The Chapala government has taken a quantum leap in its adherence to transparency criteria, according to the latest scores reported by the Jalisco branch of the Colectivo Ciudadanos por Municipios Transparentes (Cimtra).
In the ratings for 36 municipalities announced October 16, Chapala jumped from a failing score of 17.6 reported in September 2018 to 83.8 percentage points based on the evaluation carried out in August of this year.
It was Chapala’s first passing score in five consecutive Cimtra reviews.
The independent organization evaluates government transparency in terms of access to public information in nine categories, including expenditures, public works, citizen participation, attention to constituents and financial declarations of public servants.
Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos and Tlajomulco de Zuñiga topped the new Cimtra list with tied scores of 100 percent. Tlaquepaque, Zapopan, Zapotlanejo, Guadalajara, Zapotlán el Grande and El Salto all ranked above 95 points.
Chapala’s improved ranking put a feather in the cap of Mayor Moisés Anaya for bringing the government up from the bottom of the barrel, where it lingered throughout the previous administration. The municipality now stands in 11th place on Cimtra’s national scale, compared to 23rd one year ago.
Jocotepec, on the other hand, fared poorly in its first ever Cimtra review, scoring only 41.1 points.