Joel Rivera

Joel Rivera (born 1978) is the current Majority Leader of the New York City Council. At the age of 22, he was the youngest person to be elected to the City Council in its history. He won the seat in a special election, after his father resigned from the seat while Joel was an undergraduate at Fordham University. A year later, at the age of 23, he was the youngest person to be elected Majority Leader. Rivera was chosen to represent District 15 in the Bronx in a special election held in February 2001 and re-elected two years later. He represents the Bronx communities of Bathgate, Belmont, Crotona, Fordham, East Tremont, and West Farms.

In addition to being Majority Leader, Rivera is the chairman of the City Council Committee on Health, which exercises oversight over the Department of Health, Health and Hospitals Corporation, and the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. He previously chaired both the State & Federal Legislation and the Charter Revision Committees as well. He is also a member of the Finance, Housing & Buildings, Land use, Rules, Privileges & Elections, and Zoning & Franchises committees.

Recent legislative ideas of his have focused on improving the health of the city's children. In the summer of 2006, he sought to use the city's zoning laws to restrict the number of fast food restaurants in the city, and more recently he introduced a bill that would raise the legal smoking age in New York City to 21.

Rivera's father Jose, and his sister Naomi, are both members of the New York State Assembly. He is a graduate of New York Military Academy, and attended Fordham University.

External links

* [http://council.nyc.gov/d15/html/members/home.shtml Official NYC Council Website about Joel Rivera]
* [http://www.bronxmall.com/norwoodnews/past/020801/news/page2.html Three Candidates Remain in City Council Election]
* [http://www.gothamgazette.com/searchlight2001/feature6.html Baby Candidates]
* [http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/influentials/details.asp?id=914&year=2005 Hispanic Business - Joel Rivera, influential Hispanic for 2005]

Joel married Valerie Vazquez-Rivera on July 15, 2006 and they welcomed their first daughter, Sophia Isabella Jolie on July 10, 2008!