Aram Ayra for Riverside City Council

Ending the year strong with another major endorsement from United Auto Workers Region 6!

UAW Region 6 represents more than 120,000 active and retired members across Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawai‘i, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The region organizes workers across manufacturing, education, public service, and emerging industries in the fight for economic justice and a sustainable future.

I’m honored to earn the endorsement of UAW Region 6 and grateful for the trust of their members. Working people are being squeezed from every direction, and City Hall has to be part of the solution. I’m running to make Riverside more affordable, to stand up for working families, and to ensure our city’s growth actually improves life for the people who call Ward 2 home.

My campaign is centered on an affordability agenda that prioritizes rent relief and affordable housing, cheaper utility bills, and access to quality, low-cost childcare. I look forward to working closely with labor to ensure that public investments create good union jobs, support local hire, and strengthen pathways into the middle class.

Check out our full list of 75+ elected, labor, & community endorsements at ayraforriverside.com & plug into the campaign!

I was honored to join North’s students, staff, families, and longtime community leaders to celebrate the completion of the long-overdue modernization at John W. North High School. New science classrooms and STEM labs. A new gymnasium. Modernized learning spaces that finally reflect the talent and potential of the students who walk these halls every day.

For years, North was treated like an afterthought. The community said no more. Parents, students, educators, and neighbors showed up to demand better for their children. Because of that organizing and persistence, North was able to secure a larger share of Measure O funding. That didn’t happen overnight or by accident.

As someone who has been engaged in this work as a education advocate and now as a candidate for public office, I’ve been proud to play a supporting role over the past few years, standing shoulder to shoulder with leaders who had been pushing long before I ever showed up. Today belongs to them. It also belongs to the workers who built this campus with care, and the district staff and Board members who advocated for and helped bring this vision to life.

Strong public schools are part of an affordability agenda. When we invest in schools, we invest in families, in opportunity, and in a future where kids can thrive close to home.

🚨Endorsement Alert 🚨

Honored to have earned the endorsement and support of the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).

NUHW members are on the front lines of our community’s well-being, especially when it comes to mental health and care for our most vulnerable residents. As a City Councilmember, I will fight for policies that expand access to care, support healthcare workers, and move us closer to a system where everyone gets the care they need, regardless of income or zip code.”

The National Union of Healthcare Workers represents 19,000 healthcare workers across California, including nurses, mental health clinicians, respiratory therapists, medical technicians, and other frontline caregivers. NUHW, which represents mental health professionals at Kaiser Permanente, is nationally recognized for its leadership on universal healthcare, the fight for a single-payer system, and full parity for mental health care.

Grateful to have spent this weekend in service out in Ward 2 community.

For many families, this holiday season is overshadowed by job loss, rising rents, and a cost of living that keeps climbing while paychecks stay flat. What should be a time of celebration has become a season of tough choices. Rent or groceries. Utility bills or gifts.

Working people deserve more than survival. They deserve security, dignity, and a real shot at getting ahead.

The fight for affordability doesn’t pause for the holidays. And neither should our commitment to working people.

That’s why I’m fighting for a Riverside that puts people first, lowers everyday costs, and delivers real relief where it’s needed most.

Had the pleasure of joining The Group today for some holiday festivities & community recognition at their Awards Breakfast!

Congrats to the MLK Jr Senior Citizens Club for their well deserved recognition & impact in our Ward 2 community 💯

I was in the heart of Ward 2 yesterday, distributing Thanksgiving essentials for UDW members and their families as part of UDW’s Thanksgiving member appreciation event.

Hundreds of members got to take home a frozen turkey & a pumpkin pie at a time when grocery prices keep climbing and funding for food security gets slashed.

As your Councilmember, I will fight to ensure that working people across our City can put food on the table, keep the lights on and do more than just survive in the face of a federal government that has largely abandoned its promise to make life more affordable.

Thank you to my friends at UDW for the opportunity to serve alongside your members! Jury’s still out, but I’m pretty sure we set a record for how fast those turkeys got bagged and handed out 🦃🏃💨

Supporting striking workers at UC Riverside (since 2015)!

One of the first union events I ever attended at UCR was as a freshman at the AFSCME rally. I still remember marching down to Hinderaker Hall, calling on the UC to stop layoffs and protect job security, and seeing up close how vital strong labor protections & a vocal union are for working people.

The fight today looks almost the same as it did a decade ago. UC executives have seen real wage increases averaging 52% since 2016. Meanwhile, real wages for frontline workers have dropped by about 7%. Thousands of UC workers have left their jobs over the past three years and staff vacancy rates have tripled since the pandemic.

Corporate greed is chipping away at what makes the UC system a world-class institution. AFSCME members are pushing for a fair agreement and demanding that UC invest in the workers who keep these campuses running.

I was proud to stand with AFSCME workers 10 years ago, and I’m proud to stand with AFSCME workers today.

🚨 Endorsement Alert 🚨

I’m excited to share several new endorsements and supporters that our campaign has earned over the past couple of months! Deeply grateful to the leaders & organizations who have placed their trust in me, many of whom I have spent years working alongside & learning from.

Their support builds our momentum as we move closer toward the June election!

What an honor to join elected leaders and community members today to celebrate the Reno-Breaking of the Cesar Chavez Community Center.

This will be a meaningful & intentional $25 million dollar investment in developing the arts in the Eastside community. Excited to see this open in 2027!

From the picket line to the public comment queue, I spent yesterday advocating for our residents across the City of Riverside. I joined striking nurses and healthcare workers from UNAC/UHP and USW 7600 at the Riverside Kaiser location who are fighting for better pay, safe staffing levels and improved working conditions.

Later that evening I joined Councilmember Cervantes, CHIRLA, and community groups in advocating for the Safe Communities resolution that was before the Council. I delivered public comment and listened to incredible testimonies from residents who made the trip to City Hall to stand up for their neighbors and their city.

The resolution passed 4-3 at the Council and sent a message to our local Riverside community that we will do all we can to keep our communities safe, to protect due process and to preserve public trust in the face of overwhelming federal overreach.

I was honored to join the Hindu Society of the Inland Empire as their guest at yesterday’s Deepavali (Diwali) community celebration in Riverside.

Thank you Dharmesh and the entire temple community for the warm welcome, the incredible performances and the opportunity to share in such meaningful tradition.

celebrates the spiritual victory of ‘dharma’ over ‘adharma’, of light over darkness and of knowledge over ignorance. The festival is a timeless reminder that even in challenging times, integrity, compassion and truth must guide our way forward.

As we continue build a stronger, more inclusive Riverside, I’m inspired by communities like this one that keep our region’s spirit bright.

Spent Saturday morning knocking doors with SEIU 721 and the men & women who keep our City safe, clean and running smoothly!

I was grateful for the opportunity to share my platform with members, talk about the importance of and let them know I’ll continue to show up and fight to protect labor rights, fair contracts and wages, working families, and the dignity of every worker in this city.

Don’t forget to vote Yes on Prop 50 in November!