Angel Taveras
| Angel Taveras | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 37th Mayor of Providence, Rhode Island | |
|
In office January 3, 2011 – January 5, 2015 |
|
| Preceded by | David Cicilline |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Elorza |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
August 18, 1970 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater |
Harvard University Georgetown University |
| Website | Government website |
Angel Taveras (born August 18, 1970) is an American lawyer and was the 37th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. Taveras was the first Hispanic mayor of the city and the third elected and fourth serving Dominican-American mayor in the United States.
Taveras' parents emigrated from the Dominican Republic in the mid-1960s. Taveras was born in Brooklyn, New York, but his family moved to Providence a few years later. Angel grew up on the South Side of Providence where he attended the Head Start Program and the Providence Public Schools, graduating from Classical High School in 1988.
Taveras attended Harvard University as an undergraduate, graduating with honors. Angel was named an Echoing Green fellow in 1992 for creating an after-school program and summer camp at Elmwood Community Center. He earned a law degree at Georgetown University, and then served as a lawyer in Providence with Brown Rudnick LLP. After a 2000 Congressional run, Taveras started his own small law firm, focusing on civic advocacy and elections law.
In 2007, Providence Mayor David Cicilline appointed Taveras an Associate Judge on the Providence Housing Court.
In 2010, Taveras stepped down from his judicial position to run for mayor of Providence. In a four-way Democratic primary, Taveras won with 49% of the vote. Angel would go on to win the general election with 82% of the vote, and was sworn in as the 37th mayor of Providence, Rhode Island.
Under Taveras' leadership, Providence was recognized with the All-America City Award from the National Civic League for its plan to boost third grade reading proficiency and the Bloomberg Philanthropies' Mayors Challenge for its innovative proposal to improve the vocabularies of pre-school age children. In 2013, Taveras presided over some of the first same-sex marriages in Rhode Island.
Taveras came into the mayor's office facing a $110-million deficit. He made various financial agreements with city institutions and won pension concessions from unions to address the city's "fiscal hurricane". Taveras was praised for avoiding filing for bankruptcy in 2012.
...
Wikipedia