The Security Councillor for the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, Gladis de León (Coalición Canaria), has dismissed the criticisms directed at her management by PSOE councillor Florentino Guzmán, asserting that the remarks come “from a union” that does not even hold “police representation.” This was emphasised by the second deputy mayor during the plenary session in the capital of Tenerife held this Thursday.
Guzmán had chastised the councillor for “taking credit” for a “coat of paint” applied by the Council to certain police stations in the city, which De León had previously highlighted as an “important reform project” that also included “other specific enhancements” to the facilities.
“It is a credit to you,” remarked Guzmán, who further added that “the unions claim there are still numerous issues with health and risk prevention” at the local police station in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. “I would like to remind you that the Las Teresitas police station has not been updated for 24 years and they still lack water and basic amenities,” continued the councillor.
Furthermore, Guzmán admonished the councillor regarding the psychological evaluation required for carrying weapons, which “expired on May 24,” leading to “50 fewer officers” patrolling the streets, he asserted.
In her turn to respond, De León stressed that the work done in the police stations of the capital was not merely a “hand-painted job” and downplayed the significance of the PSOE councillor’s critiques as they originated “from a union” that “holds no police representation.” “You are speaking on behalf of an individual, of a union. I engage with all the unions, and we are collaborating,” added De León.
On Thursday, Jesús Carlos Illada, the representative of the staff committee of the Central Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants (CSIF) at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council, felt provoked by the councillor’s comments and penned a scathing letter in response.
In that correspondence, which Tenerife Now has obtained, Illada conveys to De León that “her lack of understanding of Public Administration is apparent”, asserting that “the unionist” she mentions “is a representative of the civil servants and thus of the police,” since “he was elected during the union elections and is a member of the personnel board, the representative body of civil servants.”
“It is one matter to be a representative and another to be part of the general negotiating committee,” Illada summarises.
The president of the CSIF Trade Union Section at the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council believes that the CC councillor “should at least have knowledge of the representative bodies, their constitution, and number of members.”
“Nevertheless, CSIF does not wish to label you as ignorant, despite your evident lack of understanding regarding the personnel board and its delegates. We interpret these events as a human error made by someone in politics, accustomed to having others perform her responsibilities, who does not grasp how public administration functions,” Illada concludes her letter.
