THE CONGRESS AND THE MAYORALTIES
Jose S. Azcona Bocock
There is manifest confusion about what is the autonomous position of the Municipalities vis-à-vis the Legislative Branch. The positions of principle and the good wishes of efficiency for the benefit of the citizens are obscured by personal interest, political opportunism, and confrontations transferred from other spheres. This has no reason to be, since the laws and legal framework of our country already assign each of them a specific function, and to improve the performance of our municipalities we must adjust to them.
The National Congress is empowered to legislate, setting specific limits to the actions that the municipalities can develop in the administrative and tax areas. However, it would not be correct for it to pretend to act as a controlling entity over the activities that it is legally empowered to carry out.
The Legislative Branch should focus on creating the framework in which municipal governments can perform their functions without abusing the pocket of citizens or incurring administrative irresponsibility. This framework, more specific than the one currently existing in the Municipalities Law, is necessary since the form of constitution of our municipal governments does not guarantee a legislative autonomy of the Corporations from the administrations.
The existence of a small collegiate body and in which the Municipal Mayor automatically has a majority composed of people who were elected under his name, his photo, and nominated by himself, makes it difficult to achieve a true balance of citizen interests. This, linked to the limited legal powers of the Corporations to regulate the executive actions of mayors, makes it necessary for the Municipalities Law and other related laws to more accurately regulate the powers of the Municipal Governments.
This regulation must include all the processes of raising funds, whether for taxes or fees, subjecting them to an institutional framework. In turn, it must create parameters that, without being a straitjacket, effectively prevent the abuse of spending public funds in activities not directly related to investment, such as: salary, benefits, advertising, etc.
But the National Congress should not get involved in regulating the actions of the Municipal Mayors when they do not violate the letter of the current law. By doing this, the National Congress is abandoning its legislative function to become a political judge of the actions of an autonomous entity, although lower in hierarchy. In this case, the political aspect inevitably intervenes with the consequent loss of efficiency to the detriment of citizen interest.
Therefore, if the Legislative Branch considers that there are abusive or arbitrary mechanisms in the collection or spending of the Municipal Mayors, it must modify or define the specific framework, without departing from its merely legislative function. The clear definition and respect for the functions of each of the institutions is the basis for the construction of a more orderly state and committed to the benefit of the citizens.
(2003)
