Three days before Ricardo Ramos resigned as chief of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, he blamed the government bureaucracy as a critical source of PREPA’s incompetence.
In a moment that received little attention and which is best described as the embattled Ramos’ cri de coeur, he told the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee member Sen. Mike Lee of Utah that “over 50 percent” of PREPA’s employment comprised political appointees – not the kind nominated by the governor but the kind elected officials of every political stripe in Puerto Rico utilize to provide employment for their people or mi gente.
For politicians, PREPA “even in its current bankruptcy is like the jewel of the crown in Puerto Rico,” Ramos said, adding “PREPA traditionally has been a company where politicians or parts of government can get their family members to get work.”