The Tacoronte City Hall has ordered the eviction of the social premises of the El Casco Neighborhood Associationlocated at number 67 of Ismael Dominguez streetas a result of a conflict with the management of the canteen that led to the resignation of the board of directors of this association at the end of the summer of 2021 and, in the constitution, still pending legalizationof a new directive that rejects the recovery of the premises and defends the work of the person who is in charge of the canteen “by means of a verbal contract”.
The former president of this association Francis Julian Gonzalez and its board of directors resigned and renounced the agreement for the use of the premises, which they had with the Northern City Council. They notified the Consistory in October 2021 and, since then, this group and its premises have remained in a kind of legal limbo that other neighbors have tried to solve without success. Meanwhile, and once the resignation was received, the Consistory began a procedure to recover the premises which, according to the mayor, Jose Daniel Diaz (NC), “it can no longer be stopped because we would be committing an illegality”. The president denies that the municipal intention is to end the activity of this association and assures that “as soon as the premises are recovered and conditioned, our intention is to promote its reopening, with municipal activities, starting in September».
Francis Julian Gonzalez He denies that he pressured the manager of the canteen to go to certain suppliers, as assured from the other party, and replies that he left “because he did not pay attention to anyone and had open files on issues of schedules, parties and works without authorization, and we did not want to have any legal responsibility. We do not want the association to disappear and proof of this is that we did not cancel it».
Almost a year in the legality
Christian Gonzalez, one of the neighbors who rejects the local recovery order, points out that “this association has been in a situation that could be described as illegal for almost a year. That begins when the previous president decides to resign, dragging his entire board except the vice president, without calling elections and, apparently, all because of differences with the lady who runs the canteen, as well as the cleaning of the facilities, including the pitch, and that now it takes care of opening and closing. This lady is well regarded in the performance of her duties by the vast majority of partners and neighbors, something protected by 163 signatures of support».
Faced with the vacuum that was generated, the Christian Gonzalez and other neighbors began a process in November 2021 to try to renew the directive. “An assembly was organized and an electoral board was elected that, in February 2022, proclaimed the winning candidacy, chaired by Javier Alfambra“, Explain.
“Since March 2022 we have been trying to get the City Council to recognize this directive, but they demand a membership book to which we have not had access», warns Christian. The former president denies that these books are in his house and says that “they are in an office of the association, whose key is in the possession of the Consistory.” Through a burofax, the new president-elect has asked the City Council to deliver those books “if they are in his possession.” The mayor replies that he does not know if they are in any local office and that they will only be able to verify it “when the person in charge of the canteen delivers the building.”
The recovery file has exhausted the administrative route, and can only be appealed in court. The rejection of the appeal filed by the person in charge of the canteen was notified on July 2 and gave a period of 8 days to leave the premises. The new directive complains that “the association continues to be blocked” for what they consider malpractice of the outgoing directive and of the city council itself, which they accuse of “abandoning functions”. Their protest has reached the street, where they installed a banner with the phrase: «No to the closure of the Neighborhood Association! The neighbors decided. And they have also sent a letter of complaint to the Deputy of the Common.
The mayor insists that the objective is not to close the association: «The file has simply been processed as a result of the resignation of the agreement. It is already resolved and notified. You simply have to vacate the canteen and, later, you can continue your activity with a new agreement with that association or with another, but at no time have we thought of giving that place a use other than the one it has».
