On March 22nd, I wrote an opinion article titled "Now is not the time for a 'come back tomorrow'," which I take the liberty of copying verbatim, as it has not lost its validity. On the contrary, the described scenario seems even more relevant these days:
"Our city council demands it for a simple matter of humanity and because it is our duty. We must be infallible and forward-thinking and implement new social policies aimed at these new times in which the sun is not expected to shine. The time, whether shorter or longer, will depend exclusively on the capacity and dedication of the actors involved in its management, in the making and implementation of decisions that have to do with the needs of the people. Therefore, speed becomes a key factor in the new stage that lies ahead. A new system in which the bureaucratic part, far from interfering, does not endlessly question the procedures to be applied, ensuring that immediacy and efficiency are the great banner that guides us.
It is of utmost importance and a greater budgetary flexibility must be exceptionally available to cover the expenses derived from the social care of our municipalities. I say this because I believe we must respond promptly to any well-founded demand in social matters, and that should be the way to proceed. In general, we are constrained by countless bureaucratic regulations of one kind or another, and the current model is not the most suitable for managing a complete and truly different reality.
That is why together we must agree on the tools for a new administrative model effectively implemented for this situation, in which speed prevails in matters relating to these expenses and allows us to react quickly - I cannot tire of repeating it - to the needs of the people, as almost all of them will be matters of subsistence for people in which a "come back tomorrow" is not an option.
Taking that thought as a reference, in the City Council of Teguise, before those dates, we planned three possible scenarios and acted with foresight to not be late in the future care of the residents.
We have had to perform incredible feats to dress one saint without undressing another. We have reinforced the Social Welfare area with two people, one for the legal department, a fundamental figure in these times in which regulations and administrative bureaucracy have become a real mess. In addition, we must have the capacity to respond urgently to the number of aids that will be announced with the aim of alleviating the situation in the best possible way. We presented this week the second Employment Plan since the confinement, and we will probably have to rethink an expansion of personnel in the near future to continue covering needs. With these new incorporations in the area, we have set ourselves the goal of having the capacity to present a job insertion program every 15 days.
Soon we will have support staff for the Technical Office, given that with the speed in granting licenses for rehabilitation, as well as construction of new spaces, we help create employment and an economic redistribution among the professionals of the municipality. An architect and a new quantity surveyor have been the profiles that stand out as necessary in the service.
But the effort that each of the city councils is making will be worth nothing, or very little, if there is no equalization of tasks in the scope of the Government of the Canary Islands, which allows eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic procedures that only manage to slow down some and scare away other investors because they cannot materialize their investments, and examples of what I am talking about, unfortunately, are known to all.
We need an emergency plan that contemplates the areas of the government in a transversal way, something that I have been proposing for some time, even, for example, for the tourism sector in the Canary Islands. Today, the applied model forces you to make an extensive journey between departments and departments of different administrations to simply renovate a hotel, some apartments, or obtain a new activity license. The road begins with a first step in the City Councils, then different areas of the Cabildo and subsequently the approval and permits of the Government of the Canary Islands and each with its administrative deadlines? It is normal for the investor in any matter to allege that it is necessary to start a year earlier. A constant improvement in the product and a constant improvement in the processing should be the objective to pursue.
I put this example because in social matters the same thing happens, any request requires more stamps than Piquer's trunk, and now, as I say, it is not the time for that cumbersome and indefinite administrative model. In short, clarify the competences to avoid duplications of other Administrations so that the principle "one Administration, one competence" is made effective.
In Teguise we continue to study new answers before the demands are formulated. Fortunately, I am the mayor of my town and I have an extraordinary team that is and will be up to the circumstances.
Oswaldo Betancort
Mayor of Teguise
