Sitting in session on Friday, April 29, members of the Chapala City Council approved a list of sweeping initiatives that could spur a total transformation of the municipality.
The cruel twist is that all of the brilliantly crafted proposals were merely childhood dreams brought to the table by interim mayor David Real Siordia and 10 more young students chosen to serve for the day on a make-believe government body set up to mark the April 30 celebration of Children’s Day.
All local elementary schools were invited to select a candidate to take a place on the kid Cabildo, each of whom was required to present an assortment of documents, including grade reports demonstrating high academic marks and a written proposition to identify and solve a prevalent problem in the community. A panel of city officials headed by Mayor Javier Degollado reviewed the paperwork to “elect” the best qualified candidates.
Four girls and eight boys came out at the top of the pack, with young Real landing the title Presidente Municipal por un Día for his well-developed approach to resolving water and sewage issues.
The 10 other winners laid out plans on topics such as building neighborhood sports facilities to prevent obesity and other health problems; school-room programs to discourage drug abuse, bullying and street gang violence; community campaigns to combat littering and animal abuse; development of a ecotourism hiking trail to promote nature conservation; and public works to repair, resurface and illuminate public thoroughfares and make pedestrian areas handicapped-friendly.
Not one of them suggested building a theme park, cutting down trees and paving over green areas or organizing high-profile happenings to attract tourism.
Neatly outfitted in their school uniforms, the youngsters arrived at city hall bright and early Friday morning for a busy round of activities. They spent an hour and a half touring the premises to meet department directors and learn all about their respective duties.
Then they sat down in the mayor’s inner sanctum for the kind of pre-meeting that grownup regidores hold prior to formal sessions to iron out differences on subjects listed on the day’s agenda. Finally they solemnly marched into the council meeting room where they settled down to discuss and vote on matters at hand. Chapala Secretary General Miguel Mendoza sat in to guide the kids through standard protocol.
With business done, the session was adjourned and the kids posed for souvenir photos, showing off the commemorative medals, electronic tablets, and packets of candy handed out as awards.
Ironically, the genuine city council session held the same afternoon dimmed in comparison to its junior counterpart. For starters, the meeting started two hours behind schedule and delved into few matters of consequence. The only ones of any weight, including the long-delayed organization of public referendums for the formal designation of Delegados (village administrators), were referred to commissions for further review.