City Council Candidate Spotlight: Michael Rivera
-Editor’s note: This is the third in a series of candidate spotlights for all candidates running for Paso Robles City Council.
Protect and defend public safety in Paso
—Born in downtown East L.A, City Council Candidate Michael Rivera is a small business owner and long-time resident of the Central Coast (44 years). Rivera is the secretary for the Santa Barbara-based organization, Californians for Population Stabilization, or CAPS. Rivera will join one incumbent and two newcomers to vie for two council seats in the November election.
In his bid to serve as part of City Council, Rivera shared his desire to see more transparency in the city budget. Rivera stated, ” They just push things through, no ability for the public to address issues. The travel budget for the city was $20,000 for just one person, is that right? That’s just one item.” He says that if elected, he doesn’t want to sit idly as issues go unaddressed.
Rivera says he left Santa Maria for his family’s own safety because he objected to the way things were running in Santa Maria. Rivera’s views on immigration have created a basis for which he believes many other issues arise, stating, ” I don’t want Paso to turn into another Orange County, with the road system impacted, and general infrastructure.” Previously, Rivera served as a chairman of the Santa Maria Recreation and Parks Commission, and the Guadalupe Planning Commission. Rivera says his number one priority is to protect and defend, the public safety, and he is outspoken on SB54, the sanctuary policy.
Rivera shared, “Unfortunately, criminals who don’t belong here are doing horrific things to this city, and I will not tolerate that. We don’t need to limit law enforcement.” Rivera says that he pushed for the city to implement E-Verify— which is run by the U.S. Dept of Homeland Security, matching job applicants to the federal immigration database — which is touted as a solution to helping employers see if a potential hire is legally entitled to work in the United States.
Rivera shared, “The city hasn’t revisited the general plan since 2004, to address current issues and growth. I think ahead 5, 10, 15 years. What sort of situation do we have where we won’t take the bull by the horns? Our workers get undercut, and what people need to understand is, since 1985, a lot of issues are a result of out of control immigration into the state.” He continued,” I’ve never been a part of a group that segregates on ethnicity, everyone has to feel comfortable. No group should isolate groups based on ethnicity or cultural circumstances. I stand against division. I am proud to be a part of CAPS, it is certainly not a hate group as some other media sources have stated.”
The anti-immigration organization CAPS was labeled a “hate group” by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) in its new report on the rise of radical right extremism under the candidacy and presidency of Donald Trump. According to a report by the Santa Barbara Independent, the listing was based on “troubling statements made by CAPS founders and former members about race and eugenics, the group’s recent hiring of two white nationalists as senior writers, and the fresh revelation that for six months last year CAPS employed a closeted neo-Nazi as its director of public affairs.”
“We are servants of the people,” said Rivera. “I haven’t made a dime off of helping the people, and I love my country and I am proud of it. I want to see policies change.” He also said he wants to see closer communication with the school district and wants to work with local school board members to ensure the quality of education in Paso Robles.
“My only interest is in serving people, and I’m running for City Council only because where I came from, I know where it went wrong, and what not to do.” Rivera shared that affordable housing is a supply and demand issue and that he will make sure the affordable subsidized housing is benefitting the citizens.
Related: City announces official nominees for public office
-Cassandra Frey
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