Gov. Vázquez Begins Discussing Transition with Pierluisi

SAN JUAN — Gov. Wanda Vázquez met with New Progressive Party (NPP) gubernatorial candidate Pedro Pierluisi Thursday afternoon at the governor’s mansion, La Fortaleza, to begin discussing her administration’s transition process.
With 95.69 percent of the votes tallied as of Thursday afternoon, Pierluisi was leading the gubernatorial race with 390,330 votes, or 32.68 percent, followed by Popular Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Carlos “Charlie” Delgado, who received 376,226 votes, or 31.5 percent.
Although the State Elections Commission (CEE by its Spanish initials) has not officially certified Pierluisi as the governor-elect, the former two-term resident commissioner, told reporters that the transition process has to begin even if the other candidate has yet to concede defeat.
CEE President Francisco Rosado Colomer issued a preliminary certification of the gubernatorial election results just before midnight Tuesday, in which he stated: “This partial result does not constitute nor should it be interpreted as a final result.”
Vázquez, meanwhile, said she spoke with Pierluisi about pressing issues such as healthcare, the Covid-19 pandemic, education and reconstruction plans.
“We spoke about the plans that are being worked on related to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the plans to comply with the federal funds that were recently assigned; the $2 billion for the Education Department and the $10 billion for the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority. Both plans should be ready by Dec. 24,” the governor said.
Vázquez said the government transition process, which is slated to begin shortly, will take place at the State Department in Old San Juan and that her transition team will be led by Secretary of State Ramón Márquez and Chief of Staff Antonio Pabón, while Pierluisi said he would reveal the members of his transition committee over the next few days, but did say will be headed by Bayamón Mayor Ramón Luis Rivera.
When asked by the media why the transition process was already being planned with Pierluisi despite the CEE not having certified him as governor-elect, the candidate replied that he was leading the race and a recount was not expected.
“There is no time to waste,” Pierluisi said. “The transition has to take place.”
Among the other issues discussed, Pierluisi said that he wanted to speak with the governor in detail about the island’s reconstruction process, so he could have a better idea about the projects that are already underway so he can follow up on them.
He further noted that he was concerned about the fact that thousands of public school students have yet to receive computers so they can study online due to the pandemic.
“Not all students have computers,” he stressed. “So the concept of remote education concerns me.”
Vázquez chimed in, noting that the hope is that by the next semester, students can begin a hybrid education, where they go to school several days a week and study remotely on the rest of the weekdays.
“We want to be able to announce as soon as possible when in-person classes will begin,” Vázquez said.
Another matter discussed was the fact that the number of police force officers has dropped drastically.
“We have to improve our Police Academy and we need to hire more police officers,” Pierluisi stressed. “I have proposed that some retired police officers who wish to return to the job, without affecting their pensions, can do so.”
With regard to working with a Legislative Assembly majority composed of PDP lawmakers, Pierluisi said he doesn’t foresee any difficulties with the upper chamber confirming his appointments to head agencies.
“I have to think that they will work out of good faith,” he said.
He further explained that he has called on current agency heads that would like to remain in their positions to let him know so he can consider their appointments.
“I would like to evaluate three people for each of the government agency posts, and I want to interview all of them,” Pierluisi said.
On Tuesday evening, after the election’s results started to reveal that Pierluisi was winning by a narrow margin, Vázquez congratulated Pierluisi who is a former Justice secretary and two-term resident commissioner.
“I contacted Governor-elect Pierluisi by phone to congratulate him and invited him to meet tomorrow Wednesday, Nov. 3 at La Fortaleza at 11 a.m.,” the governor said. The meeting, which she said was to begin speaking about the transition process and be on the same page once he is certified by the CEE, was later pushed to Thursday at 1:30 p.m.
In addition, the governor said she is ready to comply with Act 51 of 2020 and inform the U.S. Congress about the yes-or-no plebiscite on whether Puerto Rico should be admitted as the 51st state. In the referendum, statehood prevailed with 602,078 people, or 52.26 percent, voting for annexation, and 550,080, or 47.74 percent, voting against it, with 95.69 percent if units reporting as of Thursday afternoon.

Related Posts
Latest News
-
Being Vigilant of the 7 Benchmarks to end 2022
We are just about to end the fourth quarter of...
- Posted November 22, 2022
-
Inflation Heading Down, What Happens Now?
The Four Benchmarks to review that confirm inflation may be...
- Posted November 14, 2022
-
The Six Factors to Expect during the end of 4Q22
We are deep within the fourth quarter we thought it...
- Posted November 10, 2022
-
Puerto Rico Banks Deliver strong earnings, beating most banks
Puerto Rico Banks Transformed their operational model The Puerto Rico...
- Posted November 9, 2022
-
US Congress Discrimination affecting the Puerto Rico’s Healthcare Ecosystem
The market dynamics that changed the Healthcare Ecosystem as we...
- Posted November 8, 2022
-
MCS contributes over $5 million to support member healthcare
The insurer distributed the amount among 409 community pharmacies in...
- Posted November 7, 2022
-
Droguería Betances Launches 60th Anniversary Ad Campaign
Droguería Betances has launched a new advertising campaign, “60 Reasons...
- Posted October 31, 2022
-
Puerto Rico Food Industry Helps Communities in Aftermath of Hurricane Fiona
Over three-quarters of a million dollars in aid to...
- October 24, 2022
-
Medplus Solutions celebrates 10 years Saving Lives
Innovation and continuous growth Expansion of specialized and more...
- May 18, 2022
-
Amazon Web Services Expands Operations in Puerto Rico
Local Office Will Offer Services to other Caribbean Islands...
- April 22, 2022
-
García Padilla: Rubio Is No Friend of Puerto Rico
Governor Says Rubio's Remarks Confirm he Works for 'Vultures'
- February 26, 2016
- 15
You must be logged in to post a comment Login