by Ken Sain
Newly elected office holders usually get a honeymoon period where even voters who supported other candidates wait and see what the new person will do.
Not so for David Segal, who won election to the Providence City Council to become the first Green elected in Rhode Island.
Segal won the District 1 seat, which includes Brown University. The 22-year-old Segal actively sought out help from students in winning his election.
Opponents cried foul after Segal won a four-way race, saying students who live in Providence for a few years shouldn't have such a strong role in deciding city elections.
"Brown University students spend at least four years in Providence; should we tell them not to vote?" said Greg Gerritt, who ran as the Green candidate for mayor in Providence.
Segal earned 38.6 percent of the vote to win the seat against a Democrat, Republican and independent. However, he needed more than students to win the election.
Only 438 of his 1,068 votes came from two precincts where most students vote. The rest came from elsewhere.
"I don't want to have to face the (charge) that I stole this election with the students," Segal told the Providence Journal. "There was a newness and an energy to our campaign. People were ready for a change." Segal said his priorities on the council are an ordinance requiring that a living wage be paid to city employees and employees of city contractors, a system for civilian oversight of police conduct, repeal of the city's overnight on-street parking ban and construction of more affordable housing.
