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Dec 4, 2009, 8:12 AM
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Lady mayor in distress
BY RICARDO CASTILLO
The News http://www.thenews.com.mx/....asp?cve_cont=390020
SAN MIGUEL DE ALLENDE ,Thousands of municipal governments throughout Mexico changed hands on October 10 following the July 2 mid-term elections. The common denominator among them was that previous municipal mayors delivered their municipalities brankrupt in what seem to be an act of generalized corruption. San Miguel de Allende was no different.
Current mayor Lucy Nuñez says that more than corruption, ,poor budget planning, was to blame for the near catastrophic demise of some 2,000 municipalities.
,Evidently 2009 was a most uncommon year. We came from 2008 when we had excellent income, not just for San Miguel but for most municipalities. The mistake was to budget 2009 with the dynamism stemming out of 2008.,Äù
Affecting the Mexican economy was the U. S. financial crisis which steamrolled in a devastating manner throughout Mexico as well as the nation,Äôs own problems caused by a dramatic drop in oil production. In Mexico,Äôs centralized economy, federal taxes are first collected by the state and national governments, then trickled down back to municipalities.
,ÄúThis could have been corrected but it did not happen, at least here in San Miguel. If you realize that your budget is in excess of those funds you were supposed to receive and they will not arrive, then fasten your belt. What happened here is that the previous administration spent the entire budget in the first six months of the year.,Äù
Since taking over, Mayor Nunez has had to make do with whatever is at hand. A major asset for her is popularity, Recently former workers from the garbage collection department vandalized vehicles, and stopped picking up trash. She organized a ,Äúcitizens,Äù brigade of some 220 vehicles went out and cleaned up the town in no time. She, however, knows she can,Äôt depend on this type of cooperation forever and is now using disposal containers conveniently located for people to deposit their refuse.
,ÄúThis has to do, of course, with the local, state, national and international crisis, but there were management mistakes.,Äù
She must still come up with an audit, which will be released this week, in which will be shown the figures of the previous administration. It is clear that figures don,Äôt match the funds received by the administration, and San Miguel may just have another minor political scandal on its doorstep.
,ÄúWe will name names, but mainly former mayor (now state assembly deputy) Jes√∫s Correa. I like neither controversies nor speaking without evidence, but we will issue these results not as a reprisal nor as a reproach, but just as simple facts. I want to make this known locally, statewide and nationally, if possible, because they made dramatic mistakes.,Äù
Mayor Nuñez is still scrounging to get money not just to pay for basic services the municipality is obliged to perform, but to pay for the upcoming Christmas bonus customary in Mexico. Where will she get the money from?
She confesses she does not know, but ,aguinaldos, or Christmass bonuses ,will have to be paid.
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