#RentonRooted
Four years ago, I ran for Renton City Council to ensure everyone had an opportunity to succeed in Renton like my family did when I was growing up. From volunteering at the Renton Salvation Army Food Bank as a child to making sure our neighbors were cared for and attending city planning commission meetings with my mom, Renton raised me.
I come from a long line of hardworking, humble, gritty people who instilled in me unwavering values. My grandfather drove a yellow cab through the streets of New York City for over 30 years, from the 1960s through the 1990s. He never spoke a lick of English, and, remarkably, never needed to. In a city that speaks many languages, like Renton, he found his way and lived with quiet dignity; proof that survival and success sometimes share their language.
My maternal grandfather was a proud member of the Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Union, working with his hands and heart until he retired. Trade work is honest, strong work. The work that builds cities and keeps them running.
My great-grandfather spent his life underground in the coal mines of West Virginia in the early 1900s. He used to say, “We are all the same color when we come out of the mines,” not as a dismissal of difference, but as a reflection of solidarity. He believed in fair wages and stood shoulder to shoulder with Black miners during a time when such unity was both dangerous and courageous. Allegedly, the mine where he worked was blown up while they worked for such organizing. A reminder that grit, sweat, and struggle have always been the great equalizers.
My father is a Vietnam veteran, one of the “river rats” who served in the most dangerous waterways and later retired from the Seattle Police Department after nearly 40 years of service and sacrifice. My mother is a former Renton small business owner who instilled in me a fierce work ethic that I carry in all that I do.
These are the people who shaped me. Their stories remind me daily that resilience is inherited, humility is powerful, and my roots in labor, service, and community resilience shape everything I do as a public servant, educator, and advocate.
Born and raised in Renton, I am a first generation Rentonite who attended Renton Public Schools; Tiffany Park Elementary School, Nelson Middle School, and Lindbergh High School (Go Eagles!). I attended Seattle University where I graduated with departmental honors, a BA in Criminal Justice and double minors in Spanish and Psychology. I then earned my MSc in Psychology of Investigation, a highly competitive program that gave me an international perspective on criminal justice and policing from the University of Liverpool. After having lived in England and Spain, I returned home to continue to give back to the city that raised me.
Today, my spouse, Jas and I live in the Tiffany Park neighborhood where I was raised, with our feathered and fur-babies; rescues from Washington state, which is why I fiercely supported one of the first ordinances that we passed as a council in 2022 prohibiting the sale, delivery, and marketing sourced from puppy mills in Renton City limits.
riveraforrenton.com 