The municipal socialist group in the City Council of Santa Cruz of Tenerife is studying presenting a contentious administrative appeal against the capital’s City Council, considering that what happened yesterday in the Plenary Control Commission, where it did not receive a response to two of its requests for appearance from the Councilor for Security, Gladis de León, “is a violation of the fundamental rights of the opposition.” This was stated by the Santacrucero PSOE spokesperson, Patricia Hernández, who explained that “what happened was a circus which also goes against the regulations themselves”.
Yesterday, the Plenary Control Commission had five requests for appearances on the agenda, four requested by the PSOE and one by Vox. Two of the socialist requests were addressed to the Councilor for Citizen Security, Gladis de León, from whom the opposition asked for explanations about the situation at the Local Police headquarters, as well as about the eviction of the event. Pisaca Young Festwhere, according to the police report prepared on the party, held on September 29, it ended with dozens of drunk minors and garbage containers from the area with bags of hashish pollen.
However, both matters were postponed yesterday in the Control Commission due to the non-appearance of the councilor Gladis de León who, according to the City Council, is on vacation, while the firm’s delegate councilor, José Alberto Díaz-Estébanez, responsible of the Treasury and Heritage Area, did not attend for an urgent surgical intervention. Facts that, in the opinion of Patricia Hernández, “seem more like a dissuasive tactic by the government team to not respond to two issues that are very serious.”
The socialist spokesperson indicated that, “in the previous mandate, if any councilor could not appear, they were notified in advance so that the groups, out of courtesy, did not present their questions on record. But now the appearances must be registered eight days before the Commission is held, and, in this case, the spokespersons have been notified at noon on Monday and through a mobile group chat.
Added to this situation, Hernández added, is that “the mayor, José Bermúdez, published early today (yesterday for the reader) a decree of appointment by replacement of Evelyn Alonso as Councilor for Security, Mobility and Universal Accessibility, from the Wednesday, the 18th to Sunday, October 22, 2023 (both inclusive) due to the absence of Gladis de León, current owner, and the medical leave of Díaz-Estébanez, previously appointed as substitute councilor for the Area,” the socialist detailed.
“If the mayor had appointed Evelyn Alonso as temporary replacement for Gladis de León in the morning and said mayor was present at the Control Commission, what we do not understand is that we were given silence as a response. For this reason, the socialist group decided to leave the session and put the case in the hands of lawyers, considering that the current municipal government has violated our fundamental rights as an opposition. It seems like they are hiding something,” stressed Patricia Hernández.
For his part, the Councilor for Social Welfare, Carlos Tarife, accused the socialist spokesperson of “lacking respect for the plenary session, since no rights have been violated because this change was previously reported in the spokesperson chat. The requests requested by the PSOE will be answered in another Commission or Plenary Session of the City Council,” something that was also assured by the president of the Commission, the councilor for Territorial Planning, Zaida González.
Despite this obstacle experienced yesterday in the Plenary Hall of the capital’s City Council, however, other questions included in the agenda did have a response, such as the request from the municipal group Vox regarding the works contract for the execution of the field rehabilitation project of La Salud football.
In this sense, the mayor of Infrastructure, Javier Rivero, explained that “the increase in the budget of the work, around 600,000 euros, has been due to a modification made after it was detected by the company awarded the works that the lighting towers, elements not included in the project, are founded on a slope that does not have an adequate surface and, therefore, the structural stability is compromised by external actions.”
Football fields
Likewise, the councilor clarified that “during the work along the wall of the football field, on Mencey Bencomo Street, the water pipes were damaged, which has meant another inconvenience in having to replace the pipes and wiring. However, pending the technical report, the works will continue.”
Rivero asserted that “Santa Cruz is the municipality of the Canary Islands that is investing the most in the rehabilitation of soccer fields, since there are currently three in progress, plus another three (Los Gladiolos, García Escámez and El Tablero) pending execution.” Others The matters discussed in the Control Commission were at the request of the socialist municipal group, requesting an explanation about the sponsorships of sports teams and athletes in Santa Cruz.
In this regard, Sports Councilor Alicia Cebrián denied that “there is currently any sports team in Santa Cruz, first or second division, that is not going to receive sponsorship aid, as long as they meet the established requirements” and assured that “Before the end of the year, what was agreed upon will be paid to the sports teams.”
