Jesús Edgardo Colón Berlingeri, also known as "Gardy", is a Puerto Rican politician and the current mayor of Orocovis. Colón is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and has served as mayor since the death of his predecessor and father, Jesús Colón Collazo, in 1998, who died in office of a massive heart attack. Colón was then officially elected by the people in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. In 1982 starts courses College in the

University of Puerto Rico at Cayey The University of Puerto Rico in Cayey (UPR-Cayey) is a public university in Cayey, Puerto Rico. It is part of the University of Puerto Rico System. It was initially founded as a regional school in 1967 and became a college in 1969. It was awar ...

graduating is in 1987 with Bachelor in

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and a Masters from

Penn State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State became ...

. From 1988 to 1996 was noted for his service to minority communities in various jobs from teacher in

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located within the Philadelphia Metropolitan Area, it is the only city in Delaware County and had a population of 32,605 as of the 2020 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester is ...

school district, counselor to director of the Hispanic Program for Academic Progress at the

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

. In 1988 he married Odette Piñeiro, Puerto Rico's former

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and fellow Penn State alumni, from whom he is separated. They have three sons.

Personal life

Colón was born in

Saltos Saltos is a barrio in the municipality of Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Its population in 2010 was 3,238. History Puerto Rico was ceded by Spain in the aftermath of the Spanish–American War under the terms of the Treaty of Paris of 1898 and became an ...

barrio, Orocovis, Puerto Rico and was the second oldest in a family of 7 siblings.

Career

Colón served as a delegate to several

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

s and campaigned actively for

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

prior to Puerto Rico's 2008 Democratic

presidential primary The presidential primary elections and caucuses held in the various U.S. state, states, the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, and territories of the United States form part of the nominating process of candidates for United States preside ...

References

Living people Mayors of places in Puerto Rico New Progressive Party (Puerto Rico) politicians Pennsylvania State University alumni People from Orocovis, Puerto Rico 1965 births {{PuertoRico-politician-stub