Providence City Council
Encyclopedia
Legislature
A legislature is a kind of deliberative assembly with the power to pass, amend, and repeal laws. The law created by a legislature is called legislation or statutory law. In addition to enacting laws, legislatures usually have exclusive authority to raise or lower taxes and adopt the budget and...
body of the city of Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. The two major responsibilities of the council are enacting ordinance
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
s necessary to ensure the welfare and good order of the city and adopting the city's annual budget
Government budget
A government budget is a legal document that is often passed by the legislature, and approved by the chief executive-or president. For example, only certain types of revenue may be imposed and collected...
. The council operates under a mayor-council
Mayor-council government
The mayor–council government system, sometimes called the mayor–commission government system, is one of the two most common forms of local government for municipalities...
form of government.
The members of the Providence City Council are elected
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
by residents of the fifteen wards of Providence. Council members represent the concerns, needs, and issues of their constituents, and work to improve the city's neighborhoods.
All fifteen members of the council are members of the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
.
The current City Council consists of:
- Ward 1: Councilman Seth Yurdin- Majority Leader
- Ward 2: Councilman Samuel Zurier
- Ward 3: Councilman Kevin Jackson
- Ward 4: Councilman Nicholas J. Narducci, Jr.
- Ward 5: Councilman Michael A. Solomon, Council President
- Ward 6: Councilman Michael Correira
- Ward 7: Councilman John Igliozzi
- Ward 8: Councilman Wilbur Jennings
- Ward 9: Vacant due to the Councilman's passing. Primary election is to be held October 25, 2011. General election is to be held November 29, 2011.
- Ward 10: Councilman Luis A. Aponte
- Ward 11: Councilman Davian Sanchez
- Ward 12: Councilman Terrence Hassett
- Ward 13: Councilman Bryan Principe
- Ward 14: Councilman David Salvatore
- Ward 15: Councilwoman Sabina Matos