Candidates for the Ward 4 seat on the East Providence that will be vacated by incumbent councilman, Rick Lawson (who is not seeking re-election), gathered at city hall Monday night to share their views on various issues facing the city, and specifically Riverside, during a candidate forum held by the League of Women Voters Rhode Island (and sponsored by East Bay Media Group).

Moderated by East Bay Media Group’s publisher, Scott Pickering, the forum went about 45 minutes and featured exclusively cordial dialogue between the two candidates, Michael Spremulli and Jason Botelho.

Spremulli is a United States Marine Corps veteran of the Gulf War who went on to serve 26 years as a member of the East Providence Police Department, ultimately becoming a detective and leading the city’s special victims unit (SVU) from 2011 until his retirement in 2025.

Botelho is a lifelong East Providence resident who started a small distribution company in 2008, growing the company from one delivery truck to having over 10 on the road at one point delivering to 50 different stores, including many large retailers.

While the debate can be viewed in its entirety on the League of Women Voters Rhode Island Facebook page, we will break down some of the major points from the discussion below.

Housing and development dominate

By far the most discussed item of the evening between the two candidates was in regards to housing and the state of development in the city; specifically in Riverside where the Ward 4 councilman would represent.

“The overwhelming majority issue that comes up again and again and again is the over-development of Riverside,” Spremulli said of his interactions with voters while campaigning. He added that he was driven to run for office when he saw an informal proposal back in 2025 to include up to 96 units of housing within a larger plan to turn the former Oldham School on Bullocks Point Avenue into a business incubator.

Spremulli said that he would be firmly against turning over any city-owned land to developers.

“If elected, I am representing the people of Riverside, and overwhelmingly that would be my number one issue,” he said. “I think we need to take a more practical approach to housing.”

Botelho, while he agreed that the proposal of nearly 100 units at Oldham was a step too far, said that he believed the city needed to engage in “responsible” development in order to alleviate its housing affordability problem.

“There is a shortage of housing. It’s kind of undebatable. There are hundreds of people on the waiting list trying to get housing in the city,” he said. “I feel sometimes people that have housing and are comfortable where they live don’t understand the issue that exists, in that there are people who can’t afford to live here and people that can’t afford to continue the way it’s going. So I think we need to responsibly grow. If there’s no new development, I think that’s going to slow us down as a city. I think it helps us expand our tax base and bring in some extra revenue, if done responsibly.”

Spremulli countered this by saying he wanted to represent people already living in Riverside over those looking to move in.

“My concern is more for the residents of Riverside that have been there for 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 years as opposed to people that we’re bringing in,” he said. “And until I see a comprehensive plan as to how we plan to sustain the amount of people that we’re bringing in, I think it’s going to be an issue.”

Later in the debate, prompted by a similar question on creating more housing, Spremulli said that East Providence had already hit the state’s oft-maligned goal of 10% of its housing stock being deemed “affordable” by federal housing standards; one of only eight Rhode Island municipalities to do so.

“People moved into Riverside because of the charming character of the area, not because they want it to be developed into a large city,” he said, later adding, “Why does the burden fall on East Providence?”

Botelho countered, saying that there is an underlying affordability problem in the city that is preventing people from moving in who may have grown up here, and threatens to drive out current residents who want to stay.

“My problem is that the market has pushed a lot of people born and raised in the city, out of this city,” he said. “You’ve got kids that go off to college, they come back, they’re looking for a job, they want to start a family, they want to live in the city they grew up in, and they just can’t afford to do it. I bought a house 10 years go, and it’s fortunate I did. Because if I was born 10 years later and was trying to buy the same house today, I wouldn’t be able to afford to do so.”

Opposite sides on Flock

The issue displaying the starkest differences in their opinions came when Pickering brought up the use of Flock cameras in the city.

Botelho said that he would not be in support of continuing the city’s contract with Flock when it expires in 2028.

“As currently constituted I would not support extending that contract. I think some changes definitely need to be made,” he said. “We’ve all read and seen on TV and in newspapers information being abused, we’ve seen wrongful accusations, and that’s going to lead to a massive lawsuit for the city if these cameras put somebody in jail for a crime they didn’t commit based on the Flock cameras. I feel like we’re really opening ourselves up.”

Spremulli, hearkening to his law enforcement career, said that he was in favor of the use of cameras due to seeing firsthand how effective they have been at helping solve crimes.

“Flock was one of the biggest reasons I was able to apprehend a child molester I was looking for,” he said, explaining he had worked with Cranston, utilizing their Flock cameras to solve the case, and added that Providence used Flock cameras to help catch the Brown University shooter. “I have a hard time getting rid of a useful tool that saves lives. If a child is abducted, if someone’s in danger, I think the Flock system can be an extremely useful tool for an investigator.”

Spremulli said that he believed the city’s policy on using Flock cameras provided enough protections to prevent abuse, but that “severe penalties” should be instituted for anyone who misuses the system.

Botelho said that while he supported police officers having the necessary tools to do their job, he would stop short of doing so at the expense of what he believed was pivotal to a free society.

“I want them to have all the tools necessary, but I don’t think that Flock is a necessary tool,” he said. “Philosophically, in a free society I’m just not a fan of mass surveillance, and I don’t know what the next step after Flock would be.”

Budget concerns

In discussing the city budget, Botelho said that his number one priority was making sure the city remained financially stable through the years to come.

“We have a lot of priorities. We have our schools, roads and infrastructure, public safety, city services, and all of those require resources,” he said. “We need to make sure we’re spending responsibly, planning ahead, and making smart investments so that we can continue providing the quality services that we provide to our residents without putting an unreasonable burden on the taxpayers.”

Botelho mentioned the school department and their financial troubles as they stare down a $3.8 million deficit for the coming fiscal year, saying that the city needs to help them through the financial hole they find themselves in without harming the operations of the schools.

Spremulli, who is the brother of recently-retired superintendent Dr. Sandra Forand, took a harder approach on the school situation, saying that if he was on the council now, he wouldn’t vote to approve a budget that included a nearly $4 million deficit for the school department.

“In my opinion that’s unacceptable. I do believe schools should be properly funded but I believe that the cuts are there,” Spremulli said. “I would sit down with the superintendent and tell him that I am not happy with that budget. You need to go back and if we need to go line by line with that budget, then we will find places to cut. But there are places that I believe you can cut without affecting the educational process in East Providence.”

Botelho said that he believed schools and public safety were two areas he would be against cutting in order to find budgetary savings.

“I don’t think those are two areas where you look to slash,” Botelho said. “I think those are two of the fundamental things that people love about East Providence; you can get a good education, and you feel safe.”

Areas of agreement and miscellaneous

Spremulli and Botelho largely agreed on multiple issues, including the need to repair more roads and sidewalks throughout Riverside and that the former Oldham School should be made into a resource for the city, such as becoming a business incubator or a community center for Riverside. However, Botelho was more open to potentially having some housing element to help subsidize the cost of that project for a prospective developer than Spremulli was.

“If someone is going to buy that property and make it into an incubator space, it does have to be profitable for the business,” Botelho said, citing that the building could need as much as $10 million in repairs to make it a viable space.

For unique issues facing Riverside, Spremulli said that Crescent Park should be better utilized as an attractant for people from outside the city to visit.

“I look at Bristol in the summer time, and people flock to Bristol,” he said. “I think our piece of real estate over in Crescent Park is just as good as Bristol is, and I don’t think it’s being utilized properly. I think there are ways we can promote that a little bit more.”

Botelho, for his unique issue, said that cell service in Riverside continued to be a large problem, especially as a recent effort to install a new cell tower at Grassy Plains Park has stalled prior to crossing the finish line.

“I don’t want to see this become an issue that falls by the wayside and doesn’t get addressed, because we definitely need that in Riverside,” Botelho said.

Botelho added that one of his goals would be to encourage younger people to be involved in the city.

“A priority of mine is to get new voices at the table. I want to get our future generations involved in the process. They’re the ones who are going to be impacted the most by today’s decisions,” he said. “Many of these young folks I’ve talked to are some of the most engaged people I’ve met in this entire process. They’ve got great ideas, they’re smart, intelligent, creative, and I believe they deserve a voice in Riverside.”