The municipal government of the New Majority in Sitges is now 100 days old. The celebration of such a symbolic anniversary is always a good reason to perform assessments and analysis, so citizens will be able to discern current strategies and the style of our local government. That’s why our City Council is in the right position to perform an initial balance.
We knew what we were facing. Each one of the thirteen city councilors that make up the government of The New Majority knew that the financial situation of the City Hall was a mess, not only that, they knew it was a very complex situation. The political parties forming the New Majority denounced the chaotic situation when they were in the opposition. The erratic policy of the former local government involved pilfering money and incurring into credit beyond the economic possibilities of our city.
The economic balance confirms our worst fears: Bank loans totalling 43 million Euros and an accrued deficit of 22 millions. The figures are alarming. That why our new government wants to reduce the negative impact of such a disastrous legacy. We are determined to do everything possible to solve the situation.
The are some possible solutions. Jordi Mas, Director of the Post of City Councilor of Revenue and Public Innovation, is clearly showing to all of us that there’s a way out of the tunnel. The renegotiation of debt covenants with financial institutions, the reduction of the municipal structure, the extinction of municipal societies and the strict control of all the expenses are producing the first positive results. The cash flow generated allowed the City Council to pay overdue invoices to small suppliers from Sitges and nearby counties, some were past due years ago.
In line with our strategy to overcome the financial situation that we inherited from the former government, one of our priorities involves insuring the maintenance of certain basic services for the population: garbage collection, street cleaning, management of municipal nurseries or the day centers for our seniors. We are dealing here with outsourced public services that were granted public concessions. The high level of debt incurred by the City Council with the above mentioned companies, sometimes reaching grotesquely high figures, have generated much concern among those companies and their workers. They were fed up and they did not want to continue their services. The basic services were not discontinued thanks to the negotiating capacity and determination of City Council, the public service companies and their employees.
The example of those three services illustrates the situation in which we find ourselves now. Just as in the case of the three companies above, there are many situations affecting small and medium sized suppliers. We are finding complex and irrational scenarios provoked by a large number of purchases or contracts that were impossible to implement.
Even considering that the priority is to find solutions to our dramatic economic situation, the government of the New Majority also has new projects and initiatives that want to improve the quality of life of our citizens, and to help to project a good image of our city and keep our architectonic heritage. The cessation of works for the refurbishment of Museums in those points disrupting with the image of our classical seafront, the actions to stop illegal flea markets on the streets, the improvement of beach services or the development of welfare policies are some of the actions promoted by the Government Team during the first one hundred days. During the coming weeks, we will publish our Executive Plan incorporating all the strategic lines of the present government.
Leaving aside public administration, I would like to mention another point that was important for me during the first three months acting as a Major. During all the day-to-day contact I maintained with people, public entities and different groups, I found that notwithstanding the current crisis, they all maintain their illusion in their collective projects and in the day-to-day interactions of their respective associations Modern day Sitges is the product of the richness of our civil society, one of our most precious assets.
