PROVIDENCE – Mayor Brett P. Smiley’s administration has rescinded a $150,000 contract awarded to the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society as Smiley undertakes a review of the city’s $10 million racial reparations budget championed by the previous mayor.
The $150,000 was intended as seed funding to create a Black Policy and Equity Institute “to transform systems and policies that will decrease and/or prevent continued racism and inequities related to the social determinants of health for African Heritage and Indigenous peoples across the state of Rhode Island,” according to a request for proposals issued by the city in late 2022.
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The sole bidder was the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and the Providence Board of Contract and Supply awarded the contract on Dec. 19, when former Mayor Jorge O. Elorza was still in office.
But in a letter to Smiley on March 13, two administration officials asked that the contract awarded to the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society be pulled because they “had determined that both the amount of funding and proposed scope of work is insufficient.”
The letter from Bret Jacob, director of PVD Recovery Programs, and Thomas Kerry-Vanderslice, director of city programs and initiatives, said they wanted to re-advertise after “a longer planning process and determination of whether additional funds can be made available.”
The Board of Contract and Supply voted unanimously on March 13 to rescind the contract.
Elorza, who was term-limited and left office on Jan. 2, had led the effort to create a racial reparations program that used American Rescue Plan Act funding. It was a two-year process that included the release of the “A Matter of Truth” report, which informed the final recommendations by the city’s Municipal Reparations Commission. The $10 million program includes funding for small business and media development, homeownership assistance, and workforce training, among other initiatives.
According to Smiley spokesperson Patricia Socarras, the administration is now reviewing the entire $166 million ARPA budget, “including funds that were allocated towards reparations by the previous administration.”
Asked for the reasoning behind the contract revocation, Socarras echoed the letter from Jacob and Kerr-Vanderslice.
“After further review of this line item, it was determined that the amount of funding was insufficient to achieve the objectives articulated within the RFP’s scope of work and by the commission,” she said. “The administration would like to reissue an RFP for this program if additional funding can be made available.”
In a March 21 phone conversation, RIBHS Managing Director Theresa Guzman Stokes said she was surprised to learn the organization would not be receiving the funds. She had been under the impression the money was on the way, but she declined to comment further.
Elorza could not be reached for comment.
None of the $10 million allocated for the reparations program has been distributed so far.
In fact, on March 13, the Smiley administration rejected bids for the creation of a resident scholarship fund and the expansion of a youth internship program as part of the reparations initiative. The two bids exceeded the amount specified in the request for proposals.
Skills for Rhode Island’s Future bid $999,992 and RI for Community and Justice bid $777,799.
Asked on March 25 about the City Hall transition and the reexamination of the ARPA budget, City Councilwoman Helen Anthony, who is also chairperson of the finance committee, said the transition has not gone as smoothly as she’d hoped.
Part of the work involves “figuring out where everything stands,” said Anthony.
She said she supported the reparations plan, but now city officials needed time to identify which, if any, line items may need to be amended.
“This is going to be a [ongoing] topic of conversation,” she said. “We have to do our due diligence.”
