Before the new organization of the municipal government announced by the mayor of Zaragoza, Jorge Azcón, on June 19, from the Municipal Group of VOX we make the following assessment:
one.- It is a structure that will increase significantly the expenses for the remuneration of the members of the government with respect to previous mandates. Let's not forget that the last corporation presided by Belloch had four area councilors and the one chaired by Santisteve had five. In this there will be eight.
With the current salary amounts of government directors, moving from five to eight directors means an annual increase, only in this concept, of 230,000 euros.
two.- It is necessary to question the need for some of these areas or that the set of competencies that some of them will develop deserves such an organic level. Rather, it seems that it is a matter of equal and certainly generous remuneration to the largest number of members of the government team of both parties, PP and C's.
3.- Although it is not strictly necessary, it is usual for there to be as many plenary commissions as there are areas of government. If so, there will be a significant overload of meetings of the plenary committees. And if, on the contrary, it were decided to dispense with some of them, it would reveal the lack of relevance of the same and the superfluous and unnecessary of its creation.
4.- It is important to note that many of them respond to the provision of so-called "improper competitions" by the City Council; competences that are already provided by other administrations that have them as their own and with which, on many occasions, overlaps and duplicities are incurred that increase expenses and reduce management efficiency.
Examples of innovation and employment or those that are generically encompassed as "social affairs", all exercised by the Government of Aragon. For example, the current organizational chart of the regional executive, before it is remodeled by the new government that is constituted, has a department of Innovation, Research and University; with another Department of Citizenship and Social Rights; with an Aragonese Institute of Social Services; with an Aragonese Institute for Women; with an Aragonese Institute of Youth; with an Aragonese Institute of Employment; with an Aragonese Institute of Development … All of them have their replica in the structure of the City of Zaragoza that maintains municipal taxes with public taxes that exercise powers already exercised by the regional government.
VOX endorses the idea of a "single administration" that once invoked – and has already forgotten – the Popular Party: "a competition, an administration", as the only way to reduce debt without increasing taxes and without reducing the provision of services or investment in new infrastructure.
This process of administrative simplification and reduction of duplicities, which we have repeatedly referred to throughout the recent electoral campaign, must be undertaken in a dialogue with the other administrations involved, in an extraordinarily prudent and careful manner, until it is only one administrative instance which exercises a certain competence.
We have repeatedly pointed out that it is not a question of dismantling public services, but that they are provided more efficiently. We reproduce a paragraph of our electoral program: "In any case, the Zaragoza City Council will not stop providing the services it has been providing until now, especially in the area of social assistance, as long as its full assumption by another competent administration is not guaranteed. Only once addressed, in a gradual, responsible and prudent, the negotiated return of improper competences, ensuring that it does not disappear, diminishes or worsens its provision to citizens, it will be possible to address a tax reduction. Any proposal to reduce the tax burden that does not include a prior reduction in municipal management expenses is unfeasible. "
The current municipal structure, which elevates the management of improper competencies to the political and administrative category of "area councils", seems to run in the opposite direction to the VOX proposals.