It’s official. Nosara has the approval of the Municipality of Nicoya to conduct a referendum that would define the possible creation of a Municipal District Council (CMD- Concejo Municipal de Distrito) in the canton.
The news came after the unanimous vote of the five primary council members during the extraordinary session held on Thursday, April 16th.
Rodolfo Orozco, president of the special municipal commission in charge of making the regulation for the referendum, explained that now the next step is to publish this regulation in the official daily newspaper La Gaceta as well as in other communication media.
“Now what follows is publishing [the regulation] in La Gaceta. Afterward, it will be published in two national communication media and a local one and ten days are given for appeals and then a second definitive publication [in La Gaceta] is done,” he reported.
In addition, this regulation has already been endorsed by the Electoral Supreme Court (TSE-Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones) after specifying in the document that the regulation is exclusively for the District of Nosara.
What is not yet known for a certainty is the exact date when the referendum would take place, although it will probably be in mid-2016, after the completion of the municipal elections.
Another important detail to determine is funding for the electoral process, an amount that will be around ¢50,000,000 ($94,300), according to estimates made by the commission to the TSE.
Mario Ondoy, a council member who is part of the commission, explained that the municipal council is responsible for organizing all of the electoral process as well as the final count of the votes.
According to the latest electoral registry, Nicoya has 38,781 voters so 15% would mean 5,818 votes in favor required to create a CMD in Nosara.
Nosara Residents Happy
Syndic and president of the Nosara Integral Development Association (ADIN) Marco Avila was pleased with the approval from the council.
“Today you are supporting the more than 1900 children and young people that we have [in the district] on the verge of drug addiction, prostitution and alcoholism. They are big problems in the district. They will be grateful to you for this youth, this childhood,” Avila commented.
Marco Jimenez, municipal mayor, reiterated his support for the regulation project. “The policy has changed. Democratic centralism no longer works. That’s why I agree with the Municipal District Council. Nosara needs it; it’s their right. We are not dividing any canton. We are giving the people of Nicoya an opportunity for hope, faith and solidarity that Nosarans have always had,” Jimenez said.
The process for the creation of a CMD involved a petition in August 2014 signed by 1794 residents of Nosara and about 30 district organizations who want to have autonomy in order to have their own administration and make decisions about resources generated in their communities.
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