Cesar Ruiz Senior Consultant
I began my career as a community advocate
in the early 1990's. I worked with various candidates in the political process. from 2000 till present I have been a civil rights and voting rights advocate. My political experience and advocacy experience has led me to volunteer with various community organizations.
I was a past member of:
- Westchester Hispanic Chamber - Board of Directors
- Westchester Hispanic Advisory Board
- Port Chester Elks Lodge
- Chairman of the Port Chester Youth Bureau
- Kiwanis Club Volunteer
Current member of the following:
- Current President and founder of The Independent Voter Club of Rye Town est. '04
- Community Capitol Resources - A community based organization for small business advocacy
- Westchester Hispanic Law Enforcement Association
- NAACP Port Chester- Rye Chapter
Port Chester G&S Development Downtown Project
Relocation Officer - My responsibilities were to survey all residents being affected by the development. To work closely with them on the relocation process which included assisting them in finding a new place to live and negotiate moving expenses with the developer that would be fair to both parties. My work was a success named by the developer G&S Investors and the Village of Port Chester.
As a civil rights advocate in 2001, I ran for public office in Port Chester to change our current electorate system which discriminated against Blacks and Latinos. I studied the trend of change. from 1990 to 2000, the Hispanic community in Port Chester grew by 73 percent. as of the 2000 census, the village`s total population was 46.2 percent Hispanic, 42.8 percent non-Hispanic white and 6.6 percent non-Hispanic black. In the past eight years, the Hispanic population has continued to increase. Yet no Hispanic has ever been elected to the Village Board of Trustees.
It took me five (5) years to build a case with enough evidence to file a complaint with the Department of Justice to look at the Electoral System used to elect Village Trustees in Port Chester. On January 17, 2008 U.S. District Court Judge Steven C. Robinson issued a decision that declared that the at-large election system used in the village of Port Chester to elect its trustees violated Section 2 of the voting rights act of 1965. In a 56 page opinion, Judge Robinson clearly ruled that the system has in effect shut out Hispanic voters from the political process. The opinion thoroughly discussed and analyzed several issues under the voting rights act that are critical to a finding of discrimination, and racially polarized voting.
On Nov 6 2009 Judge Steven Robinson ruled that Port chester can use there remedy of accumulative voting to elect minorities to the village board . he also set a special election in June 2010.
I would like to give special thanks to Mr. Rafael Vega [Bartizan Consultants], The U.S. Dept. Of Justice in Washington D.C., The People of Port Chester, and my attorney Randolph McLaughlin.
- 2001 - a group of Latinos and I fought to create the 17 Legislator District in Westchester County. This was a grassroots movement that would give the City of Yonkers Latino Community a voice in the political arena of Westchester County. After several Hearings conducted by Westchester County Board of Legislators Chairman Hon. George Latimer many Latinos testified that we were able to cut-out a District to Represent Latinos in Yonkers. With the help of the Puerto Rico Legal Defense Fund. Westchester County avoided a Lawsuit and worked with us on creating this Historic District.
- 2002 - I also started the 1st meeting with Joseph Kreminski Village of Port Chester Police Chief and Piero Olclese Westchester Hispanic Law Enforcement Association to discuss ways on hiring more Hispanic police officers and court personnel. Our meetings since have been successful in fulfilling this commitment.
- 2003- While I worked for The Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.
- I was contacted by New Rochelle NAACP Chairman Sam Spady to participate in a Hearing by the group he helped organize called The New Rochelle Voting Rights Defense Fund. They were being represented by my Attorney Randolph McLaughlin. The group sued The City of New Rochelle for a Minority Opportunity District. My involvement was to mobilize a voter Registration and Education outreach in the Minority Districts. I reached out to Monroe College to help me recruit local students for our goal. Our outreach was a success since then New Rochelle has had two Minority Elected Officials on there Board.
- 2003 - A group of citizens and I blocked the Village of Port Chester from giving away Columbus Park to a private developer who was going to privatize the park and put in place a sports dome. After a year and a half of fighting we won our plea. With the help of Westchester County Government the Village Port Chester received funds for a soccer field which was opened in 2007.
- 2003 - I was the Westchester County Coordinator, for the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration office. This was a campaign for Voter Education, Registration and Participation. As you are aware, in 2002, Governor Sila Calderon launched this national non-partisan campaign to register, educate, and mobilize 300,000 Puerto Rican/Hispanics in the United States prior to 2004 Presidential election. This endeavor stretched throughout 13 states, where the 2000 census tracts indicated the largest concentration of Puerto Rican/Hispanics resided. I am pleased to announce that currently not only have we reached our national goal of 300,000 but we surpassed it as well with a total of 331,000 registrations. On a more personal note, the New York State operation was responsible for 40% of the total by registering 133,484 individuals. A personal thank you was given to the New York group by the Governor, the National Executive Director, Marie Carmen Aponte, and Regional Director, Laura Irizzarry.
- 2004 - I filed numerous complaints and 3 years of evidence about the Westchester County Board of Elections to the Department of Justice. For not complying with H.A.V.A. (Help America Voting Rights Act) and violating the amendment of 1975 of the Voting Rights Act which protect discrimination for language minority citizens which are included in section 2 violations;treating limited English proficient Hispanic voters disrespectfully; Refusing to permit limited English proficient Hispanic voters to be assisted by an assister of their choice; Improperly influencing coercing or ignoring the ballot choices of limited English proficient Hispanic voters; Failing to make available personnel to provide effectively assistance and information needed by minority language voters; and refusing or failing to provide provisional ballots to limited English proficient Hispanic voters. The outcome was victorious. The Westchester County Board of Elections was forced to make changes in the way they assist minority voters or face being sued by the Department of Justice.
- 2004 - A group of citizens and I created our local group called The Independent Voter Club of Rye Town. This is a community based political organization under IRC527. Our goal, to teach Voter Education, Registration and Participation. As of today, this group has influenced many elections and political change.
- 2005 - I put together the first meeting with Gerald Logan, Mayor of Port Chester, Rafael Vega, Westchester County Legislative Aid, and Graciela Hyman, Hispanic Coalition Director, to discuss a Village of Port Chester Day Laborer Hiring Site
- 2007 - On January 15th Assemblyman Peter Rivera. Dr. Angelo Falcon of the National Institute for Latino Policy, Civil Rights Advocate Cesar Ruiz stood in front of the Westchester County Court House to introduce A-9278 - A bill to prohibit at large elections for members of town and villages legislative bodies in the State of New York. That day which coincidently marked the 78th birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was the day when "we too shall overcome."
- My political experience has led me to where I am today, forming CR Consulting Services. In my field I have worked with many people in different businesses and leadership positions from Attorneys in various fields, Realtors, Contractors, Developers and of course Politicians.
