A mom of two teenage daughters, Maritza Rivera will never forget the hours waiting and worrying outside Ingraham High School as her girls were in lockdown after a student was fatally shot inside.
At that moment, Maritza knew she had to take action. She never expected to run for political office, but Maritza is running for City Council to restore Seattle to the safe and vibrant city she moved to more than two decades ago.
Maritza’s parents moved from Puerto Rico to New York in search of a better life. Maritza grew up in a tough neighborhood in the Bronx, on the 5th floor of a five story no elevator building. Her dad was a welder and proud union member, her mom worked at a factory.
Maritza meeting with President Bill Clinton.
Maritza as a child in the Bronx.
Maritza’s 5th floor walk up in the Bronx.
Maritza went to Bronx High School of Science, Skidmore College on a full-ride scholarship, then Fordham Law School.
Maritza went to work in the White House as President Clinton’s Hispanic liaison. She then later served as a Vice-President of the National Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where she worked closely with Hispanic small businesses from across the country.
In Seattle, Maritza has had the privilege of working at the ACLU post 9/11 to protect Muslim communities from xenophobia, at City Hall working for Former City Council Member Tom Rasmussen, for Mayor Durkan, and now in the Harrell Administration as Deputy Director of the Department of Arts & Culture.
Maritza is running to make restoring our public safety system a priority because she knows from personal experience that failing to take public safety seriously harms low-income and underserved communities the most. She won’t rest until we get to 5-minute response times for priority 911 calls, take home and car break-ins seriously, get guns off our streets and out of our schools and shut down open-air drug markets.
Maritza loves Seattle, the small businesses, food, arts, music, and diverse populations that make up our city’s rich fabric. Maritza is committed to listening to everyone and working with everyone – to find real solutions to real challenges we cannot ignore any longer.
