José Guillermo Rodríguez

José Guillermo Rodríguez Rodríguez is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the Mayor of the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico for 27 years until March 31, 2022 when he was suspended by the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel. He received his elementary school education in Escuela de Cruces and Escuela de Malezas, he received his intermediate school education from the Manuel A. Barreto Middle School and later graduated from Eugenio María de Hostos High School.

At sixteen years old he was elected Vice President of Popular Democratic Party Youth of Quebrada Grande, his Barrio. Afterwards he was the first elected president of the Popular Democratic Youth of the Mayagüez-Aguadilla district. On 1980, he graduated from Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, San German campus, with a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration. He was re-elected in 2020 with 46% of the vote defeating Tania Lugo (PNP) with 39% of the vote.

He occupied diverse positions in the Municipal Government of Mayagüez: communal worker, assistant administrator of the Luis Muñoz Rivera Park, sub-director of civil defense, safety coordinator, assistant administrator for the Municipal Hospital and inspector of "Rentas Publicas". Before these arrest the municipal government had created the Mayagüez Economic Development Inc. (MEDI). MEDI is a municipal corporation created to administer the assets of the municipality in order to increase revenue.

In total 58 properties that were passed to MEDI were later used as collateral for highly speculative investments. These investments may have provided the opportunity for the scheme to defraud the municipality. Among the properties on the list where places of historical importance including the Mayagüez City Hall, Teatro Yagüez, and Palacio de Recreación y Deportes. The San Antonio Hospital, the only pediatric hospital in the municipality, was also one of the properties.

At a press conference to address the controversy the mayor denied any involvement in illegal activities and pointed to other acts of corruption by authorities on the island.

On April 7, the day after the secretary of justice referred him, representative José "Quiquito" Meléndez Ortiz referred the mayor to the Special Independent Prosecutor Panel (PFEI, for its initials in Spanish) for these allegations. In September 2021 the Department of Justice recommended an investigation into the mayor's actions. In response Jose "Quiquito" Meléndez and another representative called for the suspension of the mayor's salary. The mayor designated an interim mayor on April 22 after calls grew for an investigation into his administration. In July 2021 the mayor's house and offices were searched by the FBI. In March 2022 the prosecutor panel suspended him as mayor. In June he was charged with mismanagement of public funds and subsequently arrested and released after posting bail.

Personal life In December 1988, he married Marisel Mora González with whom he has two children: Francisco José and Guillermo Antonio Rodríguez Mora.

He is a practicing Roman Catholic.