Ex-ADSEF administrator: Governor pressured her to take the job
By THE STAR STAFF
The former administrator of the Socioeconomic Development Administration for the Family (ADSEF by its acronym in Spanish), Blanca Medina Díaz, testified under oath on Wednesday that Gov. Jenniffer González Colón insisted she accept the role of leading the agency, that the governor later learned of the problems Medina faced and even called her to demand the reinstatement of an official Medina had removed from his post.
“At first, I didn’t want to; I didn’t want to accept the ADSEF role,” Medina stated during a Senate public hearing. “I told the governor no -- that I didn’t want it, that I wasn’t available. The pressure continued; I mean, they kept calling me to take the job.”
Medina maintained that she ultimately accepted the position at the governor’s request, having previously participated in her political campaign.
Her testimony placed González Colón within the sequence of events Medina described following her arrival at ADSEF in April, although the former official attributed the pressure to sign the approximately $38.5 million contract with NOLA Education for the Star Academy project directly to Family Secretary Suzanne Roig Fuertes.
Medina testified that on just her second day in office, Roig Fuertes indicated that her priority was signing the contract, even though a technical or programmatic evaluation from ADSEF had not yet been received. Subsequently, she said, her legal and programmatic teams concluded that the project did not meet the requirements for using funds from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program.
“Despite the objections I communicated, I began receiving phone calls from the secretary insisting that the contract be signed,” Medina stated in her testimony.
The former administrator also recounted that the Family Department’s leadership began to intervene directly in matters regarding employees and programs that fell under ADSEF’s purview. She stated that Roig Fuertes would summon agency employees, issue instructions to them, and exert pressure on various programs.
Medina acknowledged that she was initially invited to meetings held on Thursdays but stated that she eventually stopped attending due to the pressure she faced.
“I stopped going to those meetings because of the pressure I was constantly under,” she maintained.
In response to questions from senators, she added that whenever she sent a trusted staff member to represent her, the message she received remained the same.
“At those meetings, the secretary would always tell the person I sent to represent me: ‘Tell Blanca she has to sign the contract for me,’” Medina stated.
Medina said she tried to raise her concerns outside the Family Department and approached then-La Fortaleza Chief of Staff Francisco Domenech Fernández.
“I told him about all the problems I was facing,” she said. “He was aware of everything that was happening.”
When asked what response she received from Domenech Fernández, Medina replied: “Nothing.”
She also testified that she personally informed González Colón about the problems she was having within ADSEF, including issues involving the then-deputy administrator, Juan Avilés Silvestri.
Medina stated that she had removed Avilés from his position but received instructions to reinstate him. At the conclusion of the hearing, she specified who had issued that instruction.
“The person who asked me to return Mr. Juan Avilés […] to his post was the governor herself,” Medina stated.
When asked whether González Colón had made the request in person or by phone, she replied: “By phone.” Avilés was also among the individuals who, according to the testimony, participated in a trip to Louisiana linked to Star Academy that was paid for with federal funds.
