The Worst Enemy of PR Economic Development
By Franklin D Lopez, former United Press International and The Associated Press-Journalist “No government ever voluntarily downsizes. Government programs, once in place, never go away. In fact, government office is the closest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth!” -Ronald Reagan In 1980 I was invited to The Fortress…
July 19, 20244 minutes
By Franklin D López, former United Press International and The Associated Press -Journalist
“No government ever voluntarily downsizes. Government programs, once put in place, never go away. In fact, a government office is the closest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth!” – Ronald Reagan
In 1980 I was invited to La Fortaleza by the then Governor Rafal Hernández Colón to participate in a meeting with the presidents of the main associations related to the construction industry. There were the Association of General Contractors, the College of Engineers, the Association of Architects, etc. I represented as President the Association of Home Builders of PR. One of the participants raised his hand to make a suggestion, here is the transcription according to my diary:
“Participant: “Mr. Governor, we understand that the way to solve the bottleneck in the approval of permits in Puerto Rico agencies is to publish in a single book all the laws and regulations that are required to start a project.”
I raised my hand and asked to address the Governor and said to him: “Mr. Governor,
are you going to run for governor again?”
Herneandez Colón, surprised, answered me: “Franklin, why that question?”
And I answered: “If you want to lose, I published the building codes that will die on the shelf of oblivion. But if you want to win, emulate what I experienced in the state of Texas. It turns out that I was developing a low-cost housing project in Eagle Garden Lake with Engineer Carlos Alvarado (former Executive Director of the AEE) and with our architect we went to a government office under the name “The One Stop Shop”. It was an agency with government officials with the power to approve their agencies. I took the plans and in two hours I walked out the door with the approval to build it.” You know that in the Environmental Quality Board there are more than 390 million dollars that would create some 1,490 jobs sleeping the sleep of the just because its director went on vacation for a month and until he returns he will not process a single project! Did you know that Puerto Rico is set to lose more than $50 million in federal funds for low-cost housing for farmers’ homes because of permit delays?
I noticed that the Governor’s blood was rushing to his head and he picked up the phone and requested that Mr. Mario Rodriguez, his assistant in charge of infrastructure, come immediately to the meeting room. Mario, a great public servant, arrived in a couple of minutes. The Governor told Mario the following and I quote:
“Mario, draft an executive order appointing you director of the Environmental Protection Board’s permit office and within 30 days you will approve all the projects requesting permits. The Governor also called the Secretary of State, Sila Maria Calderon, to ensure full legal compliance. The permits were issued because on the top floor of the Minillas Planning Board building there was an official representing each of the agencies with jurisdiction in approving construction and economic development projects and permits. The group became known as the One Stop Shop.
Governor Hernandez Colon then appointed me, along with the president of the Government Development Bank and the Secretary of the Treasury, Jose Ramon Gonzalez and Juan Agosto Alicea respectively, to draft a law for the acceleration of permits known as the «New Housing Operation.» At the Government’s Official Activities Center, the governor signed the draft and gave me the pen he had used to turn it into law. More than 1900 housing units were built throughout Puerto Rico and Hernandez Colon was re-elected by 40,000 votes.
That year, the Home Builders Association awarded Rafael Hernandez Colon the prize for the Public Official who helped the Construction Industry the most in 1980. The award was given to him by a warrior for Equality. Puerto Rico First Always!
Currently, there are more than 30,000 applications pending consideration and approval in the Permits offices of the current government. The new government must simplify and modernize the permit application process and establish a 30-day deadline for issuing or rejecting a permit, otherwise it will be deemed approved. If the necessary reforms are not made, we will lose hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds and the economy of Puerto Rico will remain stuck in the quagmire of government bureaucracy. There are cities and counties in the United States where permits are requested by phone and/or the Internet. The government is here to serve the people with absolute commitment.
Nothing the fight continues and the cause NEVER DIES!
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