Amid deep divisions between the Mayor’s desk and City Council chambers over rent stabilization, a program to offer rental assistance to tenants seemed like common ground. Almost every City Councilor came out in support of the idea, but fresh tension over that program flared this week after City officials had already lined up a local nonprofit to administer the new fund.
On Tuesday, July 14, a letter sent from City Council President Rachel Miller informed Mayor Brett Smiley the program would not be considered until addressing two major concerns. First, Miller argues the Rental and Essential Needs Transition Fund (RENT) Fund sends money to landlords without meaningful guarantees that the tenants will remain housed. Second, Miller argues the fund is not a replacement for addressing large-scale rent increases across the city, an allusion to the policy limiting annual rent increases to 4% that was vetoed by Smiley in April.
At an impassioned press conference held July 15, the Mayor called the delay a “baseless political ploy aimed at obstructing progress during an election year while our neighbors are the ones that have to pay the price for it.”
City Councilor and Mayor Disagree on RENT Fund Tenant Protections
The RENT Fund uses $1 million dollars from the sale of two city-owned properties to provide payments of up to $3,000 for Providence households who are below 80% of the area median income and could lose their housing as a result of a temporary financial crisis such as a job loss, medical emergency or a steep rise in rent. Up to 20% of the funds could be used for program administration.
In statements from President Miller and Councilor Miguel Sanchez, the two acknowledged that the RENT fund would provide money to the appropriate authorities to settle mortgage arrears, back due rent or utility bills. However, the City Councilors expressed concerns that the funds are disbursed without “meaningful tenant protections.”
“A landlord could take a $3,000 check from the City on Friday and raise the rent or evict the tenant on Monday,” said Sanchez. “We are not going to be pressured into yet another Brett Smiley landlord giveaway.”
Smiley called the scenario a “fake concern,” pointing to similar rent assistance programs during early years of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said the City did not see the Councilors’ concerns materialize at that time. Smiley also said the chosen vendor to administer the program, Community Action Partnership of Providence County (CAP), is a trusted partner.
“Just because [tenants] get emergency rental assistance, doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lease any longer. The lease is, in part, the protection,” said Smiley, who also pointed out that the City funds some legal defense for evictions. “CAP will be counseling between the landlord and the tenant to ensure that when the payment gets made, that it clears up any of the arrears, any of the past due rent, so that the tenant is then in good standing.”
With the vendor award for the program currently before the Special Committee on Ways and Means, Smiley called on the City Council to host a special meeting to pass the legislation during the chambers’ August recess. Miller said that during the summer break, Council policy staff will research potential protections such as limits or freezes on rent increases for landlords who accept these funds. She also indicated that they will study whether grant payments like these impact eviction levels, how to enforce these protections and how long they should last.
“The Council has already answered the question of whether Providence should provide emergency housing assistance. We support it, and we funded it,” reads Miller’s letter. “The remaining question is whether a landlord should be permitted to accept thousands of dollars in public money without agreeing to keep the tenant housed on stable terms. Until that fundamental gap is addressed, the ordinance should not advance.”
“A Baseless Political Ploy”: Smiley Pushes Back Against “Fast-Track” Label
Miller also accused the Mayor of pressuring the City Council “into approving an incomplete proposal on an artificial timeline.”
“Your Administration is now encouraging the Council to fast-track both the ordinance and the accompanying vendor award without first putting meaningful tenant protections in place,” wrote Miller. “I will not ask the Council to do so.”
On March 19, the Rental and Essential Needs Transition Fund was introduced to the City Council. The proposal was a primary part of a program Smiley was calling “housing stabilization” at the same time the City Council was pushing for rent stabilization, which he opposes. At a time when Smiley was criticized for not doing enough to slow down rising rents, his administration managed to fund a program that would benefit over 300 households facing evictions.
The RENT Fund money was included in the FY27 Budget. The City launched a bidding process to administer the program, and two vendors applied: Crossroads Rhode Island and the Community Action Partnership of Providence County (CAP). Smiley said the procurement process began before final City Council approval to “hit the ground running on July 1st.”
“We try to work expeditiously when we can so that when the budget passed, the funds would be available,” said Smiley at the July 15 press conference. “The time for questioning and evaluating and further review has passed. There are people who need this assistance now.”
As early as June 29, City officials recommended CAP to run the program to the Board of Contract and Supply. On July 15, the bid was moved out of BOCS to the City Council for approval. Without advancing the fund through City Council before a month of summer recess, Smiley cannot point to the impact of the RENT Fund during his re-election campaign.
His challenger, State Representative David Morales, is a vocal supporter of rent stabilization and is endorsed by City Council President Miller. In a city with thousands of evictions occurring every year and rent prices rising at some of the highest rates in the nation, tackling the housing crisis is one of the premier issues of a primary election just two months away.
“It’s just impossible to see it as anything other than political gamesmanship, but these are people’s lives, these are their constituents, too,” said Smiley. “And so now, because there’s an election in 55 days, people are gonna have to wait until September or October. How many people are gonna get evicted between then and now?”
Correction: The Providence Eye incorrectly stated that City Council unanimously supported the RENT Fund ordinance; however, one councilor abstained from signing on. We regret this error.
Eric Halvarson is a City News Reporter for The Providence Eye.
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