1. Jorge O Elorza was born on November 24,1976 and is an American law professor who served as the mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 2015 until 2023.
25 Facts About Jorge Elorza
1. 2.
Jorge Elorza defeated former mayor Buddy Cianci in the 2014 mayoral election and on January 5,2015, was sworn in as mayor of the city.
3.
Jorge Elorza was born and raised in the West End of Providence, Rhode Island.
4.
Jorge Elorza attended local public schools, including Asa Messer Elementary School, Bridgham Middle School, and Classical High School.
5.
Jorge Elorza worked as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers in New York, and then attended Harvard Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor.
6.
Jorge Elorza teaches law at the Roger Williams University School of Law.
7.
The Providence mayoral race in 2014 was Jorge Elorza's first try at elective office.
8.
Jorge Elorza was sworn in as mayor on January 5,2015, on the steps of Providence City Hall.
9.
Early in his first term, Jorge Elorza was credited for working closely with the City Council and Governor's office.
10.
Jorge Elorza appointed a representative to the city ethics commission for the first time in nine years.
11.
Jorge Elorza created an anti-prostitution effort known as "Operation Backpage", which has arrested several dozen men for solicitation.
12.
On September 12,2018, Jorge Elorza won renomination to the Mayor's office over challengers Kobi Dennis and Robert DeRobbio.
13.
Jorge Elorza's government faced a budget shortfall during his first year.
14.
Jorge Elorza faced a long fight with the city's firefighters union over schedule changes.
15.
Jorge Elorza presided over an expansion of new, high-tech parking meters in Providence.
16.
Between January 2015 and September 2016, Jorge Elorza's administration increased the number of metered parking spaces by 50 percent, from 1,400 to 2,100.
17.
In 2016, Jorge Elorza set a goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2050.
18.
Jorge Elorza is a supporter of improving the city's biking infrastructure, and in 2017 a new greenway opened in Roger Williams Park.
19.
Jorge Elorza leads a quarterly bicycle ride through Providence called "Bike the Night" to highlight the city's cycling infrastructure.
20.
Jorge Elorza paused the program in August 2019 and suspended service indefinitely in June 2020.
21.
In January 2020, Jorge Elorza unveiled a "Great Streets" initiative to create a framework of public space improvements to encourage walking, riding bicycles, and public transit.
22.
Jorge Elorza's Providence Unified Vision public space project was introduced in July 2021.
23.
In July 2020, in response to the Black Lives Matter protests following the murder of George Floyd, Mayor Jorge Elorza signed an executive order meant to start a city truth commission, intending to atone for Providence's role in Black slavery, institutional racism, and the mistreatment of Native Americans.
24.
In June 2021, Jorge Elorza was one of 11 US mayors who formed Mayors Organized for Reparations and Equity, a coalition of municipal leaders dedicated to starting pilot reparations programs in their cities.
25.
In March 2022, Jorge Elorza signed an executive order creating the 13-member Providence Municipal Reparations Commission.