Rivera Schatz accuses Mayors Association president of lying about legislative consultation on salary amendment

By THE STAR STAFF

Senate President Thomas Rivera Schatz publicly questioned the mayor of Jayuya and president of the Puerto Rico Mayors Association, Jorge González Otero, after he stated on a television program that the organization was not consulted about the amendment to the Municipal Code that delegates the evaluation of mayors’ salaries to municipal legislatures.

Rivera Schatz reacted to the mayor’s statements through posts on his social media accounts, where he rejected González Otero’s version of events.

“I thought the mayor of Jayuya was a serious man. He lied on ‘Jugando Pelota Dura,’” the senator wrote, asserting that the Mayors Association submitted an official statement on the matter.

The Senate president said the Mayors Association itself expressed support for the mechanism contained in the legislative measure.

“You were consulted, you expressed your support, and you stated that you had no objections to the mechanism for evaluating mayors’ salaries in the respective municipal legislatures,” Rivera Schatz reiterated in a second post. “That is the record.”

He also called the Mayors Association’s explanation “shameful” in response to what he described as a contradiction by its president.

“If lies and political cowardice are endemic in your group, that doesn’t change the facts,” Rivera Schatz wrote. “Enough with the lies and populist demagoguery.”

The controversy arose after González Otero stated on television that the organization was not consulted about the amendment that would allow for a review of municipal salary scales, prompting an immediate response from Rivera Schatz. As of press time, the Mayors Association had not offered any further reaction to the accusations.