Yes.

Yes, please state your name.

Hello, my name is Diane Guau.

And I'm a thank you.

I'm a resident of Ward 14.

And I'm speaking in support of rent stabilization tonight.

In recent years, rents have risen at a rate which wages have not matched.

And Providence more than almost any other city in our country.

This rapid rent inflation has caused stress, displacement, and even homelessness, which we've already heard about tonight from so many people.

While this ordinance wouldn't fix the housing crisis, it would give tenant families just a little bit of stability.

I think we've heard earlier tonight that when homeowners get a mortgage, they already get some kind of stability.

Um their interest rates are locked, and they can kind of expect how much to pay every month with the exception of maybe taxes, which in this ordinance you can pass on to your tenants.

So why should tenants be at the mercy of landlords who don't live in their homes and already own more than two houses, because otherwise you're exempt.

Um why should tenants be at the mercy of these landlords to decide whatever rent increases they please whenever they want?

Housing is not a good or service, it's a basic necessity.

The difference between raising the rent for a landlord and a tenant is stark.

For a landlord, especially the ones who this ordinance applies to, it's about profit margins or the revenue.

But for a tenant, it's a question of whether they'll have somewhere to live.

And from a lead poisoning prevention perspective, this ordinance can bring us one step closer to our broader vision for eliminating lead poisoning, which includes safe housing for everyone.

You can't have lead-safe housing if you have no housing.

So one part of the ordinance that I just like to highlight is that rents may not be raised if there are active housing code violations.

During my work at the childhood led action project, we see unsafe conditions in our work all the time.

And just this past month, I talked to these families who their rents got raised $400, $500.

Um, even when no improvements were made, and actually, in fact, when conditions issues are present, like lead hazards, broken windows, or leaking pipes, prohibiting rent increases until violations are abated is one way to incentivize landlords to do the right thing and make sure that their buildings are safe to live in.

Thanks for listening.

Thank you.

Um excuse me.

What was your last name?

Well, and your first name?

Dianne.

Wow.

Okay, I just want to make sure.

Thank you very much.

Appreciate it.

William Thompson.

Is William Thompson here?

Come on over.

I have it down for four.

There we go.

Four, yes.

Yep.

Come on over.

Uh hello, counselors.

Uh, my name is Willie Thompson.

I'm a homeowner in Ward 7.

Um, too many people are rent burdened in the city.

Uh, too many are paying higher percentage of their income than they should be on rent.

As we've heard tonight, too many people are having to cut out spending in important areas of their lives, such as health care, food, and education.

A four percent cap on rent creases is both reasonable and prudent considering the housing crisis we are facing as a city.

Um, rent hikes force disruptive and difficult relocations when uh when the high cost of rent forces people to move.

Uh, we all want stability in our lives to be able to plan and to save and to raise families and to cultivate communities with our neighbors, and exorbitant rent increases are destabilizing and harm both families and neighborhoods, as we've heard tonight.

I urge the city council to pass this ordinance.

Uh, it is one important step towards solving the housing crisis and making Providence once again a city that is affordable and livable.

So thank you very much.

Thank you.

Richard Morales.

Is Richard Morales here?

Yes.

No.

Okay, Richard Morales.

How about Michael Zeisler?

Michael Zeisler.

Welcome, Michael.

Uh thank you, Mr.

Chairman.

I uh apologize for the quality by handwriting.

My name is actually uh Michael Ziegler.

I'm a resident of Ward One.

Um, as I mentioned, I'm a resident of Ward 1 and a renter, and though I support this legislation in a personal capacity, I'm here primarily in my role as the president of AFT RAFT Local 6516, a labor union representing more than 2,000 workers at Brown University, many of whom rent here in our city.

On their behalf, I urge you to pass this measure.

There's a perception that those of us who work or study at Brown enjoy great privilege.

There is certainly some truth in this perception.

But graduate workers at Brown are members, make roughly the median income in the city, the same median income against which rents have risen faster here than anywhere else in the country in recent years.

Like many others who have spoken tonight, I can tell you stories about members of our local who have faced rent increases in the hundreds of dollars when it came time to renew their lease.

In my own case, after my wife and I did not have a lease renewed several years ago, we saw a rent increase of 50% at our new apartment, an additional $300 per month.

We were able to bear that cost in part because of the raises my union was able to negotiate, but the same has not been true of many of my brothers and sisters.

They've had to cut necessities in order to make ends meet.

Instead of their raises going to savings that would have enabled them to get ahead, it went to the profits of speculators.

This ordinance would have made their lives less precarious, and it can do the same for our members who still live in dread of lease renewal season.

This is a pro-labour ordinance, and as such, one that those on council who call themselves friends of labor ought to support.

Lastly, I'd like to address the issue of revenue that has been raised a number of times this evening evening.

I'd remind the committee that Providence's largest landowner, who so happens to be my employer, is currently tax exempt, and that in spite of its possession of an $8 billion endowment, it pays a tiny percent of what it might otherwise pay in property taxes.

Our members will welcome a separate conversation about a more equitable system of revenue generation for Providence.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nancy Green.

Nancy Green.

Welcome.

Welcome, Nancy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight.

Well, uh, I'm speaking as a small landlord.

Me and my husband live on Hope Street.

And we uh own a triple decker and we rent out the first floor.

So uh I uh believe that we are part of the solution, and we are very much in favor of the rent regulation because it's it's coordinates with what a lot of small landlords do.

We are regardful of our tenants, and we uh keep the rent reasonable.

Uh so there was a speaker a while ago who said that we are custodians of real estate, and I think that's true.

I think we are holding a necessity in trust to the community as well as ourselves.

Uh it's wonderful to own a house.

We hope to leave it to our child, but uh we do have an accountability to the community, and the community gives back to us.

So I think we need to put brakes on these out of control rent raisers.

So uh another speaker talked about the free market.

The free market is not working in this situation because the reason I've lived on the east side for about 40 years, came here right after the blizzard of 78, and I've seen luxury housing springing up like mushrooms everywhere.

I do not see affordable housing springing up when there's a dire need for it, because the free market is not supporting that.

So we do need regulation, and I thank you for this, and uh I will put my vote for it.

Thanks.

Thank you very much.

We have uh Will Casey Will Casey.

Is Will Casey here?

Going once.

How about Jacob Kramer?

He went already, they say.

How about uh Chris Hartfeld?

What's your order?

What's your name?

Michael Greco.

Michael?

Michael Greco.

Come on, Michael Cragel.

We got a we got a little little guy right there with you.

I'm sure everybody agrees that we could.

We'll give you that pass.

I appreciate it.

Absolutely.

I didn't start my time yet, I hope.

Welcome.

Go ahead.

Hi, uh, my name is Michael Greco.

I invest in real estate.

Uh I buy very dangerous rundown properties, uh, places like the ones that people are complaining about and afraid of living in, and I fix them up and I make them safe.

I bought properties where I was afraid the bathtub was gonna fall through the floor and land in the basement and kill somebody.

And I had to ask them to leave because I was afraid if they stayed they might die.

Um I have a very unusual perspective because I have a background in anthropology, and so uh part of what I researched and part of what I worked on was uh immigrant communities and how to help immigrants acclimate to other environments, um, specifically to the United States.

Um I'm here to sound the alarm that this bill has some massive unintended consequences to the immigrant communities, uh, and it may very well decimate the income of many immigrants in the city of Providence.

And here's my statistics.

In Rhode Island, one in four construction workers is foreign-born.

In Providence, that number may very well be higher.

Nationally, 64% of plasterers and stucco masons are immigrants.

Forty-eight percent of painters are immigrants, 47% of roofers, 47 uh 46% of people who install carpet and flooring, 41% of construction laborers, and a third of all carpenters are foreign-born.

These are skilled people whose work speaks for itself.