Embracing her son and then her mother, Gladys Rivera celebrated her appointment Monday as the first Hispanic woman to serve on Hood River City Council.
“I want to be a bridge,” said Rivera, who was born and raised in Hood River. “I want to create a sense of community, and I don’t think it exists right now.”
Rivera and two other applicants, Susan Johnson and Angel Reyes Borton, sat together at a table and fielded six questions from council members and McBride before the vote.
Rivera was chosen by a 5-1 vote on the second ballot. The initial vote was 4-2, with votes for Rivera coming from Council Members Megan Saunders, Tim Counihan and Jessica Metta, as well as Mayor Kate McBride.
However, council rules require at least five votes for an appointment, so a second ballot was taken, with Mark Zanmiller switching to support Rivera; Erick Haynie voted both times for Reyes Borton.
Rivera wiped away tears as she took the oath of office, her son, Alessandro, 10, at her side, and her mother, Lidia Perez, in the front row along with other supporters. Rivera works as an outreach coordinator for Providence Health.
“To be a voice for those who aren’t able to be here,” Rivera told council in answering the question of how to describe the role of City Council.
Reyes Borton and Johnson were the first to hug Rivera when the results were announced. Rivera was immediately sworn in by Municipal Court Judge Ruben Cleaveland, and took her seat at the end of the dais, accepting handshakes from fellow councilors.
Reyes Borton serves on The Next Door, Inc. board, among other community roles; and Johnson, a council member from 2015-18, cited that council experience in applying again. She had challenged former mayor Paul Blackburn in the 2018 mayor race, effectively relinquishing her seat on council.
McBride’s promotion to mayor in September after Blackburn resigned opened the seat now filled by Rivera. The term expires in one year, at which point the council job is up for re-election (as is the mayor’s post).
Rivera serves on the Columbia Gorge Food Network board, the Hood River County Latino Network, United Way of the Gorge, Friends of Oak Grove Park, and had served on Odell Hispanic Coalition and the Latino Advisory Council formed by Blackburn.
In presenting to council, Rivera pointed to her strengths as a Latina, a native of Hood River, a parent, and her experience in health care.
“As far as the disparities we face in the community, I am very well aware of them and I am well aware of the resources in our community,” she said. “As a native, I have really seen where Hood River was and where it is now and where I really see the future of the city. I put myself through school. I was emancipated at 15, so I am a survivor, I know how to get by, very resourceful.” She spoke of how her work in villages in Guatemala helped her see “a level of vulnerability and poverty I didn’t know existed.
“I stood in solidarity with our most vulnerable brothers and sisters at the U.S.-Mexico border. I’ve seen it. I’ve lived it,” she said.
“I’ve always stood hand-in-hand with those of our community. I’m trying to connect with those resources so they, too, can have an equitable opportunity, whether it’s affordable housing, health insurance, SNAP, WIC, or other needs,” Rivera said.
More than once, Rivera and Reyes Borton referred to each other as a choice council could make to connect directly with a demographic that makes up some 40 percent of the population of the city.
Rivera listed affordable housing as the key challenge facing the city, but said, “there are many topics that are very imporant to me and I think the city needs to slow down and define who our audience is because right now the way I see it, when I look up here, I just see white. We do not have an established sense of who is our community.”
She pointed to a recent “Locals Wednesday” promotion she said was done only in English. “In the city of Hood River, we have a very high Hispanic population. Why was this not (advertised) in Spanish?
“I believe we are only catering to a specific group, a different class,” she said. “We are forgeting a good chunk of the population, not only the Latino population but those who are homebound, the disabled, the elderly, those who are transportation-bound, and I really feel we need to establish a sense of community. We need to establish an equitable, welcoming, inclusive environment for all.”
Rivera, along with Reyes Borton, emphasized that they could represent Hispanic residents and other groups they view as under-served.
“There’s a lot of hard work ahead and as a relentless individual, I’m ready!” Rivera said in an email on Tuesday.
“I, now, have a seat at the table and I will do everything I can to create equitable access, my background in healthcare has given me the experience I need to do so.
“I hope my presence will continue to bring leaders with diverse backgrounds forward. We must diversify any and all decision making boards. They cannot continue making decisions for us, without us.”
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