A mere skimming of David Segal's Web site, or even a simple Google search of his name, immediately and radically debunks Jeff Tiell '06 and Matt Lawrence '06's disingenuous and fallacious piece ("Where the Ward One candidates stand," Nov. 30), in which they claim that Segal doesn't pay enough attention to local issues.
Their cries for a return to parochialism, in chorus with those of Ethan Ris '05, are counterproductive and, frankly, offensive.
Segal, whom the Providence Phoenix just dubbed "a champion of progressive politics," has devoted the last three years to bettering the lives of the people of Providence and Ward 1 alike - with extraordinary success.
Lawrence and Tiell correctly point out that Segal has worked to improve the environment by passing laws that will help save money and clean the city's air, by requiring the City to purchase renewable energy and hybrid cars. But they forgot to mention that Segal is also a staunch advocate for increased street tree planting, and that the Sierra Club just gave Providence its "Cool Cities" award in recognition of his work.
The duo is also correct in suggesting that Segal led Providence to join national movements of hundreds of cities in passing resolutions against the Patriot Act and the war in Iraq. (Though they omit the fact that Segal's anti-war activism has also led to substantial policy changes in the way that the Providence Public Schools handle on-campus military recruiting.)
Lawrence and Tiell would cynically have you believe that that's all the councilman has accomplished, but Segal's work of city-wide impact (much of it completed in conjunction with his close Democratic allies, Miguel Luna and Luis Aponte) also includes:
Overseeing the establishment of an affordable housing trust fund, for which millions of dollars are now designated;
Helping lead successful fights for better wages through the formation of new unions and improved union contracts, including support for Brown's dining services and librarians' unions;
Successfully strengthening and overseeing the enforcement of the First Source jobs ordinance, which will mean hundreds to thousands of jobs for the people of Providence;
Passing the Displaced Workers Act to provide job security to low-wage service workers;
Requiring the city to translate notices and meetings into Spanish;
Requiring the city to send notice of important city actions to renters - not just property owners, as the case had been;
Vastly expanding outreach for the Earned Income Tax Credit, to help Providence residents secure some of the more than $10 million they fail to claim each year.
Supporting and strengthening the Providence External Review Authority, which monitors police abuses;
Initiating an on-street parking pilot program, which will earn new revenue for the city and make life more convenient for residents while allowing for more greenspace preservation;
Increasing oversight of the poorly run quasi-public Providence Public Library;
Ward 1 exists within a city, not on its own cloud in the sky - these are issues of citywide importance, all of which necessarily have significant impacts on Ward One too. But regular reading of The Herald alone makes it clear that Segal's also done a tremendous amount of work that affects his ward in particular.
During his tenure, Segal has successfully worked to:
Establish a group of neighbors and Brown students and administrators that meets regularly to discuss town-gown issues;
Secure the paving of miles of roads and the repair of hundreds of sidewalks;
Obtain funding to bury the power lines at India Point Park;
Make significant improvements to at least five neighborhood parks;
Institute a major traffic-calming of Wickenden Street;
Initiate the development of a community garden;
Secure funding well into the six-figures for organizations that Tiell and Lawrence have probably never heard of, like the Fox Point Senior Center and Boys and Girls Club;
Acquire funding to turn the long-languishing Fox Point Bathhouse - where the people of Fox Point bathed before most houses had running water - into a school library and community room.
Upgrade street lights, install new garbage cans, erect parking and traffic signs, clear drains, paint crosswalks, and much, much more.
Councilman Segal is certain to spend the next year continuing his hard work on behalf of his constituents and all of the people of Providence. And perhaps Ris will realize that Providence progressives aren't soon likely to support somebody who so baselessly and relentlessly attacks one of our "champions."
Seth Yurdin of Governor Street, Dan Bass of Ives Street, Miguel Luna of Ward 9, Elizabeth Sperber '06 and Lincoln Restler '06.5 decided to work for Councilman Segal's re-election while researching this column.
