Rival for Springfield incumbent’s council seat hid his role in accusatory press release
SPRINGFIELD — A political rival of Springfield City Councilor Maria Perez was the architect of a press release that accused her, falsely, of embezzling money from the New North Citizens' Council.
In an unusual move, the council on Friday retracted damaging accusations against Perez, who until July 21 served as its housing director .
In a emergency meeting Thursday, members of the council's board learned that board member Joesiah Gonzalez on July 26 enlisted the board's clerk, Efrain "Jesse" Vazquez, to send a press release that accused Perez, the Ward 1 city councilor, of embezzling from the nonprofit organization.
The council on Friday issued what it called a "corrective" press release, saying the one sent last Saturday was unauthorized — but stopped short of explaining who drafted the false allegation.
"The New North Citizens Council, Inc. (NNCC), through its Executive Director, Maria Ligus, issues this corrective press release in response to a prior press release dated July 26, 2025, which appeared to be disseminated by NNCC," the release said.
"The July 26th release was issued without the knowledge or approval of NNCC executive leadership and without formal authorization from the NNCC Board. It contained certain inaccuracies," it continued.
Friday's statement said that while Ligus decided to "terminate the employment of Ms. Maria Perez ... such termination was unrelated to any allegations or findings related to the use of federal funds."
At Thursday's emergency board meeting, members learned that Vazquez, the board's clerk, had been approached by Gonzalez about creating what amounted to a smear against his opponent in the Nov. 4 election.
Gonzalez, who serves on the School Committee, is running against Perez for Ward 1 City Council seat. Perez could not be reached for comment Friday evening.
Thursday's emergency meeting was called by a new board member, Gladys Oyola, who is now the acting president of the board.
It was revealed at that session that Gonzalez was responsible for orchestrating a public statement about Perez's firing without proper authorization. Earlier Thursday, Gonzalez resigned from the board. Board members are elected by members of the community.
Friday's statement from Ligus, the executive director, clarified that the press release last Saturday was not properly vetted.
The termination letter provided to Perez, a 43-year employee of the agency, made no mention of embezzlement. Instead, it said she was being fired for using agency computer equipment for "political reasons."
In interviews Friday, multiple board members told The Republican that Vazquez, acting as the board's clerk, claimed to have been manipulated by Gonzalez on the Saturday the press release about Perez's firing went out.
"He told us that Joesiah called him and said to meet him on his porch in 10 minutes and that he asked him to bring his laptop," said board member Carmen Santana.
Gonzalez is said to have told Vazquez that the press release "couldn't come from him" and instead asked for Vazquez's passcode, to send it out from his computer as the clerk of record.
Gonzalez then sent the press release from Vazquez's laptop, according to what Vazquez told board members.
"He said he felt used and manipulated," Santana said of Vazquez. "He kept telling the same story over and over again."
Reached for comment, Gonzalez declined to comment on the account of his actions provided by board members.
"If that's what you want to believe," he told a reporter before saying "God bless," and hanging up.
Days after the July 26 press release about Perez's firing was sent, and before his role in its creation was revealed, Gonzalez told The Republican that he believed Perez should step down from the City Council, if the accusations proved to be true.
"I said if it was true," he told a reporter Thursday.
Vazquez declined Friday to speak publicly about his role in the sending of the press release.
Records obtained by The Republican show the release went out from Vazquez's computer at 4:44 p.m. Saturday.
"He told Jesse it was an emergency and they had to send something out," board member Sheyla Acosta said, referring to Gonzalez. She confirmed the account of the visit between the two men on Vazquez's porch on Massasoit Street.
After the press release was sent, Gonzalez said he had only just learned of Perez's firing, calling it "unfortunate."
"I will pray for her and her family," he said at the time.
Gonzalez is chief philanthropy and communications officer for Home City Development. He was previously an employee of New North Citizens' Council.
On Thursday, according to board members interviewed, Oyola made a motion to strip president Juana "Jenny" Girona of her position, a move she resisted.
Girona had approved of the sending of the press release.
Board votes prevailed and Girona was replaced as president by Oyola.
Vazquez also was demoted from his position as clerk, pending an internal review of the circumstances surrounding the July 26 release.
Board member Acosta, who was herself previously reprimanded over an incident with human resources, when she challenged Ligus' self-drafted performance evaluation, had been denied her chairmanships of subcommittees.
Now she finds herself with a promotion. "Isn't that something?" she askec.
A document obtained by The Republican shows Girona submitted an apology letter to the board Thursday.
"I acknowledge that I approved a press release to be sent by the board secretary this past week. Knowing that the board was in recess and this was going around the community, I made the decision to protect NNCC and the work that we do for our community," the letter reads.
"I apologize if board members did not agree with certain words, or sending this out. I believe that what is done is done and that we don't have to add fuel to the fire," it reads.
She added that if board members have questions about why Maria Perez was fired, they should ask Ligus.
Read the original article on MassLive .
