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Rhode Island
How renters and landlords on the Providence City Council are grappling with the rent control plan – The Boston Globe
The two are among 15 city councilors who will have to decide whether to implement rent stabilization in Providence this year. An ordinance introduced last month would cap rent increases at 4 percent a year across the city, with many exceptions, including for newly constructed homes. More than half of the council’s members are either renters or landlords in the city. And their own experiences, and those of their neighbors, have helped shape their opinions.
Sanchez is in favor, and Vargas is opposed.
Nationwide, renters are underrepresented in government, according to a 2022 study by Boston University and the University of Georgia, which found the share of renters in local, state, and federal elected office ranges from 2 to 7 percent. The Providence City Council bucks the trend; 26 percent of its members are renters, including the council president. It’s still far below the estimated 60 percent of Providence residents who rent.
In January 2025, a Redfin report named Providence the least affordable city for renters, when comparing the median salary to average rents. Lawmakers across the country, from local officials to President Trump, have been grappling with the best way to making housing more affordable.
“I really have a hard time wrapping my head around how people are surviving out there right now,” said Sanchez, 27. Average salaries in Providence have not increased as much as rents. He said he makes around $50,000 a year, not nearly enough to afford the roughly $2,000 average monthly cost of a one-bedroom.
“We hear over and over about families that have called Providence home for decades being displaced,” he said. He blames large corporations that “look at our housing as just a profit margin.”
But the way Vargas sees it: “When government comes into your home, it’s a problem.” It’s expensive to manage a property, he said, and rent control would decimate what he sees as a path to prosperity in his community.
“We have an American dream — buy a house,” Vargas said. “We are shutting off this dream.”
Vargas, 55, may not be subject to rent control limits under the proposal, which would exempt owner-occupied properties of three units or less, and let those landlords exempt a second small home. But “what if I decide to buy another property?” he asked. “What if I decide to move? That house I live in now is going to fall into rent control.”
Hundreds of municipalities have rent control in the United States, though they are concentrated in relatively few states. Thirty states, including Massachusetts, ban the practice. Advocates in Massachusetts are seeking to put a question on November’s ballot to overturn the ban, which Governor Maura Healey opposes.
Over the next several months, a fierce debate will consume Providence City Hall over whether to pass the ordinance. Testimony from the public will be taken at a hearing on Feb. 18. A slim majority of eight councilors have said they support it so far, but leadership needs 10 to override an almost-certain veto from Mayor Brett Smiley. Of the other seven councilors, three are opposed and four have not yet taken a position.
There are four renters on the council — including Council President Rachel Miller, who spearheaded the proposal — and four landlords. The rest own single-family homes.
Smiley is also a landlord, in a three-family home on Hope Street where he lives in one unit with his husband, real estate agent Jim DeRentis, and rents out two units.
Smiley’s home would be exempt from rent control limits under the proposal. He argues the solution to bringing rents down is to build more housing, and has said he would veto the ordinance as it is written.
But not every landlord in City Hall is opposed. Councilors Juan Pichardo and Althea Graves each own two properties in the city, and are both sponsors of the ordinance.
“I am voting for this because I don’t want to lose another neighbor,” Graves said.
The carveouts written into the ordinance likely spare every landlord on the council from rent control except for Councilor Pedro Espinal, who owns five properties, too many to be exempt.
He told the Globe he charges very low rents to his longtime tenants — under $1,000 for two-bedroom units — based on their ability to pay. He said he hasn’t raised rents in years.
“But if this were going to be enacted, I would have to rethink that, because my base rents would be very low,” Espinal said. The proposal keeps the 4 percent limit in place even when the unit is vacated.
Espinal was the vice chair of the Housing Crisis Task Force, which last year recommended the city explore the possibility of rent stabilization. But he said he has “very serious concerns” about the legislation that was ultimately crafted.
“This really does not reduce rents,” Espinal said. “In my view, it guarantees that you will have a rent increase every year at 4 percent.”
Councilor Mary Kay Harris, who chaired that task force and is a longtime renter, said she supports the ordinance because something has to be done.
“Rent’s too damn high,” said Harris, who lives in South Providence. “It’s high for everybody. Everybody’s being priced out.”
Councilor John Goncalves, a renter in the Fox Point neighborhood, has not decided where he stands on rent control. He said he is studying how it works in other cities.
Councilors Jo-Ann Ryan, Shelley Peterson, and Ana Vargas, all homeowners, are also undecided.
Councilor James Taylor, another homeowner, is among those who oppose the ordinance.
Advocates on the council argue the carveouts in the ordinance address many of the opponents’ concerns. Newly constructed apartments would be exempt from rent control for 15 years, potentially addressing fears that housing production would slow down. Many small landlords who live in their properties will avoid rent control altogether. Plus, landlords would have an opportunity to ask a newly-created rent board for permission to raise rent above the cap, if they can prove that they need to do so to make a “fair return” on their property.
The sponsors said the goal is to target larger landlords most likely to hike rents.
“Providence used to be a city where everybody had a chance to thrive,” Graves said. “Now all we got to do is walk down any street and see that it’s no longer that.”
Steph Machado can be reached at steph.machado@globe.com. Follow her @StephMachado.
Rhode Island
R.I. grandparents fighting for visits with 4-year-old granddaughter rest their case – The Boston Globe
Naso’s in-laws, Dr. Siavash Ghoreishi and Dr. Jila Khorsand, took him to Family Court in July 2024, three months after their daughter, Shahrzad “Sherry” Naso, died from metastasized breast cancer.
Naso had refused to let them see Laila, their only grandchild of their only daughter, saying he wasn’t comfortable with their behavior and was alarmed by their medical care of Sherry and Laila.
The retired physicians used a little-known state law that allows grandparents whose children have died or divorced to petition the Family Court for the right to visit with their grandchildren.
It’s led to a bitter trial that began in October and has continued off and on over the last six months, with testimony about medical negligence, abuse, and control.
Naso, a Middletown narcotics detective, accuses his in-laws of prescribing dozens of medications and providing poor medical care, which he believes contributed to Sherry’s death and sickened Laila. Ghoreishi and Khorsand deny any wrongdoing.
“We love that child with every fabric of our beings and have never harmed her in any way or shape,” Khorsand testified in October. “I love that child to death and would never do anything to harm her. … Why would she be deprived of this love?”
Naso has argued that the expense of the trial and the state law allowing grandparents to sue parents for visitation violates his constitutional parental rights.
But Gill said on Monday that the state law was “narrowly tailored” to respect the constitutional rights of parents, and he denied Naso’s motions to dismiss or stay the ongoing trial.
Now that Michael Ahn, the lawyer for Ghoreishi and Khorsand, has rested his case, Naso’s lawyer will argue that the grandparents haven’t met their burden under the law and the case should be dismissed.
Veronica Assalone told the judge that she will argue for the dismissal on Thursday.
If her motion is denied, and the Supreme Court justices reject the emergency motion, the trial proceedings will resume, with at least a dozen witnesses expected to testify on Naso’s behalf.
On Wednesday, the court heard more testimony from Cheryl Allspach, the former longtime office manager for Ghoreishi’s pediatric practice and a close friend of the family. She had testified glowingly on Tuesday about Ghoreishi and Khorsand’s relationship with Laila.
She also testified about Ghoreishi’s recordkeeping at his practice and his medical treatment of Scott, Sherry, and Laila Naso, and explained the process for billing and filing for insurance claims.
Assalone questioned her about Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island’s payment policy, since 2009, regarding self-treatment and treatment of immediate family members. The insurer’s policy follows the American Medical Association code of ethics, which warns physicians not to treat or prescribe medications for themselves and close family members, and does not cover those services.
Allspach read the two-page policy aloud for the court. “Why did you bill?” the judge asked when she concluded.
“I just did it as part of normal billing, and truly I didn’t realize that,” Allspach said. “If I realized, I would have said to [Ghoreishi], ‘you cannot treat your family members.’”
The judge quickly stopped more detailed questions about billing practices, chart-keeping, and whether Allspach was aware that it was a felony for physicians to prescribe narcotics to relatives.
“It’s a grandparent visitation case, not a medical malpractice case,” Gill snapped at Assalone. He added that she should take her claims about illegal prescriptions to the state police, “not here.”
Julie Emmer, the owner of Strengthening Family Foundations, testified that Naso had alleged “serious things” about his in-law’s medical care when she was handling the supervised visits between Laila and Ghoreishi and Khorsand.
Emmer testified that Naso told her “there were prescriptions in different names for his late wife” and that his in-laws were being investigated by the US Drug Enforcement Administration and the state police.
“He thought they shouldn’t have visits,” Emmer said. “He thought they were responsible for what happened to his wife.”
Emmer began supervising visits in September 2024, after then-Family Court Judge Debra DiSegna temporarily ordered one-hour supervised visits every other week. The visits continued until late January 2025 and were suspended after Naso filed a complaint with the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. The investigation was closed, but Naso has refused to resume visits.
Emmer supervised nine visits, all at public places, and performed a home inspection at the grandparents’ condo in Jamestown at Ahn’s request in December 2023. They wanted to visit with Laila at their home, but Naso refused, Emmer said, and he is the custodial parent.
Emmer testified that the grandparents abided by the court order not to give Laila any gifts or medication.
Khorsand played with the little girl, while Ghoreishi stayed in the background, filming them or taking pictures, Emmer said. (Some of the photos and videos have been entered as evidence in the trial.)
Emmer said she noticed over time that Laila was anxious at the start of the visits and said she didn’t want to go. During one visit, she said, Laila whispered to her over and over “they are bad people.” At another visit, Laila was late because she vomited on the way over, she said.
She told the court that Laila would eventually warm up to her grandparents.
Emmer said she saw Naso crying and shaking, but that he was careful to compose himself so Laila didn’t see him becoming emotional. She testified that she didn’t hear him make any derogatory comments about his in-laws in Laila’s presence.
She said that Laila was reluctant to leave her father during the visits, but he encouraged her to go. “He often made comments, ‘Go have fun with Miss Julie. You’ll be safe,’” she said.
Amanda Milkovits can be reached at amanda.milkovits@globe.com. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits.
Rhode Island
Rhode Island shifts its primary to Wednesday, Sept. 9, easing a Labor Day poll setup crunch
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Rhode Island’s primary elections will now be held on Wednesday, Sept. 9, moving it back from the typical Tuesday election day because it fell too close to Labor Day.
Gov. Dan McKee, a Democrat, signed off on the change earlier this week. The primary election had been scheduled for Sept. 8, which is the day after the holiday weekend.
State and local officials had requested the change after raising concerns about having enough time to set up polls for voters. However, under the legislation enacted, the filing deadlines will remain the same.
“We have to set up over 400 polling places around the state on the day before the election,” Nick Lima, the registrar and director of elections for the city of Cranston, told lawmakers at a hearing in January. “That’s very difficult to do on a holiday because many of our polls are schools, social halls and churches.”
It’s not unusual for states to change their election day. Lawmakers in neighboring Massachusetts changed the state’s 2026 primary election day from Sept. 15 to Sept. 1, arguing that doing so will help improve voter turnout.
Only four states hold their primary elections in September: Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Delaware, which has the latest primary date in the U.S., taking place this year on Sept. 15.
Legislation seeking to move up Delaware’s primary election by several months has been introduced in the statehouse, but previous attempts to do so have stalled.
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
CUMBERLAND, R.I. (WPRI) — Rhode Island State Police are investigating a crash that happened on I-295 North in Cumberland Tuesday night.
The crash happened in the right lane near Exit 22 just before 9 p.m.
It’s unclear exactly what caused the crash or if anyone was injured.
12 News has reached out to Rhode Island State Police for more information but has not heard back.
Download the WPRI 12 and Pinpoint Weather 12 apps to get breaking news and weather alerts.
Watch 12 News Now on WPRI.com or with the free WPRI 12+ TV app.
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