Carlos Mazon, president of the Alicante Provincial Assembly, confirmed this Tuesday afternoon that the board of Geonet Territorial SAU convened at the City Hall. The meeting approved the dismissal of the current director-manager and authorized a new president and a new director to lead the company forward.
new organization
The Geonet public company was established just over a year ago by the County Council. The council began by reorganizing leadership, replacing the general manager role, which had been held by Pedro Barber, who also served as the mayor of Altea representing the PP. The aim was to shift toward a more technical profile. Consequently, the provincial institution eliminated its senior management position and placed Geonet under the management of personnel from the Provincial Assembly who oversee the company. The council believed that someone from within the organization could carry out this function effectively.
Geonet, a publicly traded entity, is charged with technological maintenance among other duties. One of its current key missions is to support the tax administration’s activities, including cartography-related tasks. As a result, strengthening the relationship between the tax administration and Geonet has become increasingly important, ensuring alignment with the organization’s core clients and expanding collaboration between the two entities.
They underscored that the former Geonet general manager, Pedro Barber, did not respond to queries beyond the reorientation of the company. The change also represented a political shift, given Barber’s prior role as a member of the PP in the Provincial Assembly and his connection to César, who led the provincial institution at the time. Sánchez has since become a national MP for the PP. The appointment, finalized in February 2017, was straightforward, supported by an asylum seeker and backed by PP deputies who contributed to its governance, a situation that sparked opposition during the electoral process. Sánchez had proposed the popular mayor from among the two candidates who advanced from the evaluation commission’s shortlist.
Vote
Ultimately, nine of twelve council members, along with three opposition deputies in the Provincial Assembly, supported the appointment. This marked the second attempt to fill the position after the provincial institution’s legal services previously overturned the electoral process in November 2016, citing impartiality concerns. The prior process had been scrutinized for fairness, which prompted the board of directors to redraw the rules for the competition and restart the procedure from scratch. The changes came after one of the five applicants challenged the process. Since then, the management of Geonet has continued to evolve, shaping the direction of the public company and its ongoing reforms as a result of this redefinition.