Rachel Miller is president of the Providence City Council, an office she has held since 2023, and represents Ward 13, which includes Federal Hill and part of the West End. She works as communications manager at the nonprofit Building Futures and was earlier executive director of Rhode Island Jobs with Justice. She attended the College of the Holy Cross and was a founding member of United Students Against Sweatshops. Her earlier community work included staff roles at Direct Action for Rights and Equality and consulting for Providence Youth Student Movement. She moved to Providence in 2003 after working as a national organizer in Washington, D.C.
We have documented 2 statements by Rachel Miller, in 1 case. Each statement below gives the quotation, its original source and a link to the full case.
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Role at the time: President of the Providence City Council, in a statement issued after the veto override vote
Defended or excused
Statement summary
Providence City Council President Rachel Miller said she was profoundly disappointed that Mayor Brett Smiley and a small minority of councilors sided with developers and corporate landlords over renters. She said nine of the council's fifteen members supported rent stabilization and that, until a later effort succeeds, landlords in Providence can still raise rents by unlimited amounts for any reason.
“I’m profoundly disappointed that Mayor Smiley and a small minority of the City Council chose to side with developers and corporate landlords over Providence renters. With nine out of fifteen city councilors defying big-money special interests to support rent stabilization, it’s clear the grip the real estate lobby has over City Hall is slipping. But tonight, that grip was still strong enough to block much-needed protections for working families. Until the next effort succeeds, the unfortunate reality remains: in Providence, it is still legal for a landlord to raise rent by unlimited amounts, for any reason.”
Read the official statement (opens in a new tab)Council President Rachel Miller responds to the failed rent-cap veto overrideMay 15 statement following the override vote; paragraphs recording nine supporting councilors and falling one vote short.
Why we used this label
The case asks whether Providence should adopt a 4% cap on annual rent increases, so the reference point is the proposed rent stabilization ordinance. Miller says the failed override blocked much-needed protections for working families and that she is profoundly disappointed. That defends the ordinance and criticizes the vote against it, so we used the Defended or excused label.
Rachel Miller argues for Providence's rent cap. The council's January 21 release presented Miller's support for tenant protections and continued housing construction.
Providence's proposed ordinance would cap standard annual rent increases at 4% for covered housing. Read the text, Smiley's veto rationale and Morales's support. The proposal did not become law.
