Hernán Padilla
| Hernán Padilla | |
|---|---|
| Mayor of San Juan | |
|
In office January 12, 1977 – January 2, 1985 |
|
| Preceded by | Carlos S. Quirós |
| Succeeded by | Baltasar Corrada del Río |
| At-Large Member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives | |
|
In office January 2, 1968 – January 2, 1977 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
May 5, 1938 (age 78) Mayagüez, Puerto Rico |
| Political party | New Progressive Party (PNP) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America
|
| Service/branch |
 United States Army Reserve
|
| Years of service | 1954–1987 ARNG 1987–1993 USAR |
| Rank |
 Coronel
|
Hernán Padilla Ramirez (born May 5, 1938) in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, is a retired physician and former two-term Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
After training as a nephrologist, he entered private practice and in military with the Puerto Rico National Guard and the U.S. Army Reserve in Fort Meade Maryland. He was sent to active duty during the Gulf War and assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center. In 1967, he became politically active, participating in the pro-statehood campaign leading to the July 27 political status plebiscite, as a leader of Estadistas Unidos (Statehooders United), a non-partisan group founded by long-time Statehood Republican Party gubernatorial candidate Luis A. Ferré. On August 20, 1967, at the assembly in Carolina, Puerto Rico at which the organization was dissolved, Padilla and other party leaders proposed the creation of a new political party that would eventually be known as the New Progressive Party (NPP) or Partido Nuevo Progresista (PNP) in Spanish.
In January, 1969, after the NPP’s electoral triumph and his own election as a state representative, in spite of being a freshman, he was selected as House Majority Leader for the 1969-1973 term. After the NPP's defeat in 1972 and his own reelection, he served as Minority Whip until 1977. In 1976, he won the NPP nomination for mayor of San Juan after a three-way competition with attorney Baltasar Corrada del Río and Senator Sila Nazario, and was elected to the post in November of that year, succeeding newly elected Governor Carlos Romero Barceló and Carlos S. Quirós who served a days-long stint as mayor following Romero's swearing-in as governor and the official beginning of the 1977-1981 term. His term as mayor was marked by a major expansion of sports and community facilities and the first attempt to wrestle with San Juan's looming solid waste crisis. He also served as President of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, been the first Hispanic in that position. Hernan Padilla built the San Juan's Municipal Tower in Hato Rey, the San Juan's Central Park, the Pedrin Zorilla Coliseum, Paseo de Diego, and others installations. He also created San Juan's Municipal police department.
...
Wikipedia