José G. Tormos Vega
Encyclopedia
José Guillermo Tormos Vega, known as Joselín, was a Puerto Rican
Puerto Rican people
A Puerto Rican is a person who was born in Puerto Rico.Puerto Ricans born and raised in the continental United States are also sometimes referred to as Puerto Ricans, although they were not born in Puerto Rico...

 politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 and Mayor of Ponce
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...

, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 from 1976 to 1984.

Political life

Tormos Vega defeated the incumbent mayor, Luis A. Morales
Luis A. Morales
Luis Antonio Morales Crespo was a Puerto Rican politician and Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1976. He was also Senator for the District of Ponce from 1977 to 1980 and president of the Ponce Municipal Assembly from 1989 to 2004 He is recognized as a politician, sportsman, and sports...

, by more than 3,000 votes. He was re-elected in 1980. Among the public works projects that took place in the city during his tenure are the construction of the Cruceta El Vigía
Cruceta El Vigía
Cruceta del Vigía is a 100-foot-tall cross located atop Vigia Hill in Ponce, Puerto Rico, directly in front of the Serralles Castle museum. It houses a tourist center at its base, a 10 story vertical tower, and a horizontal sky bridge that has panoramic views of the city of Ponce and the Caribbean...

, and the renovation of City Hall
City hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall or a municipal building or civic centre, is the chief administrative building of a city...

 and the Coto Laurel
Coto Laurel
Coto Laurel is one of the 31 barrios of the municipality of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Along with Anón, Marueño, Guaraguao, Quebrada Limon, Real, and San Patricio, and the coastal barrios of Canas and Capitanejo, Coto Laurel is one of the municipality's nine bordering barrios...

 village square.

In 1983, Tormos Vega honored long-time local legend Carlos Garay Villamil for his contributions to the traditions of the city of Ponce in his capacity as a horse-drawn carriage coachman
Coachman
A coachman is a man whose business it is to drive a coach, a horse-drawn vehicle designed for the conveyance of more than one passenger — and of mail — and covered for protection from the elements...

. A plaque
Commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other vertical surface, and bearing text in memory of an important figure or event...

 has since been added to the front facade of the Ponce City Hall
Ponce City Hall
The Ponce City Hall is located on Calle Degetau, across from Plaza Las Delicias in the Ponce Historic Zone in Ponce, Puerto Rico. The building serves as the seat of the executive branch of government of the Autonomous Municipality of Ponce, including the office of the Mayor of Ponce. It is the...

 to commemorate the event.

Charged with extortion

Tormos Vega quit his position in 1984 upon being charged with extortion
Extortion
Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...

. He was substituted by José Dapena Thompson
José Dapena Thompson
José Joaquin Dapena Thompson, known as Josito, was a Puerto Rican politician and Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1986 to 1988.-Training:...

. He was indicted on October 31, 1985, by a federal grand jury, and tried on May 27, 1988. He died in jail a few years later. He was replaced by José Dapena Thompson
José Dapena Thompson
José Joaquin Dapena Thompson, known as Josito, was a Puerto Rican politician and Mayor of Ponce, Puerto Rico from 1986 to 1988.-Training:...

, who two and a hlaf years later and in the midst of a hotly debated electoral campaign was forced to resigned allegedly to dodge potential criminal prosecution for corruption.

See also

  • Ponce, Puerto Rico
    Ponce, Puerto Rico
    Ponce is both a city and a municipality in the southern part of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.The city of Ponce, the fourth most populated in Puerto Rico, and the most populated outside of the San Juan metropolitan area, is named for Juan Ponce de León y Loayza, the...

  • List of famous Puerto Ricans
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