With three women set to take over seats previously held by men, eight of 15 Providence City Council members will be women in 2019.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The pink wave is coming to the Providence City Council.

With three women set to take over seats previously held by men, eight of 15 council members will be women in 2019.

“I think it says that people are hungry for change,” said Katherine Kerwin, who is running unopposed to represent Ward 12 on the council after incumbent Terrence Hassett failed to qualify for the ballot. At 21 years old, Kerwin will also be the youngest City Council member.

“I think it says that people want to, in a lot of cases, see a different sort of leadership in all levels of government, including at the city level,” she said.

This will be the first time the council has ever had a female majority, said Providence City Archivist Caleb Horton.

The first woman ever elected to the council was Carolyn Brassil, who represented Ward 1 from 1975 to 1989, he said. In 1975, she was denied entry to a breakfast meeting with then-Gov. Philip Noel at a men-only club in Pawtucket, according to a Providence Journal article from the time.

Balbina Young, who was elected to represent Ward 11 in 1988, was the first African-American woman to serve on the council, Horton said.

Rachel Miller won Wednesday’s primary race to take over Ward 13 City Councilman Bryan Principe’s seat, and Helen Anthony was elected to replace Ward 2 City Councilman Samuel Zurier. Neither of them face a challenge in the November general election.

The other women serving on the council are Nirva LaFortune, Jo-Ann Ryan, Carmen Castillo, Mary Kay Harris and Sabina Matos.

Castillo, who was elected to the council in a special election in 2011, and Matos, elected in 2010, are the first Latina women to serve on the City Council, according to Horton.

Helen Anthony said she’s excited to be part of a woman-majority City Council.

“I’m so incredibly proud,” she said. “We need more women leaders, there’s no question about it.”

Miller, who will also be the only openly LGBT council member, said it is especially important to have a diverse council.

“It’s incredibly exciting,” she said of the majority-female council. “I woke up this morning with that phrase, ‘The future is female,’ in my head.”

LaFortune, who was elected to represent Ward 3 in a special election in 2017, said she hopes women on the council can form a coalition to advocate for issues that are important to them and their communities.

City Council President David Salvatore also said the council should reflect the people it serves, and he hopes to work with his colleagues to pursue women's issues, such as equal pay and procurement of women-owned businesses in city projects.

“I think the City Council has a wonderful opportunity to expand on these issues that impact women in Providence,” he said.

Four years from now, the City Council stands to undergo another major shift. If reelected, eight incumbents will face term limits, and, if Mayor Jorge Elorza is reelected, the city will be electing a new mayor.

To prevent the loss of institutional knowledge, Salvatore, who will be term-limited himself if reelected, said the council needs to be tactful when appointing members to leadership positions and to various committees so that when the changeover occurs, the next City Council will be positioned for success.

That means that newcomers and incumbents who won’t reach their three-term limit in the next election should be prepared to be called upon to serve in leadership roles.

“If we’re intentional in our committee appointments over the next year, we’re going to have a City Council who’s going to be well-versed not only on issues but on running city government,” he said.

— mlist@providencejournal.com

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