Rodríguez Rivera v. Committee for the Settlement of Municipal Complaints

84 P.R. 66
CourtSupreme Court of Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 5, 1961
DocketNo. 2
StatusPublished

This text of 84 P.R. 66 (Rodríguez Rivera v. Committee for the Settlement of Municipal Complaints) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Rodríguez Rivera v. Committee for the Settlement of Municipal Complaints, 84 P.R. 66 (prsupreme 1961).

Opinion

Mr. Justice Blanco Lugo

delivered the opinion of the Court.

On March 17, 1959 the Committee for the Settlement of Municipal Complaints issued an order directing the removal of Edelmiro Rodriguez Rivera from his office as mayor of the Municipality of Aibonito, upon granting the first of four charges preferred against him by the Governor of Puerto Rico, through the corresponding complaint. Respondent appealed from this order by way of the certiorari provided by paragraph 10 of § 29 of the Municipal Law of 1928 (21 L.P.R.A. § 132), as amended by Act No. 4 of December 7, 1955 (Sp. Sess. Laws, p. 62) ,1

The facts alleged in the charge found proved and which in the Committee’s opinion “constitute illegal action on the part of the respondent,” were: (1) having appropriated to himself and disposed of by means of donation or sale, without authorization from any municipal body, useful surplus construction material proceeding from the demolition of several buildings in the ward El Coqui of Aibonito, which had been granted by the Housing Authority of said municipality; (2) having collected approximately $1,677.50 from the sales of the aforesaid materials, which he did not enter in the municipal funds and of which he gave no notice either to the auditor or to the treasurer of the municipality, and which he used in the manner he deemed most convenient; (3) failure to give notice to any officer or municipal agency, of the official steps taken by him in procuring that the aforesaid [69]*69materials be granted to the municipality for the execution of works of public interest. The commission of seven errors is assigned.

1, 2 The facts constituting the charge previously transcribed occurred prior to December 7, 1955, effective date of Act No. 4 creating the Committee for the Settlement of Municipal Complaints, a body empowered to hear and make decisions on the charges preferred against a mayor “for immoral conduct or unlawful acts in the performance of his functions.” Respondent maintains that the Committee erred upon applying said Act retroactively, that is, considering facts occurring prior to its effectiveness as cause for removal.

It is unnecessary for us to consider all the contentions made by respondent with respect to this alleged error. Under the Act in force at the time of the commission of the aces constituting the charge preferred-~ 29 of the Municipal Law of 1928, as amended by Act No. 55 of April 18, 1950 (Sess. Laws, p. 138)-as well as under the same provision as subsequenUy amended by Act No. 4 of December 7, 1955, the "unlawful acts in the performance of (the) functions" in the office of mayor constitute sufficient cause for the removal to be ordered. It is unnecessary then, that we decide whether the change from "gravely immoral" conduct (Act No. 55 of 1950, supra) to just "immoral" conduct (Act No. 4 of 1955, supra) placed the petitioner in a more serious position. The decision separating him from office was not based on this ground. The respondent Committee only had to determine whether petitioner's conduct submitted for examination and investigation constituted "unlawful acts."

The charge that the statute does not provide an adequate test to determine the immoral conduct which might cause removal need not be considered either in view of the reason stated that the removal of respondent in the instant case was due to his unlawful acts. Even at the risk of incurring tautology, unlawful acts are merely conduct contrary to law. [70]*70In this respect, in the charge preferred by the Governor, after describing the acts charged, reference was made to the specific provisions of the Act allegedly violated,2 thus placing respondent in a position to prepare an adequate defense.

3, 4 The third and fourth errors challenge the removal because (a) even accepting the findings of fact set forth by the Committee, these are not sufficient if, as concluded, the petitioner did not obtain profit nor personal benefit as a consequence of the facts found proved; and (b) it was not shown that any of the transactions made by the petitioner exceeded the sum of $200 as required by § 8 of the Municipal Law of 1928, 21 L.P.R.A. § 84, and furthermore, the sections of the Regulations of the Municipal Accounting System which it is suggested were violated, did not impose duties on him personally but on other municipal officers.

In order to dispose adequately of these contentions, we copy the Committee’s findings of fact in Appendix “A” of this opinion. Upon doing so, we wish to repeat that by express provision of the law “the findings of fact of the Committee shall be final,” and that there is not the slightest intimation that those set forth are not sustained by the evidence.

The absence of personal benefit for the officer removed does not necessarily entail the acquittal from the charges set forth. We have so stated in similar situations. In In re Fonseca, 42 P.R.R. 189 (1931), we upheld the removal of the mayor decreed by the municipal assembly by virtue of charges to the effect that said officer had leased a [71]*71portion of the market place, in the face of a' municipal Ordinance requiring the intervention of the assembly for that purpose, and had also disposed of sixty dollars received by him as rent and failed to deposit the same in the municipal treasury without considering the fact that respondent did not convert them to his own use, for in any event, “the misuse of money belonging to the municipality cannot be excused.” The absence of the intention to defraud does not constitute a valid defense when the action charged is clearly contrary to law, Municipal Assembly v. González, Mayor, 55 P.R.R. 526 1939). See, Winship, Governor v. Municipal Assembly, 55 P.R.R. 439 (1939); Piñero, Governor v. Barreto, 68 P.R.R. 136 (1948); Piñero, Governor v. Grillasca, 67 P.R.R. 853 (1947).

Even though the evidence showed that a great deal of the materials and of the funds received from said sale were used for the construction of distribution centers of milk in the rural zone of the municipality and others for the community, “the truth is that the request for the granting of said materials was made to the Housing Authority of Puerto Rico by respondent, in his official capacity as mayor of Aibonito, and that the materials were not granted by the Authority to the respondent in his individual private capacity, but in his official capacity as mayor of Aibonito.” (Italics ours.) Therefore, the property in question was municipal property for the disposal of which he should have strictly followed the procedure provided by law and with which respondent was undoubtedly acquainted, because he had been acting as mayor thereof since 1944. The conduct of Mayor Rodriguez is in contravention to the provisions of paragraph 5 of § 8 of the Municipal Law then in force,3 and constitutes the “unlawful [72]*72acts” to which the law refers as cause for removal. The only way in which we could exonerate him would be if we decided that the Housing Authority granted the materials to Rodriguez in his personal capacity, if this were possible, but we are stumped by the definite findings of fact on the matter set forth by the Committee, which are supported by the evidence presented.

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Bluebook (online)
84 P.R. 66, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/rodriguez-rivera-v-committee-for-the-settlement-of-municipal-complaints-prsupreme-1961.