Julio Rhymer Sr.
On Monday, Governor Albert Bryan Jr. announced the appointment of Julio Rhymer Sr. as the new head of the Office of Management and Budget.
No stranger to the role, Mr. Rhymer previously served briefly as OMB director in 2018, before leaving to take up a senior position at Viya. He has also held senior financial management roles at the Housing Finance Authority and the Water and Power Authority. “Under his leadership, the Water and Power Authority improved its financial stability and spearheaded the recovery efforts after the 2017 hurricanes. His innovative testimony before Congress was pivotal in securing billions in essential funds for the rebuilding of the territory’s infrastructure, including energy, transportation, and other critical systems,” Governor Bryan said.
Apart from his positions in the executive suite, Mr. Rhymer also served on the boards of VIHFA, the Territorial Government Hospitals & Hospital Facilities Corporation, the Public Broadcast System, the Public Finance Authority, the Lottery Commission, and CARILEC, a regional association of electricity providers.
After his glowing introduction by the governor, Mr. Rhymer offered a few words to outline his focus as OMB director. “What I see here in terms of my vision going forward for this organization is really rebuilding the Office of Management and Budget.” Asked to elaborate on what he meant, Mr. Rhymer disclosed that unlike in the past, where OMB leadership has been recruited from within its ranks, the office has since shrunk to a fraction of its full capacity. “Currently there’s probably about 30 vacancies in an agency that has 52 employees.” That paucity of talent meant that OMB was forced to look externally for its new leader instead of promoting from within, a trend Mr. Rhymer says he is hoping to reverse.
Additionally, the new director says he wants to improve the operations of OMB, especially as it relates to their relationship with other government entities. A major priority, according to Mr. Rhymer, is “bringing accountability, efficiency, and basically having the government move in an effective way.” He also wants to work on “fostering a collaborative relationship with each agency and department in regards to actually making sure that federal funds are spent timely, and basically making sure the drawdowns are always met on time.”
Mr. Rhymer’s appointment, according to Governor Bryan, “has the potential to fortify the Bryan-Roach administration even more.”
