Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado and an entourage of officials appeared in San Antonio Tlayacapan Tuesday, September 6 to carry out a symbolic launch of the plaza renovation project.
The session amounted to taking a sledge hammer to the retaining wall of one of the four garden patches and an announcement that possible revisions to the design plans are still under consideration.

With a small group of villagers gathered around the officials, Degollado made a pitch for tearing down the bandstand to replace it with a larger and more modern model. Following the unveiling of the project blueprints and a public opinion survey carried out in early June, the mayor had acknowledged that most residents strongly favored keeping the 80-year-old bandstand intact. Now they are being asked to rehash the matter.

The new, and presumably final, Consulta Pública (public consultation) is scheduled for Monday, September 12, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. According to city councilor Paola Ivette Gómez Valencia, who is charge of conducting the exercise, printed ballots will be used to collect opinions at a module set up at the plaza and through door-to-door visits. The government’s proposed modifications will be displayed next to the module, with an urban renewal expert on hand to answer questions.

Questions will be crafted to include options for the bandstand, as well as flooring, furnishings and decorative details. The project also entails reconstructing green areas and the installation of two fountains.

Gómez explained that 300 responses are needed to validate the process. All residents of San Antonio are eligible to participate, including foreign citizens. The only requirement is an official ID showing a San Antonio address or other proof of domicile in the village.

The survey will be a baptism of fire for Gómez as representative of the Movimiento Ciudadana party that recently pushed through a council initiative for regulations aimed at fostering citizen participation in government decision-making.

The methodology ties in to a recommendation issued last year by Jalisco’s Human Rights Commission instructing Chapala officials to take public opinion into account in the planning and execution of public works, emerging from a dispute over the street renewal project in central Ajijic.

Costs for the project will be covered with a four-million pesos budget set under the Regional Development Fund (Fondereg), with half coming from state coffers and the remainder put up in cash and labor provided by the municipality. The work is set to get under way on September 18, following a 90-day calendar for completion.