We Cannot wait for the storm to blow over, we must learn to work in the Rain. ~Jennifer Granholm

Michael English, Commitment with Providence giving back the Dignity, Opportunity, and a City That Works for Providence Blue-collar and beyond.

Providence is a city with a proud and resilient history. It was founded on a principle of "merciful Providence" and built by the hands of makers, artisans, and industrial workers who forged a community from the ground up. From the maritime trade that first defined its economy to the manufacturing powerhouses that drew families from around the world, Providence has always been a city for those who work hard and build for the future. Today, that fundamental promise is at risk. For too many working families, long-time homeowners, and seniors, the city they built is becoming a city they can no longer afford. This is not a partisan issue; it is a question of fairness and the future character of our city. Will Providence remain a place of opportunity for all, or will it become accessible only to the wealthiest among us?

The signs of this crisis are undeniable and deeply felt in every neighborhood. Providence has been ranked the third hottest major housing market in the United States for 2025, a distinction that brings with it immense pressure on residents. In a single year, the average rent surged by an astonishing 12.6%, with the median asking price reaching $2,145 per month. Homeowners are not immune; many have seen their property valuations jump by as much as 40%, threatening them with tax bills that far outpace their incomes. This is not a distant economic trend; it is the lived reality for our neighbors. A comprehensive survey by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Brown University School of Public Health confirms this anxiety, revealing that residents perceive steep and persistent challenges in the cost of living, access to affordable housing, and healthcare. The overall well-being score for Rhode Islanders has dropped to its lowest point in five years, driven by the crushing weight of these economic pressures.

For too long, City Hall has responded to these systemic challenges with piecemeal solutions and a management style that has led to proposals for tax increases that exceed the state's 4% cap, placing an even greater burden on already struggling families. At the same time, some challengers offer narrow, ideological fixes that fail to address the complex, interconnected nature of the problems we face. This platform offers a different path. It is a comprehensive, data-driven, and pragmatic plan to restore stability and foster shared prosperity. It is a New Contract with the people of Providence, grounded in proven, common-sense ideas that work.

This contract is built on three foundational pillars, each designed to address a critical aspect of the crisis we face. 

First, Securing Our Neighborhoods, Honoring Our Seniors, a plan to protect our long-time homeowners from being taxed out of their homes and to preserve the stable, multi-generational character of our communities. 

Second, A Healthier Providence for Every Family, a public health approach to rebuilding our broken mental health system, ensuring that care is accessible to all and that our first responders are supported, not overburdened. 

Third, Rebuilding Our Economic Foundation for Shared Prosperity, a balanced strategy to create good-paying jobs for the working class, support local entrepreneurs, and ensure that the benefits of economic growth are shared by all residents, not just a select few. Together, these pillars form a blueprint for a city that is not just growing, but growing together—a city that honors its seniors, cares for its families, and creates real, lasting opportunity for its workers.
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Pillar I: Securing Our Neighborhoods, Honoring Our Seniors
The Challenge: A Promise at Risk

The American dream of homeownership—the promise that hard work can lead to a place of one's own, a source of stability and a foundation for the next generation—is under direct threat in Providence. The city's housing market has transformed from a source of security into a source of profound anxiety for thousands of residents. This is most visible in the staggering rise of home prices: in 2012, the median home sold for approximately $200,000; today, that figure has soared to nearly $500,000, a price far beyond the reach of the median household. This rapid escalation in value, while beneficial on paper, has a perilous downside. Recent property revaluations have resulted in assessment increases of up to 40% for some homeowners, creating a sudden and unsustainable tax burden.

This pressure is most acute for our senior citizens. In Providence, 11.5% of our residents are age 65 or older. Many of these individuals live on fixed incomes, having spent their working lives contributing to our city's economy and social fabric. For households led by someone over 65, the median income is just $39,387. This creates a cruel paradox: the very home that represents their life's savings becomes a financial liability. They are "house-rich but cash-poor," trapped by a tax system that penalizes them for the market's speculative fever.

The existing safety nets are woefully inadequate to address a problem of this magnitude. The City of Providence currently offers a flat elderly property tax exemption of just $750. The statewide "circuit breaker" program, which provides a credit when property taxes exceed a certain percentage of income, offers a maximum benefit of only $675 and is restricted to households earning less than $39,275 annually. While well-intentioned, these programs are mere band-aids, offering trivial relief against tax increases that can amount to thousands of dollars. They fail to protect the very people who need it most.

The ultimate consequence of this policy failure is the quiet displacement of an entire generation. Seniors who have lived in their homes for decades, who are the anchors of their neighborhoods and the keepers of our city's collective memory, are being forced into the heartbreaking decision to sell. They are not moving by choice, but by the relentless pressure of a property tax bill they simply can no longer afford. This is more than a financial issue; it is an erosion of our social fabric. Each time a senior is forced to sell, a piece of the neighborhood's stability and character is lost. It is a fundamental injustice to the generation that built our city, and it is a trend we must reverse.

Our Plan: The Senior Security & Stability Program

To confront this crisis, we will implement the Senior Security & Stability Program, a comprehensive and compassionate municipal property tax deferral initiative. This is not a tax cut or a giveaway; it is a fiscally responsible tax postponement that allows our seniors to age with dignity in their own homes. The program is modeled on successful, long-running initiatives in states like Colorado and Illinois, demonstrating its feasibility and financial soundness. It provides a real, meaningful alternative to the current system, which forces seniors from their homes through the threat of tax sales.

The core mechanics of the program are straightforward and designed for security and simplicity:

Eligibility: The program will be open to all Providence homeowners aged 65 or older, regardless of their income. The only requirements will be that the property is their primary residence and that all previous property taxes are paid in full. This universal eligibility for seniors is a crucial departure from the current means-tested programs that leave too many vulnerable residents behind.

The Deferral: Qualified seniors can elect to defer payment of all or a portion of their annual property taxes. The City of Providence will cover the deferred amount on behalf of the homeowner, ensuring that municipal services remain fully funded without interruption.

The Lien: The total deferred tax amount, plus a low, simple interest rate, will be recorded as a junior lien against the property. This is the key to the program's fiscal integrity. It is not a traditional loan that requires stressful monthly payments. The lien is a secured debt that is only settled when the homeowner has the liquidity to do so.

Interest Rate: The interest rate will be set at a modest level designed to make the program revenue-neutral for the city over the long term. It will cover the city's administrative costs and the time-value of money, likely pegged to a stable benchmark like the municipal bond rate. This ensures the program is self-sustaining and does not place a burden on other taxpayers.

Repayment Triggers: The lien becomes due only upon a "non-qualifying event." The most common events are the sale of the property or the death of the homeowner, at which point the deferred taxes and interest are settled from the proceeds of the sale or by the estate. This mechanism ensures the city is always made whole while allowing the senior to live out their years in their home without financial fear. The program will also include compassionate provisions allowing a surviving spouse to continue the deferral, preventing further disruption to the family.

This program fundamentally reframes the relationship between the city and its senior homeowners. Instead of an adversarial process of collections and tax sales, it creates a partnership that provides security for the resident and guarantees revenue for the city.

The long-term effects of this policy extend far beyond immediate tax relief. For most middle-class and working-class families, their home is their single largest financial asset and the primary vehicle for intergenerational wealth transfer. When rising property taxes force a senior to sell their home prematurely, that family's equity is stripped away, preventing it from being passed down to their children and grandchildren. The Senior Security & Stability Program acts as a powerful tool for wealth preservation at the neighborhood level. By allowing seniors to age in place and settle the tax bill from the home's eventual sale, the program preserves the vast majority of that equity within the family. This directly combats the widening wealth gap and ensures that the financial benefits of Providence's rising property values are not only captured by developers and new, wealthier residents, but are also retained by the long-term families who built the community's value over decades.

Furthermore, the program serves as a critical stabilizer for our neighborhoods. Rapid property value increases often lead to gentrification and the displacement of long-term residents, which frays the social fabric of a community. Seniors are often the first to be displaced, yet they are also the anchors of a neighborhood—the familiar faces, the institutional memory, the stable presence that turns a collection of houses into a community. By putting a brake on this displacement, the tax deferral program allows more of these long-term residents to remain, fostering more stable, multi-generational neighborhoods. It slows the pace of disruptive change, giving the city and its residents time to adapt to new economic realities without sacrificing the character and soul of our communities.

Feature
Current City/State Programs
Proposed Senior Security & Stability Program
Eligibility Criteria
Age 65+ AND household income under $39,275
Age 65+, regardless of income; primary residence
Maximum Annual Benefit
Capped at $750 (City) or $675 (State)
Deferral of all or a portion of the annual tax bill
Repayment Method
Not applicable (credit/exemption)
Lien placed on property, payable upon sale or from estate
Impact on Home Equity
Minimal; does not prevent forced sales from large tax hikes
Preserves home equity for the family by avoiding forced sales
Impact on City Budget
Direct, though minor, reduction in tax revenue
Revenue-neutral; taxes are postponed, not forgiven, and repaid with interest

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Pillar II: 

A Healthier Providence for Every Family

The Challenge: 

A System at the Breaking Point
In Providence, we are facing a profound and worsening mental health crisis. This is not a challenge affecting a small few; it is a public health emergency that touches every neighborhood, straining our families, overwhelming our public safety systems, and undermining our city's well-being. Local experts and advocates have sounded the alarm, describing a system with "gaping holes" in its continuum of care, a system that fundamentally "does not meet the needs of our community". The data paints a grim picture of this systemic failure.


For years, Rhode Island has "consistently underperformed" the national average when it comes to residents reporting positive outcomes from their behavioral health services. This is not a new problem, but it is an urgent one. Our children and young people are suffering at an alarming rate. More than a quarter of our high school students report experiencing persistent sadness and hopelessness that impairs their daily lives. Even more tragically, a 2023 report revealed that 62.1% of Rhode Island youth who experienced a major depressive episode received no mental health services whatsoever. This is a moral and societal failure that jeopardizes the future of an entire generation.

This crisis is compounded by deep-seated inequities. 

The current system disproportionately fails our communities of color, which face a severe shortage of culturally and linguistically competent providers who can deliver care that is trusted and effective. This lack of accessible, appropriate care does not make the problem disappear; it simply shifts the burden onto systems that are ill-equipped to handle it. Without adequate community-based services, individuals in crisis are funneled into two costly and often traumatizing alternatives: the hospital emergency room or the back of a police car. This places an unsustainable strain on our police officers, who are increasingly forced to act as frontline mental health workers, a role for which they were not primarily trained and which diverts their attention from addressing crime. This is a system at its breaking point, failing our residents and our first responders alike.

Our Plan: 

The Providence C.A.R.E.S. Initiative (Community, Access, Response, and Engagement Services)

To address this crisis, we will launch the Providence C.A.R.E.S. Initiative, a comprehensive, public health-oriented strategy to rebuild our city's mental health infrastructure. This is not about adding another small program; it is about fundamentally redesigning our approach to mental wellness from the ground up, ensuring that care is accessible, response is appropriate, and no one is left to suffer in silence.

Component 1: Build Community-Based Care Hubs

The foundation of a functional mental health system is accessible, high-quality care delivered within the community. To achieve this, we will support the phased development of Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs) in Providence's most underserved neighborhoods. The CCBHC model is a federally recognized standard for excellence in community mental health, designed to be a one-stop shop for a comprehensive range of mental health and addiction services. These clinics are required to serve everyone who walks through their doors, regardless of their diagnosis, age, or ability to pay. Key features of the CCBHC model include 24/7 crisis response services, integrated primary care screening to treat the whole person, and intensive care coordination to help individuals navigate the often-complex healthcare system. By establishing these hubs, we directly fill the "gaping holes" in our current system, creating visible, trusted points of access for care and reducing the over-reliance on emergency rooms.

Component 2: Launch a Smarter, Safer Crisis Response

When a resident experiences a behavioral health crisis, the response should be care, not criminalization. We will create a city-wide Co-Responder Program, embedding specially trained, licensed mental health clinicians within the Providence Police Department to respond as a team to behavioral health-related 911 calls. This model, which has proven successful in jurisdictions like Johnson County, Kansas, and St. Louis, Missouri, fundamentally changes the dynamic of a crisis call. Instead of a purely law enforcement response, a team consisting of an officer and a clinician arrives on the scene. The clinician uses their expertise in de-escalation and crisis intervention to stabilize the situation, while the officer ensures the safety of everyone involved. The team's primary goal is to connect the individual directly to the appropriate services—transporting them to a crisis center or a CCBHC, not to an emergency room or a jail cell. Research on these programs shows they are a "win-win-win": they lead to far better health outcomes for the person in crisis, dramatically reduce arrests and use-of-force incidents, free up police officers to focus on crime, and are significantly more cost-effective for the city than the endless cycle of arrest and hospitalization.

Component 3: Launch a Public Awareness & Stigma Reduction Campaign

Building a better system is not enough if people are afraid or unaware of how to use it. We will launch a city-led public health campaign, modeled on successful initiatives like California's "Take Action for Mental Health". This campaign will have two simple but powerful goals. First, it will work to normalize conversations about mental health, fighting the stigma that for too long has prevented people from seeking help. Second, it will clearly and consistently publicize the new resources available through the C.A.R.E.S. initiative. We will create a single, easy-to-remember point of contact, leveraging existing systems like the 9-8-8 crisis line and 2-1-1 resource line, so that every resident knows exactly where to turn in a time of need.

This comprehensive approach recognizes that the mental health crisis is a hidden driver of many of the city's most pressing fiscal and public safety challenges. The lack of investment in community-based care does not eliminate costs; it merely shifts them to more expensive and less effective systems. Medicaid data shows that patients with a behavioral health diagnosis are 2.4 times more likely to use the emergency department, consuming vast public resources without addressing the root cause of their illness. This leads to a costly cycle of repeat 911 calls and further strain on our first responders. Therefore, investing in a robust mental health infrastructure through the C.A.R.E.S. initiative is not simply a social spending program; it is a core strategy for fiscal responsibility and public safety. It represents a more efficient and humane allocation of city resources that will, in the long run, reduce the burden on our police, fire, and emergency medical services.

The components of the C.A.R.E.S. initiative are designed to be symbiotic, creating a virtuous cycle of care. A common point of failure for crisis response models is the lack of a reliable place for follow-up care; a co-responder team can de-escalate a crisis, but the intervention is only temporary if there is no accessible clinic to provide ongoing support. Conversely, a CCBHC is a powerful resource, but its impact is limited if people in crisis cannot get to it. The C.A.R.E.S. plan creates a complete and effective circuit. The Co-Responder teams act as the safe and effective "front door" to the system during an emergency, while the neighborhood CCBHCs provide the long-term, comprehensive care that helps prevent future crises. Each component makes the other exponentially more effective, building a system that is truly responsive to the needs of our community.

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Pillar III: Rebuilding Our Economic Foundation for Shared Prosperity

The Challenge: An Unbalanced Economy
Providence is a city of great economic energy, home to world-class universities, major healthcare systems, and a vibrant creative culture. Yet, for too many of our residents, this prosperity feels distant and unattainable. The central economic challenge facing our city is not a lack of activity, but a lack of shared prosperity. The city's own comprehensive plan reveals a troubling trend: a decline in the number of middle-income households—those earning between $45,000 and $99,000—while the number of households at both the low and high ends of the income spectrum has grown. This is the statistical definition of a "hollowing out" of the middle class, a trend that threatens the long-term economic stability of our city.

For too long, our economic development strategy has been unbalanced. While we must continue to support our crucial "eds and meds" sectors—healthcare and education are the city's top two employers—an over-reliance on these fields, combined with a narrow focus on attracting high-end corporate jobs, risks leaving a significant portion of our population behind. A strong city needs pathways to the middle class for everyone, not just those with advanced degrees. In Providence, 65.3% of residents over the age of 25 do not have a bachelor's degree. 

A successful economic strategy must create opportunities for them. It must recognize the strength and potential of our manufacturing sector, the third-largest employer in the city, and the vital role that construction and the skilled trades play in building our future. We need a balanced approach that creates good-paying jobs for the people who have always been the backbone of Providence's economy.

Our Plan: 

The Providence PROPEL Initiative (Partnership for Real Opportunity and Productive Enterprise & Labor)

To build a more resilient, diverse, and equitable local economy, we will launch the Providence PROPEL Initiative. This is a forward-looking strategy designed to invest directly in the sectors that provide stable, family-sustaining jobs for the working class, to cultivate homegrown small businesses, and to ensure that every resident has a fair shot at participating in our city's growth.

Component 1: Launch the "Build Providence" Blue-Collar Business Incubator

Innovation is not limited to the tech sector. To harness the entrepreneurial spirit of our skilled workforce, we will establish a city-supported business incubator specifically designed for entrepreneurs in the skilled trades, light manufacturing, logistics, and construction-related fields. This is a novel application of the proven incubator model, which provides startups with the resources they need to grow and thrive. Instead of focusing on software developers, the "Build Providence" incubator will provide affordable workshop and warehouse space, access to shared industrial equipment, business management training, and mentorship for the next generation of electricians, plumbers, welders, custom fabricators, and other skilled tradespeople who want to start their own companies. This initiative provides a tangible pathway for experienced workers to become business owners, allowing them to build wealth within their own communities. It directly cultivates homegrown, blue-collar businesses that create stable, middle-class jobs that are far less likely to be outsourced.

Component 2: A Fair Deal on Development

Providence must be a city that is open for business, but it must also be a city that demands a fair deal for its residents. We will continue to aggressively leverage powerful state-level incentives, like the Rebuild RI Tax Credit and the Qualified Jobs Incentive, to attract major investment and development projects. However, we will reform the city's approach to local incentives to guarantee that Providence residents get the first and best opportunity to fill the jobs these projects create. Any project that receives city-level support, such as a Tax Stabilization Agreement (TSA), will be required to sign a strengthened and rigorously enforced "FirstSource Plus" agreement. This goes beyond the current FirstSource program by including specific, contractually binding, and enforceable targets for :


Local Hiring: A significant percentage of all jobs, from construction to permanent positions, must be filled by Providence residents.

Living Wages: All jobs created must pay a living wage that significantly exceeds the state minimum wage.

Local Partnerships: Developers must partner directly with the "Build Providence" incubator, local union apprenticeship programs, and other workforce training providers to create a direct pipeline for hiring.

This new standard directly addresses the concern that our tax system has become unbalanced. It ensures that when public dollars are used to support private development, the public receives a guaranteed, tangible return on its investment in the form of good, local, family-sustaining jobs.

Component 3: Invest in the People Who Do the Work

A 21st-century economy requires a 21st-century workforce. To ensure our residents have the skills needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow, we will create a Mayoral Office of Workforce Development. This office will not be another layer of bureaucracy; it will be the active, connective tissue for the entire PROPEL initiative. Its mission will be to forge powerful partnerships between trade unions, the Community College of Rhode Island, and successful state programs like Real Jobs RI to dramatically expand apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. This office will work directly with companies receiving "Fair Deal" incentives to identify their specific skill needs and then build the training pipelines to fill those jobs with Providence residents. It will also serve the startups graduating from the "Build Providence" incubator, ensuring they have access to the skilled talent they need to grow. This creates a powerful, self-reinforcing ecosystem of local talent, local entrepreneurs, and local jobs.

The challenges of economic development and housing affordability are not separate issues; they are two sides of the same coin. A development strategy that focuses exclusively on attracting high-wage corporate jobs without a parallel strategy to support middle-income workers pours fuel on the fire of the housing crisis. As new high-income residents compete for a limited housing supply, prices are driven up for everyone, displacing the very residents who give our city its character. The PROPEL initiative is therefore a crucial component of a comprehensive housing stability strategy. By focusing on growing middle-income, blue-collar jobs, we help ensure that existing residents can continue to afford to live in the city they call home.

Furthermore, in an era of economic uncertainty, with a slowing national labor market and a rising state unemployment rate, a diverse and resilient local economy is more important than ever. Relying solely on attracting large, out-of-state corporations makes our city's economic fate vulnerable to decisions made in distant boardrooms. The "Build Providence" incubator, by contrast, fosters a robust ecosystem of small, local businesses that are rooted in the community and serve local needs. These businesses are inherently more resilient to national economic shocks. The PROPEL initiative is not just a job creation program; it is a long-term economic diversification and resilience strategy that will make our city's economy stronger, fairer, and better able to withstand the challenges of the future.

Initiative Component
Target Beneficiary
Key Tools
Desired Outcome
"Build Providence" Incubator
Blue-Collar Entrepreneurs, Skilled Trades
Affordable Space, Shared Equipment, Mentorship, Business Training
More local, middle-class jobs; Wealth creation for working families; A more resilient and diverse local economy.

"Fair Deal" on Development
Providence Job Seekers, Taxpayers
Strengthened FirstSource Agreements, Enforceable Local Hiring & Wage Standards
Guaranteed local jobs and living wages from publicly subsidized projects; A fair return on investment for taxpayers.
Workforce Development
Unemployed & Underemployed Residents
Expanded Apprenticeships, Union Partnerships, CCRI Collaboration.

A skilled local workforce ready for jobs created by the other two components; Pathways to the middle class for all residents.


Conclusion: 

A Call to Action for a Providence That Works

This platform presents a clear and achievable vision for the future of Providence—a city where progress is measured not just by the height of new buildings, but by the stability, health, and prosperity of the families who live here. The challenges we face are significant, but they are not insurmountable. They require a new approach from City Hall, one that replaces rhetoric with results and ideology with common-sense solutions that are grounded in the real-world needs of our residents.

The three pillars of this New Contract—Securing Our Neighborhoods, A Healthier Providence, and Rebuilding Our Economic Foundation—are not a list of separate promises. They are a single, interconnected strategy for a stronger city. A senior who can remain in their home with dignity is the bedrock of a stable neighborhood. A family that can access compassionate mental healthcare when they need it is a healthier and more productive part of our community. A worker who has a good-paying, skilled job can afford to raise a family here, invest in their home, and contribute to the local economy. Each pillar reinforces the others, creating a virtuous cycle of stability, well-being, and opportunity.

The 2026 election presents a clear choice. We can continue down a path of managed decline, where Providence becomes increasingly unaffordable, our systems become more strained, and the promise of our city is reserved for a select few. Or, we can choose to actively build a future of shared prosperity. We can choose to honor the generation that built our city by allowing them to age in place. We can choose to build a mental health system that provides care instead of punishment. We can choose to invest in an economy that creates real opportunity for the working people who have always been our greatest strength.

This is a call to action for every resident who believes in a Providence that works for everyone. It is a commitment to a new era of governance—one that is pragmatic, accountable, and relentlessly focused on improving the quality of life in every neighborhood. It is a New Contract with Providence, based on the timeless values of dignity, opportunity, and a city government that works for the people who make this city run.