Chapala Mayor Javier Degollado seems to be living up to his government slogan “Rescatar para Transformar” (Rescue to Transform), recently picking up the pace of projects that are changing the face of public spaces in every corner of the community.
Whether he is also keeping his close eye on the financial ball stands out as a topic of concern among some constituents.
Hyperactivity in some transformational projects now in progress includes the construction of seven new sales modules on the former grounds of Chapala’s Artesanias market, and a full-blown makeover of the central plaza in San Nicolas de Ibarra, coming with a combined a price tag of just under six million pesos. The cost will be covered through the Fund for Strengthening Municipal and State Infrastructure, from a federal budget purse of 11 million pesos ticketed for Chapala thanks to the gestures of national congressional representative Martha Covarrubias Anaya.
While that translates into zero spending from municipal coffers, public records show that the treasury paid out 43,000 pesos to cover travel expenses for Degollado and top staffers on four trips to Mexico City planned to curry Covarrubias’ favor. The mayor’s travel bill since taking office last October now totals 79,000 pesos.
Last week, the city council gave the green light for a major rehabilitation of La Cristiania Park that encompasses improvements to pedestrian paths, green areas, rest rooms and the pool area, with an investment of eight million pesos by the state government and another two million in municipal funding. The project has been scaled down due to cuts in the Jalisco budget that reduced the state’s share down from an anticipated total of ten million.
Although the administration’s ballyhooed Grandes Eventos program has clearly succeeded in boosting local tourism, complete financial records on the series of big happening have not been made public. What has been revealed is the poor economic outcome of this year’s Carnaval celebration, showing a loss rounded out to 1,239,340 pesos.
More disturbing is the probable high cost of Degollado’s restructuring of the administrative staff. At the start of his government approximately 120 city hall employees were dismissed, at a cost of 2.5 million pesos in severance pay reported by city treasurer Roberto Molina.
In turn, the new administration hired dozens of new people, inflating the payroll from 540 full-time base employees listed at the end of September 2015 to 573 registered in May of this year. Adding on 82 registered temporary workers, the figures represent a monthly outlay of 5,732,052 pesos in salaries, compared to 4,700,070 pesos when former mayor Joaquin Huerta left office.
The numbers do not take into account expenses for individuals who receive regular payments for independent services rendered to the municipal government, nor staff employed by the semi-autonomous Family Development Agency (DIF) and SIMAPA water services utility.
The independent constituency group Agenda Ciudadana recently called Degollado to task for failing to honor a public pledge to trim the payroll. According to its estimates, his administration will spend at least six million pesos more on salaries in its first 12 months than the final year under Huerta.
Despite the city’s added costs for a larger staff, conventional wisdom among average citizens indicates there has been no notable improvement in public services, deemed its priority function.
The question remains whether Degollado’s fanciful vision of a Chapala Wonderful will eventually lead the municipality down the dark rabbit hole of financial disaster.