by Ted Rao
In the wake of Providence City Councilman David Segal’s decision to run for retiring State Representative Paul Moura’s seat in the General Assembly, Ward One (encompassing the Fox Point and a portion of the College Hill neighborhoods) has produced two energetic and vibrant candidates for the office. Both candidates were eager to share their opinions on the state of the city and neighborhood with The Agenda.
The Democratic Primary for this race took place on Tuesday, September 12, along with the other fourteen ward primary races for city council in Providence, in which all but one ward’s seat was contested by a total of over fifty candidates. Space constraints force us to print only excerpts in the paper, and to devote more space to the winner of the race; the full interviews are available exclusively online through agendanation.net.
Seth Yurdin, 38, graduated from NYU School of Law and works as an attorney representing small businesses. He also helped coordinate Howard Dean’s 2004 Presidential bid in New Hampshire on behalf of Democracy For America, and is the leader of Rhode Island’s DFA chapter. More recently, he volunteered in Mississippi in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He is endorsed by both Councilman Segal and Representative Moura. This is his first bid for elective office.
You’re originally from Long Island. What brought you to Providence?
I had friends that had been here for a long time, and about eight years ago I was looking to settle down, in terms of community. I was living in Boston, and was aware of a lot of the neat stuff about Providence, and looked around, bought a house and moved here. That was around 1999.
I think that a lot of us who have lived here a long time recognize the intrinsic advantages Providence has over a city like Boston, but it’s still a tumultuous time for Providence…
Well, I grew up in Long Island, outside of New York City, and went to law school in New York City, and… I appreciate what big cities have to offer, but they’re a victim of uncontrolled development, and I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen here in Providence.
That’s an interesting point. Do you think that the relocation of Route 195 a good thing for the neighborhood and for the city in general?
It’s our choice whether it’s a good thing for the city and the neighborhood. It’s right at the heart of the city, and it could be a gem and unite all the neighborhoods, or it could be something that’s less to be desired. And I know that Ward One and particularly this neighborhood has as much stake as anybody in the result of that, because we’re right next to it. We’ll either be in the shadows of towers and haphazard development or we’ll be next to something really nice that draws people in.
Does a city councilman have much influence over a project with so much money and decision making coming from state and federal officials?
Well, the city council does set zoning and approve master plan and those things, which do set the parameters of development, so the city council clearly has a role to play.
On that subject, the Cicilline Administration may be setting a record for new development, downtown and in other neighborhoods such as Olneyville. Can you point to a certain project that you like, don’t like, and why?
I think, rather than looking at specific projects, that the most important thing is to look at comprehensive planning, and right now, the city has talked about going forward with neighborhood plans and then a citywide plan to update the city’s master plan. And the more the public participates in that, the better outcome we will have. I think that this gets away from piecemeal planning, the whole “Oh, here’s a project; is this consistent with our neighborhood?” We’ll then have a better idea of what should be in the neighborhoods and what people think makes sense for development.
Are you concerned about the gentrification of downtown at the expense of small businesses and arts and entertainment, such as the proposed hotel on Washington Street? It’s a concern, at least with young people in the city.
Yeah, it seems like, it’s a city, and there should be room for everybody. Diversity is really a strong suit of Providence, and I think that whatever happens with the planning process should reflect the diversity of culture and backgrounds.
On your website you talk about what going to public school meant for you. What do you think is the biggest problem in the Providence School Department?. How would you take steps to try and reform the department?
I think the problems with education relate to a number of different things. One thing is, we’re talking about four out of five kids in Providence who according to the school department are at the poverty level, which means they come to school at a real disadvantage and the school department has to bear the brunt of that. That’s part of the reason our school funding is the way that it is, is dealing with these challenges. So you have to look at the poverty question before you can really start to focus on any one particular actor, in terms of that. I also think that increasing strong after school programs is a way to deal with some of the disadvantages people have and also encouraging parents to get involved, and also putting pressure not just on the school department but on the council and on the mayor’s office to demand the changes they want to see. It’s not just a question of the school department, it’s the whole system.
Do you think that you’d be running for the seat if David Segal was still in the race?
I don’t know how to answer that question. I mean, I’ve had a lot of experience working in politics, both working for Democrats in Democratic primaries and in protecting people’s ability to vote and stopping voter disenfranchisement. I hadn’t run for office before, and I went down to Mississippi where I worked in a shelter, was a manager of a shelter; that was in September after Katrina. And I came back and it was sort of a series of events that happened where…without sounding corny, it was a life-changing event where I really was trying to help people with severe problems beyond anything I had ever seen before. People who lost their homes, lost relatives, had nothing but their shirts on their back, and were looking to me to basically try to help them in any way that I could. That was an incredible test. And I came away from that, back to Rhode Island, and through a mutual friend was put in touch with David Segal who told me that he wasn’t interested in running for the council seat, and that it would be an open seat. So I can’t really answer the question; it’s really just life. I came back from this experience and there was this opportunity in front of me. Life happened to me, and this is a chance to…I’ve helped people as a lawyer, I’ve helped people get through things in Mississippi, and here’s an opportunity to contribute to the neighborhood. So it’s time to go for it.
You also worked in Florida during the 2004 Election. What did you do there?
We were involved with coordinating the efforts of 3000 volunteer lawyers to basically make sure that people who went to vote in a lot of different areas of the state weren’t interfered with. And unlike here, there’s an unfortunate tradition in a lot of other states where a lot of people are threatened or intimidated, there’s a lot of problems, so we made sure that we had a network of lawyers out on the field to prevent any of those kind of things from happening, and I was involved in the statewide networks, and assisted in coordinating that entire effort.
Did you see any repeats of what happened in 2000 this time around?
In Florida we had a very effective network of people, and it really worked. We had a chain of command that could communicate what was happening up to individual county offices if anything seemed out of sorts so that it prevented any problems from happening. And there were things that happened; there were minor things, people seemed to be testing the system, but we always responded and so everything went as smooth as one could imagine for an election like that.
So do you think Bush carried Florida by three million in 2004 fair and square?
(Laughs) I’m not sure what that has to do with a city council race.
I was looking at Ethan Ris’s website, and he has some pretty lofty proposals in terms of school funding and transportation, and I came off wondering how it would get paid for. Have you ever spoken with him?
I’m not really familiar with what his proposals are. I think he seems like a nice guy, and I’ll leave it to the voters decide who they want to elect rather than preying on my opponent.
Do you see a future for yourself beyond the city council?
I think this is an opportunity to contribute to the community. I’m thirty-eight years old, and this is my first run for office, and I mean, who knows what’s gonna happen, but I think that this is a great opportunity to get involved and contribute. I’ve enjoyed the campaign so far.
Have you learned more about your community?
Oh sure, I’ve talked to hundreds of voters, mostly through grassroots door-knocking, built up a network of support by doing that.
You have experience with that in working for Democracy For America and the Dean campaign.
I was involved in doing grassroots organizing for them and basically building community and getting people who care about issues but haven’t yet taken the next step to get involved, and working with them to get involved to make the changes that they want to see. It’s something that’s very satisfying and it creates real change irrespective of the outcome of the actual campaign. People get involved, and they learn things, and they go on to do other things. I think there’s a good reason to do it running, because a councilperson can’t do it alone, but if you have the strong support of people with skills in your neighborhood, and you share their beliefs, then you can be much more effective at getting the changes that everybody wants to see done. So it’s a worthwhile effort, as well as being satisfying.
One thing I credit David Segal for in his tenure as a councilman was building coalitions on the council, a pretty progressive coalition on a variety of issues such as renewable energy, with members like Luna, Aponte and Jackson. Do you have a relationship with any council members at this point?.
Well, I came to this in the fall, after I came back from Mississippi, and I want to work with anyone who will work with me. At this point, aside of meeting folks at social occasions and fundraisers and the like, I don’t have a special relationship with anyone on the council.
The council’s relationship with the mayor’s office is tenuous at times.
I only know what I’ve read in the papers about it, so I don’t really have an opinion since I haven’t experienced it firsthand.
Would you care to give a rating of David Cicilline as mayor?
I think that Mayor Cicilline has done a lot of good things for the city, and is moving things forward, so I think that’s an encouraging thing.
You went to NYU law. You’ve said you work with small businesses. Explain to me what it is your practice does.
In my current practice I work with small businesses, dealing in intellectual property law, which involves negotiating contracts for them as they develop their products, helping them incorporate as they start up, and whatever other laws are out there that businesses need lawyers to help them navigate through. I also have a background in litigation. I’ve worked in a large law firm doing civil litigation, environmental issues, some transportation issues, some labor and employment. So those all help me when I’m dealing with small businesses.
Can you think of, upon election, four or five issues that you would like to address specifically?
I can give you the three top things: One is the schools. They really drive what’s going to happen to the city over the next number of years. We have a lot of new people here with small kids who have to make the choice whether they send their kids to private schools, whether they have the confidence in public schools, and at least in Ward One, people will either move away or not be engaged and involved, and I think that’ll hurt the city, since they’re good tax-paying people. We need a really diverse city, not just made up of retirees and people who haven’t had kids yet.
Hope High School’s had an amazing turnaround, through pretty unorthodox means.
There are good things happening; I’m not meaning to say all schools are horrible. My viewpoint is that public school is a really valuable experience. I’ve spoken to a lot of parents who share those values, and if they’re engaged in the system, and there’s some changes made, it can happen. Another is development. Whether it’s a big or small project, just making sure that the community’s voice is heard in the way the planning process goes and that we have growth that reflects what the community is interested in, and not have haphazard growth, or a land-grab, or insider growth, but one the public is interested in. And then the third thing is environmental issues, something that Councilman Segal’s been strong on, and that includes renewable energy, making sure those projects are fully implemented. It means having open space and protecting the waterfront from inappropriate development. But like I said, any councilperson can’t do it alone. With the help of engaged people, we can make those changes.
Continue reading: Ethan Ris Interview
