Holyoke councilor Israel Rivera apologizes to community, relinquishes leadership roles but keeps seat
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Summary
Councilor Israel Rivera apologized to family and the city for driving under the influence, announced he will step down from council leadership roles but will not resign his elected seat; the council moved to table a formal recusal request pending ethics filings.
Councilor Israel Rivera addressed the Holyoke City Council and the public after recent publicity about his arrest, apologizing "to my family, to my wife, Jenny, to my daughters" and acknowledging that driving while intoxicated "was irresponsible" and that he put lives at risk. He said he will step down from his leadership posts — vice president and committee chair positions — but declined to resign his elected seat, saying he had been chosen "by the people of Holyoke" and will serve the remainder of his two-year term.
Council leadership framed the move as an attempt to balance accountability with due process. Council President said she accepted Rivera’s resignation from leadership roles and would allow Rivera the opportunity to speak; she also urged members and the public to pursue formal ethics or legal opinions through proper state channels. Under a separate order filed by Councilor Bacon asking Rivera to recuse himself from police-related votes while ethics complaints are pending, the council voted to table that request until those complaints are available.
During his remarks Rivera thanked the Massachusetts state troopers for their handling of the incident, apologized to city employees and police officers he said he had offended, and described personal steps he intends to take, including addressing alcohol use and related trauma. He said he had viewed only part of the body-camera footage himself and called for consideration of procedural questions about releasing such footage through "appropriate channels." Rivera said: "I will not resign from my council position ... I will step down from leadership positions" because the controversy distracted the council’s work.
Next steps: the council tabled Order 55 (the recusal request) and signaled that any ethics or conflict-of-interest proceedings would proceed through the appointed state or law department processes. No formal ethics finding or enforcement action was made at the meeting.
