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Councilwoman Ryan backs mayor's veto of rent-stabilization measure and criticizes budget process change
Summary
At a special City Council meeting April 20, Councilwoman Ryan said she will support the mayor's veto of the council's rent-stabilization ordinance because "we don't have a fiscal note," and voiced concern about reassigning budget review to a new committee; the council approved several procedural waivers and referred items five through 11 to a Special Committee on Ways and Means.
Councilwoman Ryan told the City Council at a special April 20 meeting that she will support the mayor's veto of the council's recently passed rent-stabilization ordinance, saying the measure lacks a fiscal note and "doesn't present the true ... cost of that ordinance to the people of the city of Providence." She characterized herself as "the fiscally prudent voice of the Council" and said she would continue to serve as a fiscal watchdog for constituents.
The comment came amid a series of procedural votes on the agenda. The council approved motions to waive the invocation and pledge and to waive readings of several items. A motion to waive the reading of item three and to pass it on a voice vote was recorded by the clerk as having 11 ayes, one no and three absent; the motion passed. The council also approved waiving the readings of items five through 11 and the clerk referred those items to the Special Committee on Ways and Means for further consideration.
During a later point of personal expression, a councilor said that "a majority of the Committee on Finance shared that we had reached an impasse with the current chair" and that some members lacked confidence their voices would be heard in the budget process; the speaker framed the new committee and process as an effort to move beyond that stalemate and to preserve the council's fiscal oversight role. The speaker was not named on the record.
Councilman Oscar Vargas spoke during the items-five-through-11 discussion, saying he wanted to be part of the new committee and stressing the fiscal stakes: "this is a taxpayer's money that we're dealing with," he said, urging that committee work be attentive to taxpayers' interests.
No formal override vote of the mayor's veto was recorded at the meeting. The council adjourned after referring the listed items to the Special Committee on Ways and Means.
The immediate next step is committee review: items five through 11 will be considered by the Special Committee on Ways and Means, which will vet budget items and report back to the full council.
