Chapala Mayor-elect Javier Degollado won’t be taking time off for a post-election vacation. Having received official certification of his election victory Tuesday, June 16, he is eager to start laying the groundwork for a three-year term of office.
In fact, the 51-year-old politician was already chomping at the bit when he convened local reporters for an off-the-cuff press briefing at his Chapala home on June 10, barely an hour after the municipal election council announced the final vote tally.
Appearing serene and composed, Degollado chatted amicably about his approach to the upcoming change of government and a personal conviction to make good on his laundry list of campaign promises and ultimately become “the best presidente Chapala has ever had.”
Reiterating strategies spelled out during two months on the campaign trail, Degollado said his administration’s initial task will be to carry out a thorough diagnosis of the municipal government’s financial status, its legal obligations concerning existing contracts and labor suits and the operation of public services.
To assure a smooth transition, Degollado and his campaign team are jumping right into preliminary plans to restructure city hall management, which will include a new framework for public security as a top priority, as well as establishing distinct supervisory agencies to develop policy and coordinate activities related to key issues such as urban development, business and employment, health and agriculture. In addition, the mayor-elect says he will set up a special office with bilingual staff to attend to the particular needs of the expat community.
As a candidate, Degollado frequently made a point of stressing his previous experience in public administration. His curriculum includes prior municipal government posts, such as social programs chief in Puerto Vallarta (2004-2005), Chapala department coordinator during the 2007-2009 term of his brother Gerardo Degollado, and head of the personnel development unit in Guadalajara (2012-2013).
He also boasted of personal strength in know-how for tapping into to state and federal spending programs to fund public works and community projects. He intends to apply that talent to accomplish major initiatives, among them converting the Municipal Clinic into a Cruz Verde emergency medical facility, building a full-service community hospital, improving the local street and highway network and upgrading the infrastructure and operation of waste water treatment facilities throughout the lakeshore region.
Degollado likewise outlined an ambitious agenda to boost the tourism industry, diverse cultural activities and quality education to benefit the constituency. And another goal is to get Chapala incorporated into the Guadalajara metro area in order to enhance the municipality’s finances and empower its statewide influence.
In a bottom-line message to his constituents, Degollado declared, “The people will encounter a government ready to launch the complete city project we have conceived. Together we will write a new history for Chapala.”