There was anticipation for the first plenary session of the southern corporation, evident in the crowded hall of the Benito Pérez Armas Sociocultural Center, where approximately eighty residents of the municipality attended the first ordinary plenary session of the 2007-2011 legislature, in which, for the first time, the opposition holds a majority with eight councilors compared to the five from the Government Group formed by PNL-NC and led by Mayor José Francisco Reyes.
And that majority of the opposition has been leveraged by the PIL, CC, and mixed groups, the latter formed by the sole councilor from the PSOE, Olivia Cedrés, to assert their will and achieve, with their eight votes in favor, the approval of the motion signed by the three groups, allowing them to consult any file from the City Council and make copies without having to request it in writing or wait for any authorization. A measure that, according to the spokesperson for the PIL, Gladys Acuña, "is not out of whim, we are not a danger to the City Council's documentation," a comment she added, recalling the problems she had several months ago accessing the files for granting a license to build a residential complex of more than 1,000 homes north of Playa Blanca.
The mayor stated that there has "never been any inconvenience" in seeing the files but did not agree with the possibility of making photocopies of the documentation, ironically suggesting that the councilors in the opposition "want to set up a City Council archive in their homes".
Salaries and exclusive dedication
However, the opposition has not remained united in all votes, and thanks to the abstention of CC, the Mayorship's proposal regarding the salaries of the mayor himself and the councilors of the Government Group, as well as the 100% exclusive dedication of its members, has been approved, a proposal that has received the outright rejection of PIL and PSOE.
According to what was approved, Mayor José Francisco Reyes will earn 4,733 euros gross per month, and the councilors in the Government 3,643 euros gross each. For the representative of the mixed group, Olivia Cedrés, "considering the financial state of the City Council, it is too much for the five councilors in the Government to be released". The councilor proposed that the exclusive dedications to Government work be three, a proposal supported by the PIL, but which did not get the support of CC, whose spokesperson, Leonardo Rodríguez, argued that his group "does not enter into Government functions of the City Council". After two votes resulting in a tie, José Francisco Reyes's proposal was finally approved "by the will of the mayor," that is, by the value given in these cases to the mayor's vote.
Goodbye to the press officer
On the other hand, the mayor made public during the Plenary a decree signed this very Wednesday by which he terminated the contract that the City Council maintained with a communication company in charge of image consulting and the press office of the council, for whose services the company received 4,824 euros monthly. A decree that José Francisco Reyes showed to the members of the opposition minutes after the three political groups presented a motion requesting the termination of the contract with the communication company, considering the remuneration for the press officer excessive. Leonardo Rodríguez wanted to point out that "what this company charged is the same as what two doctors earn in a private service".
Precisely this very Wednesday, the until now head of communication of the City Council, Severino Betancort, said goodbye through a statement to his work at the head of the press office of the southern council after ten years developing this task, although he did so clarifying that he himself submitted his resignation to dedicate himself to new professional goals.
In addition to these issues, the deputy mayorships have been designated in the Plenary, corresponding in the first place to José Antonio Rodríguez Martín, Ángel Jesús Domínguez Ojeda, and Marina Asunción Santana. Other issues related to the designation of the Governing Board and the Information Commissions and the fees that each councilor will receive for attending Plenaries and Information Commissions, which have been set in both cases at 90 euros per session, have also been discussed.
