Complaints and more complaints – that was what Domingo Arias, a Samara resident, promised as he presented a document with a series of accusations involving Mayor Marco Jimenez, councilors and Nicoya municipality officials during the municipal session on Monday, September 1.
The document, which was addressed to the members of the municipal council, details what Arias says was the undue appointment of Deysi Marin Jimenez, the sister of the mayor’s wife. Arias claimed that the appointment was made without fulfilling legal requirements and that the Marin Jimenez is paid a monthly salary of more than ¢1 million ($1,850).
Another appointment questioned by Arais was that of Alberto Jimenez Cortes, a municipal inspector who now directs the inspection department. According to Arias, Jimenez Cortes is the uncle of the mayor’s wife.
Arias’s document also mentioned other irregularities involving municipal councilors and officials not fulfilling their administrative responsibilities.
“The mayor is arrogant and uncompromising; he does what he wants in this municipality and as a Nicoyan I am not going to allow it,” stated Arias, who threatened to present more complaints in the future regarding other alleged anomalies.
For his part, Marco Jimenez explained that he had nothing to do with the appointments of his wife’s relatives, as they occurred before his term as municipal mayor.
“Doña Deisy entered the municipality of Nicoya in 2006; I was elected municipal mayor in 2011, which is why don Domingo isn’t telling the truth,” said Jimenez.
Along the same lines, the mayor reported that Alberto Jimenez’s began working as a municipal official in 1996 while Felix Angel Vazquez Jimenez was mayor, and that currently he is filling the role of coordinating inspector on a temporary basis.
“Many years ago, don Domingo filed a complaint against me because I am not his friend and I am never going to support possibly illicit situations that Mr. Arias has mentioned. He is imagining them,” said the mayor.
License Holders’ Disagreements Continue
Several liquor license holders were also present for the municipal session. They came to complain about high fees charged by the licensing department as well as the closure of several businesses by the mayor’s office. They also complained that the councilors have still not approved regulations for licenses.
Regarding that subject, Councilor Juan Edwin Yockchen Mora indicated that the agreement made on June 23, in which new fees for licenses were set, is not effective retroactively. That means that debts accrued before the agreement was made should be paid to the municipality.
“It saddens me that you come here [feeling] misled; previous debts to the municipality should be honored. The effects of the agreement are not retroactive. The municipality cannot forgive the debts,” said Yockchen.
In addition, Yockchen Mora maintained that the closure of some businesses has been provoked by the sale of alcohol without municipal permits and for having irregularities with regard to licenses.
“There are businesses that are operating without licenses or with licenses that were illegally obtained; those are the businesses that the municipality has ordered closed,” explained Yockchen.
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