The Autonomous Organization of Festivals and Recreational Activities (Oafar) of Santa Cruz will become a public business entity. This is the conclusion of the report commissioned by the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, to the General Directorate of Municipal Organization to define a new management model for this entity that is in charge, among other things, of the organization of the Chicharrero Carnival.
This conclusion will be presented today at the Government Board, which will begin the transformation process of Oafar, which according to the schedule that accompanies the report, must be completed before June 30, 2024.
The mayor’s decision to request this study was supported by a report issued on September 28 of this year by the Comptroller General, in which he recommended “the need for a reflection on the appropriate legal nature of the dependent entity responsible for municipal powers over parties and recreational activities, and especially if it makes sense for it to adapt to the regime of public entities subject to a limiting budget, as is the case of an autonomous body, or to resort to other figures subject to the regime of the estimated budget, such as They are commercial companies or, the closest solution, that of a public business entity.”
Bermúdez pointed out that this decision is about “improving and modernizing the administrative and operational management of the organization of the Carnival and other festivities.” In this sense, he trusted that, once the new form of management has been decided, “the organization of the 2025 Carnival, as well as the rest of the activities that now depend on the Festival, will be streamlined and we will be able to have more efficient management.” and in accordance with the needs of the city.”
For his part, the Councilor for Festivals, Javier Caraballero, valued the progress that the implementation of this new model will mean for the organization of the Carnival, as well as that “it is a formula that allows us to maintain staff, and improve in the face of the future. Now a transition period opens in which we will maintain a constant dialogue with everyone,” he concluded.
As detailed in the report, the most appropriate formula for managing the festive and recreational activities promoted is the public business entity. “This form of management not only improves the entity’s financing capacity, and will streamline the different procedures, but will also allow the labor structure to be maintained and improved for the future.
To this end, he argues that “the activity to be carried out in the exercise of public powers is marginal, so a public entity subject to private law can provide a better response to management needs and unforeseen events in the promotion of activities with an important artistic component.” ”.
Furthermore, the aforementioned text points out that “public business entities have an estimated budget, which implies that a budgetary underestimation of spending does not suspend its execution, as happens in entities with limiting budgets.”
