Shocked by Last Weeks Council Meeting

We were shocked at what happened at last weeks Council Meeting. (See below for our notes on the Meeting especially items 3 and 4.) We put forward proposals which were clearly of benefit to the people of Bédar. In the first case, the PSOE voted against and in the second they refused to give the motion support.

Can anyone help us to understand this? OK, so there are difficulties in protecting and preserving the Moorish frescoes but the Town Hall seems to have given up and seem unprepared for fight for the town´s heritage. But even more disturbing is that they refused to take up the initiative to secure the annual visits of the French geology students. Why? This project can only be of benefit to Bédar in generating revenue during the low season.

We could perhaps understand if the Town Hall were bringing forward other projects that would enhance the viability of the town. But no. Both the motions they presented - as on other occasions - were motions sent down from PSOE headquarters relating to national Spanish politics. Nothing was or has been submitted which demostrates that they are taking intiatives to encourage the development of the town and thus generating revenue for the local traders and inhabitants.

We know that there are cost implications to our proposals especially the protection of the frescoes but the amount of money needed to accomodate the geology students is minimal.

We want to be fair to the Town Hall. They have carried out a number of infra-structure projects that benefit the town - new roads, sewers in El Pinar, various upgrades etc. We don´t believe this is enough.

These are very difficult times and the people of Bédar need all the help they can get from the Town Hall. So why is the Town Hall not putting forward it´s own ideas while rejecting ours?

We´d love you to help us understand. Have we missed something? Please make a comment on this blog (see bottom of this page). Let us know what you think and, perhaps, help us to understand. You can either attach your name of write anonymously.


Notes from the Ordinary Plenary Session of Bedar Town Hall, 27 June 2012 at 8pm

In attendance were the Mayor, the Town Secretary, four PSOE councillors and two from the Opposition.  The Opposition spokesperson, Ana Rubio Garcia, was absent.  Only one person, the Opposition´s translator, was in the audience.   

1.  The Minutes of the previous ordinary plenary session (28 March 2012) were read and unanimously approved.

2.  The next order of business was the eagerly awaited response to the two motions presented by the Opposition at the previous plenary session in March.  The first concerned the protection of the Balsa Alta wall paintings (see blog posting for March 2012 in the motion section)

The Mayor stated that he could not support the motion for two reasons:

a.       The Moorish water tank and frescoes are on private property; the Town Hall only has rights to allow visits and to put up lights.  To do anything more would require the owner to transfer the property to the Town Hall and the owner was currently not available. 

b.        A study had been prepared by leading archeologists in 2003 confirming that these frescoes were among the oldest known in Bedar and worth conserving.  The study was first presented to the Bédar Town Hall which passed it on to the relevant department in Almeria, who had so far taken no action.  The Junta´s last written communication regarding the matter referred to budgetary restrictions.  The Mayor concluded that when current conditions had improved, he hoped that the Junta would take action on the matter but that Bédar Town Hall itself could take no independent action on the matter.   

The motion was overruled by a vote of 5-2, with all PSOE councillors and the Mayor voting against it. 

3.  The second motion concerned the French University geological studies project  (see blog posting for March 2012 in the motion section)

As the proposed first visit by the French geologists and students was scheduled for 2014, the Mayor suggested that the project should be left on the table to ‘mature’.  He added that the Opposition should give more details and rethink the proposal in the light of the present economic crisis when taxes are being raised and fewer scholarships available.  He said that for the time being, his team would neither vote against nor abstain the motion.  No vote was taken.

Note from Opposition: The Independent/PP Opposition had been optimistic that this project would be supported by the Mayor as it was so clearly beneficial for the entire town.  To have abstained or voted against the motion would have put the Mayor in a difficult position.  By choosing to take no vote at all, the Mayor appears to have managed to reject an excellent project for Bédar without outright opposing it.  

Furthermore, the project is now being offered to other town halls in Mojacar, Garrucha and Villaricos who have all expressed interest.  Bedar has once again lost an excellent opportunity to generate local revenue. 

4.  The next order of business concerned one of two motions raised by the national PSOE party.  The first involved upholding the present Vera judicial district.  As part of their cost-saving program, the PP Government is proposing to reduce the current 431 judicial districts by half and amalgamating all outlying courts in areas of under 100,000 inhabitants.  The town of Vera, with its population of under 15,000, would be merged in a district whose center would be in Huércal Overa.

The Opposition agreed that preserving Vera´s judicial district would be in Bedar´s best interests.  The motion was unanimously passed. 

5.  The second PSOE motion supported maintaining the posts of ALPEs (agents locales de promoción de empleo) or municipal employment officers.  Since 2003 Andalucia has been in charge of its own employment policies which aim to improve employment opportunities for the one million unemployed in Andalucia.  The budget for this program was allocated according to strict criteria.  This year, the PP Government cut the national budget by 59% putting the ALPE posts at risk.  The motion called for the Government to restore the full budget to Andalucia and to protect the jobs of the employment officers.  (There are 800 ALPEs in Andalucia). 

The Mayor said that Ana Belen is the ALPE agent in the Bedar Town Hall and that her important work included identifying all the subsidies to which Bedar´s unemployed were entitled. 

The Opposition again agreed that the PSOE motion was in Bedar´s best interests.  The motion was unanimously passed. 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20pm.