Bob Rodericks is no stranger to the good, the bad, and the ugly of politics.

“I grew up in the Watergate era of politics, and I was just mesmerized by the craziness back then,” he said in an interview on Monday, conducted just a few hours after he publicly announced his bid for a third term on the East Providence City Council on his Facebook page.

As an ambitious, politics-loving young adult, Rodericks graduated high school in 1972 and then just four short years later threw his name into the ring for school committee. He won, and ultimately became chair of the committee.

“I was a very young, naive person to take on that job. We had a pretty big school system; twice the size it is now,” he said. “I’ve had some family in politics. My late uncle, George Rodericks, was the director of civil defense for Washington, D.C. through the 60s, and that always had me enthralled with national politics. I like it for all the good reasons.”

But his experiences with the bad and ugly side of politics is what encouraged his most recent bid for local government, which he sought, and won, in 2018. He would later became council vice president, and then president, a role he currently holds.

“There were millions of dollars of lawsuits that the city lost because of discrimination, personnel decisions,” Rodericks said, referring to cases including former city manager, Richard Kirby, which began in 2016 following his termination and only was resolved in 2024 with a $750,000 settlement in his favor, as well as a wrongful termination suit against a former building inspector, Albert Quattrucci, which ultimately led to more than $440,000 being paid in his favor, and a nearly $650,000 losing case against a former city tax assessor, Ali Khorasani, who alleged he had been subject to a hostile work environment that was based in ethnic harassment.

“Since I got on, and not that it has had to do with me directly, but I was part of a team that I think brought some professionalism here,” he said. “We've had no cases, none of that.”

Rodericks, who experienced the tragic loss of his wife, Diane, on July 8, 2025, said that he was uncertain on whether he would seek another four-year term this November.

“I think there was some consideration of just withdrawing and not running again,” he said. “I talked about it with some people. I talked about it with my kids and grandkids, and even people I didn't know well at all reached out to me and said, ‘We really would like you to run again.’ They appreciated the way I run the meetings and my style and my approach and so it tugged at me. I said, ‘Well, that's my choice. I can sit home and withdraw or I can stay active.’”

Rodericks said that he has seen lots of reasons to be encouraged about the future in East Providence, including the development of the city’s long-neglected waterfront, and its investment in schools, parks, and playgrounds. However, he wants to see development of the waterfront continue in a smart way, and continue to prioritize the kinds of amenities that families in East Providence want to enjoy.

Housing, Rodericks said, was also the issue he hears most about.

“We have housing needs, and that's a big argument. I want to stay part of that. We have people that want no more housing, we have people that want a lot more housing. I think there's room for a compromise,” he said. “I don't support taking public land and just throwing up high-rises, but most of the development in the city has been through private sales. And if we can continue to control that as best as possible, I want to do my best to see that there's a balance in affordable housing. We need some market rate housing. You know, you have to have that that balance. There’s a lot to be done there.”

Rodericks said that one of the challenges the city faces is that it has gotten a lot smaller over the years, requiring action to ensure that the city can raise enough revenue to provide the needed services to people, while also causing anger and confusion among older residents who perhaps have a more rose-colored view of what East Providence was, and should be, going forward.

“Maybe some families, they don't realize it, but we are a lot smaller,” he said. “We had a school system of 10,500 students. We now have one of about 6,000.”

Rodericks said that he was the one to initiate a program where the remaining $2.5 million of bond money that went unused from the construction of the new East Providence High School was put into an interest-earning account to be used solely for maintenance of school buildings throughout the city.

“There's a lot to do yet, and moving forward,” he said. “I’ve got young grandchildren in school and I want them to have the East Providence that I know we had before and that I know we can be.”

With hundreds of people commenting on his Facebook announcement praising his ability to listen to all sides, treat people with respect, and lead by example, Rodericks said that he was confident in his continued ability to try to hash things out the civil way, even when things get heated.

“I let people talk. We can listen, and we can change our mind if we have to,” he said. “I think people are generally good, and we'll listen and agree to disagree when we need to and move forward.”

“I let the negative stuff kind of roll off my back,” he continued. “I raise my eyebrows sometimes, come home after some council meetings and say, ‘Is it really worth it?’ But yeah, it's worth it.”