The plaque beared the name of PNP mayor, María Meléndez, instead of the PPD mayor who had erected the commemorative bust, mayor Rafael Cordero Santiago, a.k.a. Churumba.
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In April 2011, the 2012 PPD Ponce mayoral candidate Ramón Torres Morales, criticized the incumbent opposition PNP party mayor María Meléndez for placing a plaque on the bust that former PPD mayor Churumba had erected at the entrance to the Juan Pachins Vicens auditorium to commemorate the basketball legend.
Parque Lineal started construction under the administration of mayor Francisco Zayas Seijo when an injection of $18 million was received from the Government of Puerto Rico as a result of a 1998 Supreme Court order, during the administration of mayor Churumba, and which mandated the Government of Puerto Rico to pay for certain infrastructure improvements in the municipality of Ponce.