Héctor O'Neill García (born June 20, 1945) is a Puerto Rican politician who served as the mayor of his hometown of

Guaynabo Guaynabo (, ) is a city and municipality on the northeastern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. Located west of the capital San Juan, east of Bayamón, south of Cataño and San Juan Bay, and north of Aguas Buenas, Guaynabo is spread over 9 barrio ...

from 1993 to 2017. O'Neill is affiliated with the New Progressive Party (PNP) and has also served as a member of the

Senate of Puerto Rico The Senate of Puerto Rico () is the upper house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The Senate, together with the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico, control the legislative branch of ...

Early years and studies

Héctor O'Neill García was born on June 20, 1945, in Barrio Hato Nuevo of

. His parents are Adrián O'Neill Meléndez and Heriberta García González. O'Neill studied his primary school at the Agustín Lizardi School in Hato Nuevo. He continued his studies at the Miguel Such Vocational School in

Río Piedras Rio or Río is the Portuguese and Spanish word for "river". The word also exists in Italian, but is largely obsolete and used in a poetical or literary context to mean "stream". Rio, RIO or Río may also refer to: Places United States * Rio, Flo ...

where he graduated with a degree in car body repair and mechanics. Already in his 50s, he enrolled at the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Metropolitan Campus () is located in Cupey, San Juan, Puerto Rico. It was built in San Juan due to the large success of the Polytechnic Institute of Puerto Rico. It started its first semester in 1 ...

in Río Piedras. In 1999, he obtained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in business administration, with a major in management. He was exalted to the Board of Honor due to his high

GPA Grading in education is the application of standardized measurements to evaluate different levels of student achievement in a course. Grades can be expressed as letters (usually A to F), as a range (for example, 1 to 6), percentages, or as num ...

Professional career

Shortly after graduating in the 1960s, O'Neill opened his own mechanic shop. Eventually he started working as an insurance adjuster. In 1970, he worked as an inspector for the Puerto Rico Cooperative. From 1973 to 1977, he worked as administrator of Public Works in Guaynabo.

Political career

O'Neill began his political career in 1970 when he served as secretary of the political organization Acción Progresista. In 1971, he was elected vice-president of the New Progressive Party Youth. The next year, he was elected to the Municipal Assembly of Guaynabo, while only 25 years old. In 1981, he served as executive aide to the vice president and Speaker of the

Puerto Rico House of Representatives The House of Representatives of Puerto Rico () is the lower house of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico, the bicameral territorial legislature of Puerto Rico. The House, together with the Senate, control the legislative branch of the go ...

. During that time, he collaborated with the Rules and Calendar Committee, among others. That year, he also began working as executive aide to then mayor of Guaynabo, Alejandro Cruz until 1986. That year, he started working as an adviser in administrative affairs and public politics of Guaynabo until 1988. O'Neill ran for the

at the 1988 general elections. He was elected to represent the District of Bayamón, which includes his hometown of Guaynabo. O'Neill was sworn in January, 1989. During that term, he served Minority Speaker in several committees. He was reelected at the 1992 general elections. In 1993, after the sudden death of mayor Alejandro Cruz, O'Neill decided to run for the seat. He was elected in a special election held on April 2, 1993, and was sworn in April 7, 1993. After that, he has been reelected in five consecutive terms (

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

). During the

election, he received 70% of the votes, being one of the mayors with the largest margin of victory. O'Neill occupies several positions of leadership within the New Progressive Party (PNP). He is a member of the board, as well as president of the party in Guaynabo. He was also president of the Puerto Rico Mayors Federation. O'Neill was suspended from his job as mayor of Guaynabo on May 24, 2017. He resigned June 5. He was succeeded by former Rep. Angel Pérez-Otero.

Personal life

O'Neill is married to Alba N. Alvelo. He has eight other children from his previous marriages: Héctor, Edward, Kenneth, Mike, Juvelt, Yamal, Ryan y Ronald.

Scandal

On October 27, 2016, it was revealed that a female police officer had filed a complaint against O'Neill for sexual harassment.Ivette Sosa
"''Policía acusa a O'Neill de agresión sexual''"
Telemundo, 27 October 2016 Both Puerto Rico governor

Ricardo Rosselló Ricardo Antonio Rosselló Nevares (; born March 7, 1979) is an American former politician, businessman, neurobiologist and educator. He served as Governor of Puerto Rico from 2017 until his resignation in 2019. In 2021, he returned to active ...

and resident commissioner Jenniffer González have condemned him and called for him to step down. On June 5, 2017, O'Neill resigned from the position of mayor

References

External links

Biografía de Héctor O'Neill
on CamaraPR

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Hector 1945 births Living people 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico Interamerican University of Puerto Rico alumni Mayors of places in Puerto Rico New Progressive Party members of the Senate of Puerto Rico People from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico