Rep. David Morales

Jewish Rhode Island: Can you tell our readers a little about your personal background and the experiences that have shaped your values and approach to public service?

Rep. David Morales: I grew up with a single immigrant mom who came to the U.S. from Mexico. I saw how hard she had to work to provide for me and my older sister. As I got older, I realized that access to services that we had was due to public benefit programs, including Medicaid, public housing, SNAP and public schools. During my childhood, watching my mom work a multitude of minimum-wage jobs was stressful. I understand the urgent needs and struggles working families are going through, especially in our city today.

I remember the first job I had at the age of 14, picking fruits and vegetables in hot agricultural fields in central, rural California. That informed my beliefs and focus on advocacy relating to social and economic justice. For that reason, as state representative, I’ve focused on ensuring that we’re investing in our public schools, increasing the minimum wage and building affordable housing. In the legislature, when there have been debates around bills or budget items, I often think through the lens of how would this have affected a family like mine.

JRI: You already touched on this, but perhaps you would like to expand. I was going to ask if there were any life experiences that have shaped the way you engage with Providence’s diverse communities.

Morales: Absolutely. I grew up in a relatively homogeneous community of 15,000 people. It was predominantly Mexicans who immigrated to rural California seeking economic opportunity. I grew up in a tight-knit culture where neighbors knew one another, cared for each other. Those experiences motivate me to get to know my neighbors.

When I got to Providence, I remember building relationships almost immediately and getting to know community members, seeing them over and over, talking with neighbors: “Where should I get my dry cleaning done, where should I access a barber?”

An experience that sticks with me was my first job after I graduated with my master’s in public affairs from Brown University. I worked as a behavioral specialist at Achievement First Mayoral Academy on Hartford Avenue. It was a direct exposure to our young students who were struggling with unmet mental health needs, behavioral issues that had gone unaddressed.

Those experiences spoke to me and the way I grew up. I had a working parent who wasn’t always able to provide the empathy and care that she would have been able to if she could be at home more consistently. Thinking back on my experiences, they helped me connect with our community. It goes back to the basic struggles that we’re experiencing, but also the ways in which we find joy.

I’ve been happy to be part of various Providence communities over the years, including our arts community. I try to be present in different spaces, like AS220, Urban Arts. I think that there’s a lot of joy that we can find when it comes to something like the creative arts.

JRI: What experiences have you had engaging with Israel or the Jewish community, and how have those experiences informed your understanding of issues important to Providence Jews?

Morales: During my six years as state representative, I’ve had the pleasure of serving constituents of all backgrounds, including Jewish community members. They helped inform me about the concerns and struggles they experienced in recent years, especially the rise in antisemitism over the last year and a half. We’ve had cases of hazing; cases of potential violence and vandalism. That’s helped inform the level of urgency with which I act.

This year in the legislature, we passed an anti-hazing bill focused on making sure that any student targeted or bullied based on religious affiliation has more measures of accountability and put more protections in place. That was immediately brought to my attention by some of my constituents.

We had a conversation and understood the level of fear they were experiencing. They thought about their children and whether they would experience that, whether it would motivate copycat incidents. I’ve had many Jewish constituents attend my monthly community meetings and inform me of upcoming celebrations in the Jewish community and give me more understanding of Jewish history and culture. I’ve always welcomed those opportunities. I’ve always been grateful for those who have opened their doors, opened their homes and allowed for me to learn more.

JRI: What is your position on the upcoming ballot referendum that would require Providence to divest municipal funds from companies doing business with Israel, and why?

Morales: Like many, I do not believe taxpayer dollars should go toward funding any form of apartheid, illegal military occupation or genocide. The way the ordinance is written, it doesn’t make a specific reference to any country.

I support the referendum, considering that, like many others, I do not believe our public taxpayer dollars should be going towards funding any form of genocide, apartheid or illegal military occupation that may be happening overseas.

JRI: Supporters and opponents disagree about the practical impact of the measure. In your view, would its effects extend beyond Israel-related investments?

Morales: Potentially so. This is based on the definition that the United Nations has when it comes to apartheid, illegal military occupation, genocide. I would hope that we do not have widespread cases of those types of atrocities happening across the globe. But even having this ordinance passed by the electorate in November demonstrates where our principles and our values are and how we use taxpayer dollars as part of that. In the future, if there are any cases of those types of atrocities, the city of Providence will be prepared to ensure that that type of funding is not contributing to it.

JRI: Providence public schools have recently emerged from state receivership and returned to local control. How do you assess the current state of the school system, and what should happen next?

Morales: We’re in a staffing crisis. We have elementary schools with over 300 students and only one counselor. We have too many middle and high schools with only one social worker for hundreds of students. As a result, many students are not receiving the social and emotional support that they need inside and outside the classroom. We don’t have enough services readily available for students in special education classrooms or enrolled in Individualized Education Plans, and that itself has impacted academic outcomes.

As mayor, I will work directly with our school board, but most importantly our educators and families, to better assess where staffing gaps are, where we need to make the necessary investments to hire an additional counselor, more TAs in special education classrooms. Also, prepare educators to be certified in bilingual education so they could lead dual-language classrooms. These are going to require major investments. I’m prepared to work alongside our school board and city council to present a budget that accomplishes that.

I’ll also work with our institutions of higher education. There’s something to be said about Brown University, RISD, Providence College and Johnson & Wales contributing to the success of Providence Public Schools.

We can have more social workers and counselors who are knowledgeable to bill Medicaid, like Tri-County Family Services and Family Service of Rhode Island.

We need to improve staffing levels across PPSD if we’re serious about improving academic outcomes.

JRI: What are your priorities regarding climate resilience, environmental justice and sustainability in Providence over the coming years?

Morales: We can’t say that we’re taking environmental justice and climate change seriously if we continue allowing large industrial facilities to pollute the Port of Providence. That ultimately impacts the residents and neighbors across South Providence disproportionately.

As mayor, I’ll focus on building a stronger relationship between our city and the Department of Environmental Management so we can have consistent air quality monitoring. That way, any time air quality standards are violated, we can hold polluters accountable instead of waiting for a scrapyard fire or an emergency hazard to appear.

We need to ensure that environmental laws are consistently applied. We must build the infrastructure needed to lessen the impact of climate change. Increased rainfall has led to excessive flooding, impacting neighbors across Providence. Go down Valley Street, Olneyville, different parts of Blackstone: There are neighbors whose basements are being flooded and properties being damaged because of the excessive rain. Our sewage system cannot keep up with it.

I will work with our city council to establish a green infrastructure bond to modernize our sewage system, invest in green infrastructure like rain gardens and bioswales citywide. That’s how we ensure we’re more climate resilient, as well as acting any time bad actors harm our environment and public health.

JRI: You were elected to the legislature in 2020. What is something you’re proud of, and what is something you would have done differently?

Morales: I’m proud Rhode Island is one of only nine states to guarantee healthcare coverage to every child, regardless of immigration status. That’s an initiative I led on during my second year, Cover All Kids. I worked with legislators from across the state, from different political backgrounds, different party affiliations. We came together because we recognized that healthcare coverage for every child was progress in public health and keeping all kids healthy. It required me to work with bureaucratic agencies like the Department of Human Services and the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. It was a wonderful experience to work with them to make sure the law would guarantee the coverage kids deserve, while also ensuring we’d be ready to work with families to get them enrolled.

When I first introduced the bill, a colleague said it would to take 10 years before something like this ever happened. We made it happen in two. That we have 1,000-plus children who are now enrolled in this Medicaid program who wouldn’t have been eligible a few years ago is an accomplishment I look back at, knowing we made a difference.

JRI: Something you would have done differently?

Morales: I was very skeptical of house leadership when I first entered the chamber. I was one of a few representatives who voted against the house speaker his first term, because for the longest time the status quo did not deliver. Over time, I saw that levels of collaboration make a difference in the State House.

I went in with my guard up, feeling concerned about whether we were going to deliver for working people or whether we were serving campaign donors and corporate interests. I saw that a lot of legislators actually focused on delivering for working people. My first year in the legislature, we passed the Climate Act, which had opposition from larger corporate entities. We passed a minimum wage increase and established safe staffing standards for nursing homes. Initially, my approach was more reserved than I would like it to be looking back at it. In my second year, I became more comfortable and had more of a collaborative nature with my colleagues.

Being 22 years old [then] and the youngest Latino to serve in the legislature, I give myself a little grace. Still, I might have pushed myself more to develop those relationships during that first year.

JRI: What would you like the Jewish community to know about you?

Morales: As mayor, my door at City Hall will always be open. It will be open to all our neighbors across Providence. I especially want Jewish neighbors to know that I will be ready to act when it comes to any form of bigotry, including antisemitism, if it ever makes its way into our city. I’m committed to making sure that all feel safe and welcome in Providence to practice their faith openly, that they’re going to have a city that supports them.

JRI: Thank you for your time, Rep. Morales.

Morales: Thank you!

To check your registration status or to find your voting location, visit the Rhode Island Voter Information Center.

NOTE: This article was edited and updated Sept. 10 to reflect election results.

DANIEL MARGOLIS is editor of Jewish Rhode Island.