City Councillor-at-Large Roberto Jimenez-Rivera was sworn in as the new Council President for 2026 at Monday night’s inaugural event for the council and the school committee.
District 3 Councilor Norieliz DeJesus, who has served as council president for the past two years, was the pick to serve as vice president.
In his remarks to open the new council year, Jimenez-Rivera thanked his wife, Dr. Sarah Neville, who was also inaugurated earlier in the evening for a new term on the school committee.
“I am a better leader for Chelsea because of her, and her leadership, both on and off the school committee, makes Chelsea a better place,” he said.
Jimenez-Rivera said his story was not unique, but was the story of many in Chelsea.
“For over 100 years, Chelsea has been a gateway city, the first stop for migrants seeking better opportunities, seeking a community where people care for one another, and seeking a place where they can start or grow their families further,” said Jimenez-Rivera. “Black Americans, Irish, Italians, Poles, Jews, Puerto Ricans, Central Americans, African Muslims, and so many more peoples have made Chelsea home because we share dreams and we share values.”
Being a gateway city is not just about welcoming people at the door, he added, but taking care of residents after they arrive.
“It’s about making sure that our services, our policies, and our public spaces reflect our values,” Jimenez-Rivera said. “It is about making sure all our residents feel protected, valued, and heard no matter where they come from, how much they earn, or how long they have been here.”
He noted that during the Covid pandemic, the city came together to feed and vaccinate people.
“Over the last year, we had to come together again to protect our residents from being terrorized by ICE agents who would rather use them as puppets for political theater than treat them with the dignity that we all deserve as human beings,” Jimenez-Rivera said. “I am proud to live and to lead in a city that sees the best in people, that will keep working until everyone has their basic needs met, and at its core, knows that no human being is illegal.”
The new council president said the issues faced by Chelsea’s residents extend beyond the city’s boundaries.
“Our residents are afraid, they are afraid that they will not be able to put enough food on the table; they are afraid that regardless of their immigration status, they are going to be targeted by ICE just for the color of their skin,” Jimenez-Rivera said. “They are afraid that after decades of hard work, their children will be worse off than them. As council president and as a human being, I will not stand for that.”
Jimenez-Rivera said he wants Chelsea not just to survive, but to thrive, and that it will require a sense of urgency.
“Urgency is necessary not because Chelsea is broken, Chelsea is strong, look at all of us here,” he said. “Urgency is necessary because delay has consequences and the choices we make today are going to determine whether Chelsea remains a place where opportunity is real and where dignity is not negotiable. Our residents have waited for things to get better, and that wait has only grown longer and heavier.”
He said Chelsea’s leaders must be bold and act quickly to tackle the issues faced by residents, including affordability for young families and senior citizens.
“We must reform our policies, our zoning, our long-term planning if we are going to make sure that Chelsea can retain its character of a multi-cultural community of working families,” Jimenez-Rivera said. “I invite my colleagues to join me in working with urgency for Chelsea. We won’t achieve it all, and we might even fail at times, but we can’t let anybody say that we didn’t try and that we didn’t give it our best.”
Also sworn into the council on Monday night were District 1 Councilor Todd Taylor, District 2 Councilor Deron Hines, District 5 Councilor Lisa Santagate, District 6 Councilor Giovanni Recupero, District 7 Councilor Manuel Teshe, District 8 Councilor Calvin T. Brown, and at-large Councilors Leo Robinson and Kelly Garcia.
District 4 Councilor Taniari Garcia was unable to attend the meeting because she was in Puerto Rico and flights to the United States over the Caribbean were canceled due to the recent actions in Venezuela. She will be sworn in when she returns.
Hines was the one new councilor sworn in for 2026, and he was joined in the audience by a large contingent of friends and family.