Talk:Chief of Staff of Puerto Rico

Secretary of Government, Lieutenant Governor, or Chief of Staff?

Although the overly-regal term of "Secretario de la Gobernación" should not be translated as "Secretary of Government" but as "Chief of Staff" (as per American tradition) I have revertted my own extensive edits in good faith while we discusss this matter. However, I have eliminated reference to the Chief of Staff as the equivalent to Puerto Rico's Lieutenant Governor, as the island's Secretary of State is widely accepted to fulfill that role, just as in the states of Arizona, Oregon and Wyoming, and no Chief of Staff has ever attempted to replace PR's Secretary of State in the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA), which Secretaries of State Pedro Vázquez and Kenneyh McClintock have actually hosted in PR, as recently as a year ago.Pr4ever (talk) 04:47, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

We have both agreed to bring this discussion up to other editors as neither of us can provide sufficient evidence to support our claims and the only evidence that we have is vague and about 10+ years old. We are both acting in WP:GOODFAITH and in a WP:CIVIL manner in order to achieve WP:CONSENSUS. Please see the civil, friendly, and polite discussion that originated this RfC at User talk:Ahnoneemoos#Chief of Staff to the Governor of Puerto Rico.

From my part I'm willing to compromise on the following:

• move the article to Puerto Rico Chief of Staff.
• keep the lead that uses a literal translation to Secretary of Government.
• refer to the position as Chief of Staff afterwards in the whole article once it has been established that the position is colloquially known by such a name even though its official name is Secretary of Government.
• keep the sentence that says that the position is similar (but not equivalent) to that of a Lieutenant Governor or Chief of Staff. I'm willing to be persuaded on this matter if presented with a good and solid argument. No references would be necessary.
• I disagree that the Secretary of State is considered the equivalent of a Lieutenant Governor. He is considered an Acting Governor: someone that exercises the position of Governor solely when the Governor is unable to perform his duties. The second-in-command is always the Chief of Staff.

We would both like to hear opinions from others in order to reach WP:CONSENSUS.

—Ahnoneemoos (talk) 05:22, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

I would suggest the following:

• I agree that the article be moved to Puerto Rico Chief of Staff
• The literal translation of "Secretario de la Gobernación" isn't exactly "Secretary of Government" (Secretario del Gobierno) but "Secretary of the Governorship". None of the two is used in any state or territory of the United States, after which Puerto Rico's system of government is fashioned. The lead, in any case, should refer to "Secretary of the Governorship".
• No LtGov exercises day-to-day oversight over the whole state govt, as a Chief of Staff does (see the LtGov wiki article); thus the reference that they're "do-nothings" unless someone travels (in states where LtGovs become ActGovs upon temporary absence) or drops dead. In that sense, Chief of Staffs or a Secretario de la Gobernación in not similar but totally unlike a Lt. Gov.
• LtGovs are never "second-in-command", Chiefs of Staff always are, although during this administration I'm told that McClintock would chair Cabinet meetings when Fortuño was absent. In many states, a LtGov would never chair a Cabinet meeting since they'd be of opposing parties or not trusted by a Governor.
• NLGA recognizes the Secretary of State of PR as the Lt. Gov. and Mr. McClintock's speeches mention that he serves in that role, if not the title. See: https://www.facebook.com/notes/kenneth-d-mcclintock/welcoming-remarks-p3-forum-october-9-2012/10151074641521338 (as a footnote), and in his own words at: https://www.facebook.com/notes/kenneth-d-mcclintock/remarks-on-long-term-lease-of-luis-muñoz-mar%C3%ADn-airport-28-sept-2012/10151061170446338

To be continued...Pr4ever (talk) 05:52, 30 November 2012 (UTC)

Brother, good news. I found a document in English from the government itself referring to the position as Chief of Staff, see [1], page 18 ("12" within the document itself). Please feel free to fix all errors pertaining to this matter. Use this document as its reference so that other editors don't change the name nor refer to the post differently.

Now, regarding the Lieutenant Governor post, the thing is that from a worldwide point of view (not the U.S. alone) an LtGov is seen as a second-in-command. You are looking at it from the article Lieutenant governor (United States) which is about the LtGov position in U.S. states. Now, considering that Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States and that, naturally, people will immediately compare it to a U.S. state, I'm willing to remove all references to LtGov. Please feel free to fix all references pertaining to this matter.

Regarding the Secretary of State, do you have any documents or news articles from reliable sources that refer to the Secretary of State as LtGov? A post by McClintock himself would be an auto-proclamation which is not enough. Just saw the footnote by NLGA and the change on Lieutenant Governor (United States)—go ahead, feel free to fix these errors as well.

—Ahnoneemoos (talk) 06:22, 30 November 2012 (UTC)