Chapala mayor plans job cuts
Chapala Mayor Joaquin Huerta intends to cut the municipal government’s bloated payroll in a bid to rectify the municipality’s shaky financial status.
The goal is to slash payroll expenses by 15 to 20 percent by reducing city hall staff. Huerta says that will be accomplished by encouraging some employees to retire or resign voluntarily and merging government offices that handle similar or parallel duties.
Reporter reader Cathie Simon took this dramatic photograph from her home in Chula Vista looking south across Lake Chapala on the evening of Thursday, April 18.
Chapala alderman Gerardo Degollado Gonzalez abandoned his seat on the city council (cabildo) on Monday, April 29 after being granted an indefinite leave of absence to assume a new job with the Guadalajara city government.
Manuel Real Barragan heaves a faint sigh of despair, furrowing his sun-baked brow as he glances out beyond the far end of the Chapala pier. As head of the vigilance council for the local tour boat operators association, he is up against the challenge of literally keeping business afloat.