Worcester Councilor Rivera Sets Record Straight on Main South

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

Steven Jones-D'Agostino, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Sarai Rivera is clearing the air about herself, her work, and her campaign for reelection.

Sarai Rivera wants to make a few things perfectly clear. Yes, District 4, which she represents on the Worcester City Council, stretches north, south, east and west of Main South. But she’s quite committed to also serving that still-struggling neighborhood.

Rivera is responding to my recent article, Worcester’s Main South Revival Threatened By Infighting. Among other things, I wrote that bad blood apparently remains between Rivera and Barbara Haller, the then-District 4 incumbent whom first-timer Rivera defeated by a strong margin–60 percent to 40 percent–in 2011. I also suggested that Rivera, who is Latino, is tight with Centro Las Americas, the city's primary Latino community center. And I stated that Rivera hasn’t taken a public stand on the fight over federal funding for affordable housing for Main South Community Development Corp. because she had reportedly said she represents more than Main South.

Following are edited highlights of my interview with Rivera, who is running for reelection this year. She is also a clinical therapist as well as co-senior pastor, along with her husband, Jose Encarnacion, of Christian Community Church. The full interview will air on Sunday, August 11 at 10 p.m. (ET) on The Business Beat on 90.5 WICN and in streaming audio at WICN.org.

Setting the record straight

What is the nature of the relationship between you and Barbara Haller?

When I ran [for City Council in 2011], no one can say there was ever any negativity that was thrown in the campaign. So I think if there was bad blood, that would have gone in the campaign. [Haller] and I had made an agreement to stick with issues and nothing personal, and so there was nothing negative then. And since taking office, I’ve just tried to continue doing the work. She’s participated in various neighborhood initiatives in which we’ve continued to work together. In fact, when I was doing my nomination papers [for this year’s City Council campaign,] former councilor Haller signed my nomination papers–that’s a public record. So I don’t think if there was bad blood that she would be signing my papers [laughs], or me working with her on anything.

There’s a meeting I’m going to be scheduling regarding [a particular issue], and I asked her to join me in it. So I don’t know where that [bad-blood impression] would come from because that’s never been anything that we’ve kind of put out.

So we’ll set the record straight: You can Barbara Haller are on–and have been on–good terms.

Yeah, definitely. It’s been a working relationship.

What is the status of the political leadership–and the collaboration that goes on among those leaders–in Main South, South Worcester and other parts of the city surrounding those two areas that you also represent?

I think one of the difficulties to understand is that District 4 is very vast, and there’s a lot of issues happening in different parts of the district. I have worked extensively, and I have taken a public stand…on this issue regarding the [federal funding for affordable housing.] I think the issue of [affordable] housing was so large that it took a lot of attention, and what was happening was that there were other [non-profit] organizations that were also struggling financially because of the hold-up of the [federal] money. [They were] institutions that were a lot smaller [than Main South CDC]–the [Pleasant Street Neighborhood] Network Center, being one, [and] South Worcester [Neighborhood Improvement] being another, [and] Green Island Neighborhood Center [being yet another one]. And there were others that were [in council districts that are] connected [to District 4], like Autumn Woods [Apartments]…Lakeside [Apartments] and Friendly House [neighborhood center].

And so [I and the councilors representing those districts] were being very vocal about the concerns that we had because these organizations were going to be very at risk of closing their doors, and there was nothing else but these organizations. If they closed their doors, that was going to be devastating for our neighborhoods. This was something that myself and [District 3 Councilor] George Russell were extremely verbal about and advocating for.

As far as the [affordable-]housing piece, I’ve continued to do the work. But again, it’s just one piece of a lot of dynamics that were happening simultaneously.

A map of Worcester City Council District 4

…Was my suggestion that you were tight with Centro Las Americas, the city's primary Latino community center an incorrect or unfair statement?

Yeah, I think the way it was put in the article, it’s unfair to connect me with [a Latino] organization. I don’t deny that [I’m Latino]–I’m extremely proud [of that]–but I’m as American as the next person. I was born American, my parents are American, my husband’s a war veteran who fought on Kuwait, where he was deployed for a year. My dog’s even from the Animal Rescue League–I don’t know how much more American I can be. [laughs]

My statement wasn’t questioning your Americanism. It was saying that the Latino community is a minority community, not only in terms of numbers but in terms of power–and wealth as well.

For myself, anything that has to do with [the Latino community] is always attributed my way.

So some people think that you’re the city councilor from Centro.

Yeah, and Centro is not even in my district. It’s [in the district represented by] Phil Palmieri.

I know that, but [Centro] serves the [city’s entire] Latino community.

If, for any reason, Centro ever needed anything, definitely, I would be there to support it–along with [District 2 Councilor] Phil Palmieri. I would be working with Councilor Palmieri to move whatever agenda or whatever issue that we needed, forward. That’s no doubt–I would definitely be there to support it. But at the time, I had also my hands full with a lot [of other issues]. I was working very closely with South Worcester [Neighborhood Improvement] and [its executive director] Ron Charette, and very closely with some of the other organizations that were affected [by the issues regarding federal funding for affordable housing], because South Worcester oversees Green Island and Autumn Woods. You can talk to [Friendly House Executive Director] Gordon Hargrove because some of the [funding] concerns were also in regard to Friendly House. And, of course, [there’s also the Pleasant Street] Network Center, which definitely went through a lot of transition, and Worcester Common Ground, which went through a lot of transition.

Definitely, I had my hands full within my own district. So, if there’s an organization outside of my district, I would definitely be willing to [help it, working] along with the [organization’s] district councilor–Centro being outside my district. But my relationship is not any more closer with [Centro] that with, for example, [South Worcester’s] Ron Charette, who I’ve developed a very, very strong relationship with, or the people on the Board of Directors of the Network Center, or even [Friendly House’s] Gordon Hargrove, who I’ve known for years.

Have you taken a public stand on the charges of misuse of federal funds for affordable housing, which have been made by the City Manager's Office against five non-profit organizations, including Main South, dealing with affordable-housing development?

Yes, and again I say, “Roll the tapes!” [laughs] If you back to City Council meetings, it’s been something that has been publicly stated in City Council [meetings by] myself and a couple of other councilors, in meeting after meeting. I’m sure that Tim McGourthy, [the city’s chief development officer], probably read this, and laughed and said, “Boy, if only knew the e-mails and calls I was getting from Councilor Rivera.” [laughs] I was calling them and contacting them constantly on this issue.

One of the things that I understand very well is the non-profit sector, and also the contributions that these organizations do provide. Everyone wants to see the mistake and the faults, but no one wants to see the contributions. Why throw out the baby with the bathwater?

Steven Jones-D'Agostino is chief pilot of Best Rate of Climb: Marketing, Public Relations, Social Media and Radio/Audio Production. Follow him on Twitter at @SteveRDAgostino.