David Luiz announced on Saturday that he is seeking the Ward 3 seat for the East Providence City Council, which is currently held by Frank Fogarty.

During an interview on Monday, Luiz — who is currently the chair of the East Providence School Committee after winning an uncontested seat during the election in 2024 — said that he was inspired to run for office in the first place because he had pride for the city, and he had skin in the game.

“It's my hometown, right? I want to see East Providence succeed. I want to see our schools succeed,” he said. “I jumped into this a few years ago because I have a son who was in school at the time. Still in school now; a freshman at the high school.”

Luiz said that he was running for city council was an extension of that same desire, and as a result of a nudge from the incumbent.

“Councilman Fogerty, who I’m close with and have a great relationship with, decided that he was not going to run for re-election,” he said. “We had a conversation and he sort of said, ‘Hey, listen, I think you'd be a great fit for this.’ So I thought about it, talked with my family, and just decided that it was an opportunity for me to represent Ward 3 in a different capacity and in a larger capacity where I think I'd be able to do even more. Still be involved with the schools and be involved in the city as well.”

Luiz became chair of the committee in his rookie year as a politician, which he said came with a definite learning curve. Still, he said he was grateful for the experience learning how to run a meeting, and learning how to deal with complex issues that had multiple angles to consider.

“Working on the school committee…my whole thing was, if I was going to disagree, always do it respectfully and always be willing to compromise,” he said. “I try to always present a compromise or listen to a compromise. I think that’s just the way government should operate.”

He said he would bring that same attitude to the city council.

“I definitely feel prepared in that aspect, to be able to sit up there and just kind of listen to each topic individually,” he said.

At the moment, Luiz does not have a challenger for the Ward 3 seat when Fogarty’s term ends at the end of the calendar year. In the time remaining, Luiz said he remained focused on issues of importance to the school community, such as what to do with Meadow Crest school when the new Pre-K facility is built at Martin Middle School in the spring of 2027, and ongoing efforts to curtail vaping at the high school.

As for his priorities if he should be elected to the council, Luiz said that infrastructure, housing, and development were at the top of the list. He said that while he was not in favor of developing on top of open space, the city needed to be prudent in ensuring it could raise revenue through means other than raising taxes.

“We need to be able to make sure we're taking care of our police and fire, and making sure that we're still able to provide the services we've been able to provide at the capacity we've provided them in the past,” he said.
Asked about the common disagreements among residents — some who believe the city is developing too much against the will of neighborhoods, and others who say the city needs to combat its housing problems and generate revenue — Luiz again reiterated the need to listen to all sides.

“Housing is an important subject right now. And the same answer applies to that, right? Each individual case, you know? Listen to the facts and just make a decision based on individuality,” he said. “I think sometimes when people make these broad statements, they can run into trouble, right? I think you just got to look at each particular case individually.”

Luiz said that residents should have a say in what happens within their neighborhoods — bringing up the example of the former Oldham School in Riverside, which is the subject of disagreement over whether plans to develop it should include a housing element or not — but they also must understand that the key to keeping taxes from increasing is generating revenue elsewhere.

“I think community input from the neighbors is important to see because it's their neighborhood,” he said. “That's something that I'd want to listen to and get their take, but we don't have the same amount of people living in East Providence as we did in the 80s and 90s, right? Our population has come down some. So that's a challenge. How we approach that and how do we continue to generate revenue for the city. So it's definitely a balance and certainly a challenge.”