6 out of 15 City Councilors in Providence are Latino, and The Providence Eye is interviewing them to get to know each one better, as well as better understanding their views on the intersection between identity and governance.
“Yo voto por Ana, y tú!” This is Councilmember Ana Vargas signature catch phrase, which she uses when campaigning to represent Providence’s Ward 7, including Hartford and half of the Silver Lake neighborhood. Vargas is a relatively new Councilmember, having been elected in November of 2022, succeeding the 27-year legacy of John Igliozzi, and his father before that. When asked why she ran for city council, Vargas responded “I know my community, I know everything that is going on.” Without City Council term limits, she suggests, Igliozzi would still be in the same Council position.
She is a proud supporter of small businesses and used to work for the Providence School Department, a position she left after her election to avoid a conflict of interests. She currently works for the Rhode Island Department of Administration. She serves on the Committee on City Public Works, Committee on Urban Redevelopment Renewal and Planning, the Special Committee on State Legislative Affairs, and is a member of the city’s Recreational Advisory Board.
She describes her district as a home for immigrants of various countries, and of many different races. While she herself is a Dominican immigrant, and identifies closely with her roots and her language, she governs equally for all populations. She wants to give back to the city and state that welcomed her so warmly after she had moved from the Dominican Republic and then, from New York. Unique to her vision for a prosperous Providence is the ability for all to achieve the “American Dream,” as she sought when she arrived. For this, Vargas sees the need for “a good quality of life, work opportunities, a better kept city, an effective police force, and a successful education system.”
Vargas has four children who all grew up in Providence and is particularly interested in the future of the Providence public schools.
She insists that control of the Providence Public School District (PPSD) should return to the local level but wants to see standardization across the school district.
She thinks it necessary that students wear uniforms to school and “ride the school bus every day so that they are not tardy.”
She is also concerned about the quality of Providence school buildings. She considers education to be the key to the future of all students and knows that it is not possible to learn in substandard conditions. Providence needs school buildings that meet the needs of students, not old and worn-down buildings with lead that can cause student health problems. Vargas is excited to see the renovation of these buildings, as well as, eventually, a high school closer to Ward 7 and a sports club for students to play, especially during the colder months. She further believes in standardized curriculum for PPSD teachers in additional subject areas and the intentional involvement of parents. She believes that teaching real world life skills, such as budgeting, is important for students who may not pursue a traditional post-graduate education.
Vargas also believes deeply in the power of after-school education programs so that young people spend more time in the classroom than they do unsupervised. She envisions sports, art, and dance programs that are anchored in all cultures. She is insistent that the state needs to work harder to invest in our education system and find the necessary funds.
She is proud of the recent work of the Providence Recreation Department to upgrade Providence parks and has excitedly represented her community at ribbon cutting ceremonies, such as Neutaconkanut Park and soon, Merino Park. Vargas is constantly communicating with her constituents. She often “walks through her neighborhood” knocking on doors, speaking with residents, and attending neighborhood events. She relays important city information and emphasizes that she is there to serve her constituents. From them, she often hears calls for better streets, increased security, and housing stability. In her budgetary priorities, she recently included sidewalk reform after hearing the years-long need of a constituent in her community.
For Vargas, the hardest votes and issues on the Council have been those related to education and housing. She describes the polarized nature of the battle between a regular public school and a charter school, as well as a recent difficult vote that would make a former school site into affordable housing. Despite the contentious votes and ordinances, she has a favorable view of Mayor Smiley, admiring his flexibility, and a favorable view of the leadership of the “ensemble of 16” that make up the City Council. She says that they “are the eyes of the community.”
Recalling the time when she originally moved to Providence in 1996, Vargas described a city with many readily available housing and jobs in factories. Now, with a lack of blue-collar jobs and an influx of residents, many of Vargas’ constituents are experiencing housing instability and rising costs of living. To address this, she sees it as important to aid small businesses and build large multi-family housing complexes, since Providence lacks housing.
Vargas’ foremost goal for the city is to create a cultural house where Providence’s different cultural groups can showcase art, clothing, dance, and food. She feels strongly about the importance of pride in one’s origins and being able to showcase that pride in a shared space. Vargas adores her beautiful Providence and has a clear vision for its future.
Michelle Alas Molina is a Salvadoran immigrant and a lifelong multilingual learner. She currently studies Latin American and Caribbean Studies and International and Public Affairs at Brown University in the class of 2025, where she is Editor-in-Chief of the Brown Journal of World Affairs and a Bonner Community Fellow at Progreso Latino. She is passionate about equitable education, immigration justice, and democratic institutions.
