Providence City Council swears in Jill Davidson and confirms several city appointments
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
At a special Dec. 17 meeting, the Providence City Council swore in Jill Davidson (Ward 2), cast ballots for a probate judge and clerk, and approved six nominees to the Providence External Review Authority (PERA). Several other board and committee appointments were received or referred.
Jill Davidson took the oath of office as the Ward 2 member of the Providence City Council during a special meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 17. Judge John E. Martinelli administered the oath; Davidson repeated, “I do solemnly swear and affirm that I will faithfully discharge my duties as a member of the Providence City Council,” and pledged to support the U.S. Constitution, state law and the Providence City Charter.
The council also processed a slate of appointments. Majority Leader Espinal nominated John E. Martinelli for judge of the Providence Probate Court; the clerk cast one ballot for Judge John E. Martinelli. The record includes an inconsistent name string for the clerk-of-court nomination: Majority Leader Espinal nominated “Paul V. DeBoer” while the ballot cast was recorded as “Paul Jabbour”; the clerk recorded the ballot for Paul Jabbour. The council elected six members to the Providence External Review Authority (PERA) — Shauna Kerlin, Denasia Fathy, Ray Watson, Nancy Seong, Kenya Vasquez and Bernard George — by a single ballot cast for the group.
Councillors also waived readings and handled a batch of items (8–19), noting items 8 and 9 as received, referring items 10 and 11 to the finance committee, and noting items 12–19 as amended and received. Council leadership thanked the appointees and asked those appointed to remain after the meeting for any necessary swearing-in and certificate signing.
Procedural details: the clerk reported 11 members present and 4 absent at roll call. For nominations, the council followed the typical practice of nomination, second and a single clerk ballot for uncontested appointments.
The meeting adjourned after a moment of silence for recent victims of violence in the city.