First Year Without a Crisis, says Mayor

 by Maureen Dietrich

10 Dec 14 

mazmessenger.com

 

Mazatlán’s biggest problem at the moment is the lack of hotel rooms, the Mayor stated.

For Mayor Carlos Eduardo Felton González his first year in office went by without a major crisis.

The Mayor was speaking to reporters yesterday in an interview and preview of his first state of the municipality speech to be delivered on Monday, December 15 at the new Multiple Use Center in the Marina zone.

Despite incidences such as the capture of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán in the city last February, or 17,000 complaints of over charges on 2013 property taxes, or a series of murders in the city during his second semester, the Mayor assured media that Mazatlán´s biggest problem at the moment is the lack of hotel rooms to satisfy increased tourism demands not only in high season but during weekends as well. Since the opening of the Mazatlán-Durango highway, he said, tourism in the city has almost doubled.

Felton attributed the crisis-free first 365 days of his administration to breaking the “centralization” mode (of administration) and instead giving autonomy and responsibility to different sections of the administration. The Mayor enters the picture only when a decision is to be made, he stated.

At the moment there are 70 executive projects ready to be developed. The only thing missing is to assign financial resources to execute them.

Thirty million pesos are being spent on upgrading and remodeling the Malecón, Plazuela Machado and the salt water pool, the Carpa Olivera.

Five thousand palm trees have been donated by Isla de la Piedra commissaries, said Felton, and he has instructed public works to install them throughout the municipality for the enjoyment of local residents as well as tourists.

With respect to security in the municipality, crimes have declined, he pointed out.

Indications are good, Mazatlán is doing well. Not only do the statistics indicate the city is doing well, said the Mayor, but employment has risen and in terms of competitiveness the municipality has risen from 41^st place in 2012 to 14^th in 2013.

(from Noroeste)