Saul N. Ramirez Jr. (born October 22, 1958) is an American politician, businessman, and former official in the

United States Department of Housing and Urban Development The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It administers federal housing and urban development laws. It is headed by the Secretary of Housing and Ur ...

Early life and education

Ramirez was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

to Saul Ramirez, Sr., and the former Bertha Villarreal. He moved to Laredo when he was three years of age. His father had been a line foreman and diesel engine mechanic at

Douglas Aircraft The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

. Ramirez was raised in

Laredo, Texas Laredo ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of Webb County, Texas, United States, on the north bank of the Rio Grande in South Texas, across from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Laredo has the distinction of flying seven flags (the Flag of th ...

, where he attended the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

St. Augustine elementary and high schools.

Career

Mayor of Laredo

In 1990, Ramirez became the youngest mayor of

. He earlier served for two four-year terms on the Laredo City Council, prior to becoming mayor. Previously, he worked for nearly two decades in the insurance industry in Laredo. He is a former board member of the Inter-Government Risk Pool of the Texas Municipal League. Ramirez won the nonpartisan runoff election for mayor in 1990; he defeated Maria Guadalupe "Bebe" Zuñiga (1933–2017) Zuñiga had first faced a court-ordered recount with a third candidate, Rick Reyes, to determine that she had won the right to challenge Ramirez by a margin of only nine votes. The incumbent, Aldo Tatangelo, was term-limited under the Laredo municipal charter and instead ran unsuccessfully later that year for county judge of

Webb County Webb County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 267,114. Its county seat is Laredo. The county was named after James Webb (1792–1856), who served as secretary of the treasury, secreta ...

. As mayor, Ramirez secured a permit for the construction of the World Trade Bridge. He also worked to build four recreation centers, three fire stations, and a new public library at the intersection of McPherson and Calton roads. Because Ramirez vacated the mayoral position at the end of his second term, a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

was called early in 1998 under the charter.

Betty Flores Elizabeth G. "Betty" Flores (born December 28, 1944) is an American banker and former mayor of Laredo, Texas. She was the first Latina woman to be mayor in Laredo's 240 year history. Career Flores was originally hired by Laredo National Bank t ...

, a former Laredo banker, won that contest and a few months later the regular city election as well.

Clinton administration

Ramirez resigned with several months remaining in his second term to take a position in the

Clinton administration Bill Clinton's tenure as the 42nd president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1993, and ended on January 20, 2001. Clinton, a Democrat from Arkansas, took office following a decisive election victory over ...

under

United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The United States secretary of housing and urban development (or HUD secretary) is the head of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, a member of the president's Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furnitur ...

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cuo ...

. From 1997 to 1998, Ramirez was the assistant secretary for the Office of Community Planning and Development. On June 19, 1998, Clinton nominated him to become the

United States Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development The deputy secretary of housing and urban development, in the United States government, is the chief operating officer of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The current deputy secretary is Adrianne Todman, who was swor ...

, serving until the end of the administration in January 2001. On January 1, 1997, the ''

Laredo Morning Times The ''Laredo Morning Times'' is a daily newspaper publication based in Laredo, Texas, USA. It is owned by the Hearst Corporation Hearst Communications, Inc., often referred to simply as Hearst, is an American multinational mass media and busi ...

'' named Ramriez "Laredoan of the Year". In 1995, he was named "Mayor of the Year" by the Texas Municipal Library Directors Association. In 1996, ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'' magazine named him one of the twenty-five most dynamic mayors in the nation.Zach Lindsey, "Hispanics tout ex-mayor for housing secretary", ''

'', December 5, 2008, p. 15A In 2008, the

Congressional Hispanic Caucus The Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) is an organization of 38 Democratic members of the United States Congress of Hispanic and Latino descent. The Caucus focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and Latinos in the United States. The CHC was fou ...

and U.S. Representative Henry R. Cuellar of Laredo petitioned U.S. President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

to choose Ramirez as HUD secretary. At the time, Ramirez served on Obama's transition team. Obama, however, selected

Shaun Donovan Shaun Lawrence Sarda Donovan (born January 24, 1966) is an American government official and housing specialist who served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2009 to 2014, and Director of the US Office of Management ...

for the role.

Later career

On March 17, 2010, Ramirez testified before the House Financial Services Committee on the Obama administration's "Choice Neighborhoods Initiative," also known as the "Proposal to Revitalize Severely Distressed Public and Assisted Housing." Since that time, Ramirez has assisted various administrations in addressing and crafting national policy and program activities that relate to economic development and housing efforts. Ramirez has over twenty years of experience as a risk management and insurance industry executive. He is currently a member of

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

Housing Investment Trust Building America Advisory Board and the

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the li ...

Community Renewal Fund Advisory Board.

Personal life

Ramirez and his wife, the former Aggie Ramos, have three children: Saul, Joaquin, and Alexis. They reside outside Washington, D.C. in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are ...

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramirez, Saul N. Jr. Living people Mayors of Laredo, Texas United States Deputy Secretaries of Housing and Urban Development Politicians from Los Angeles Texas Democrats Virginia Democrats Businesspeople from Texas Politicians from Washington, D.C. People from Vienna, Virginia Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights Activists from California Hispanic and Latino American politicians 1958 births