Pedro Pierluisi leans towards two candidates to lead recreation and sports

by

Director of the Guaynabo Sports Office, Gil Urbina Pérez, and the Assistant Secretary for the Administration of the Department of Sports and Recreation (DRD), lawyer Rolando CuevasIt sounds like the strongest candidates to be appointed by the elected governor Pedro Pierluisi to lead the DRD, because it must be announced between tomorrow, Monday and Wednesday.

Sources familiar with the interview process told El Nuevo Día that the group of possible candidates was reduced to these two officials.

In the case of Urbina Pérez, who represented Puerto Rico in weightlifting and was deputy secretary of the DRD, she has the favor of a large number of federal presidents.

Meanwhile, Cuevas holds one of the highest positions in the DRD and has represented the current secretary, Adriana Sánchez Parés, in several public hearings.

He was also appointed by Pierluisi in September as director of the “Get Out of the Vote” initiative to encourage voting in the last election.

Also, Pierluisi met last Friday with the former athlete and now athletic director of the Mayagüez campus of the University of Puerto Rico, Ray Quiñones, to discuss this position, a source told this newspaper.

In addition to these three people, the Pierluisi team considered for this position the double A baseball leader, Efraín “Cano” García; vice president and dean of student affairs of the Universidad del Sagrat Corazón, María Elena „Mari” Batista; volleyball player and lawyer Debora Seilhamer; and outgoing senator Miguel Laureano.

Mention was also made of the possibility of Pierluisi leaving Sánchez Parés in his post, as he had done with other officials, such as Adjutant General of the National Guard, José Juan Reyes; Secretary of the Treasury, Francisco Parés; and Secretary of Labor and Human Resources Carlos J. Rivera Santiago.

Likewise, the elected governor made important appointments, such as that of Manuel Cidre in the Department of Economic Development and Trade, that of former Senator Larry Seilhamer as Secretary of State and that of Dr. Carlos Mellado as Secretary of Health.

Pierluisi will be sworn in as the new governor on January 2.

.Source