Witman says Elorza’s response to pending school bus strike is inadequate, negligent

Dianne “Dee Dee” Witman, Independent candidate for Providence Mayor, is deeply troubled by Thursday’s pending bus driver strike and by Elorza’s barely there response.

Negotiations Wednesday evening between Teamsters Local 251 First Student, Inc. failed to yield an agreement. This could have been prevented.

Elorza’s administration has failed, yet again, to make basic city functions work. Mayor Elorza’s staff had ample time to develop contingency plans and failed to do so. Instead, he suggested that students and families pay to use ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft for the duration of the strike. How could he suggest such a thing? Nevermind cost and safety concerns, what message does this send to our students with physical disabilities or who require wheelchairs?

Leadership has stated that if students are unable to get to school within the first three days of the strike, they will be given “excused absences.”

Given the recent shooting of one of our students we do not need to create an environment where kids are on street corners waiting for rides to and from school, being there for an additional amount of time while parents arrive after they depart work, possibly creating an unsafe environment.  These kids need stability and uniformity after such a tragic event.  This disruption will not help.

A capital city should not function this way. “Students and families across the city deserve basic services that reduce daily stress and include quality of life. They should not have to tolerate a poorly managed and ineffective system,” Witman said Thursday.

“There is always a better solution,” Dee Dee said