No one realizes that the legislature ends, or that a new one begins where the one who has done the most or the least to achieve the best possible outcome is trying to prepare. Political times are accelerating or shortening, forcing us to stop and think. Yes, to think from a perspective that not everything, even the most important thing, is the votes or the electoral process. All of this, which is necessary and the way for the rest of political and managerial action, cannot hide the importance of our function: the well-being of citizens and the progress of our cities.
Today, in exceptional circumstances, we have seen the courage of the mayors of Ukrainian towns and cities – in the full sense of the word. When things went wrong, when fate turned fast enough to turn everything upside down, we saw its place, function, and weight.
This should make us think about the importance of holding the position of mayor and, above all, what role towns and cities would play before European institutions, as well as the role of municipalism in modern society, in our national environment. In overlapping crisis situations since 2008, the reality is that the management of towns and cities has been aggravated by measures taken by supra-municipal organizations without fully taking into account the operational capacity of the Municipality. halls. From the very beginning, we may, in good faith, think that legislation was enacted for us, but without us. Without a doubt, it’s a way of doing things we need to fix.
Another separate chapter we must open will deal with the problem of financing funds from both autonomous communities, councils, the State or the European Union, something even more complex if possible.
From there, to a certain extent, some problems arise that citizens can never fully understand. And this is often summed up with ‘work is already starting’ as an introduction to the start of the pre-election campaign. That may be the case in some cases, but usually not. What is certain and true is that administrative procedure represents such a slab that processes take years at best. Too many years to respond quickly to citizens’ problems or needs. Administratively, the first thing we have to overcome is paternalism, in which the remaining institutions or supra-municipal governments exercise power, just as the Frenchized Napoleonic model was propounded in spirit two centuries ago. Secondly, the shadow of suspicion that always falls on the local government is the emergence of the undisputed suspect in any administration or project.
With these mats, Villena was able to unblock important works and essential actions in this 3-year legislative assembly, such as the improvement of parks and gardens in the city, the work of the Southwest Tour, the beginning of the reform of the Avenida de la. Reform projects of the Constitución, the House of Culture, the Chapi Theater, the Town Hall, the new Villena Museum, or the new indoor sports pavilion, in addition to these ungrateful efforts to improve our city’s water efficiency, feel but are often neither seen nor appreciated.
This coincidence, after three years of big projects, is the result of hard work, not the other way around. It is the result of a great deal of work carried out by both the government team and – above all – City Council staff. Sequencing every time is a tedious procedure that slows projects down – often justified and others not -. Three years of work in Villena or any municipality in the state that could end with a simple ‘how do you know elections are coming’. So much so that even among many collaborators the idea of stopping them is spreading so that it does not coincide with the last 365 days of the legislature.
It may be a wise measure in terms of politics and elections. But it would be a scam for citizenship. It’s not about thinking about when it’s appropriate to get things done, it’s recognizing that its development creates inconveniences and inconveniences. If not to do something more agile in these times of administrative tools, Artificial Intelligence and miscellaneous technologies, with the same security controls, but responding with greater agility and efficiency to the need to meet investments and citizen demand offerings. Create a new administrative system that is more agile and more efficient, without the circuitous and endless procedures.
These three years have been very helpful in highlighting the work of city councils, first to deal with the COVID-19 crisis and now to try to mitigate the effects of the current price crisis created by the war in Ukraine. If we know the value of these three years, we must think of new scenarios to equip ourselves with mechanisms so that everything does not collide in the last 365 days. For a local government on equal terms and adapted to the 21st century. Let’s think about that.