Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline says the city is making progress in fighting crime and stemming foreclosures.

The Providence Journal / Andrew Dickerman

We’ve heard it all already about 2009. A historic presidency. A tottering national economy. A state government in deep deficit and rising unemployment. As the snow fell on New Year’s Eve, Mayor David N. Cicilline sat down with The Journal’s Philip Marcelo to consider the challenges facing the capital city in the new year and some of the things that residents should expect from his administration.

What’s important in 2009?

To continue the work we have done in several key areas and protect the progress we have made in what will be a very difficult year. We will continue to make progress in reducing crime. In the past six years we have made real progress in keeping streets safe. We have lots of exciting things happening in our School Department and hope to be making real progress in raising student achievement, which will become increasingly difficult in these economically challenging times.

What sorts of things are going on in the schools?

Work is going to continue on the renovation of our school facilities. Nathan Bishop Middle School and the Providence Career and Technical Academy should be completed within the year. The academy will be the best career and technical school probably in the Northeast, maybe on the East Coast when it’s done. It’s a really state-of-the-art facility.

We’ll also hopefully begin implementing the second phase of the Providence After School Alliance, which will be a system focused on high school students [currently PASA focuses on middle school students]. We just completed a planning process led by youth of the city, which developed a business plan for the high school component, and then we’ll go out and raise some money to begin to implement it.

How is our new school superintendent doing?

Tom [Brady] has really done a tremendous job in the short amount of time that he has been here. [Brady started in September.] He’s already begun the work to address the big challenges facing the district in the areas of human resources, curriculum development, establishing new external partners and developing a culture where we are all engaged and working to ensure the success of kids in the city.

You mentioned reducing crime. Have you and Police Chief Dean Esserman been talking about what the city might expect to see in terms of levels of crime in light of where the nation and the state are?

It’s nothing peculiar to Providence if you look at crime patterns nationally. When the economy falters and times become more desperate, crime rises, so it will be especially important in the coming years that we remain vigilant and we be sure that we are dedicating the resources to sustain our progress. … The men and women of the Police Department have done an extraordinary job. We are experiencing the lowest crime rates the city has seen in decades. That is not happening in most cities.

What can the city do in anticipation of a possible increase in crime?

There is a series of initiatives that the chief has put into place, which is producing real results. … Under the new model of community policing that we developed when I took office six years ago, which has opened neighborhood substations and restored walking beats, we are establishing working partnerships with the community. … We are also one of the few cities in America that are doing this pilot program with the National Urban League that is producing real results in terms of reducing drug crimes in neighborhoods.

You’ve mentioned before that we’re seeing a new wave of foreclosures. What’s the city going to be doing in response in 2009?

We have put together a really strong set of initiatives to help mitigate the national foreclosure crisis. They range from the abandoned property penalty ordinance, to low- and zero-interest loan programs for the purchasing of properties, to counseling to help people avoid foreclosure, to a plan for use of the federal money for the Neighborhood Stabilization Plan, to work with the [community development corporations] to acquire these properties and renovate them, and to two pieces of legislation that will be introduced that require a notice be issued to tenants before foreclosures occur as a well as a mediation process to help people avoid foreclosure. … I’ll continue to advocate for as many resources as possible from the federal and state governments as we can get to do all this.

When can residents expect to see real gains from these initiatives?

It’s happening now. There are people applying for and receiving grants and loans. There are people seeking counseling and receiving it. While we can’t prevent the conditions in the financial markets that are causing this, we can continue to respond to it aggressively with a set of programs that provide assistance to people.

What are you looking forward to most in the new year?

One of the exciting prospects is that we will have a new president who has made it very clear that he believes that metropolitan areas are the economic engines of our country. He’s told us that the cities are not the problem, but the solution. He intends to restore the partnership that once existed between cities and the federal government.

How’s that different from the last few years under President Bush?

There was not a focus on investing in metropolitan areas. I don’t think there was an understanding of the importance of healthy and prosperous urban centers. Cities are the places where 90 percent of our country’s economic activity occurs. … They are the places where innovation occurs, entrepreneurship occurs, where ideas are developed. … Cities are the economic engines, and so by investing in good schools, good transportation and good housing, you’re ultimately investing in the things that will help this economy grow and be competitive in the 21st century.

Obama’s made a lot of promises to a lot of people. Do you think he’s sincere?

I think he’s showing very strong signals that he is by keeping his commitment to establish a White House Office of Urban Policy with the specific responsibility of ensuring that in a coordinated and strategic way that the federal government is working to strengthen metropolitan areas and help grow our economy.

What do you think that will do for Providence, specifically?

It means that we will have an office in the White House that will be working closely with [the departments of] Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Education, Transportation, and Energy — all of the departments that have the ability to really impact cities. So it means not only a president that has a vision for this country and what cities mean to America, but one with the framework to execute it. It’s a very hopeful sign for America’s cities.

You could argue that the flip might be true for how the state government will view the city this year, considering the budget pressures it’s under. How much support do you think Providence can expect from the governor’s office or the General Assembly?

I think people generally realize that the future of Rhode Island is inextricably linked with the success of Providence. … The governor and the Assembly, we all have to work together in a really unprecedented way since we are facing some very serious challenges this year. We’ll have to make some difficult choices.

I will continue to advocate for choices that not only solve the short-term challenges we face, but also make the right investments for the long term. One of the dangers is that people become so concerned with solving the short-term problems that it preempts the vision of how we insure the long-term health and prosperity of our state and our city.

pmarcelo@projo.com