But would not have the final say in contracts

The adequate use of federal funds, as well as transparency in expense, may be one of the tasks within the immediate duties a Federal Coordinator that can assist in the reconstruction of Puerto Rico, but that may not be the case when it comes to filing criminal charges against public officials involved in mismanagement of federal funds.

In that sense, Doug O’Dell, former Coordinator of the Federal Coordinator’s Office for the Gulf Coast Region, told NotiCel: ‘The Federal Coordinator does not have a law enforcement role. He has a responsibility to be in communications with those that do. But I think it would be inappropriate for the federal coordinator to have a direct law enforcement role’.During his 11-month stint as Federal Coordinator for Louisiana and Mississippi in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, O’Dell -a retired general of the U.S Marine Corps- would meet frequently with the states’ District Attorney as well as the Department of Justice (DOJ). Through them, he was kept up to date regarding ongoing investigations as well as possible acts of corruption during the reconstruction process.However, given the astronomical amount of federal funds available to local authorities, corruption in the use of public funds was a constant issue.’When there’s upwards of $125 billion in play, as was the rough working budget with the Katrina recovery across, not just New Orleans, but all these other affected areas, people with not particularly honest motivations came from out of the woodwork’, O’Dell said.Notwithstanding, O’Dell sustained it would be ‘adequate’ for the Federal Coordinator to have the power to make referals to the appropriate authorities if they were to find irregularities in the use of reconstruction funds. ‘It’s a duty to inform, but not a duty to investigate’, O’Dell said.In that sense, he reiterated that, if a Federal Coordinator were to be named for Puerto Rico, that person should maintain contact with the Unites States District Attorney’s Office in Puerto Rico, an entity on the island who has not yet brought to court corruption cases regarding the use of federal funds in the aftermath of hurricanes Maria and Irma.During the reconstruction of Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina, various corruption schemes came to fruition and culminated in convictions. O’Dell recalled the corruption case of former New Orleans mayor, Ray Nagin, convicted in federal court for awarding contracts to political contributors that did not have the qualifications to receive those contracts.Nagin was convicted for corruption, fraud, and conspiracy in 2014. He is currently serving a 10 year prison sentence.Although corruption tends to focus in the awarding of public contracts, under a Federal Coordinator said awarding process would still be under the purview of the local government administration. But even so, O’Dell said all contracts must comply with federal norms that require a competitive bidding process with ample participation.’The Coordinator does not have a final word on all those issues. The contracting for whatever services or goods is done in this case by the Commonwealth or whoever the Commonwealth designates’, O’Dell said.’The Federal Coordinators job is to be just that, to coordinate with the affected governments and the various U.S agencies and to advocate for the people in the affected area. And I think that’s the way it urgently needs to be so in the case of Puerto Rico. And that person needs to think of their relationship with the government of Puerto Rico as a partnership, not as a client’, he added.

For a full Spanish version of this story go here.