Letters, Feb 9, 2007

Send your letters to the editor to letters@atencionsanmiguel.org Atención will not publish offensive or defamatory material.

Editor,

After reading Jesús Ibarra’s article about some rural communities in the municipality of Allende (Atención, Feb. 2), it seems that few municipalities in all of Mexico may have a more unequal distribution of resources, services and goods. 

While the program “3 for 1” forces the communities to invest in public services, which everyone has the right to have—water, light, sewers and roads in the urban area—million-dollar real-estate transactions are carried out, all services (water, street paving, electrification, sewer lines) are granted immediately to big construction companies and developers for luxurious condos and weekend houses, as well as for shopping centers, and water is pumped from the lower part of La Lejona to the high part of La Luciérnaga, without allowing the residents of poor colonias to use it. 

According to the numbers, about half of the inhabitants of the municipality live in 539 rural communities—about 68,000 people. According to the director of the Social and Human Development Department, the department’s budget is 4.3 million pesos, which corresponds to a little more than 8,000 pesos per community—a little more than 63 pesos per inhabitant. 

The budget increase for rural communities was less than 1 percent. Yet, 100 of these communities do not have water, electricity or access roads, and the same happens in many neighborhoods in the city, where many inhabitants live in extreme poverty. 

José Rodríguez of the Rural Communities Office said that some communities have never received such assistance because of their lack of organization and community participation. The department director, José Luis Téllez, said: “If the people of the community organize themselves and come to us we will manage to provide them with the resources they are applying for.” (Editor’s note: This quote only appeared in the Spanish language version of the article.)

How can they organize themselves if most of the people in the communities are elderly or children? And the few women must work arduously to sustain their families because the men are working abroad or outside the community for a very low salary. If they do not have roads, they do not have transportation, either, or money to come to the city to propose their projects to the authorities. And besides, they have to return the favor with votes. 

Many of us wonder when the residents of La Luciérnaga organized so that, although there is no water in the area, SAPASMA is pumping water for them from a well in the lower part of the city and connected sewer lines, while the residents of nearby colonias are paying La Luciérnaga for the water service, as announced in the forum on January 18. 

Why is organization and participation demanded of the poorest rural communities, while the public servants increase their salaries by 45 percent and go to Paris to propose San Miguel de Allende be a World Heritage site? Thousands of pesos are spent on the presentation of the “Hundred Days Report,” when they have not even worked 60 days, since they took three weeks for Christmas holidays, among other holidays. 

I think there should be more consistency in public administration and, overall, more resources put toward projects that would benefit a great number of sanmiguelenses, not only some of them. The authorities must act according to the law, which is the same for all. As the mayor announced in his speech on February 5, “applying the law is what makes the people trust.” He should not forget this. 

I propose, as I did in the public forums, that the increase in the salaries of municipal authorities be revoked, since we did not vote for this shameless raise. This money should be destined for programs that grant services to rural communities, and if, during the year, the authorities do a good, efficient, professional and transparent job, which can be evaluated with tangible and checkable results, we may authorize a salary increase for them according to the economic and social situation of the municipality.

Lorea San Martín

Editor,

I would like to repeat the instructions for collecting and saving rain water for gardens. At the Angela Peralta forum on January 18 I was not very clear, being in the throes of stage fright.

To clarify: Most roofs have a slight inclination that prevents rain water from pooling on them. On the lower end put a PVC pipe (about 11 cm across) down to a drum (tambo) on the ground. The best tambos are those that contained milk products, not oil or chemicals. The PVC pipe can be run horizontally to connect with several tambos. I would be happy to show anyone this simple and relatively inexpensive water-saving system. It works with dwellings of one or more stories.

Sue Bloxsom

Editor,

Beldon Butterfield’s letter in the January 19 issue of Atención flies in the face of common sense and Mexican legal opinion. It is true that foreigners may not “involve themselves in the political affairs of the country,” as Article 33 of the Constitution indicates. However, his claim that the issuance of “building permits ... is a political issue” is a jump into the pond of the illogical. If one follows Butterfield’s reasoning, any foreigner who questions the municipality regarding his own rights under building codes could theoretically be deported. Do you know anyone who has ever been deported for lodging a complaint with Urban Development? I don’t think so. 

Butterfield is not a lawyer! Unfortunately, he has done a public disservice to the foreign community by giving opinions that go far beyond the spirit and letter of the law. Ask nine out of ten Mexican lawyers: they advise foreigners that engaging in community affairs is their legal right as residents of this great country. Furthermore, participation in land use discussions is encouraged by most local governments. Why does Mr. Butterfield omit that information?

I would sooner follow the legal advice of Alberto Szekely Sanchez, a PhD in Law and someone who represented Mexico before the United Nations. He and two former Supreme Court justices (who happen to be residents of San Miguel) have been unequivocal in explaining that foreign residents have EVERY RIGHT to participate in community affairs. It is our privilege and even our duty to engage in a dialogue with civic and elected leaders about what takes place in our community. That includes discussions of building codes, roads, recreational areas, zoning, community services and all other matters pertaining to our welfare and that of our neighbors.

David Bossman