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The Providence Eye and Community Libraries of Providence have been co-hosting forums for each of the competitive City Council races.

Here's a list of the recorded forums so far and an article summarizing key takeaways from each. Forums are listed in the order that they occurred.

Note: This post will be updated with additional publications and recordings as they are made available.

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FAQs

Who will be on my ballot? 

> Search your address in our Voter Guide

Which ward do I live in?

> Explore the Who's My Councilor map

Am I registered and where do I vote?

> RI Voter Information Center

"Who are all of these people?"

> Read candidate questionnaire responses here

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Ward 3 - Jason Kashdan, Steven London, Yulyana Torres

Recording + Article

Ward 10 - Aubrey Planitz

Recording + Article

Ward 5 - Timothy Donahue, Jackie Goldman, Christopher Woodley

Recording + Article

Ward 12 - Althea Graves, Robert Ricci

Recording + Article

Ward 1 - John Goncalves, Miguel Martínez Youngs

Recording + Article

Ward 4 - Joseph Casoli, Justin Roias

Recording

Ward 11 - Ron Crosson, Brian Guzman, Dwayne Keys

Recording

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UPCOMING

All events start at 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 19 – Ward 13 Candidate Forum

Federal Hill House

Monday, August 24 – Ward 6 Candidate Forum

Mount Pleasant Community Library

Tuesday, August 25 – Ward 7 Candidate Forum

Silver Lake Community Center

Monday, August 31 – Ward 9 Candidate Forum

Knight Memorial Community Library

Providence, Rhode Island is now set to become the first city in the United States where voters will decide whether or not to divest municipal funds from foreign countries and complicit entities conducting genocide, war crimes, occupation or apartheid. 

This week, Providence officials confirmed that activists secured enough signatures to put divestment on the ballot during the general election on November 3. It is the first time a citizen-led ballot initiative will be put up for vote, according to city officials.

Read more

Dr. Andre Dev started the Community Cannabis Network of Rhode Island to help ensure cannabis co-ops succeeded as enduring, locally owned businesses. So, when the pool of potential cannabis retailer applications for RI started rolling in at the end of 2025, he expected a handful of cooperatives to apply.

“I was worried, frankly—[with] this new license type that nobody had done before in the country, and that many people didn’t even know what it was—there weren’t going to be enough applicants,” said Dev. “So when 12 worker co-op applicants showed up in zone 2, which is more even than the social equity applicants in zone 2, I remember thinking that there’s probably something going on there.”

There’s a striking pattern among the applications: more than a third of the cannabis retail applications for zone 2 (which includes Providence) consist of nine co-ops that plan to operate on two city blocks. All of these nine co-op applications have remarkably similar names that appear boilerplate for a cooperative such as “Friendship Co-op Inc.,” “Teamwork Cooperative Inc.” and “Unity Cooperative Inc.” The proposed properties are owned by six property management companies who share the same business address and the same registered agent. 

Read more

The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation announced its latest cohort of fellows last month, awarding the prestigious distinction to 223 artists, scholars, and scientists. Providence-based artist Sheida Soleimani was recognized for her contribution to the field of photography. 

READ MORE