Dan Rivera Marks Last Day As Mayor Of Lawrence

LAWRENCE, MA — Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera marked his final day with the city Friday. In December, Rivera was appointed as the new head of MassDevelopment, a development and finance agency.

City Council President Kendrys Vasquez will serve as mayor until the regularly-scheduled November municipal election.

Vasquez was due to be sworn in at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

Rivera, a Democratic ally of the Republican Governor Charlie Baker, succeeds Lauren Liss as CEO of the semi-public development and finance agency. The agency helps finance housing, cultural and business development.

2021 would have been the final year of Rivera's second four-year term. In 2018, he crossed party lines to endorse Baker's bid for re-election, and he currently sits on the governor's Reopening Advisory Board.

On his appointment as the new head of MassDevelopment, Rivera called being mayor of Lawrence "the privilege of my life."

Rivera grew in prominence in the wake of the Sept. 2018 Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions, blasting Columbia Gas for its slow response and poor communication. In 2019, he urged a judge to reject a proposed settlement, arguing more money should go to the explosions' victims, rather than the class action lawyers.

The accident killed one, injured 22 and damaged 131 structures across Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, as well as taking gas service offline and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

According to his city biography, Rivera was born in New York to a Dominican immigrant single mother. His family moved to Lawrence, where he attended Lawrence Public Schools before enlisting in the U.S. Army.

Rivera was deployed to Iraq and Kuwait during the First Gulf War. He then attended UMass College and earned an MBA from Suffolk University. Rivera was elected to Lawrence City Council in 2008 and as mayor in 2013.

MassDevelopment finances projects as well as owning and developing properties itself. The agency also administers a number of state economic development funds.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.