Voters in four Rhode Island communities will fill council vacancies and vote on school and infrastructure bond referenda on May 4, with voters in three other communities poised to fill council vacancies in late spring and early summer.

The latest addition is the Providence Ward 15 City Council seat recently vacated when Sabina Matos was appointed lieutenant governor. Matos fills the lieutenant governor’s position vacated when now Gov. Dan McKee replaced Gina Raimondo, who resigned to join the Biden administration.

In Providence, individuals must declare their candidacies to the Providence Board of Canvassers by 4 p.m., April 30. A primary election will be held on June 8, and the special general election on July 6, according to a spokesman for the Providence City Council.
Meanwhile, voters in Coventry and West Greenwich are being asked to fill council vacancies, and voters in South Kingstown and Westerly will vote on referenda on May 4. Pawtucket and West Warwick will hold primary elections for council vacancies on June 8 and special general elections on July 6, the same as Providence.

In the May 4 election, Coventry voters will fill the vacant District 4 seat and West Greenwich will fill an at-large seat on the five-member town council.

South Kingstown voters will decide on an $85 million school bond. If approved the project calls for $59 million for the renovation and expansion of the Curtis Corner Middle School to become the town’s new high school; 24.2 million for the renovation and expansion of the Broad Rock School into a “true middle school”; and $1.7 million to add fifth grade to the elementary schools, including systems improvements and renovation of library media center, and maker centers.

Westerly voters will decide on a $2 million school repairs bond, and an $11 million infrastructure bond, primarily for road projects.

Frank Prosnitz

Frank Prosnitz brings to WhatsUpNewp several years in journalism, including 10 as editor of the Providence (RI) Business News and 14 years as a reporter and bureau manager at the Providence (RI) Journal. Prosnitz began his journalism career as a sportswriter at the Asbury Park (NJ) Press, moving to The News Tribune (Woodbridge, NJ), before joining the Providence Journal. Prosnitz hosts the Morning Show on WLBQ radio (Westerly), 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday through Friday, and It’s Your Business, also on WBLQ, Monday and Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Prosnitz has twice won Best in Business Awards from the national Society of American Business Editors and Writers (SABEW), twice was named Media Advocate of the Year by the Small Business Administration, won an investigative reporter’s award from the New England Press Association, and newswriting award from the Rhode Island Press Association.