It is not easy for me to write this open letter to address the residents of Arrecife, a city of which I have had the honor of being mayor for the last four years. The first time on June 15, 2019, and recently, just a few weeks ago after the municipal elections last May. A position, that of Mayor, which I have finally decided to resign from.
This has possibly been one of the most complex decisions I have had to make in my political career, which has undoubtedly been many throughout all these years. And I recognize that it is one of the most difficult I have faced because any result does not prevent me from feeling with a divided heart.
I know that the discredit that a part of the citizenry feels for the political class will lead many to think and say, because I have already heard it before, that this is about finding the best possible spot for the next four years. And, although that thought is legitimate, I cannot help but reject that reductionist and false vision that some are making.
I believe that I am a person who throughout my life has shown that seeking my personal comfort has not been my guide or my objective. If that were the case, I would not have even accepted being a candidate for Mayor of Arrecife, one of the biggest challenges I agreed to face for the first time eight years ago and whose commitment I did not hesitate to renew on two more occasions.
And although the most comfortable thing at that time would have been to stay in the Cabildo, an institution whose operation I already knew, in which we were doing a very good job and which also has more muscle and better administrative gear than the City Council; I believed that the city of Arrecife deserved an opportunity after decades of mismanagement and I accepted the challenge that this entailed. After four years in the opposition seeing that the city's debacle was not being remedied, I understood that what I should do was contribute my grain of sand to recover and reactivate Arrecife. And I have dedicated myself to this body and soul during the last four years of my life.
I am not going to deny how hard these four years have been, but it comforts me to know that it has been worth it and that Arrecife has finally begun to stand out. And it has been precisely that fear of undoing the path traveled and my determination to complete the project we have for the city, which prompted me to continue.
Now, when a new term begins, life offers me the opportunity to hold the Presidency of the Parliament of the Canary Islands, the highest body of institutional relations with the rest of the autonomous and state political bodies. A position that I have never requested and that had not even crossed my mind throughout my political career, perhaps because it was unattainable and because never before had a parliamentarian from Lanzarote occupied the presidency of the regional Chamber.
And yes. I recognize that in my decision to accept this new challenge, the fact that for the first time in history, and after ten parliamentary legislatures, Lanzarote and La Graciosa are going to preside, in a certain way, the autonomous chamber, regardless of whether I am the person proposed by the president of the PP of the Canary Islands, Manuel Domínguez, to whom I have to thank for having trusted me for this task.
And as I said at the beginning, neither the situation nor the decision has been easy, but I sincerely believe that I am doing the right thing at this time. On the one hand, because I cannot let Lanzarote and La Graciosa lose this historic opportunity and, on the other, because I know that Arrecife is in very good hands; in the hands of a person who has worked with me side by side, who knows the city council from the inside, who has seen and participated in the process of change in this city, who knows how things have to be done and who is up to date on all the files and projects that are underway. For all this, and because he is a dedicated and enormously hardworking person, I know that Yonathan de León will be a magnificent mayor of whom all the residents of Arrecife will be proud. Time will tell!.
I do not want to end this letter without apologizing to all those who in these four years may have felt that I have failed them or that I have not lived up to expectations. Also, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to the citizens who are part of this great city that is Arrecife and who have given me the opportunity and the honor of being its mayor. A position that I have tried to perform with the utmost responsibility, loyalty and dedication that has been possible; doing at all times what I believed was best for the general interest of the residents, for their present and their future.
With our successes and mistakes, we can say that Arrecife is today a very different city from what it was four years ago. Even with all the work that remains to be done, Arrecife is today more and a better city. I am sure that in that path of progression and development with which the Popular Party has committed itself, we will continue for the pride and well-being of the citizens.
Thanks once again to all those who have made it possible and have contributed to making it so.
Thank you.
Ástrid Pérez, Mayor of Arrecife
