The majority of the members of the Nicoya Municipal Council approved opening a bank account in which to deposit the funds to finance the referendum process for the possible creation of a Municipal District Council in Nosara.
The news was given during the session on Monday, June 1, after the 3-2 vote by the council members, so they can now proceed to obtain resources to finance the elections.
Rodolfo Orozco, president of the special municipal commission in charge of making the regulations for the referendum, explained that they can now pay to publish the regulation document in national and regional media.
Council members Ana Liseth Espinoza and Carlos Medina opposed opening this account because they felt that legal criteria is lacking on this matter.
«My vote is negative because I don’t have a clear legal criteria on opening this account,» Espinoza stated. Similarly, Medina said, «I lack legal criteria and I don’t know where these funds are going to come from to open this account.»
In light of these questions, Council Member Mario Ondoy responded to his fellow council members that criteria is not required by the legal adviser of the council since this is a prerequisite established by the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE- Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones) so that resources are managed in a transparent manner during the process.
«The Supreme Electoral Court developed a manual for the development of municipal district councils, which establishes a series of prerequisites, one of which is the opening of a bank account so that there is transparency in the management of resources,» Ondoy commented.
In this way, the council authorized officials from the treasury department, administration and the mayor’s office to be the only ones responsible for use of the account.
The financing of the electoral process still needs to be defined. According to estimates made by the commission to the TSE, the amount would be around ¢50,000,000 ($94,340).
Municipal district councils can receive municipal contributions from licenses, fines or taxes. In addition, a supervisor or councilor member who does not adequately fulfill his or her duties can be dismissed occasionally, according to the law.
Council Members Give Support to Territories in the Peninsula
During the session, the council approved supporting a motion by German Villalobos Barahona, syndic of the district of Paquera, in order to pave Route 160, which the Constitutional Court ordered the National Roadway Council (CONAVI- Consejo Nacional de Vialidad) to do in the 2013, but it has not been achieved to date.
The section that was promised pavement in that sector of Route 160 includes the peninsular territories of Cobano, Lepanto and Paquera. In response, the council members unanimously decided to support the motion.
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