The socialist councilors of the Tinajo City Council left the municipal plenary session this Wednesday in protest after the mayor of Tinajo, Jesús Machín, "refused to table the item relating to the reporting of decrees, despite not having provided the documentation requested by the socialist councilors".
Last Saturday, the PSOE electronically filed a request for copies of several of the 510 decrees included in the agenda. No response or access to the requested documents was received until the start of the session. Even so, the mayor intended to proceed, arguing that the councilors "should go to the City Hall," when regulations require that plenary documentation be made available electronically, as is the case with other files.
“It is **a serious omission and an obstruction** in capital letters that directly violates our right of access to information as councilors, recognized in article 77 of the Law on the Bases of Local Regime and in article 84 of the ROF,” denounced the socialist spokesperson Begoña Hernández. “We requested copies of the documents that make up the files and, as of the Plenary session, we still have not received them," she stated in a press release.
Hernández stressed that "we are not going to legitimize practices that empty the opposition's control and oversight functions of content. Without documentation, there is no transparency or democratic guarantees."
The socialist councilwoman explained that her departure from the plenary hall "responds to the will of not validating an action contrary to legality and the principles of good governance", and thus she has requested "that the item be tabled until effective access to the requested copies is guaranteed through the correct channels".
"Jesús Machín must understand once and for all that transparency is not optional," Hernández added. "If they are so sure of their management, they should provide the documentation in a timely manner and allow the democratic oversight mandated by law and common sense," he continued
The PSOE of Tinajo has announced that, if this situation persists, it will adopt the institutional and, where applicable, legal measures necessary to protect the rights of the councilors and the democratic quality of the City Council.