Incoming Senate leader won’t renew lease for resident commissioner’s office

Resident Commissioner-elect Pablo José Hernández Rivera

By The Star Staff

Resident Commissioner-elect Pablo José Hernández Rivera confirmed Wednesday that incoming Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz will not renew the $1 lease to the resident’ commissioner’s office in the School of Tropical Medicine in Puerta de Tierra, citing a lack of space.

The decision breaks the tradition of having a local office for the island delegate to the U.S. Congress in Washington. For years, the resident commissioner’s district office had been in the State Department building in Old San Juan.

When outgoing Gov. Pedro Pierluisi was resident commissioner and Rivera Schatz presided over the Senate, the latter took the initiative to provide permanent headquarters for the resident commissioner’s office within the Capitol complex because the resident commissioner’s legislative management at the federal level logically makes it convenient to have his or her district office close to the Capitol.

“The Resident Commissioner’s district office serves to execute multiple tasks that benefit Puerto Rico,” Hernández Rivera said. “In addition to providing information to island residents about federal work, the staff of this office serves the public, who need guidance and help in their procedures with federal agencies such as the Social Security and Medicare offices, the Immigration Service, and the Veterans Administration.”

The district office serves as a meeting center for local and federal officials to address issues of interest for the benefit of residents in Puerto Rico. Hernández Rivera, who will be sworn in on Friday, Jan. 3 in the U.S. Capitol, said “options similar to those that the last two Commissioners have benefited from will be explored.”

“The process now begins, regardless of the setbacks that arise, to work for the benefit of the people, and find a new office that meets the needs of the citizens of this island,” he said.

Hernández Rivera announced earlier this week that his chief of staff in Washington will be Maximiliano “Max” Trujillo, who previously worked with U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.), an opponent of statehood.

The incoming resident commissioner, a member of the pro-commonwealth Popular Democratic Party, has said that resolving the political status issue is not one of his priorities.

Rivera Schatz confirmed via social media that the office will not be available for Hernández Rivera.

“It is correct. The office that previous Resident Commissioners used will not be available in the Senate of Puerto Rico,” Rivera Schatz wrote on Facebook. “Nor will the one used by the Citizen’s Ombudsman. I estimate that the same Spokesperson for Mr. Hernández or the Commissioner himself will announce the new location of the Resident Commissioner’s Office. We hope that the announcement will be soon. It was a pleasure to have you as neighbors for so long.”