Western Mass Businessman Cesar Ruiz Launches Hispanic Latino Leaders Now Political Action Committee
Organization will Support Latino Agenda & Candidates in Massachusetts
Springfield—East Longmeadow
businessman Cesar Ruiz, the President and CEO of Golden Years Home Care and a
one-time Springfield School Committee member, has announced the launch of
the Hispanic Latino Leaders Now Political Action Committee (HLLNPAC).
Ruiz formed the Political Action Committee to advance public policy that
reflects the values and addresses issues important to Hispanic and Latino
voters in Massachusetts and also to advance Hispanic/Latino candidates for office
throughout the Commonwealth.
The PAC was established with an initial $100,000 personal loan by Ruiz to the
new entity, as allowed by the regulations for establishing a political action
committee.
The mission of the new Hispanic Latino Leaders Now PAC, according to Ruiz, is
to “support our goals and ideals, including, but not
limited to, a fair tax code, support of electronic ballot signature
legislation and equity and inclusion on statewide committees and appointments.”
Ruiz said, “this new Political Action Committee will also make political
campaign contributions and provide support to persons of color running for
local, regional and statewide office who will represent the issues of
importance and that matter most to Hispanic and Latino voters and populations.”
According to the new website supporting the formation of HLLNPAC, while
Hispanics and Latinos are 13% of the population in Massachusetts, they
represent a very small proportion of the elected chambers of the State House
and Senate. While these proportions slightly have increased on the local
level, they still do not rise to the representative population of residents in
Massachusetts that identify as Hispanic or Latino. A further mission of
the Political Action Committee is to advance qualified candidates to better
represent the electorate and population as a whole.
In addition to founding HLLNPAC he is serving on its inaugural Board and as
Clerk of the new organization. Ruiz operates Golden Years Home Care, Golden
Years Behavioral Health Group and Golden Years Staffing, and is a member of the
Board of the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts. He is also
a corporator at Monson Savings Bank and from 1980 to 1986 served as an At-Large
Member of the Springfield School Committee, becoming the first Latino to be
elected in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Ruiz is
joined on the PAC Board by Andrew Melendez who currently is the Director of the
Latino Economic Development Corporation headquartered in Springfield. That
organization connects Latino business organizations to available capital
improvement grants and serves as an advocacy group in support of Latino
economic development in the Commonwealth.
Melendez formerly
served as the Western Massachusetts Director for the Associated Industries of
Massachusetts, the largest business association in Massachusetts having over
700 members in the western region.
The
Board of the new PAC also includes two other individuals. Lidya Rivera-Early is
part of the founding Board and serves as Director of Community Engagement at
Springfield Technical Community College. Born in Stamford, Connecticut,
Rivera-Early spent part of her childhood in Puerto Rico before moving to Springfield.
Rounding
out the Board is Cristina Berrios serves as Office Manager at Golden Years Home
Care Services. She handles the coordination of all central office functions at
the company including training and staff development.
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