ELO-RIVERA TO FOCUS ON EQUITY, YOUTH AS NEW COUNCIL MEMBER
Community organizer elected to District 9 has track record of building trust
As a law school student, Sean Elo-Rivera did some volunteer work that made him acutely aware of the inequities experienced by many San Diego residents living south of Interstate 8. And he decided to do something about it.
Elo-Rivera, one of five new members joining the San Diego City Council next week, became a local community organizer instead of an attorney, he said, so he could help change decades-old city policies that have created an uneven playing field.
“I want every person in every neighborhood to reach their potential,” he said.
Helping people deal with the same housing, criminal justice and employment problems over and over again made him realize it wasn’t a coincidence, Elo-Rivera said.
“There’s bad policies that are putting people in those positions,” he said.
San Diego has taken small steps recently toward reducing inequality, such as creating an Office of Race and Equity this fall and documenting that most of the city’s 60 miles of unpaved roads are in low-income areas.
As a new council member, EloRivera hopes he and his colleagues
can make much more significant progress.
“Down the road, we could look back with incredible pride if we could take substantial steps forward to meaningfully address these inequities that have existed for so long,” he said.
That seems more possible than ever before, with Democrats focused on such issues while having an 8-1 majority on the council, and with Democrat Todd Gloria, who says he will prioritize reducing inequity, replacing Republican Kev
in Faulconer as mayor.
But programs that reduce inequality can be expensive, and San Diego is facing major budget challenges because the COVID-19 pandemic has sharply reduced tax revenues for the tourism-reliant city.
Elo-Rivera, 38, said he’s aware of the challenges, but he remains optimistic.
The reasons for his optimism are the relative youth of the new council — he’s one of three new members under 40 — and their
perception that big ideas are possible.
But Elo-Rivera said it will be important for the new council to build trust in each other as soon as possible.
He quickly earned the trust of his colleagues on the San Diego Community College board after getting elected in 2018. He said it was gratifying when they all endorsed his council campaign.
“If we don’t trust each other, we will not get the big things done that we need to get done,” Elo-Rivera said.
His pathway to the council — where he will represent City Heights, Kensing ton and the other communities of District 9 — was unpredictable and relatively tumultuous.
Georgette Gómez was considered a lock for a second term representing the district until Rep. Susan Davis surprisingly retired in fall 2019, prompting Gómez to run for her seat in Congress instead of seeking reelection.
But even as a community college trustee with a law degree and experience as a community organizer, EloRivera was an underdog to local labor union official Kelvin Barrios.
Barrios got the most votes in the March primary and was considered a favorite in the November runoff against Elo-Rivera, until Barrios suspended his campaign in September because he was being criminally investigated for improperly handling campaign contributions.
“The whole thing was
pretty bizarre,” said Elo-Rivera, adding that it was disappointing how much support Barrios maintained after reports of his alleged wrongdoing first emerged. “At certain points, I was pretty frustrated folks were not recognizing what they were seeing.”
With all that behind him, Elo-Rivera said he is ready to bring his unique background and varied talents to San Diego City Hall.
“I grew up in a multiethnic, multireligious family that really kind of rode in and out of the middle class,” he said. “Those different experiences and perspectives definitely shaped the way I see the world and how I try to interact with it.”
His mother’s parents are both from Central America and his father’s parents are both Jewish. Elo-Rivera also spent part of his 20s teaching in South America and Korea.
Before that, he grew up in Orange County, graduating from Huntington Beach High School and attending Golden West Community College. He was a standout water polo player and went on to coach the sport for nine years.
While living abroad he decided to go to law school, eventually choosing Cal Western in downtown San Diego. That’s where he discovered the City Heights Community Law Project and started meeting people who were not experiencing equality of opportunity.
After passing the California bar exam, Elo-Rivera began working for the Mid-City Community Advocacy Network in 2015. After three years, he left to help rebrand the San Diego Youth Development Office as YouthWill, where he has focused on helping low-income young people.
He plans to bring that approach to City Hall.
“I think the city can play a much more impactful role in supporting young people,” Elo-Rivera said. “It’s mostly abandoned that role and punted it to the school district.”
Elo-Rivera’s hyphenated surname is a combination of his father’s last name and the last name of his wife, Angela Rivera. The couple, who live in City Heights, celebrated their one-year anniversary last month.
His hobbies include reading autobiographies, watching sports on TV and enjoying San Diego’s beaches.
“The beach and water is kind of my place,” he said. “It is incredibly recharging to me to just get in the water.”
Elo-Rivera will be sworn in to City Council Dec. 10, along with other new members Joe LaCava, Stephen Whitburn, Marni von Wilpert and Raul Campillo.
The annual salary for council members increases next year from $75,000 to $124,000.
“If we don’t trust each other, we will not get the big things done that we need to get done.” Sean Elo-Rivera