San Bartolomé, a participatory project Alexis Tejera* Politics finds its reason for being in people. Starting from the belief that it is not only possible, but a duty, to work in institutions to contribute to achieving a better world, we have wanted, since the beginning of this mandate in 2019, to open the doors and windows of the San Bartolomé City Council so that in the day-to-day management we do not lose sight of what the true priorities of the citizens of our municipality are.
Barack Obama said that the role of the citizen in our democracy does not end with the vote. Today it is indisputable, in any democracy, that political management can only be effective if citizens are listened to. Only in this way is it possible to improve, correct, transform, advance.
We began this stage of municipal government by betting on a management model that focuses on participation, with the purpose of integrating neighborhood proposals and suggestions into the policies that are developed from the different council offices. Without even reaching the middle of the term, a pandemic unexpectedly broke out that has forced us to reformulate part of the municipal project for these four years, because when we have overcome the situation - we trust that very soon - we want to be able to say with pride that no one in San Bartolomé was left behind.
However, if COVID-19 has served any purpose, it has been to give us the opportunity to explore and put on the table new communication tools and channels that are proving to be very effective in the open dialogue between the City Council and residents. Despite the many difficulties, we have refused to give up on that commitment to keep citizen participation alive, more necessary than ever in these complicated times. Precisely for this reason, it has been exciting to see the forecasts exceeded with the important reception that the telematic meetings held since February 8 with the residents of Güime, El Islote, Mozaga, San Bartolomé and Playa Honda have had. Their response translates into concrete contributions that will be incorporated into municipal management, and here it is obligatory to thank that constructive spirit both with the opinions favorable to the policies that we are developing and with the criticisms and suggestions that will serve to improve us.
The meetings with groups are also allowing us to make a more accurate diagnosis of those realities that can only be known in depth if we have the perspective of their protagonists. Collaboration is being essential to accurately identify priorities and, in this eagerness to involve residents in municipal management, we have launched initiatives from the City Council such as the opinion poll last July on training and information needs. Likewise, the use of the Green Line has been consolidated, a direct channel of communication between the City Council and citizens and from whose latest balance the resolution of 81 percent of the complaints received through this tool is clear.
In this participatory project, transparency becomes a key piece. Here we must value the important evolution that our City Council has experienced in terms of transparency in recent years, going from a score of 3.2 obtained in 2016 to 8.1 in 2019, according to the ITCanarias.
The participation that we are committed to in the San Bartolomé City Council is an active, real participation, based on listening, on exchange. It requires something essential whose channels are underway: closeness. That, and no other, is the path to continue walking to build, hand in hand, the municipality we want. * Mayor of San Bartolomé
