Policy Platform

Justin believes in a policy platform that is bold and courageous and speaks to the realities on the ground. Justin developed this platform through years of advocacy and nonprofit experience and in his hundreds of conversations with community members about how to make our neighborhood and city stronger. These policies will evolve as we continue to work together to build the neighborhood and city we deserve.

 

North End

Perhaps more than any neighborhood in Providence, the North End embodies the blue collar spirit, the hussle, and universal struggle and resilience of working people. Neighbors who are lucky enough to call North End home share a belief that if you work hard and make sacrifices, you can achieve the promise of economic security for you and your family. To fulfill this promise, our neighbors deserve a fighter and cheerleader who will secure precious resources for our neighborhood, while drawing attention to the amazing assets that exist here. The North End deserves a city councilor who will offer a specific vision and plan for our neighborhood. 

 

If elected, Justin will:

 

• Establish the Neighborhood Volunteer Snow Removal Assistance Initiative to assist neighbors, particularly seniors and those with disabilities who are unable or cannot afford a service, to shovel their steps and sidewalks directly outside their homes

• Bring back youth recreational sports such as baseball and football for our neighborhood youth

• Bring together small businesses in our neighborhood to establish a neighborhood discount program. This way, our neighborhood can enjoy the benefits of being a neighbor of the North End, all while supporting our neighborhood's small businesses

• Work with neighbors to establish a comprehensive plan for the future of Windmill Elementary School

• Organize routine neighborhood clean-ups and beautification projects throughout the year

• Host regular neighborhood meetings, giving residents a platform to voice their concerns

• Promise to be visible and responsive, to meet residents where they are at, not just during the election season

• Re-engage our neighbors and reignite the togetherness of the North End by coordinating and hosting family-friendly events for our neighborhood to enjoy, such as community movie nights, cook-outs, and block parties

 

Public Safety

It’s time for Providence to redefine and expand its vision of public safety to achieve a city where all residents feel safe. Public safety cannot simply mean an overreliance on our police, which often translates to a bloated police budget while our neighbors are in the throes of a housing crisis, and while our schools go severely underfunded, and our families struggle to stay afloat. We can’t have safe communities without first investing in the basic needs of our neighbors while also working to create ways of averting, addressing, and healing from harm without more carceral solutions and police intervention. The larger goal must involve adequately funding the social services and basic needs our neighbors require for stability. This means funding services that bring about neighborhood stability and implementing a sweeping non-policing emergency and crisis response mechanism that runs counter to more incarceration and by extension, more instability for families. Our neighbors deserve a city councilor who will fight for significant investment in the social infrastructure of our city. 

 

If elected, Justin will:

 

• Fight to allocate funding to programs that address the root causes of crime, such as educational inequities, chemical dependency, poverty, systemic racism, youth truancy, and untreated mental illness

• Fight for funding for rapid response teams with crisis workers and medical professionals on the ground in our community

• Fight to ensure funding of community-based organizations dedicated to violence interruption and restorative justice practices

• Utilize all municipal tools to strengthen PERA and work with colleagues in state government to support a full repeal of LEOBOR

• Work with colleagues in state government to push for the reinstatement of Providence Police Department’s (PPD) residency requirement (repeal state law Section 45-2-15.2 of H 6711 SUBSTITUTE A) for uniformed officers to promote community bonds

• Ensure that PPD has the resources to increase the rate at which unsolved murders are solved

• Fight to remove police officers from schools, unhoused outreach, and mental health calls

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Educational Justice

For far too long, Providence students have been victims of a grossly inequitable education. For generations, Providence schools have been segregated, under-resourced, and under leadership that is not reflective of the students and families they serve. For that, we have the moral obligation to do right by our students and families now.  Providence Public School District (PPSD) must provide learning spaces that are racially and socioeconomically diverse, resource-rich, and focused on the needs of students, families, and educators. Our neighbors deserve a city councilor who will fight in the best interests of all students, families, and educators to make schools more equitable, peaceful, and unified.

 

If elected, Justin will:

 

• Ensure that the city prioritizes and maximizes funding for education in every budget 

• Fight to expand  access to broadband across our city

• Ensure that PPSD prioritizes the hiring and retention of racially diverse educators 

• Fight for PPSD to invest more in community-based teacher pathway programs to diversify the teacher pipeline

• Require that PPSD develops and scales programs that provide scholarships for Providence students looking to study education in college 

• Ensure PPSD has the resources to combat student chronic absenteeism by  implementing school-wide initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper Success Mentors Initiative 

• Ensure that PPSD has adequate resources to serve our ELL  population

• Advocate for FAFSA completion as a high school requirement with the option to opt-out 

• Fight for increases in teacher pay and decreases in class size

• Fight to institute police-free schools by removing police from Providence public schools and instead invest in guidance counselors and mental health services

• Work with colleagues in state government to change the formula for funding so schools across Rhode Island with the least resources get the most funding

• Bring back residency requirements for all PPSD educators by working with colleagues in state government to repeal Section 45-2-15.2 of H 6711 SUBSTITUTE A

• Work with colleagues in state government to amend the state constitution so education is deemed a right for all Rhode Island students, including students who attend Providence schools

• Work with colleagues in state government to combat school segregation by consolidating school districts in Rhode Island which have produced schools that are separate and unequal.

 

Environment

A clean and safe environment is vital for the health and well-being of our neighbors. We must take meaningful steps to reduce health disparities in our city and safeguard our environment, especially for those most vulnerable to adverse environmental conditions, such as our Indigenous, African American, Black, Latino, and Southeast Asian residents. For instance,  the risk of exposure to air pollution, and its consequences, such as high rates of hospitalizations for asthma among children, remains constant in many parts of South Providence, Washington Park, West End, and including the  North End.  Our neighbors deserve a city councilor who will fight for policies that reduce our City's carbon footprint.

 

If elected, Justin will:

 

• Ensure our city follows the recommendations, objectives, and targets outlined in the Climate Justice Plan

• Preserve and expand our green spaces in our neighborhood and across our city

• Increase the number of shade trees along our neighborhood streets

• Fight against the expansion of the fossil fuel industry in Providence and other industrial facilities, such as the concord street transfer station proposed in 2017 that would border Pawtucket and our North End neighborhood

 

Housing for All

​Today, a housing crisis looms over our city and state, cutting across race and class, with particular ramifications for people of color who are disproportionately more likely to be rent-burdened, to be evicted, and to experience discrimination in accessing adequate and safe, affordable housing. Therefore, we must make affordable housing the cornerstone of our economic development and promise decency and security for all of our neighbors. Our neighbors deserve a city councilor who will fight for policies that seek to preserve and expand the city's reservoir of affordable housing and offer more opportunities for longtime residents to stay in the neighborhood and city they love without the fear of being priced out.

 

If elected, Justin will:

 

• Fight against any increase in property taxes of our responsible working-class homeowners and small business owners if our large tax-exempt nonprofits such as our universities, colleges, and hospitals do not pay their fair share of property taxes 

• Fight to limit the TSAs granted to wealthy residential developers city’s so our responsible working-class homeowners do not bear the brunt of an unfair tax policy

• Fight to enact a city-wide rental registry so our city can better determine how many total units there are in the city, where the rental units are, who owns rental properties, how much landlords are charging, and which landlords have violated tenant rights

• Prevent an increase in homelessness through rent stabilization and fair eviction policies

• Secure and prioritize funding for the City’s affordable housing trust fund so we can provide meaningful resources to developers looking to build affordable units

• Create larger set-asides in affordable housing developments for our neighbors struggling to escape homelessness

• Require that the city immediately reserve all parcels not planned for open space for nonprofit affordable housing developers

• Require the timely enforcement of penalties against predatory slumlords

• Strengthen rent regulations that protect tenants from unfair & unreasonable rent increases

• Mandate developers to include permanently affordable units in new construction across the city

• Expand and increase funding for timely code enforcement

• Fund repairs of all our public housing apartments 

• Establish a process that will include a voice for our community’s future development.