Mayor Smiley’s Plans for Change

Last Wednesday, September 20, Dan McGowan of the Rhode Island Report interviewed Mayor Brett Smiley on the future of PVD fest, the sewer system updates, and a new 200-million-dollar deal between the city of Providence and the four private colleges in Providence. 

Mayor Smiley started his interview by discussing how Providence’s four private colleges, RISD, Brown University, Providence College, and Johnson and Wales University, will now give the city 200 million dollars instead of paying land taxes. This deal is a twenty-year agreement between the city of Providence and the colleges and is one of the most generous deals made between colleges and their host cities ever. The deal is also the only kind with the host city completely controlling the agreement. At the same time, other institutions in Boston, New Haven, and Philadelphia have more control over the contract. Separate from this deal is another agreement between Providence and Brown University, as the city has just agreed to sell five city blocks to the institution for 46 million dollars. This MOA (a written agreement between two parties to agree to the same agreed-upon project or objective) is to put property in Brown’s name as they are reputable institutions that developers looking to start projects in the city will trust. Brown will also get tax write-offs for these buildings as part of this MOA, but they must follow the same protocols and procedures for building and developing. 

In his interview, Mayor Smiley also discusses how he’d like to turn PVD Fest over to an entity that will better promote the festival and attract more crowds for the local artists performing. He also discussed how the responsibilities of running PVD Fest use many city resources that can be in better use elsewhere but that the city will still support the event. Those other areas in need of help include a new update to the sewer system, as Mayor Smiley discussed the city’s plans only to fix the sewer system for the most heavily affected areas: Valley St, Charles St, Branch Ave, Pleasant Valley Parkway, and the bottom of the Atwells exit. The mayor mentioned in an interview that it would be too costly to fix the entire system, so only tackling the most problematic stops of the city should help. These changes are not expected to occur soon as the city still needs to discuss these matters further with the state of Rhode Island to get more funding to begin the said project. 

What do all these changes mean for the students of JWU? Will we be expected to pay higher tuition due to this new agreement? I haven’t found a clear yes or no answer to this question. I hope our university won’t go making deals they don’t have the funding for already. We’ll keep you informed as this deal develops.