Rivera is pro-choice — “ I don ’ t believe in someone killing babies , but if my fifteen-year-old daughter gets raped and she does not want to have that child , I ’ m going to support her ,” she remembers thinking at the time — but the pressure spooked her . She called her city solicitor and asked him to strike the resolution from the docket .
“ Then I called back and I said , ‘ You know what , no : Leave it on ,’ ” she says . “ And overnight was tough . I cried . I was stressed . I called friends . I didn ’ t know what to do . I didn ’ t want people to be mad at me .”
The next morning , a fellow councilmember , whom she was unsure would support the resolution , phoned to offer his support . She took it as a sign to call for a vote on the resolution that night .
“ I have to tell you , in the five years that I ’ ve been here at city hall , that was the busiest time ,” Rivera remembers . “ The chambers were packed , the hallways were packed .”
A stream of constituents spoke for and against the resolution , and Rivera and her colleagues voted unanimously to support it . Not everyone was pleased with Rivera ’ s position — including her mother , a religious
Mayor Rivera in the mayor ’ s office in Central Falls city hall . woman who attends a nearby Pentecostal church .
“ But I remember saying at that meeting , ‘ If you don ’ t believe in the work that I do to support me and you ’ re only focused on this , I ’ m not sure I need the support of someone like that ,’ ” she says . “ At the time , there was so much that I was doing for the community , and I still continue to do , so just to focus on one thing for me — that wasn ’ t being fair .”
Jessica Vega , who was elected to city council just as Rivera assumed its presidency , says Rivera was a mentor during her first days on the council .
“ I had no idea what it meant to be a city councilperson ,” says Vega . “ She was my go-to .”
She recalls , in March of 2019 , Rivera organizing an International Women ’ s Day celebration honoring unsung heroes in the community .
“ She was recognizing the folks who do so much but aren ’ t necessarily in a ‘ leadership ’ role ,” says Vega , who now serves as council president . “ The small ways she builds relationships in the community — I really learned the emphasis on that through her .”
Vega says she equates Rivera with a first responder . She cites an eight-alarm mill fire in early March of 2020 , which ripped through a string of commercial mill buildings in Central Falls and Pawtucket and displaced residents in both cities . Rivera was one of the first people onsite .
“ She called me at 3 o ’ clock in the morning telling me , ‘ I ’ m outside picking people up to transport them to the Knights of Columbus .’ It was freezing ,” Vega says . “ To her , it was about making sure people were okay .”
At the same time , the novel coronavirus was tearing through Central Falls . A city of essential workers living in multigenerational housing , it has suffered more than anywhere else in the state and , at some points in the pandemic , the nation . Vega says Rivera used the same grassroots strategies to prop up residents amid the crisis . In April , after weeks of lockdown , Rivera and her colleagues took to Facebook to organize the first fundraiser to support at-risk families with gift cards distributed by the school district .
In late June of 2020 , as cases retreated for the summer , Rivera formally announced her candidacy for mayor of Central Falls . Endorsements , including from outgoing Mayor James Diossa and then-Lieutenant Governor Dan McKee , rolled in all month .
Rivera was up against Joe Moran III , an ex-city police chief who previously ran against Diossa and lost . A week before the election , Moran resurrected the Reproductive Health Care Act controversy by posting the resolution on his Facebook page and affirming his pro-life position .
Rivera responded in the comments , condemning Moran for “ dirty politics ” and sharing a
56 RHODE ISLAND MONTHLY l NOVEMBER 2021