Francis González resigns from continuing in the Icod City Council to enable a CC-PP pact

In the resignation of the credential of elected councilor of Francis Gonzalezto which EL DÍA has had access, asks the Icod Zone Electoral Board that “urgently and immediately a credential be issued in favor of number 8 on the list of Canarian Coalition“, what is Sebastian Gorrin Garcia“so that he can carry out all the procedures and take office in the session of the next Saturday June 17“.

Own Francis Gonzalez confirmed this Thursday to EL DÍA his resignation “after assessing it and discussing it with party colleagues in Icod and also with the general secretary of CC in Tenerife, Francisco Linareswho is the one who is leading the open negotiations”. between CC and PP in the City of Drago“I have thought that stepping aside can help foster an understanding between both parties to give a government of stability to the municipality, knowing that there are other agreements like this in other institutions. I think that would be good for the interests of Icod de los Vinos“.

“I have always considered public life as a vocation and an act of public service, so I look for the best for the neighbors and it is possible that this is an exitin view of the fact that there are personal situations that prevent it,” he said, alluding to the existing differences with respect to his former party partner Cory Yanes. Is vox populi that a local government with both protagonists would be unfeasible in Icod, since their differences began to take shape in 2014, in the context of internal struggles for leadership in the Canary Coalition. “We have not sat down in Icod because the negotiations are being carried out by the insular negotiating commissions of the respective parties. Since it was seen that there was no possibility of rapprochement because I could be in that government, I understood that my obligation and my responsibility was to step aside. It hurts, it costs, but you have to assume that the situation is what it is and that the important thing is to look for formulas of agreement that give stability to our municipality”, emphasizes González.

“The people have spoken. They have asked us to find formulas for agreements and a CC-PP pact can be good for Icod de los Vinosif we all know how to add and work in the line of coherence in accordance with the governance agreements in the Government of the Canary Islands or in the Cabildo de Tenerife“, details González. In his opinion, in the previous mandate, when forces other than those that governed in those two institutions governed in Icod, “the formula that was used was that of drown ourselves politically and biocot and even reversing decisions already taken, such as the opening of the offices of the Canary Islands Tax Agency or the new Vocational Training institute, for which Clavijo left 9 million euros that they later denied us Icod of the Wines. They also boycotted the improvement of San Marcos beach or the approval of the General Management Plan (PGO). It was all part of a strategy“.

Francis Gonzalez wait and wish with his departure from municipal politics in icodense the door to a CC-PP agreement is opened: “I hope that the path is paved and they sit down to talk, as the insular negotiating commissions are talking, so that later that agreement is closed in the local commissions. My resignation is a way to unblock this situation so that an effort is made in search of that pact”.

González will continue to be Secretary General of CC in Icod of the Wines and leaves the door open to continue in politics in other areas, as it already did between September 2017 and the 2019 municipal elections, when it was General Director of Heritage of the Government of the Canary Islands. “I feel young, eager and I have experience and a vocation for service. We’ll see what happens. I am also a lawyer by profession and politics is temporary. I will fulfill the obligations of the acting mayor position until the last day, then I will go on vacation for a week and then we will see, “he announces.

“I did not expect”

Regarding the electoral result of 28M, Francis González admits that he did not expect it: “We had indicators and surveys from June 2022 that gave us data that put us close to an absolute majority. Later studies continued along the same lines, that we would be fighting for an absolute majority. Analysis remains to be done to understand what has happened happened, which I think has to do with pre-electoral times, where confidence was lost in that belt of the municipality that makes up Las Canales, La Vega, La Cruz del Camino, El Amparo, Los Piquetes and Buen Paso. In Santa Barbara we won and also in Las Lajas, Playa de San Marcos and at all the tables in the town. We tied in Llanito Perera”.

“When we guarantee governance, we will do that in-depth analysis to understand what has happened. Has it been disappointing? Well yessince we understood that we have done a job that deserved continuity. The decision of the people is sovereign and now it will be necessary to see why it was so and what have been the mistakes made and the circumstances that have made these results possible. I did not expect them “, he concludes. In his opinion, CC was the victim of “a very tough campaign throughout the mandatealmost harassment against me, by the opposition, especially from Icodense Alternativeand above all on social networks, with many false profiles with criticism and lies, like saying that we had raised our salary, something that even some murga came to sing later and it was not true. They also continually repeated the refrain that only parties and cultural events were held in the town. Which is also not true.”

Francis González leaves local politics in the term that begins, but convinced of his work: “I stay calm because if we have exceeded in culture, my conscience is at peace. Education and culture are the main instruments of the peoples to advance. I bet and I would continue betting on it. Because it generates economic development and also improves people’s mental health. That’s why they gave us the award for Cultural Town of the Year 2022. We energized the town a lot and we bet on the Icod brand, which was also Magic Town of the Year 2023. In a pandemic and, later, we wanted to energize the town and help local businesses. It was not all Festivals and Culture, and it was not all focused on the helmet. There were projects that in total add up to more than 16 million euros, executed, tendered or in drafting. We did a very serious job of planning and execution.”