The 2012 Municipal budget for the Canton of Nicoya is being stalled due to disputes over the proper approval procedure, and the dispute is raging online on the Facebook page of the Alcaldia de Nicoya.

Principal figures in the dispute are Nicoya mayor Marco Jimenez, Representative Yolanda Acuña Castro and Councilman Carlos Medina.  According to Jimenez, it is because of Acuña and Medina that the Office of the General Controller of the Republic (CGR) has not approved this year’s municipal budget. “People of the Citizen’s Action Party (Partido de Acción Ciudadano) conspire against Nicoya,” Jimenez, who is a member of the National Liberation (Liberación Nacional) party, told VON. 
“They don’t want the projects to be approved.” 

Jimenez explained that the lack of approval is based on two factors, one of which is that the municipal council did not approve the budget in time; however he maintains that he has certified documents proving that they did convene 36 hours before the September 21st deadline (the minimum requirement is 24 hours beforehand). 
 
For her part, Acuña explained the issue as follows: “The mayor finds himself in a dispute with the councilmen of Nicoya. He opposed a change in schedule approved and published and he supplanted the proprietary councilmen with supplements convening the council at his whim. The court of contentions ordered him to respect the change to 5 p.m. In this fight, he never wanted to present the budget to the Council so that the Finance and Budget Commission could analyze it and approve it, an indispensible requirement established by the Municipal Code. What he did was convene an extraordinary session at 10 a.m., an hour at which the proprietary [councilmen] can’t attend; he didn’t convene it with 24-hours notice and in addition there wasn’t an approved opinion, which the CGR indicates as nullifying habits, for which the budget is not approved.”    

Jimenez has submitted an appeal to the Controller’s office regarding the 2012 budget, but Acuña affirmed that the mayor’s appeal doesn’t have any effect. She indicated that she left information with the councilmen regarding the 2012 budget. She was in Nicoya during the first week of January in sessions with the community and indicated that several obligations were made that she hopes will be carried out, including following up on a drainage project in Curime of Nicoya and filing complaints against constructions without permits and a company that has been exploiting the maritime zone without a concession (Monte Marbel Sociedad Anonima). 

The budget issue is also being disputed on Facebook, generating some name-calling and a good deal of support for the mayor. On the page of the Alcaldia de Nicoya, Jimenez wrote, “The representative Acuña from PAC arrived at the municipal session and it was obvious that she doesn’t know what happens in Nicoya. She arrived at nothing, as do those that know that even without working, they earn a salary. She has come supporting a councilman from her party that doesn’t pay tribute, doesn’t have social security insurance, that is to say he doesn’t work. It’s easy to support lazy people who are dedicated to causing harm… that’s what the legislator is, and I’m not trying to demerit the councilman, but this is the truth!”

In reply on Facebook, Acuña stated, “What a shame that an authority dedicates time to berate and call ignorant the councilmen that are popularly elected; I believe the Municipal Council of Nicoya has excellent people, Medina, Liseth, Aguirre, and honest syndics that want to work for their town. 2012 should be for working and not dedicating time to fighting, berating, offending, threatening. This doesn’t lead anywhere.”  
 
The debate continues, and the 2012 municipal budget and projects for the Canton of Nicoya remain suspended until this issue can be resolved.  

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