Porterville City Council member Rivas says he will not resign

A Press Release submitted by campaign staff for AJ Rivas

I am rejecting the baseless residency attacks published by Our Valley Voice, anonymously and inaccurately. Their claim that I don’t live in my district — or that I committed fraud on my candidacy paperwork — is outright false.

Everything they’re shouting about was reviewed and approved by the California Secretary of State months before ballots were ever printed. Printing my home addresses doesn’t indicate wrongdoing. It only puts my family at risk by telling dangerous people where my kids sleep.

Before I ran, I confirmed my registration with the Secretary of State’s Elections Division. My residence inside District 3 is active, valid, and fully vetted through VoteCal. I maintain two locations in Porterville for one reason: safety. As a former gang-unit corrections officer who has received death threats, the law allows me to protect my family. Newspapers don’t get to rewrite that.

While they manufacture outrage, I’ve been focused on doing the work District 3 elected me to do. My track record speaks for itself:

• Transformed the River Parkway into a safe, lit, family-friendly walkway.
• Cleared zoning barriers so Papa’s Restaurant, Elevated Barbershop, Hawaiian BBQ, and Casino hotel could open or expand.
• Called for line-item budget reports and discovered $13,000,000 unfunded liabilities. Approved a balance budget plan to account for all city expenses, moving forward.
• Pushed for the Buildout of the Westwood/190 round-about to end constant traffic jams.
• Cut government friction which allowed the building of the Chevron project, next to RJ Meat Locker.
• Rewrote the sign code — to reduce government restrictions on local businesses.
• Chaired the Airport Advisory Committee — saved the hangars, stabilized the budget, kept pilots in Porterville.
• Repaved and widened major roads — Plano, Date, Olive — ending the pothole roulette residents dealt with for years.
• Redesigned the alternate bus routes linking the college and Family HealthCare Network, boosting ridership and unlocking future program funding.

District 3 isn’t a headline factory. It’s a neighborhood that needed fixing and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I’m still negotiating new mixed-use housing projects, still pushing development, still delivering results.

No resignation. No retreat. Just results.

Editor’s note: Former Porterville City Council member and close associate to Rivas, Greg Shelton, confirmed twice during a phone call on December 1, 2025  to the editor of the Valley Voice that Rivas lives in District 2. The source was not anonymous. Also, the Valley Voice did not publish Rivas’ home address nor that of his daughter’s.