Carlos Returns to the Urb.,

We have been informed that as of Monday next Carlos the Mayor, has decided to visit our office one day a week up until the elections. If you have a question for the Mayor, please feel free to submit your question in person or by email to our office,  concejaliadeurbanizciones@ayto-sanfulgencio.es. I assume that on this occasion, Samantha will do any necessary translation.
Perhaps someone could ask the question as to why the gardeners were tidying up the area around the Seprona Hut, ( Animal Protection Dept of the Guardia Civil ) opposite the Police office here on La Marina. I always thought that this area was private.

Keeping you informed

There has been quite a few comments on one of the other forums regarding the state of the roads on Oasis. I tried to phone Carlos the Mayor, but he was not answering his phones. I managed to get a hold of Pascual Mojica, the first deputy. He informed me that the machinery to do the roads, should be in situ, by the end of next week. If not, then by the beginning of the following week. The actual work should start very soon after. So the work should be well on the way, by the time the election comes around.
On the subject of the elections, the convicted ex Mayoress, Trinidad Martinez was in Alicante this morning apparently assisting the new leader of the local PSOE, to obtain certification for the ex pats on his list of candidates. I was there also. She acknowledged me with a rye, nervous smile. The new leader of the local PSOE apparently is the boyfreind of Trini's daughter. So there will be no manipulation there, will there?.

Election Programs

Although I will not comment on posts in other forums, I feel that the main message has got to be, get out and vote, please.
Vote for the Party that you feel will do the best for you.
We cannot advertise our Manifesto, until we are officially permitted to do so, but I can say that P.I.P.N. has developed a manifesto from the suggestions made by the people who matter, the electorate.
 We will always listen to the people. To paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, we are looking for a new birth of freedom that would bring true equality to all of our citizens. By ensuring that we have " Government of the people, by the people for the people ".
I fear that many of the National Parties have forgotten what the true meaning of Democracy is all about.
Our policies will include issues such as improvements to the infrastructure, creating better opportunities for the residents,  particularly in relation to improving facilities and employment. We have developed a plan to deal with animals and their errant owners. We have developed plans to encourage businesses and give opportunities to our youth.
In a very short space of time we will sending our full manifesto, to the printers. It will not be as fancy as some that of the other parties as we have been working on a shoe string. Our funding comes from our own pockets. A few members have donated sums of money to help us along. We could still use more. This is why our candidates are donating to the fighting fund, whatever they can afford. We all know that the other major parties will be funded from the National pot.

Dirty Tricks or not?

So, as we approach the Municipal Elections on the 24th May, we are finding that this council are inaugurating projects which have lay in Limbo for months and in some cases a few years. The problem with this is that THIS Councillor, Jeff Wiszniewski, has not been informed or consulted on any of these projects. Despite the fact that many of these projects were initiated from our office.
One point in question, is the laying of the Tarmac on the roads of La Marina Urb.
This work commenced without this office, The Office of the Urbanizaciones, being informed. Yes, I knew that a grant had been given to San Fulgencio late last year, by the Diputacion in Alicante, but no one thought it relevant to let me know when the work was going to start. I travelled to my office one morning to find many of the roads blocked by road laying machinery.
The second point is, the Library. We had as part of our Manifesto in 2011, that we would push for a Library, here in La Marina Urb. We arranged to have a partition built in the Social Centre. We arranged to have the book cases bought. We arranged for the donation of books. We collected these books at our office and arranged to have them stored at the Social Centre. When we asked what was happening with the Library, we were informed that there was no one available to operate the Library and that they could not afford to employ anyone to run the library. It was suggested that we could organise volunteers to run the Library, but no encouragement was given. Today we discovered, that for the last few weeks, work has been going on, to erect the book shelves. A lady from the Village has been tasked to arrange and categorise the books. If it was not for a gentleman who dropped off his wife for a craft class, we still would not know.
It also looks as though the Oasis Project will get under way in the next few weeks. Again I find that this is close to the Elections. Although we still do not know who has won the contract, it seems that they are keeping this a secret as well. However I fully understand the annoyance of the residents of Oasis, who see new tarmac being laid on the Urbanisation, at no cost to the residents. One particular resident of Oasis is very angry that he has to pay approximately €8,000 as his contribution. I wonder why the contribution from Alicante, could not have been used to offset the cost to the residents of Oasis.
Our office has also put forward a project last October, for installing exercise machines in the park next to the Market Place. I wonder if that will also miraculously be started before the cut off date of 27th March. Also in the pipeline is the Men´s Shed Project, which may also be started before the cut off date.
Despite the fact that there is an agreement with the Partido Popular, they continue to forget or do not deem it necessary, to inform this office of what they are doing.
To me, this is neither of the above, this to me just shows the contempt that the PP shows for myself, our Party and the Extranjeros who reside on the Urbanisations. I am personally fed up that this Urbanisation and the residents are getting the scraps from the masters table.
The forthcoming election will afford the residents of this community, the opportunity to reverse this trend. We deserve better.

Fiesta of San Anton and the collection of the chickens

It has been pointed out to me,  that through several of the forums, there has been expressions of distate at the treatment of the chickens and rabbits at this fiesta. For the last few years I have declined to be part of this. My personal opinion is that it is cruel and unnecessary.  In fact, after last years fiesta, I suggested to the Mayor that it would be more humane to carry the animals in cages. This would not detract from the essence of the fiesta as currently the animals are collected and eventually placed in the back of a van with cages. Yes cages. Most, if not all survive the ordeal of being carried through the streets. So it would be simple to change.
Perhaps because there is an election this year, the ruling party does not wish to offend any of its voters. However they have failed to realise that more and more of the residents of La Marina, have become more politically aware and most of the extranjeros abhor animal cruelty

Municipal Rubbish tip.

It has come to my notice that as of today, the Councillor for Parks and Gardens, Paulino Herrero, has has organised  a new scheme for residents to be able to use the Municipal Green Waste Deposit. A card will be issued to home owners to allow them to dispose of garden waste at the Municipal tip on Calle Extremadura. This apparently has been brought about by the fact that outsiders are travelling to La Marina Urb. to dispose of their garden waste. Also companies are using this facility, instead of using dumps in their own area, which in some cases charge a fee.
The New Cards will be available from the offices of the Tourist Information Office. People requiring such cards will need to produce  some form of identification showing their address in San Fulgencio Municipality.

San Fulgencio Council.

In reply to the La Marina Info, I would like to point out some of the errors that have been put onto this "Blog".
While San Fulgencio Council works hard to reduce the overall debt of more than €9,000,000.00 that was left by the previous government, it also has had to dismiss several contracts which were implemented by the previous Government Team. If they had been allowed to continue, it is my belief the Town would have been bankrupt.
The costs of Electricity and Water are public utilities and are out with the control of local authorities.
The comment about the the Council voting to increase taxes is correct, in that in order to maintain the current levels of service and infrastructure, taxes had to be increased. The reason being that, as more than 3,000 persons are no longer on the Padron, there has been a reduction of approximately €660,000 from the yearly grants, supplied by Valencia and Alicante. The author of the "Blog" however fails to state that the Tax on motor vehicles will be reduced. Of course he would not know this, as at the last council meeting (Pleno), neither he nor the rest of the opposition Councillors turned up to discuss these proposals. By his own hand he has also explained on his "Blog" entry dated 12th June 2014 paragraph 2, the above reason to be true.
With regards the increase in salary for Samantha Hull ( Not Gallon ), there are many who have said that she deserves the increase. Including Mariano Marti Sanchez ( your boss ), who albeit was being sarcastic, suggested she deserved the combined salaries of those that left our employ.
As most will be aware, the other Assessors left our employ at the beginning of the year. The fourth member left at the end of September. This whole exercise has resulted in a net saving of approximately €105,000 over a year. The work load has not diminished any and this results in both myself and Samantha having to work longer hours and to take work home with us.
The writer also states on the "Blog", that none of the opposition councillors are invited to any of the Junta de Gobiernos, this is because by it¨s name it is a meeting of the Government Team. In all Town Councils in Spain and Spanish speaking countries, opposition members are not normally invited to be part of the Junta de Gobierno.
In relation to the remuneration received by myself, this is my salary, which is well documented, and in order to qualify for said salary, I have to attend these meetings of the Junta. If I am on holiday, I do not qualify, therefore these days have to be re scheduled. As opposition councillors, I am sure that if they wanted to, they could examine the total amounts paid to me over a year. As declared in my taxes. They would discover that since 2013, I am in fact as yet underpaid, by several thousand euros.
And for those that do not know, I attend my office most days from 09.00 hrs until 15.00 hrs. This does not count the extra hours put in on Civic duties as well as the hours taken up by working at home. Neither does it take into account the hours spent at meetings.