In just two years in office, the Arrecife City Council has accumulated more than 1,100 objections from the municipal Audit Office. This figure is not a bureaucratic detail of no importance: it is a reflection of a way of governing in which technical warnings become a mere obstacle to be avoided.
The latest example, and perhaps the most publicized, has been the contract for the Alejandro Fernández concert. The auditor was clear, detailed and forceful in her report: she explained point by point why it was not appropriate to authorize this expense and what the risks were for the municipal coffers. However, it was decided to lift the objection and move forward, as if nothing had happened.
And here is the problem: we are not talking about an isolated event, but a pattern. When objections become routine and lifting them a mechanical act, what is being said to the citizens is devastating: "Control exists, but we do what we want."
The role of the Audit Office is not decorative. It is not there to annoy or to stop political whims, but to guarantee that public funds are managed in accordance with the law, with rigor and with respect for everyone's money. Each objection lifted is an alarm raised, a warning that indicates that something does not conform to the law or the correct procedure.
If these reports are systematically ignored, what is eroded is not only the role of the auditor, but the credibility of the institution itself. What is the point of talking about transparency, responsible management or respect for public funds, if it then becomes the norm to skip the technical criteria that should be the counterweight to political power?
As a resident of Arrecife and a public official, I am enormously concerned about everything that is happening in the city council of my city, and I know that many residents feel the same way. I sincerely hope that some form of understanding can be found, respecting the mechanisms of control and responsibility that must be maintained before the citizens. Because each objection lifted without a weighty political justification is not only a gesture of arrogance towards the Audit Office, but a blow to the confidence of the people of Arrecife in their rulers.
The question is inevitable: who controls those who should be controlled?