Latest news with #CesarRuiz
Yahoo
08-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Businessman revives PAC to boost Latino voter engagement. This time with safeguards
SPRINGFIELD — Businessman Cesar Ruiz has launched a new political action committee this year with new safeguards but the same goal of electing Latino candidates. 'Nearly 1.5 million Latinos call Massachusetts home, yet Latino voter turnout remains in the single digits in presidential elections and even less in state and local elections,' Ruiz said in a news release formally announcing the formation of Latino Agenda Independent Expenditure PAC. 'This is a clear sign of disengagement as well as an opportunity to activate Latino voter power, which The Latino Agenda intends to do.' There are new safeguards because a year ago Ruiz dissolved his old PAC — called Hispanic Latinos Leaders Now Independent Expenditure Committee — and agreed to donate $190,000 to charity as punishment for breaking state campaign finance laws. In 2023, the old PAC committee made direct contributions totaling $5,500 to 13 candidates for municipal offices in Holyoke, Chelsea, Waltham, Worcester and Leominster according to disciplinary documents posted by the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Under state law, independent expenditure PACs may not contribute to candidates or other political committees, except for other Independent Expenditure PACs or ballot question committees. The independent expenditure PACs can accept unlimited contributions from individuals or entities. They can use the money to advocate for causes or candidates. They cannot coordinate directly or indirectly with campaigns and cannot contribute to them, however. The old PAC's contributions from 2023 included support for Holyoke candidates Kocayne S. Givner, Tessa Murphy-Romboletti and Jose Maldonado Velez in the amount of $250 each. Candidates Israel Rivera, Jenny Rivera, Jannelle Mojica and Axel Fontanez each received $500. Givner, Murphy-Romboletti and Israel Rivera all won City Council seats in Holyoke. Ruiz has business interests in the Paper City, including the Wyckoff Country Club and a planned sports complex tied to the International Volleyball Hall of Fame. He is also CEO of Golden Years Home Care Services. For the new PAC, Ruiz will rely on more input from people who have run political action committees and campaigns, said PAC director Tomás Gonzalez in a statement. Ruiz, who didn't respond to calls and emails following Monday's news release, has already donated $50,000 to the new PAC, according to a March filing with the state. Gonzalez, a Hyde Park-based political consultant, donated $25, records show. In addition to Ruiz, the PAC will raise money from other donors through the rest of 2025, with plans on championing issues and supporting Latino candidates from across Massachusetts in the 2026 races, Gonzalez said in an interview. That would include state legislative and U.S. House races. Gonzalez said the progressive-leaning Latino Agenda Independent Expenditure PAC won't support primary challenges to senior Democrats like U.S. Sen. Ed Markey or U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal. 'We are not in the business of taking out Democrats in leadership,' he said. Gonzalez said that while turnout remained basically steady, the Latino vote shifted by 10 to 14 points in Massachusetts' historically Latino cities — Springfield, Holyoke, Lawrence and Chelsea — towards support for President Donald Trump in 2024. 'We have a lot of work to do,' he said. Stories by Jim Kinney After 107 years, Smith & Son Jewelers closing Springfield shop Disappointing jobs numbers mean 'this is Donald Trump's economy right now' say McGovern, Neal 'We are going to feed the kids': McGovern, wary of GOP cuts, highlights summer food program in Greenfield Read the original article on MassLive.
Yahoo
25-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Holyoke residents worry volleyball complex could devastate local forest
HOLYOKE — Along with daffodils and tulips popping up earlier this spring, a garden of signs declaring 'Save Elmwood Forest' began to grow on front lawns throughout Ward 3, first only a scattering and then up to 100 or so. The signs were created by a neighborhood group formed in opposition to the possible development of 22.5 forested acres for a new multimillion dollar sports complex centered around volleyball. For city officials who back it, the enterprise could bring millions of dollars to Holyoke and the region, akin to the development of the casino and the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield. But residents of the city's Elmwood neighborhood worry that the complex could snarl traffic on single-lane residential streets and will bring noise, trash, worsening drainage problems, and harsh lighting that will disturb the peace. They are also worried about the devastation of a neighborhood woodland dubbed 'Elmwood Forest,' which is home to wildlife, native plants and trees, neighbors said. Proposed by local developer and entrepreneur Cesar Ruiz, head of USA International Sports Complex Group, and championed by Mayor Joshua Garcia, the project would include a new home for the International Volleyball Hall of Fame, showcasing the city as the birthplace of volleyball and expanding its focus as an international sport. The sports complex would offer volleyball courts for local, national and international tournaments and recreational play. Plans say the center would also include basketball courts, an entertainment center featuring arcades, bowling and rock climbing, and possibly, an eventual hotel. The project will include 140,000 square feet of indoor space and will require an investment of $50 million to $65 million. 'When we were growing up, we called it the Big Woods,' said William Gross, 71, who lives along Woodland Street, a dead end street backing into the forest. 'It was a quiet place to go with your friends. We took hatchets up there and cut down birch trees to build forts.' The area currently features a network of trails enjoyed by many in Elmwood, including dog walkers, hikers, joggers and bird watchers. 'The woods provide privacy and a buffer,' said Beth Strycharz, who lives in a house on Woodland Street she inherited from her late parents. 'And also, just the aesthetic. It's going to ruin the neighborhood if all those trees are gone.' Strycharz formed the 'Save Elmwood Forest' group last year and it now has a Facebook page with 157 members. Strycharz said homeowners worry the development will worsen drainage problems that bring water into their yards from a long pipe sloping towards their properties. Jordana O'Connell, who lives on Woodland Street, said the sports complex is a grandiose, but impractical idea. 'If there are more specific plans of where everything is going, they haven't shared them,' she said. 'It seems like what they have is a vision. How much can they actually raise in terms of funding? Are they going to destroy this natural area and then have to leave eventually?' Aaron Vega, the city's director of planning and economic development, who has met with the group's members, insisted there will be an opportunity to address their concerns if the project moves forward. Despite the fact that Ruiz already bought a 1.85 acre residential parcel abutting Woodland Street and placed a deposit on 11 acres zoned for industry off Whiting Farms Road, it is not yet certain that the sports complex will even be sited there, Vega said. 'It's still just a concept,' he said. 'There is no more information to give them because the project is in its preliminary stages,' he said. 'There is no site plan to review and the developer is doing his due diligence to raise money and awareness.' Vega said a site plan is key: Details regarding how the site will be lit and how it handles traffic and parking will be discussed there. He added that the developer has indicated parking would be located away from residential neighborhoods, with shuttle buses ferrying people to the complex. Members of 'Save Elmwood Forest' want to know why other properties downtown, such as vacant old mill buildings, aren't being considered for the sports complex instead of the woods behind their homes. Vega said those mill buildings are considered brownfields, former industrial sites with significant environmental contamination that would make cleanup and development cost prohibitive. 'They are still looking at multiple locations for this project,' Vega said. Those could include the Haberman/HAPCO block on High Street or large parcels of land owned by a synagogue. Spokesman for the project, Andrew Melendez, chief operating officer of Wyckoff Country Club and the USA International Sports Complex, declined a request for an interview. But in a statement, he said the sports complex is in its early stages. 'We look forward to meeting with residents and groups as part of the planning process in the future,' Melendez said in the statement. 'We appreciate the many spaces of natural resources and beauty in Holyoke and will be vigilant in developing a project that is in harmony with that environment.' Melendez also pointed to Ruiz's purchase of Wyckoff Country Club as an example of his 'dedication and vision' to develop tourism and sports in Holyoke. Last February, Ruiz, who made his fortune as CEO of Golden Years Home Care Services and associated businesses, acquired Wyckoff Country Club for $2.8 million and has invested $250,000 to renovate it. Initially considered as a possible site for the proposed sports complex, that idea fizzled due to wetlands and other issues on the 120-acre property and, according to Elmwood residents, a rumbling of opposition in Ward 7, a more affluent neighborhood off of U.S. Route 5. Residents of Ward 7 once successfully opposed the development of a casino in their neighborhood. For Garcia, Holyoke's mayor, the proposed sports complex is an opportunity to bring much needed revenue into the city, bolster the availability of recreational sports and entertainment opportunities for residents and make the city a player in the sports world. 'It's an opportunity to really elevate the sport and the city and will show that Holyoke is in the game, too,' he said Garcia said he is happy to discuss residents' concerns, adding that he is committed to enforcing the community's laws. 'When the project is presented to us, the developers will need to get the appropriate permits. If there are any concerns about traffic, for example, they will have to do a traffic study,' he said. While city leaders are on board with the project, one city councilor does not want it in his backyard, either. Ward 3 City Councilor David K. Bartley supports the overall concept, but not in Elmwood Forest. He said it is unusual to have a tract of untouched forested land that size in an urban city. 'The land has been woodland for as long as Holyoke has existed,' he said Bartley called Ruiz 'an honorable man' who wants to improve Holyoke, but believes he is being swayed by members of city government to develop this particular property. 'He has been steered by a city government that never once consulted me as the ward representative,' Bartley said. He claimed city officials have been paving the way to develop Elmwood Forest by filing a case in Land Court two years ago to take ownership of 7.7 acres on the property for back taxes, but neglecting to notify the City Council about it. 'I love the idea, but I totally oppose this being built in Elmwood Forest,' Bartley said. 'Wiping out all those trees is not just an aesthetic issue; the trees help absorb carbon dioxide and act as a sound barrier for Route 91. The look and feel of Elmwood would be completely destroyed.' Bartley hopes to have a conversation with Ruiz about other possible sites for the project. The proposed development starts along Whiting Farms Road, next to Holyoke Fire Station 5, located in an area zoned for industry, which opponents said would require a zone change. Ruiz, the developer, placed a nonrefundable $10,000 deposit on 11 acres owned by the Holyoke Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (HEDIC), a city entity chartered under state law to promote economic development in Holyoke. HEDIC has the authority to buy, sell and market property. Last September, Ruiz also purchased another 1.85 acres off Woodland Street for $70,000. Residents believe that with Ruiz investing in property, the development in their neighborhood is inevitable, but Vega said that's not so. He said it's not uncommon for developers to spend a fraction of their wealth to acquire or put deposits on land, but it doesn't mean it's a done deal. Other acreage that could eventually be incorporated into the project include 7.7 acres of woodland off Martin Street, a parcel owned by a complex trust structure involving numerous heirs from the Begley and Lawler families that has been lingering in the state's slow-moving Land Court, according to City Treasurer Rory Casey. That property is currently facing foreclosure, with a tax lien placed in 1992 for $126,252 owed in back taxes. In 2023, the city filed a case in Land Court to take ownership of that property. Casey said the city is 'a very long way' from foreclosure. There is only one Land Court with a small staff in Boston serving the entire state, he said. Because of the complexity of foreclosures and land-taking, and a long backlog of cases due to the pandemic, he said, 'this land shouldn't even be discussed at this point in time.' Another 1.6 acres of land on the 22.5 acre tract under consideration for the sports complex is owned by the city's Parks and Recreation department. Vega said in order for that land to become part of the development, it would have to be declared surplus and go through a process under the City Council 'for it to be disposed of.' Vega said he knows of no state or federal laws that would restrict development of the 22.5 acre woodlands in Elmwood. 'If there are any wetlands, it would require a 50-foot buffer, but I don't know if that is the case,' Vega said. 'It would all be part of a site plan review. Those regulations and guidelines will be reviewed and are not circumvented for any development in the city.' The neighborhood group believes there are no wetlands in Elmwood Forest and likely no federally protected wildlife species, but they still think the woods are worth protecting. Strycharz said she finds it ironic that the city has an Urban Forest Equity Plan, implemented in 2021, that addresses tree health and plants more trees in the city, yet city officials are willing to cut down an entire forest for development. 'Once Elmwood Forest is gone, it's never coming back,' she said. Holy cow! CowParade comes to Old Sturbridge Village People in Business: June 23, 2025 Business Monday ETC: June 23, 2025 'What do businesses hate?': Mass. employers navigating uncertainty and fear Read the original article on MassLive.
USA Today
06-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
A surprising Saints offensive lineman was ranked among the NFL's best guards
A surprising Saints offensive lineman was ranked among the NFL's best guards The New Orleans Saints had a surprise addition to this offseason's position rankings by Pro Football Focus. Cesar Ruiz cracked the PFF list at their offensive guard rankings. Previously, PFF has ranked their site's top-32 players at quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, offensive tackle, defensive interior, edge rusher, linebacker, cornerback, and safety. The Saints have placed a few players in the PFF rankings: Kamara and Davis received ridiculously low ratings, while OT Taliese Fuaga and DT Bryan Bresee were overlooked altogether at their respective positions. A pleasant surprise was that both Hill and Johnson cracked the PFF tight end rankings. On Wednesday, PFF writer Mason Cameron revealed their site's choices for the top 32 guards coming into the 2025 NFL season. In perhaps a bigger surprise than the tight ends, Cesar Ruiz came in at No. 30 on the PFF list: ''A knee injury knocked Ruiz out for a good chunk of the front half of the 2024 season, but he still managed to finish with the highest PFF overall grade of his career. His 72.4 PFF pass-blocking grade from Week 8 through the end of the regular season finished inside the top 20 at the position after he allowed just one sack and a 2.2% pressure rate. Given his ample experience (4,706 snaps) at 26 years old, the hope is that Ruiz can continue that progression in 2025.'' Ruiz, who turns 26 later this month, was a first round choice out of Michigan by the Saints in the 2020 NFL Draft. He was the first interior offensive lineman off the board that year. A center throughout his two-time All-Big 10 career with the Wolverines, Ruiz was converted to guard upon his arrival in New Orleans. He played in 15 contests as a rookie, starting nine and appearing in 74% of the offensive snaps. Since his second NFL season in 2021, Ruiz has been a consistent starter for New Orleans at right guard. He played every offensive snap for the Saints in 2021 and 2022, missing one game in 2023 and three due to injury during the 2024 season.
USA Today
19-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Cesar Ruiz's selection in 2020 was a surprise to the fans, as well as Ruiz
Cesar Ruiz's selection in 2020 was a surprise to the fans, as well as Ruiz When Cesar Ruiz was selected by the New Orleans Saints in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft, he, like many fans, were stunned. Heading into the draft, there was an expectation the Saints would target a linebacker in the first round, specifically Kenneth Murray Jr. or Patrick Queen. Murray was off the board, but Queen was still available. That was one layer of surprise. The biggest cause of surprise was the Saints still just drafted Erik McCoy the year prior, and he became a Day 1 starter at center. Larry Warford and Andrus Peat were coming off Pro Bowl seasons at guard. The interior offensive line was set, so drafting Ruiz, a career center with experience at guard, didn't make sense. That was until the Saints released Warford a couple weeks later. McCoy and Ruiz battled in training camp for the starting center position with the understanding whoever lost that battle would go to guard. Ruiz was stunned with the pick, because he had limited contact with the Saints before the draft. "I didn't do an interview with the Saints on Zoom, it was just at the Combine. And then when I got that call, that's really why I was so shocked because that whole process – it was Covid, I was talking to pretty much every other team,' Ruiz said. We've heard stories like this before. A team drafts a player they barely talked to. It's often just so other teams can't get a read on the draft plan. The Saints kept their interests close to the vest. It was a decision that didn't make much sense on the surface, but their plan became clearer as time went on.
USA Today
09-03-2025
- Business
- USA Today
Saints no longer rank last in salary cap space after Derek Carr contract restructure
Saints no longer rank last in salary cap space after Derek Carr contract restructure Don't look now, but the New Orleans Saints don't rank last in salary cap space anymore. At least not for the 2025 season, not right this minute. The Saints restructured their contract with quarterback Derek Carr on Saturday to open up more than $30 million in savings -- a move that took them from 32nd in cap space to 31st. But don't breath easy just yet. The New York Giants trail them by a mere $147,215 in the latest rankings from Over The Cap, and if you count the cap space teams need to sign their rookie draft picks, the Saints are still in the worst position. So they clearly have more work to do before Wednesday's deadline (3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET on March 12). The good news is, very soon, they will be cap compliant and then some. Expected restructures for young starters like right guard Cesar Ruiz and defensive end Carl Granderson opens up another $11.6 million, getting the Saints in the clear by more than $3 million. Everything they do after that creates resources to spend on free agents. Whether that's more restructures, pay cuts, or potentially extensions, they'll have options. At the combine general manager Mickey Loomis indicated the Saints will be more active in this free agency cycle than they were last year. These cap gymnastics are part of that process.
