The incorporation ‘by finger’ of Julio Cruz reaches the courts for prevarication

Alfredo Gomez relies on a report by the general secretary of the plenary sessionOctavio Fernández, from last November who declared “null and void” the appointment of Julio Cruz. Fernández, who until his departure on the 15th of the La Laguna City Council was one of the main supervisors of municipal activity, requested in that report that the incorporation of Julio Cruz as director of the Presidency and Planning be annulled ex officio for being illegal and The position will be removed by public call as it should have been done from the beginning. The socialist politician is a position of great importance for the Laguna City Council because he controls all areas, especially hiring and personnel.

The secretary of the plenary session until last day 15 concluded that the signing of Julio Cruz is flawed by right since it violates the right of access to public functions and positions, enshrined in article 23 of the Constitution, of other officials, who in this case they could not qualify for this position. Likewise, Octavio Fernández considered that the municipal government of La Laguna violated the procedure established by law by not making a prior public call, therefore the appointment goes against the principles of publicity and transparency in access to the employment public consecrated by the regulations.

In his complaint, the opposition councilor Alfredo Gómez, who left citizens to become non-assigned, states that the interest in hiring Julio Cruz directly and without competition is not from the public, but from the managers of the City Council, and warns of the consequences of Julio Cruz’s performance in a designated position illegal. Gómez emphasizes that the secretary of the plenary session himself already warned: Being a null appointment invalidates the procedures signed by Julio Cruz since he joined as coordinator of the Laguner Consistoryor almost a year ago.

Julio Cruz continues to serve as director of the Presidency and Planning when the government group, led by the socialist Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, understands that the appointment is legal and that the secretary of the plenary session lacks the power to annul this incorporation. Even so, and after the incorporation of the socialist politician and the contrary report of the secretary of the plenary session, the La Laguna City Council opened a selection process for the position, through the free appointment system, of the director of the Presidency and Planning Area, exactly the same one that Julio Cruz occupies.

In a statement to this newspaper on the 12th, Julio Cruz defended the legality of his appointment and stressed that “several reports support it.” “There are reports from both the legal services, the Human Resources service and the technical secretary of the Governing Board himself saying that the report of the secretary of the plenary session is not in accordance with the law and the appointment, yes,” he qualified. But despite the fact that both the Laguna Government and Julio Cruz defend the legality of this appointment, the City Council published in the Official Gazette of the Province (BOP) on February 15 an announcement that includes the bases of the contest to cover the position of Julio Cruz.

Alfredo Gómez, the councilor who has denounced this way of proceeding by the City Council to incorporate a political veteran of the PSOE, asks that they be called to declare as being investigated for an alleged crime of prevarication – a public representative who issues a resolution knowing its injustice – those responsible for this incorporation: the mayor, Luis Yeray Gutierrez, and the Councilor for Markets and the Presidency, Carla Cabrera. Also to Julio Cruz himself when accepting the appointment.

Julio Cruz took up the position of coordinator of the Aguere Town Hall on a secondment. He is a figure that allows a public official to leave a permanent position to move to a provisional one in another administration in case of urgent and urgent need. In this case, Julio Cruz left his position as head of the Tourism, Commerce, Industry and Transport Service of the Cabildo de La Gomera to join the La Laguna City Council as director of the Presidency and Planning.

Alfredo Gómez understands that despite being on secondment, this square should have gone out to public tender from the beginning, as the government group has done subsequently and after knowing the report of the former secretary of the plenary session that declared it null and void. Julio Cruz maintains that his appointment occurred through the service commission, “a form of provision of jobs.” “The attribution of functions of the secretary is also like this,” he adds, referring to the secretary of the plenary session, the official who prepared the report that states that his appointment is illegal. Regarding this document, he states that it is “ad hoc at the request of the CC group, not an ex officio report, because the secretary of the plenary session has no powers in the Governing Board.”

The plenary secretary, Octavio Fernández, He left his position in the City Council of La Laguna on the 15th of after their reports were questioned by the Laguna government, both this one led by Julio Cruz and those who denounced the illegal proliferation of minor contracts. «It was the secretary who presented his resignation. It is a personal decision that the government group respects, while appreciating the work that has been carried out during this period,” official sources from Luis Yeray Gutiérrez’s team clarified.