Delivering her first report on the operation of the DIF Chapala (family assistance agency), the city’s First Lady Marisela Navarro discarded the conventional recitation of facts and figures, choosing instead to speak off the cuff about true life stories and the needs of the downtrodden people she is committed to serve.
From the get-go she addressed her own shortcomings, admitting to feeling embarrassment at not having fulfilled the promises she made to many of the people she encountered while following her husband, Chapala Mayor Joaquin Huerta Barrios, on the campaign trail.
“I understand why you might not believe in us,” she told the scores of DIF clients seated in the audience. “In this first year we have lacked the adequate resources to meet your expectations, but I have not forgotten my word to come to your aid.”
Navarro delved frankly into cases of abandoned seniors, women and youngsters who suffer domestic violence, the sick, the disabled and the hungry, rampant alcoholism and drug abuse that destroy the social fabric.
“We have to take concrete actions to confront the intense problems that affect our children, our youth and our elderly. We have to do our jobs well and with complete honesty.”With a twinkle in her eye, Navarro acknowledged getting quickly scribbled messages to cut the speech short – apparently slipped from her husband’s hand to event ushers – and then barreled on until she’d fully had her say.
She expressed her appreciation to DIF staff for their hard work and rarely recognized dedication. She gave her thanks to local organizations, businesses and private citizens who have lent support. And she earnestly addressed her two teenage sons looking on from the front row, saying, “You have to be the best students, exemplary citizens, because now it’s our turn to act as role models.”
Finally ceding the microphone, Navarro took her seat to watch a video presentation chock full of images and mind-numbing statistics outlining the DIF programs, services and events carried out over the last 12 months. It was the usual sterile stuff of government accountability, but did nothing to detract from the genuinely warm human touch of Navarro’s warm-up.
As icing on the cake, after closing the program she engaged local reporters in an informal chat that revealed her modern mindset on diverse issues, including a staunch belief in the empowerment of women as the most promising approach to resolving social ills.