Opinion ID: 483585
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Relationship to Partisan Political Concerns

Text: 13 Our first inquiry is whether the Regional Director position relates to partisan political concerns. In Jimenez Fuentes, we held that the Regional Director of the Puerto Rico Urban Development and Housing Corporation was such a position. 807 F.2d at 243-244. The Urban Development and Housing Corporation is a subgroup of the Department of Housing, responsible for providing housing in urban areas. The RHA is also a subgroup of the Department of Housing, responsible for administering housing programs in rural areas. The Regional Director implements RHA programs of significant economic and geopolitical impact. For instance, the RHA has the responsibility of distributing land to certain agricultural laborers (the agregados ). See P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 28, Secs. 521, 555 (1985). It administers programs to encourage family farm ownership and to distribute lots and construction materials to low-income families. Id. Secs. 521, 711. 14 The RHA, therefore, administers important agrarian reform programs that impact on the fabric of Puerto Rico's rural life. The governing political party's ideological orientation on social and economic issues could affect the approach taken in carrying out these programs. The position, therefore, is essentially similar to one involving the provision of housing to low and middle income city residents[, which] is a vital political issue, at least as important to partisan program goals as the provision of water discussed in Tomczak [v. City of Chicago, 765 F.2d 633 (7th Cir.1985) ]. Jimenez Fuentes, 807 F.2d at 243. In other words, it is a position in an agency rendering economic and social services of broad impact involving government decisionmaking on issues where there is room for political disagreement on goals or their implementation[.] Id. at 242. An official with regional authority to implement rural social and economic reforms could, because of political disagreement with the Administration over fundamental issues, hinder the accomplishment of the elected Administration's goals. We hold, therefore, that the RHA Regional Director position is substantially related to partisan political concerns. 15