When Aniece Germain was sworn in as the city councilmember from Ward 2, she became the first Haitian-American elected official in the City of Cranston. She and her husband Dr. Norley Germain are both from Haiti and they have three children. In 2016 Aniece Germain co-founded, and is now the Executive Director of, a non-profit organization, Hope and Change for Haiti.

Now Councilmember Germain is running for re-election, so she graciously sat down for an interview with Uprise RI. The interview was conducted in person on October 15 at the councilmember’s home. It has been edited for clarity.

Uprise RI: You have an opponent this year.

Aniece Germain: Yes. I had an opponent last election. Before my first election, I have to mention, I was appointed. The councilmember at that moment resigned and I was appointed. In my first election I had an an opponent, but I won with 50% of the vote. This year is probably tougher, but I know I do the work and it’s going to be up to my constituents to make the choice.

Uprise RI: Over the years I’ve been covering the Cranston City Council, it’s always been split, fairly evenly, between Republicans and Democrats, with the Republicans usually having a very slight majority. This forces compromise. How do you work with people both within and outside your party?

Aniece Germain: My experience on the city council has not been too bad for me. I did not research past councils, but from what I heard, it was sometimes really hard. There was not a good relationship, for example, with the school committee and, you know, the school committee sued the Mayor for funding.

I think during my term on the council had a good relationship with other councilpersons, and that’s what it should be. We have different philosophies, different approaches to the issues, but at the end of the day, we should have the same goal – to solve the problems we are facing in our community.

That said, when I first started, when I was appointed, it was a little bit more difficult for me. Democrats are the minority on the city council. There were four Democrats and five Republicans. At the council meeting where I was to be appointed, I did not have nine out of nine votes. It’s difficult, I think, for older, traditional Republicans to understand or accept a Black woman as an elected official, as appointed to the council. I think it wasn’t easy for those who did not vote for me to embrace me. But I was happy to have one Republican vote for me. I think this collaboration helped me to see how we can work together, how we can change the way we do things moving forward.

I believe we are moving forward in the right direction because I have a unique perspective, not only as a woman, but as a Black woman, an immigrant, a mom. I have really a unique perspective to address things for my colleagues. We don’t agree on everything, but I think it’s a great relationship, working together. Even with my Democratic colleagues, we cannot agree on everything.

Uprise RI: As you’re campaigning, walking your district and talking to your neighbors, what issues are they bringing up?

Aniece Germain: My constituent’s top priority is quality of life, as in safety in their neighborhood. Speeding is the number one issue they bring up to me. They want to have their trash picked up on time. They want their street paved, they want the snow removed. They want clean neighborhoods. They want their parks to be cleaned more.

And the number two issue is Budlong Pool.

Budlong Pool is one of the largest public pools in the country and for two years, this pool has not been open to the public. It was closed because of the pandemic. They could not, based on the guidelines from the CDC [United States Center for Disease Control], let people mingle. But after two years, there was no money allocated in the budget for the pool, so I started asking questions. What happened? Why is there no money allocated to the pool?

I went to tour the facility. It’s a shame to see what condition it’s in. For me, this is pure and simple neglect, and it has been neglected for a reason, I think. This year, the heat we had… This summer was awful. We had to have cooling stations in the city. We had to ask people to not go out but to find a place to cool off.

The pool was once a place for people, mostly low-income people, family and elders, to go. You could walk to the pool and cool off. A lot of families do not have the resources to go to a private pool or drive to Narragansett Bay to go to the beach. They don’t have the opportunity to do that. I had residents explain to me that they learned to swim at Budlong Pool. If we think about those who need it the most, it should be a priority, because it’s part of their quality of life. We have the American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] that Congress passed. Cranston received a lot of money. I think we can use some of the money to renovate the pool.

We want the pool to be available next year, so I introduced a resolution asking the administration to use ARPA money. This resolution passed unanimously and the other eight council member became co-sponsors. So everyone on the council agrees that we need to open the pool for the people.

Our community’s demographic changed, based on the 2020 census. We had an increase in population and we have a lot of more diversity in the city that we didn’t have 10 years ago. This shifting may have contributed to the neglect we have observed as well, but that shouldn’t be the case. The people who utilize the pool then are not the same who use it now.

Uprise RI: You’re talking about a shift in race and income. I’ve seen this in other municipalities, where a park or other public good is now used by recent immigrants or lower-income people that look different from those it was initially built for. What the government does then is neglect the facility until it falls apart. Then they say, “Now it’s a mess. Let’s close it.” I would hate to see Budlong Pool fall into that.

Aniece Germain: Not on my watch. As long as I am the councilperson here, that’s not going to happen.

We had someone evaluate the pool and tell us the cost to repair or rebuild it. I am in contact with the federal delegation. I emailed Congressman Langevin, Congressman Cicciline, Senator Reed, and Senator Whitehouse to ask them to see about a federal grant. I also thought, “Why are we waiting? To go through the House and Senate is a long process. Why are we waiting for the federal grant? We have ARPA funds now.”

Uprise RI: As you mentioned, a big part of the job for a city councilmember is constituent services. How does that work for you? Because you have this job that you do every day, to make money and live. Then you have this city council job that you also have to do every day. On top of all that is constituent services. What does constituent services look like?

Aniece Germain: We have constituent services in City Hall. Some of my constituents call City Hall or they call the police directly. But sometimes they text, call or email me. I do my best to be really, really responsive. And there are some issue that you cannot solve in one day. In Cranston, the way it works, you cannot directly call the head of a department. To ask them to do something, you have to go through the administration. So whenever I have an email or a call about something I have to email constituent affairs in city hall. I don’t like it because it takes a little longer to do.

Uprise RI: One of the nice things about city council races is you don’t have to worry as much about the big national issues, like guns and abortion. These issues come into the city council sometimes, but most of the time that’s not what city councils are about.

Aniece Germain: You know, people tend to separate issues – this is local, this is state level, this is a federal – but I think there is no separation. That’s my opinion. There’s no separation because the issues that affect local people affect all of us. Local government is the backbone. If you have a local government that doesn’t work for the people and those same people go to state level, go to federal level, what happens? The issues of guns of abortion are important for everyone. Locally, we may not have the power to address them in a way that is effective, but we should look at them.

We can pass a resolution to support a bill at the federal level. It’s a chain. It’s a system. If one part of the system doesn’t work, it affect the whole system. In my district, when you knock on doors, people are saying, “Oh my God. You see what happened? What’s going on in federal level?” People are worried. As you mentioned, people are worried about gun violence. People are worried about abortion rights. People are worried about the economy. People are worried about voting rights, about women’s rights. People are worried about sending their child to safe schools. Those are issues we at the local level that are concerned about. And when we vote, we should vote to make sure that those rights are protected.

Three months ago the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade. This was a blow to everyone. The people affected are people that live next to you. It’s your neighbors. It’s your daughter, it’s your sister. People minimize the question of abortion. I believe your faith should not be a burden to somebody else. We are on a slippery slope when people think that the government should tell a woman, “This is how you have to do this.” A lot of religious people confuse morality and legality. Those things don’t always work together.

So when I knock doors, constituents say to me, “Locally, this is what I am concerned about.” But at the same time, people say, “Do you see what’s going on? Do you know what’s going on?” People are worried. That’s why I think this election cycle matters. Every vote matters. I encourage every Democrat to please go out to vote.

A lot of people say that former Mayor Fung is a good guy. This is not about a “good guy.” This race is about protecting what we have left, which is the United States House that can codify Roe v Wade. The House that can take more aggressive steps to ensure voting rights. This is protecting the House that can take more aggressive steps to make sure we have common sense gun laws. It’s not about a “good guy.”

Unfortunately, after they elected former President Trump, we had a shift in the Republican Party. The Republican Party that existed is no longer. That’s why you see every Republican who still has a little decency disassociate themselves. They don’t leave the party, but they make a stand about what is right. What we have now is extreme MAGA disciples of Donald Trump. And Allan Fung is no different. The good guy he was when he won in 2008, 2014, no longer exists. If he wins this race he will not be someone who will stand for people. He will go with [Marjorie] Taylor Greene and Josh Hawley because it’s all about keeping the power. They lost all sense of values. They lost all sense of truth or facts. They fall into this big lie – election deniers lying just to keep power. It is a sad moment for democracy. That’s why I think Seth Magaziner is the right choice for the people.

Uprise RI: Last question. When you’re out meeting likely voters, what’s your pitch? Why should someone in your district vote for you?

Aniece Germain: First, I am in the community. I am a mom. I’ve got three children attending public school in Cranston. I know what the issues are in Cranston and I worked to address them even before I was elected. I am doing the work. I am responsive. I am present and I voice our concerns. I am independent. I am a Democrat, but I vote with my values on things that matter to me and to my constituents. I listen. I bring people together. I believe everyone has a little good in them and I see the good and we start by the good. I believe we can change people’s mind. I believe we can educate people. And that’s what I’m doing.

I stand for 21st Century education, even though as a councilperson, I don’t have the power to address educational policy. But I support having a school that is equitable. Quality education should be equitable and I fight for that. We should support our teachers, who are the backbone of our society, because education is the equalizer.

I am working to ensure that our small businesses thrive, to support them. I am working on to make sure that we are living in a neighborhood that’s not only clean, but healthy. I am here to make sure we bring people together. We have a beloved community. You should vote for me because I am doing the work.

Uprise RI: Anything else our readers should know about?

Aniece Germain: The situation in Haiti. I was born in Haiti. Haiti gave me a solid foundation. I am who I am, right here, right now, because of the education I had in Haiti. But right now, children cannot go to school in Haiti. Children stay home. Parents cannot go to work in Haiti right now. So I cannot do this interview without mentioning something about Haiti. Thank you so much for covering our press conference last week. What is happening in Haiti right now is inexcusable and something must be done. And it has to be done right this time. Haiti has had intervention after intervention. What we have in Haiti is a group of elites that has a monopoly over the economic system in Haiti, that has the power and the money to lobby in Washington. They want a corrupt government that will do their dirty work for them. That has to stop. We have to make sure this time that intervenors listen to all actors, and that everybody has a seat at the table to have an open discussion to put an end to what is going on in Haiti. Haiti needs help and we need everyone to understand that we cannot let Haiti die.