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2024 RI General Assembly Candidate Survey
Results and Endorsement(s)
We apologize in advance for the length and level of detail in this e-mail — we think it’s important to provide our volunteers and supporters with information to aid their votes. (If you just want to know our endorsement, skip down to the last three paragraphs.)
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As we did in the 2022 mayoral and City Council election and will do again in 2026, the Noise Project sent a one-page survey to candidates whose Rhode Island General Assembly districts include parts of Providence, to get their views on noise in the city and ways to address it. We believe Providence residents deserve that information to make informed voting decisions.
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This included candidates for RI House Districts 9 (incumbent Rep. Enrique Sanchez and challengers Anastacia Williams and Santos Javier) and 11 (incumbent Rep. Grace Diaz and challenger Tania Quezada), and Senate District 5 (incumbent Sen. Sam Bell and challenger William Connell).
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To their credit, incumbent Reps. Sanchez and Diaz responded to the survey. Conversely, and to their discredit, none of the other candidates did. We were particularly disappointed by Sen. Bell’s decision not to complete the survey, as he shares many views — as well as a campaign manager — with Rep. Sanchez, who was not inhibited from responding to our questions.
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We urge Providence residents to consider which candidates were willing to provide their views on noise policy — and which weren’t similarly forthcoming — when voting this year, and in the future.
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We learned from the survey responses that Rep. Sanchez previously lived in NY City, and has resided in Providence’s West End neighborhood for three years, where he said he regularly notices noise — defined as excessive and unnecessary sound levels. Rep. Diaz said she has lived in Elmwood since 1995, and often hears music from neighbors and "blasting" from cars as they go by. “Living near Broad Street,” she said, “it’s particularly challenging to find quiet time, especially during the summer.”
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For the most part, the two Assembly members ranked the prevalence of noise sources very differently. Excessively loud music from both car and home stereos were Rep. Diaz’s top sources, while Rep. Sanchez ranked them toward the bottom; his most prevalent source was highway traffic noise — presumably from Routes 6 and / or 10 — and car alarms, with Rep. Diaz ranking the latter second to last, though she did note street traffic noise coming from Broad Street.
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They were closer (but still not aligned) on fireworks and emergency vehicle sirens. Their answers likely reflect their neighborhoods and constituencies, but both cited vehicle noise as prominent sources, which comports with data from our Community Noise Survey — much of which we have posted on our website as graphs to make the trends more comprehensible.
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Rep. Sanchez said that both the volume and recurrence of noise (i.e., how often it happens) have increased in the three years he’s lived at his current address, and that it’s one of the most common complaints he hears when talking with constituents at their homes and in community meetings, as well as in e-mails and texts that he receives from them. We found that very telling, because he hasn’t mentioned it previously.
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In response to a question about creating an independent state commission to study noise pollution, Rep. Diaz said that if she is re-elected, she will sponsor legislation to for a commission that would develop comprehensive policies to mitigate noise, and include experts in environmental science, urban planning, and public health, as well as community representatives to ensure a well-rounded approach.
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“The goal would be to assess current noise levels, identify sources, and recommend practical solutions to reduce noise to healthier levels for residents,” she said. City residents should hold her to that commitment, as it hasn’t happened at the municipal level. Rep. Sanchez also answered the question in the affirmative, but did not elaborate. If re-elected, his constituents should require him to demonstrate his support for such a commission.
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In response to a question about developing a formal state policy on noise, Rep. Diaz pledged to sponsor “outcome-oriented” legislation to do so, with a goal of reducing excessive and unhealthy noise through specific targets and actionable measures. “It will incorporate guidelines and standards for noise levels, enforcement mechanisms, and strategies for community education and engagement,” she said. “This approach will be modeled after successful policies in other state and will aim to enhance public health and quality of life.” Again, her constituents should ensure that she follows through on this, as it would raise the profile of an important public policy issue.
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Rep. Sanchez again answered the same question affirmatively, but similarly without further details. If re-elected, he should be much more forthcoming on his ideas for state noise policy.
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In answer to a question about establishing a formal position within the RI Department of Environmental Management (RIDEM) dedicated to managing and reducing noise pollution, Rep. Diaz said she will sponsor legislation to create a “Noise Pollution Officer” or “Noise Control Coordinator” role within RIDEM to oversee state noise regulations, coordinate with local authorities, and lead initiatives to address noise issues across the state. She should include that as part of the RI noise policy bill she promises above.
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Rep. Sanchez found his voice on this question, and said he thinks that excessive noise is and should be treated as a serious public health issue — and we agree — and that therefore the logical choice is to place it under the RI Department of Health. “I would recommend creating a Noise Reduction Program within the Division of Community Health and Equity’s Center for Health Promotion, and with all the same staffing as any of the Division’s other programs.” We think this is an excellent idea, and will urge his constituents to ensure that he follows through on it.
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Rep. Sanchez was also very aware of the adverse health effects of noise, noting that many of his constituents, “especially elderly residents in Olneyville and Silver Lake, struggle with these negative effects — not only hearing loss but also emotional distress and difficulty concentrating. These impacts disproportionately fall on working-class communities and communities of color.”
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He went on to say that “the consequences of excessive noise for both physical and mental health are deeply serious noise,” and that the government should address it as a public health issue, which we agree with. Rep. Diaz was also familiar with the physiological effects of noise, and addressing it through health policy can improve overall public well-being and quality of life.
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Both candidates answered in the affirmative when asked whether they would sponsor legislation to require the RI Department of Health or Department of Environmental Management to measure noise in RI on an ongoing basis to gather actionable data, require RI state agencies that measure noise to issue annual reports on RI noise levels and their specific polices and actions to address them, allocate public money to educate RI residents on noise-related issues, and require the RI Department of Education to include the adverse health effects of noise in health-related curricula for students at every grade level that has it.
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Those things are very easy to agree to in a survey that voters may forget about, but the Noise Project intends to hold them to their commitments — as should all of Reps. Diaz and Sanchez’s constituents affected by noise.
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Both legislators also pledged to call on RI Attorney General Peter Neronha to actively implement existing state laws to reduce sales and installation of illegal modified mufflers (e.g., suing retailers). Sanchez said Neronha could “profoundly improve the lives of his most vulnerable constituents by exercising his constitutional powers to enforce existing laws related to excessive noise,” and added that the General Assembly “needs to give the executive more tools to address this problem … without exacerbating the over-policing and over-criminalization of communities of color and working-class communities.”
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There were two issue on which Rep. Sanchez departed from Rep. Diaz: in regard to increased funding for RI state police enforcement of existing noise laws (e.g., a dedicated noise squad) — she supports it, he doesn’t — and vehicle-noise enforcement using technology that doesn’t require direct interaction with violators (e.g., noise cameras). He’s open to the latter, but concerned about their potential to increase racial and class-based inequities in the justice system. He pledged to study any camera proposal very carefully. Rep. Diaz supports them.
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Based on her answers to the candidate noise survey, as well as previous efforts to address fireworks noise, the Noise Project endorses Rep. Grace Diaz (D-PVD) for re-election to the RI House of Representatives for District 11. We hope to work with her on advancing the noise-related legislation that she pledged to sponsor in the coming 2025 General Assembly session.
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The Noise Project is encouraged by several of Rep. Sanchez’s responses to the survey, and we hope to work with him to advance the legislation he said he would sponsor in the coming Assembly session. That said, his demonstrated understanding of the adverse health effects of noise is a necessary but not by itself sufficient element in addressing noise. Rep. Sanchez’s status quo-ratifying opposition to enforcement must be supplanted by active promotion of policies to reduce excessive noise levels his constituents experience on a daily basis, due to the sense of entitlement of a relatively small number of residents. That shouldn’t be seen as a valid lifestyle choice.
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And needless to say, we cannot endorse any of the 2024 candidates who did not respond to the survey. If you have question about any of the noise policies or candidate responses referenced above, please contact the Noise Project for further information.
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Thanks as always for your continued support, and for your desire
to make Providence a quieter and healthier place to live.
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