Puerto Rico Oversight Board chairman to resign

Puerto Rico Oversight Board Chairman David Skeel announced he will leave the board after nearly eight years.

Skeel, one of the original seven members appointed in August 2016, shortly after the passage of the Puerto Rico Oversight, Management and Economic Stability Act, said he will leave when a replacement is in place. In mid-2020 then-Board Chair José Carrión resigned, and Skeel was tapped to replace him.

Separately, President Biden announced the appointment of former Ford Foundation President Luis Ubiñas to the board and the reappointment of Arthur González and Betty Rosa.

“I am proud of what we have accomplished together in cutting the debt and stabilizing Puerto Rico’s finances,” Skeel said in a statement released by the board. “Stability is not enough; we must continue our work to complete Puerto Rico’s recovery and hand our responsibilities back to the elected government.”

“I know the Oversight Board will achieve PROMESA’s mandate of ensuring long-term fiscal responsibility, restoring sustainable economic growth, and providing the people of Puerto Rico with the opportunities they deserve,” Skeel said.

“When I was nominated … I knew that the task ahead for my fellow board members and me would be demanding, complicated — and rewarding,” Skeel said. “The challenges have been formidable in ways I couldn’t possibly have foreseen in the summer of 2016, but, in the end, our work has been no less rewarding.”

It could not be immediately determined if Ubiñas was taking Skeel’s place or an open spot on the board.