Taveras Passes First Big Test as Mayor

Taveras Passes First Big Test as Mayor

Angel Taveras has passed his first big test as mayor of Providence.

The snowstorm has come and gone—and the city handled it well, according to interviews with business and community leaders.

On the South Side there has been a perception in past years that this section of the city has been neglected in favor other, more wealthier areas, like the East Side, according to Frances Murphy, who lives and works there as the executive director of the Washington Park Community Center, on Broad Street.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

But not this time, she said.

‘One of the mayors of the people’

Murphy said side streets in her South Side neighborhood were passable by 8 a.m. when she headed out to work. By noon, she said Broad Street was full of cars and pedestrians going by. “Let’s hope everything’s changing,” Murphy told GoLocalProv. “I think we got one of the mayors of the people. That’s what it seems like to me.”

Former Providence Mayor Joe Paolino also had praise for Taveras. “This is Taveras’ first snowstorm—he did a great job,” Paolino said. He said he first heard plows cruising by his East Side home around 3:30 in the morning. “I haven’t heard that before—I haven’t heard that in ten years.”

The sentiment seemed the same on the other side of the city as well. “I was shocked that my commute here was so easy,” said Bill Langevin, a Riverside resident who is a manager at Hotel Dolce Vita, off Atwells Avenue on Federal Hill. “I’m definitely happy with it.

Didn’t postpone plowing

Over on Fox Point, Daisy Schnepel, vice president of the Fox Point Neighborhood Association, said she was reserving final judgment until Thursday morning—when the final cleanup would be done. “I don’t know if it’s necessarily over yet. Tomorrow will be the true tell,” she said yesterday afternoon. “I think they’ve done a good job so far.”

But already she said she could tell the difference from the past.

In past years, when budgets were tight, she said city plows had waited until storms were over to clear the streets. This is certainly a tight budget year—Providence technically doesn’t even have a budget and its fiscal woes are by now well-publicized—but she said that didn’t stop the city from aggressively tackling the snow fall. “I heard them all night going. They haven’t left it—they haven’t left it to the end. They’ve kept up with it,” Schnepel added.

Taveras pulled all-nighter, rode along with trucks

Taveras was up all night with city plow trucks as they pre-treated and cleared roads. He, along with Chief of Staff J.R. Pagliarini and Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare, rode along with plow trucks from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to Director of Communications Melissa Withers.

Between the three of them, they saw all city neighborhoods. “Over the next few days we will aggregate all of these new insights and carefully evaluate how we can continue to improve our storm response efforts,” Withers said.

She said Taveras had hitched a ride with Raymond Fratus, a 20-year veteran of the city. “The Mayor was grateful to have the opportunity to work directly with the people who hold the wheel of these trucks,” Withers said.

Taveras provided regular updates on the city cleanup effort through his Facebook page and Twitter feed. Earlier this morning on Facebook, Taveras confided that he had gotten a little tired mid-way through the night. “Headed back for shift change,” Taveras wrote. “Around 4am I dozed off, plow driver did not!”

Taveras was back at City Hall around 8 a.m. and asked senior staff to join him. “Because City Hall is closed today the Mayor asked members from his team to answer calls at City Hall from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. this evening,” Withers said. “He felt it was unacceptable to have phones go unanswered. This operation is up and running.”

“I feel comfortable in saying that thus far, the storm response has been well managed and everyone has been working hard to deliver the best results and the most accurate information to the community,” Withers added in a midday e-mail. “We’ve been together in office for 10 days. It’s been an incredible start and the extended team is working together very well.”

In a post on Facebook yesterday evening, Taveras bid good night to Providence with this final message of the day: “Snow response doesn’t end today. Clean up is crucial. Trucks will be out until 1am. Back again in the morning.”

Photo credit: Frank Mullin