Articles

Pedro Menéndez Sanabria, EL VOCERO

Despite the multiple controls that exist in government contracting, the Comptroller of Puerto Rico, Yesmín Valdivieso Galib, stated that greater transparency is required in the process in order to identify potential conflicts that arise when the contracted person or entity is also part of a political candidate's campaign team.

The official explained that, at both the federal and state levels, a citizen or entity cannot be denied a contract -including government agencies, public corporations or municipalities- because of any political affiliation, since this is considered a type of discrimination. This protection even extends to those individuals who run political campaigns.
“On paper there is a series of controls. For example, when a contract exceeds $10 million it has to go through the fiscal board, and when it exceeds $10,000 it requires the approval of OGP (Office of Management and Budget). For purchases it is similar. The problem lies in how we determine that a contract was awarded to the most qualified party and not to the one who is most convenient politically speaking,” Valdivieso Galib explained to EL VOCERO.

Despite this, the Comptroller warned that there is a risk that government contracts become a way to reward or even compensate participation in political campaigns, especially during the electoral period.

“Wasted money” in Education
The official mentioned that one way to clarify whether or not a contract is being used as a tool in the political arena is the inclusion of Request for Proposals (RFP) periods with specific and detailed requirements. This would also help the contracting entity have the basis to evaluate compliance with it.

The issue of contracts in agencies, specifically the Department of Education (DE), with entities or persons with political ties has been the focus of controversy in recent weeks since it came to light that 90 of the 93 figures who make up the trust payroll in the agency actively participate in the campaign of Governor Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia.
Likewise, the agency awarded a $174,300 contract for advertising services to the company Pivot Solutions L.L.C., headed by Michelle M. Cobb, executive director of the campaign of the aspirant to the resident commissioner post in Washington D.C. for the New Progressive Party (PNP), Senator William Villafañe.

“It falls on each agency or municipality to ensure compliance with the contract until the Office of the Inspector General or we at the Office of the Comptroller step in, but due to the large number of contracts we cannot audit them all, so we limit ourselves to a sample. It is a problematic task and that is why every time we go into Education we find so much wasted money,” commented Valdivieso Galib.

However, the Comptroller stated that one of the greatest challenges when identifying potential conflicts is that, in many cases, there is a mismatch between the branch of government in which the contract is awarded and the political campaign the person promotes.

“It can happen that you have a person with a contract in municipality X who is working on the campaign of someone aspiring to be a representative of another district. That does not mean they cannot do it, because this is legal, but one must evaluate whether they are complying with everything stipulated and whether the contract was given because they were qualified and not because it was convenient for the candidate,” she maintained.

Valdivieso Galib lamented that in Puerto Rico the intertwining of government contracts with political activity has become so normalized that changing this practice will take a long time.

“We have to make sure we are transparent and that each of the components makes a change, whether it is Education or the Office of the Comptroller; it is something for the whole system. With clear proposals we can choose better, and if it later turns out that it is a person who is in politics, it can then be determined, without a doubt, that they are doing their job, but for that the process has to be as transparent as possible,” she insisted.

Prudence and good sense
For his part, the chairman of the Treasury Committee of the House of Representatives, Jesús Santa Rodríguez, commented that, although it is possible to establish greater controls, it falls on the candidates to have greater prudence and good sense when selecting the people who make up their work team to avoid any accusation of government corruption.

“I think this is not something new. Although I will not dare say that it is something institutionalized, the fact that it has happened before and that it occurs in other agencies or with other candidates, much to my regret, I think it may indeed be happening,” the legislator stated.
Although within the work his legislative committee carries out to evaluate the budget of the agencies, information on contracts and explanatory memorials is requested, Santa Rodríguez acknowledged that beyond an exorbitant expense it is difficult to detect political conflicts, since the work focuses on the financial matter.

“I can use the Committee's group to then look for the contracts that appear at the (Office of the) Electoral Comptroller and that sort of thing, but the reality is that I do not have many people and I have a budget to run,” he added.
Santa Rodríguez stated that “there has always been the questioning of whether government money is used to, in a direct or indirect way, finance campaigns.”

“Legislation is possibly needed to try to control this, but if there is no one to enforce it, nothing is achieved. I think that perhaps by giving more resources to the offices of the Comptroller and Ethics so they can identify possible conflicts of interest. It is more of a joint solution, but as for the fact that we have to get our act together, yes, it is necessary,” he concluded.