1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,720 Speaker 1: Representative Dan York. Thanks for joining me, Dan. 2 00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:05,240 Speaker 2: Much appreciate it. Thank you for the opportunity to. 3 00:00:05,200 --> 00:00:08,280 Speaker 1: Be on you bet so let's be so. 4 00:00:08,400 --> 00:00:11,280 Speaker 2: Unfortunately, the last several days, people all across the city 5 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 2: of Providence have been struggling with the underwhelming response that 6 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 2: the city has had regarding snow removal. I mean specifically today, 7 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 2: schools were back in session and we had several cases 8 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:24,200 Speaker 2: of school buses that were getting stuck on the road 9 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 2: while picking up our students, and so I ended up 10 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 2: resulting in delays for other families that are weighing at 11 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 2: their bus stop outside in the cold. And I think 12 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 2: a lot of this has to do with the fact 13 00:00:34,120 --> 00:00:38,440 Speaker 2: that as a city, certain decisions were made by the 14 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,159 Speaker 2: Smiley administration that made the situation a lot worse than 15 00:00:42,159 --> 00:00:45,880 Speaker 2: it should have been. Like, the first and foremost one 16 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 2: is around the parking band. Parking ban was announced on 17 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 2: Sunday at eleven am, and then by Monday at six am, 18 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 2: despite the streets not being successfully cleared from curb to curb, 19 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 2: the parking band was lifted, and so you end up 20 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 2: up having a lot of cars that made their way 21 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:04,320 Speaker 2: onto streets that as you know, and Providence tend to 22 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,240 Speaker 2: be relatively narrow, and as a result of that, we 23 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 2: still had streets on the side that went without being 24 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,720 Speaker 2: successfully plowed. And even when the plows try to make 25 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:16,800 Speaker 2: their way back in because the parking band had been 26 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 2: lifted and made it more difficult for them to actually 27 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 2: do their job. 28 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,560 Speaker 1: Yea's a question I've always had about municipal snow removal 29 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:24,160 Speaker 1: in general, and that is what do you do with 30 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:26,640 Speaker 1: your car? And when a parking ban is. 31 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:28,880 Speaker 2: A wonderful question. 32 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,160 Speaker 1: When a parking ban is initiated, what do you do, 33 00:01:32,280 --> 00:01:35,880 Speaker 1: like click your heels, rub your nose, and bewitched your 34 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: car into some suspension somewhere until the plows come through 35 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: and clear it out and then replace it back where 36 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:44,480 Speaker 1: it was before the storm. What do you do? 37 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, no, that is a great question. So thankfully there 38 00:01:48,120 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 2: are about sixteen parking lots that the City of Providence 39 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:54,680 Speaker 2: offers community members to be able to station their cars 40 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 2: in during a parking ban. In this case, it's like 41 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 2: India Point Park for example. Right they have a parking 42 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 2: lot with over thirty plus spaces. In addition to that, 43 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:05,720 Speaker 2: you have some community members that seek private alternatives, like 44 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,800 Speaker 2: the province play small garage, and those are examples of 45 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 2: again how the information gets communicated back to our neighbors. 46 00:02:12,680 --> 00:02:15,800 Speaker 1: It seems to me that those spaces are hardly an 47 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: amount that satisfy all of the people who park on 48 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:23,000 Speaker 1: the streets, who live on the East side and actually 49 00:02:23,040 --> 00:02:23,840 Speaker 1: all around the city. 50 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:27,520 Speaker 2: That is a very fair assessment, that is correct, and 51 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 2: that is why we do end up seeing some cars 52 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 2: that simply do not move, and as a result, they 53 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,400 Speaker 2: find themselves getting toted or they get a ticket. I 54 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 2: think it's incumbentund the city to be able to enter 55 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:38,800 Speaker 2: private agreements with some of our churches, with some of 56 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 2: our private schools to be able to tap in and 57 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,520 Speaker 2: access some of their parking lots. So again, that would 58 00:02:43,520 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 2: have to be a coordinated effort that takes preparation, and 59 00:02:45,800 --> 00:02:48,720 Speaker 2: that's what we should have seen coming from the Smiley administration, 60 00:02:48,919 --> 00:02:51,520 Speaker 2: considering that four years ago he ran on a platform 61 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:55,040 Speaker 2: to make Providence the quote unquote best run city in America. 62 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: I'm looking at this video that Channel twelve posted. Can't 63 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:01,679 Speaker 1: re remember the name of the street, but it is 64 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:05,840 Speaker 1: reported to be a street on the west side of 65 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:08,399 Speaker 1: the city. Feels like it kind of intersects a Broadway. 66 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,920 Speaker 1: I'm not sure, but it is no data side street. 67 00:03:13,160 --> 00:03:19,280 Speaker 1: There is no real vehicular problem here. There's one car 68 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 1: way down. Have you seen this video, by the way, 69 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,359 Speaker 1: It's on Dirty peer E's website. Have you seen it, David? 70 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: Do you know what I'm talking about? 71 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 2: Yes, I have not seen that video. From what I 72 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,320 Speaker 2: have seen, our neighbors just messaging me videos of people 73 00:03:33,320 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 2: on broad Street having to wait for the rip to 74 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 2: bus on the side of the road, or in this 75 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,120 Speaker 2: case school bus is getting stuck and then I don't 76 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 2: know if it's been talked about enough, but yesterday, I'm 77 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,640 Speaker 2: sure you might have heard that two women were shot 78 00:03:46,200 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 2: off Chalkstone Avenue on a side street, and when the 79 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 2: ambulance went over to respond, they put one of the 80 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,320 Speaker 2: women in the ambulance and they were delayed for about 81 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 2: twenty minutes before they were able to make their way 82 00:03:58,240 --> 00:04:01,280 Speaker 2: to the hospital, considering the fact that the snow conditions 83 00:04:01,320 --> 00:04:03,960 Speaker 2: were just so rough and that secondary street had not 84 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 2: been successfully plowed. And again, these are the real life 85 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 2: consequences that we see as a result of lack of 86 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 2: city services, in this case, snow removal on a secondary street. 87 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: What's your plan? 88 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:18,680 Speaker 2: Our plan would be centered around preparation, making sure that 89 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:20,640 Speaker 2: when it comes to the tail end of the summer 90 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 2: going into early fall, that we're lining up our contractors 91 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 2: much sooner. About making sure we are intentional deploying contractors 92 00:04:28,360 --> 00:04:31,280 Speaker 2: alongside DPW and the Parks Department. So we have expanded 93 00:04:31,279 --> 00:04:36,440 Speaker 2: capacity specifically for neglected side streets, some of our curb corners, 94 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:38,800 Speaker 2: and our bus stops. Those are the areas that tend 95 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,480 Speaker 2: to be most neglected. Now, make no mistake, this snowfall 96 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,400 Speaker 2: is a lot more severe than we had initially anticipated. 97 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 2: But for that reason, it's better to be over prepared. 98 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: Excuse me, we're talking about stay Representative Devin Morales. He's 99 00:04:52,120 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: a candidate for mayor. Divid Is there if I missed 100 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,560 Speaker 1: something as the city council called an emergency session for 101 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: review or any of that kind of thing. My question 102 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: rolls into the ultimate question, is anybody else but you 103 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:10,720 Speaker 1: complaining about this? Absolutely on a formal level, leaning on 104 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:13,840 Speaker 1: a formal level on government. 105 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 2: At this time, though at this time knows city Council 106 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 2: committee and or City Council member have called on a 107 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 2: special session or emergency session to discuss the ongoing snow 108 00:05:24,240 --> 00:05:26,880 Speaker 2: removal process in the city. But what we have seen 109 00:05:26,960 --> 00:05:29,679 Speaker 2: are certain city council members that have been relatively active 110 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 2: through the means of social media, keeping their communities informed 111 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 2: and expressing their frustration by how slow the plowing has 112 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 2: been on some of our secondary streets. 113 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:43,839 Speaker 1: I haven't heard the mayor respond to your assertions, have you. 114 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: I have not, so I wonder whether this is just 115 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:52,880 Speaker 1: a situation where you just let you blow by. And 116 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 1: again I'm Switzerland on this one. I mentioned yesterday, I 117 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,040 Speaker 1: do have an appointment in the city tomorrow and I'm 118 00:06:01,120 --> 00:06:02,840 Speaker 1: gonna see if I can take some extra time and 119 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 1: kind of wheel around and just kind of see what's 120 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:08,159 Speaker 1: going on and get there today due to some schedule issues, 121 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: but I do want to get a first hand feel 122 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,239 Speaker 1: for how the streets look, and you know, a couple 123 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: three days later, it would actually be a better indication 124 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:18,320 Speaker 1: as to whether or not there are long lasting problems. 125 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,599 Speaker 1: The one thing that is difficult about this snow, no doubt, 126 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,280 Speaker 1: is it ain't going anywhere, so it's not melting, it's 127 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: not going to remove itself. We are we're going to 128 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: be in We're going to be in sub freezing temperatures 129 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: for what seems to be the better part of at 130 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:33,839 Speaker 1: least a couple of weeks, so that which is not 131 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: tended to will remain not tended to. You can't. Mother 132 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:41,440 Speaker 1: nature is not going to ease a poor effort because 133 00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: it's all frozen. And by the way, I think we 134 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,679 Speaker 1: all know, the more it freezes, the harder it gets, 135 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: the choppier it gets, the more difficult it is to 136 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: remove ice and snow combined. So have you done the 137 00:06:54,320 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: constructive thing, which would be to bring a list to 138 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: the mayor specifically about street roads, particular situations that need 139 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 1: address right now. 140 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:05,920 Speaker 2: Yes, that has been filed through the three to one 141 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,120 Speaker 2: one system, which i've assos stated assist the constituents with 142 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,720 Speaker 2: in addition to filing them myself. Yeah. 143 00:07:11,720 --> 00:07:14,400 Speaker 1: I mean it seems to me, both as a state 144 00:07:14,440 --> 00:07:16,400 Speaker 1: rep and a guy that's looking for some attention for 145 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: his candidacy and making public works to do and calling 146 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:22,320 Speaker 1: the mayor out on his promise to be one of 147 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: the best run cities in America and citing this as 148 00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:27,800 Speaker 1: a fall down from that, that you would say, hey, mayor, 149 00:07:28,000 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: FYI this street, this street, this street, this street in 150 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,280 Speaker 1: a much more publican broad fashion in order to be 151 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,920 Speaker 1: able to garner some response and or what you would 152 00:07:37,080 --> 00:07:40,080 Speaker 1: hopefully think is the biggest priority, and then is get 153 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: some roads clear here. 154 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think what you're saying is absolutely correct, and 155 00:07:43,760 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 2: in the sense of making sure we're elevating community concerns, 156 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 2: the concerns that we're hearing from neighbors, and that has 157 00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 2: been the utmost priority. I mean, I'll give you the 158 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 2: example of and Iman Huron Street right in the Valley neighborhood, 159 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:56,320 Speaker 2: right in my backyard, where we had the case of 160 00:07:56,360 --> 00:08:00,080 Speaker 2: that bus getting stuck for twenty minutes. I made a 161 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:02,840 Speaker 2: almost immediately, and sure enough the plows showed up a 162 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 2: few hours later, but nonetheless they showed up and now 163 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 2: the street's a lot more clear. So make no mistake, 164 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 2: this is about making sure that the needs of our 165 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 2: constituents are being met with urgency, and that's what I've 166 00:08:12,400 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 2: been doing over the last several days since it started 167 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:16,680 Speaker 2: the storm. So this is not so much about the 168 00:08:16,760 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 2: quote unquote attention gathering from a political standpoint as much 169 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 2: as it is being able to note to our neighbors 170 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,000 Speaker 2: that they deserve better from their city. And I've said 171 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:28,760 Speaker 2: accountless times that as mayor, we would treat these issues 172 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 2: with urgency, we would be much more transparent and actually 173 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 2: communicate with our neighbors, because we've gone to a point 174 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 2: where I had neighbors calling me this morning asking, Hey, 175 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 2: are the snowplows still actively coming around their streets or 176 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 2: have they given up? And you would think that more 177 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 2: coactive communications in the mayor's office would be warranted to 178 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 2: provide reassurance to our neighbors. 179 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: The City of on Socket did not have school today 180 00:08:51,880 --> 00:08:54,360 Speaker 1: for the reason cited by the superintendent. I saw an 181 00:08:54,360 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: email that he sent out where he was just saying, Hey, listen, 182 00:08:56,679 --> 00:08:59,079 Speaker 1: it's just too rough for the walkers right now, the 183 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:01,480 Speaker 1: sidewalks aren't We still need an extra day to get 184 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: this whole stuff cleared. Is there was there a wise 185 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:09,000 Speaker 1: decision here to have Providence schools open? They have a, 186 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:13,520 Speaker 1: you know, a similar urban challenge when it comes to 187 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: snow removal. Any discussion about the idea that school was 188 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:19,760 Speaker 1: open perhaps prematurely, I. 189 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 2: Would certainly agree that the schools were open prematurely because 190 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 2: what I ended up seeing this morning was far too 191 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:28,800 Speaker 2: many kids that were walking on the street because the 192 00:09:28,840 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 2: sidewalks and them themselves had not been cleared. What I've 193 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 2: seen were high school students waiting for the rip the 194 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:38,439 Speaker 2: bus on the street because again the area near the 195 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 2: bus stop had not been cleared. So yeah, I do 196 00:09:40,480 --> 00:09:43,120 Speaker 2: think it was well too premature. I hope that no 197 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:45,840 Speaker 2: child was injured while getting over to school, and that 198 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:48,079 Speaker 2: includes something as simple as a slip or a fall. 199 00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,360 Speaker 1: All right. Moral of the story here. 200 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:58,360 Speaker 2: Is moral story here is that there were different actions 201 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:00,960 Speaker 2: that could have been taken by this administration, such as 202 00:10:01,000 --> 00:10:04,680 Speaker 2: not lifting up the parking ban prematurely, being more thoughtful 203 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 2: about the ways we reopen our schools, but above all, 204 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 2: making sure we are consistently communicating with our neighbors and 205 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,440 Speaker 2: providing real time updates. We got platforms such as Facebook, 206 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,080 Speaker 2: the mayor's office has the pulpit of being able to 207 00:10:17,080 --> 00:10:19,600 Speaker 2: call a press conference. These are the ways that you 208 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,080 Speaker 2: communicate back to the neighbors to let them know what 209 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 2: is actively happening on the ground. And that's what we 210 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 2: should have seen, all right. 211 00:10:25,840 --> 00:10:28,960 Speaker 1: Rett, thank you appreciate your point of view. Devid moralean 212 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,400 Speaker 1: state representative and he is a candidate running from a 213 00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:32,800 Speaker 1: against the incoming Brett Smiley