Fight the Power! (Company): Leftist Trump-Hating San Juan Mayor Cruz Now Waging War on Whitefish Energy

Trump-hating San Juan, Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz is now fighting online with Whitefish Energy, a small power company contracted to help oversee reconstruction of the electric grid in Puerto Rico that was devastated by Hurricane Maria. Cruz has gone on Twitter tirade against the company with dozens of tweets, replies and retweets in just a few hours after the company stood up to her attacks.

Mayor Cruz, in an interview with Yahoo News published Wednesday, called for Whitefish’s contract to be cancelled. Cruz then carried her fight with Whitefish to Twitter.

A $300 million contract to fix Puerto Rico’s hurricane-damaged power grid that was given to a tiny Montana company should be voided, said San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, who said the process of awarding the no-bid contract raised ethical and legal questions. In an interview with Yahoo News on Tuesday evening, Cruz described the contract as “alarming.”

As of Wednesday morning, 75 percent of Puerto Rico does not have power as a result of damage from Hurricane Maria. The storm hit the island, which is a U.S. territory, on Sept. 20.

The Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority signed the contract with Montana’s Whitefish Energy last month. At the time, the firm had just two full-time employees. The contract was awarded without a competitive bidding process. Cruz, the mayor of Puerto Rico’s largest city, described the Montana company as inadequate and said there appears to be a lack of “due diligence” behind the contract.

“The contract should be voided right away, and a proper process which is clear, transparent, legal, moral and ethical should take place,” Cruz said.

“It seems like what the Puerto Rican people are going to be paying for, or the American people are going to be paying for, is an intermediary that doesn’t know what is at stake here and that really has to subcontract everything,” she said of Whitefish. “What we need is somebody that can get the job done and that has the expertise to get the job done.”…

Mayor Cruz also attacked President Trump in the interview.

“I want to make sure that people understand that we know the difference between President Trump and the good-hearted people and the good-natured people of the United States. We know they’re not one and the same,” said Cruz.

Rep. Nydia Velazquez, a New York City Democrat who was the first Puerto Rican-born woman elected to Congress, has said she believes the island’s residents are being treated differently from other U.S. citizens because they are predominantly Latino. Cruz agreed with that assessment.

“It’s because we’re a colony of the United States to begin with. … And people have danced around that word and they don’t want to say it. … We are a colony of the United States,” Cruz said, adding, “Yes, there is racism. There is discrimination. Mr. Trump may have the most powerful job in the world, but that does not make him a respectful person.”

Cruz described the president as “the face of inefficiency, bureaucracy and ineffectiveness.”…

Whitefish responded to Mayor Cruz with a statement posted online.

“We share the mayor’s frustration with the situation on Puerto Rico, but her comments are misplaced. Whitefish has more than 300 workers on the island and that number is growing daily. We are making progress and doing work when others are not even here. We find her comments to be very disappointing and demoralizing to the hundreds of people on our team that have left their homes and families and have come here to help the people of Puerto Rico.”

Mayor Cruz responded, playing the poor put upon woman card, “You would think I am the only one in the world that has commented on this. What is it about women having an opinion that irritates some?”, followed with, “If @WhitefishEnergy feels that asking for transparency is ”misplaced”, what are they afraid we will find.” and “Only my comments? What is it about women having an opinion that infuriates some?”

Whitefish replied to Mayor Cruz, asking her if she wants them stop repairing San Juan’s electric grid, “We’ve got 44 linemen rebuilding power lines in your city & 40 more men just arrived. Do you want us to send them back or keep working?”

Mayor Cruz replied by playing accusatory victim, “@WhitefishEnergy implies that you will not treat the City of San Juan with the diligence it deserves. Thus admitting political motivations.”

Mayor Cruz whined to sympathetic mainland reporters, “@hunterw @DavidBegnaud Threats received by @WhitefishEnergy. The implication is if I do not “play nice” they will not do their job. Nasty!”

And to a local reporter.

“@WhitefishEnergy amenaza con no hacer su trabajo en SJ por mis cuestionamientos a su contrato. Ya sabemos su agenda. @riverasaniel”

Mayor Cruz obviously is not used to someone standing up to her, whether President Trump or Whitefish Energy. Since Whitefish issued their statement Wednesday afternoon, Cruz has unleashed a Twitter storm in Spanish and English with about three dozen tweets, replies and retweets about Whitefish in just a few hours.

As this report was being finalized, Whitefish responded to Mayor Cruz, “Mayor, you called for our work to end. We do not want to leave the island without help. We’re committed to restoring power to Puerto Rico.”

This report will updated as Mayor Cruz responds.

UPDATE: Mayor Cruz replies to Whitefish after a dozen more Twitter activities.

“Why do you only have 44 linemen in San Juan is beyond me? Why are neighboring towns energized while SJ is kept in the dark becomes evident.”

Wednesday night update:

Whitefish apologized.

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Kristinn Taylor has contributed to The Gateway Pundit for over ten years. Mr. Taylor previously wrote for Breitbart, worked for Judicial Watch and was co-leader of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com. He studied journalism in high school, visited the Newseum and once met David Brinkley.

You can email Kristinn Taylor here, and read more of Kristinn Taylor's articles here.

 

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