Jesse Ruiz: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: ChicagoWebsite: www.jesse4IL.comTwitter: @JesseRuizEsqFacebook: @JesseRuizforILAttorneyGeneralOffice sought: Attorney general Age: 52Family: My wife, Michele Ilene Ruiz, and I have two sons.Occupation: AttorneyEducation: B.A. in economics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign J.D., University of Chicago Law SchoolÃÅ#160;Civic involvement: Commissioner, Chicago Public Schools Desegregation Monitoring Commission (1999-2004) Commissioner, Illinois Supreme Court Character and Fitness Committee (1999-2004) -Chairman, ISBE (2004-2011) -Commissioner, U.S. Department of Education Equality and Excellence Commission (2011-2013) -Fellow, Leadership Greater Chicago (2014) -VP, Chicago Board of Education (2011 Ãcirc;#144; 2016) -Interim CEO, Chicago Public Schools (2015) -President, Chicago Park District Board of Commissioners (2016 Ãcirc;#144; present) -Commissioner, Public Building Commission (2016 Ãcirc;#144; present) 2nd VP, Chicago Bar Association Member, Board of Directors: Metropolitan Planning Council Rush University Medical Center Museum of Science and Industry Chicago Legal Clinic Member, Commercial Club of Chicago and Economic Club of ChicagoElected offices held: Candidate did not respond.Questions Answers What personal background and experiences particularly qualify you for the role of attorney general?I am the proud son of Mexican immigrants. When I was growing up, my father worked the evening shift at a big commercial bakery and was a member of the Teamsters. He never earned more than $19,000 a year, but our family had access to decent healthcare, and my father's pension made it possible for him to grow old in dignity. While my father was working those long shifts, my mother was setting an extraordinary example of giving back to the community. She was a tireless volunteer Ãcirc;#144; volunteering with our Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops and Little League teams, and helping out at church events. My father only had a third-grade education, and he and my mother saw education as the path to the American Dream. To pay my way through college, I worked many different jobs, including stints as a sales clerk, a machine operator, a meter reader, and a handyman. In those jobs, I worked side-by-side with people from all different backgrounds Ãcirc;#144; but they all shared a common determination to create a better future for themselves and their families. For me, being an advocate for ordinary people is not a talking point it's my responsibility to give back to my community and my country, in return for all that I have received throughout my life.What do you consider the chief responsibility of the state attorney general and how would you conduct the office to achieve it?The Illinois Attorney General has jurisdiction over a wide range of issues, and it is impossible to predict precisely the issues that will be at the top of the agenda in January of 2019. I mean, who would have predicted at this time last year that the Attorney General's office would be taking action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to keep Illinois' air safe to breathe, or that attorneys general from across the country would be banding together to challenge the Department of Justice's efforts to cut off federal funds for public safety? But there's one thing I can tell you for certain: On my first day, I will propose legislation to give the Attorney General's office greater power to investigate and prosecute public corruption. We need to make sure that all of our elected officials know that the Attorney General is keeping an eye on them Ãcirc;#144; and has the power to take action if they stray outside the law. As Attorney General, I will work with the General Assembly to solve this problem and to give my office the tools we need to investigate public corruption, at every level.Is the office of public information public access counselor important? What should be the attorney general's role in ensuring that state and local governing bodies operate in an open and transparent manner?My own record demonstrates my willingness to stand up and take on political insiders. In 2015, in the wake of a bribery scandal, I stepped in to become Interim CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district. That experience really underscored the importance of transparency in government. During my brief tenure, I created a requirement that all requests for single- and sole-source contracts be posted on our website, well in advance of any vote. Now the Chicago Public Schools have a system in place to make sure that the Board and the public have a chance to weigh in before those types of contracts go up for a vote. In a December 2015 interview with the Sun-Times, I also called for CPS briefings to be held in public meetings (although, unfortunately, such briefings are still held in private). Supreme Court Justice Brandeis once said that sunlight is the bestÃÅ#160;disinfectant. Advocating for open and transparent government is one of the Attorney General's core responsibilities, and I will do everything I can to make sure the people of Illinois get the full picture of what their government is up to.How aggressive should the attorney general be in seeking consumer protections through the courts?Illinois consumers need a strong Attorney General who will protect them from an ever-growing band of fraudsters and wrongdoers. I will use the full force and power of the law to protect consumers, and I will make sure that our office is on the forefront of the many issues that confront 21st century consumers. For example, if you own a cellphone in Illinois you've almost certainly been victimized by unwanted robocalls. Autodialing technology makes it cheap for marketers and scam artists to interrupt phone subscribers at all hours of the day and night. The problem is rampant. In 2016 alone, some 2.4 billion robocalls were placed per month, and many of those calls are made by criminals who are impersonating the IRS to collect fake debts, attempting identity theft, and preying on the elderly. The scofflaws avoid detection by using a practice known as Ãâ#128;™spoofingÃâ#128;œ by which they make the caller ID display a fake number. The Attorney General has authority to bring suit to stop these types of illegal calls Ãcirc;#144; and even to put money into victims' pockets, with fines of ranging up to $1,500 per illegal call. As Attorney General, it will be my duty Ãcirc;#144; and my pleasure Ãcirc;#144; to go after these shady characters and protect Illinois consumers.How efficiently do you think the attorney general's office operates currently. What, if anything, would you do to streamline the office?I believe that Attorney General Lisa Madigan has done a good and honorable job during her tenure. She has made her office, in essence, the state's largest public interest law firm, and I will commit myself to expanding the good, cost-effective work that she has begun. However, it is clear that the Attorney General's office will need to expand its work (and its workforce) over the next few years to stand up to the Trump Administration's continuing assaults on our fundamental rights. We will need to increase the resources available to our office to make sure that we have the strength and expertise to keep on pushing back against these unconscionable actions. Those resources will come from the average $1 billion in revenues collected by the Illinois Attorney General's office each year, through settlements, fines and penalties. I will make sure that an appropriate share of those collections is set aside to fund our expanded advocacy on behalf of Illinoisans targeted by the Trump Administration. As past president of the Chicago Bar Foundation and past chairman of the Foundation's Investing in Justice campaign, I also will enlist the help and support of the many pro bono and low-cost legal service providers in Illinois to collectively further the mission of the Attorney General's office and bring access to justice to all Illinoisans Ãcirc;#144; especially to those who cannot afford legal representation.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?All across the country, we are seeing state Attorneys General taking aggressive action to block the overreaches of this anti-immigrant, anti-Latino, anti-woman, anti-Muslim administration. I will join Ãcirc;#144; and lead Ãcirc;#144; similar challenges to the Trump Administration's discriminatory and unconstitutional actions across a wide range of issues. These include: Reproductive Rights The Trump Administration's rollback of the ACA's contraception mandate is clearly discriminatory. The women of Illinois have the right to equal access to preventive medicine. I am hopeful that the current lawsuits focused on these issues will prevail within the coming year. If they do not, I will proudly fight in the courts to protect reproductive health rights in Illinois. Student Loan Protections I believe that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos violated federal law when she rescinded the possibility of loan forgiveness for students who were misled or defrauded by abusive for-profit colleges that have cheated students Ãcirc;#144; and taxpayers Ãcirc;#144; out of billions of dollars in federal loans. Attorney General Madigan already has filed suit on behalf of Illinois students who were defrauded by now-defunct for-profit schools I will continue that fight. Healthcare Access Access to affordable healthcare is under constant attack by this White House, but Attorneys General nationwide are standing up on behalf of their constituents. Attorney General Madigan is part of a coalition that has moved to intervene in a lawsuit to end cost-sharing subsidies that are a cornerstone of the ACA. These subsidies are crucial in keeping people insured and reducing states' Medicaid costs.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Senator Tammy Duckworth.ÃÅ#160; She has given so much in service to our nation, and she is not afraid to speak truth to powerÃÅ#160;What is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?If you have enough to eat, you have enough to share. We are our brothers' and sisters' keepers.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I love my family, and I'm grateful that I've been able to help people with my legal skills and public service. So no do-overs needed.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?In law school, I took Barack Obama's Racism and the Law class and studied a landmark case that later helped me protect immigrant students' rights.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Always do the right thing, even if no one would know if you didn't.