Articles

Yesmin Valdivieso reveals that, during the emergency caused by Hurricane Maria, her office's auditors were stationed around the island.

El Nuevo Dia
14 Mar 2018
JOANISABEL GONZALEZ joanisabel.gonzalez@elnuevodia.com Twitter: @jgonzalezpr

Although the registration of more than 16,000 contractual transactions during the emergency period caused by Hurricane Maria might raise astonishment, for the Comptroller of Puerto Rico (OCPR),

Yesmin Valdivieso, the figure is not atypical, because, each year, the various branches of government report some 100,000 contracts, amendments, or cancellations to that office.

According to Valdivieso, over the past decade and despite consistent talk of a fiscal and economic crisis, government agencies, the Senate and the House of Representatives, and also the municipalities collectively enter into thousands of contractual agreements, which denotes a change in the way the public apparatus operates.

Over the past eight years, the OCPR has registered 663,686 contracts with more than 211,000 amendments, said Valdivieso.

On average, between 2014 and 2015, the Contract Registry maintained by the office has received 115,000 contractual agreements per year.

Not all annual contracting involves agreements for the disbursement of funds or the hiring of individuals. According to El Nuevo

Dia's analysis, between September and December of last year, the period during which the emergency caused by Hurricane Maria took place, more than 16,000 contractual transactions were registered, totaling $2,140 million.

“They won't be able to come with tall tales when we conduct the audits” “There has been (an abuse of the contracting-by-request mechanism), but it is a matter of public policy and we cannot intervene”

YESMIN VALDIVIESO COMPTROLLER OF PUERTO RICO

Nonetheless, during that period, hundreds of contracts were registered to report the transfers of federal, legislative, and other funds between agencies and nonprofit organizations. Contracts are also registered for the granting of scholarships and loans, rentals, sponsorships, purchases of office equipment, fuel, vehicles, and related items.

THE TRAIL OF THE EMERGENCY

In response to questions from El Nuevo Dia regarding the contracts granted during the emergency, Valdivieso maintained that, while the government was responding to the emergency from the Emergency Operations Center (COE), she was able to witness the arrival of multiple consultants and outside firms to provide services.

“Each agency arrived with its own advisers,” Valdivieso recounted, adding that the office she directs also learned of multiple instances involving debris removal and the distribution of goods after the hurricane.

After noticing the dynamic at the COE and as part of the OCPR staff could not physically get to work in San Juan due to the lack of electricity and obstructions on the roadways, Valdivieso revealed that, during the emergency, the agency's auditors were stationed at various points on the island, and went to debris dumps and warehouses and verified the functioning of the town halls and other agencies.

“That way, they won't be able to come with tall tales when we conduct the audits,” said Valdivieso, who added that the OCPR will publish a report of the actions carried out during the emergency in the coming weeks.

THE RFP MECHANISM

On another note, in response to questions from this newspaper, Valdivieso maintained that part of the increase in contracts is explained because public entities have resorted to the Request for Proposal (RFP) mechanism, while the budgetary pressures experienced by the government and, particularly, the municipalities, have resulted in the hiring of people as advisers or temporary employees.

“For the contracting of services, no bids are needed. The contracting of professional and consulting services is discretionary,” Valdivieso explained.

According to the official, with the exception of security and maintenance services, which usually go to bid, the vast majority of the contracts the government enters into respond to the administration governing the public entity, and that, to justify the contracting, the RFP is used.

Has there been an abuse of the RFP contracting mechanism?

“Yes, there has been, but it is a matter of public policy and we cannot intervene,” said Valdivieso.

At present, no office is known to keep track of RFP contracting, nor of the bidding mechanism carried out by the branches of government.

Valdivieso celebrates as a good practice the judicial branch's decision to incorporate a citizen representative into the bidding process, a measure that is law in the municipalities, but that is not followed to the letter.

On the other hand, Valdivieso maintained that, faced with budgetary pressures, resorting to employment through contract has also become frequent. In short, the official said, hiring through contract is preferred to avoid paying employer contributions to the worker's pension plan for a 40-year period.