Council members in Gómez Palacio are unaware of Sideapa's debt.

At the last City Council meeting, some council members demonstrated ignorance of Sideapa's finances, despite the fact that these are public and it is both their power and obligation to inform themselves about the financial status of the entire municipal public administration.

They also questioned the amount of public debt recorded by the decentralized public agency, data published by El Siglo de Torreón. This information has also been acknowledged and explained by Mayor Leticia Herrera Ale and Sideapa Director Francisco Escalera Tostado.

It should be noted that El Siglo de Torreón always maintains the corresponding documentation for the publications it issues as part of the journalistic rigor that is standard in this institution. This documentation, by its nature, is public and is surely also available to the members of the Council.

The information published in El Siglo de Torreón was not only not denied by the Gómez Palacio City Council, but was also acknowledged for the reason that it is recorded in the financial reports that the decentralized agency (Sideapa) periodically issues as part of its internal control and in accordance with the Government Accounting Law, which is surely also presented to the Technical Committee as part of its functions.

At last Thursday's City Council meeting, the issue was brought up by Morena council member Armando Navarro, who stated that Sideapa director Francisco Escalera should be asked about this debt.

This official had already made a statement by that date, and it had already been published by this medium on the same date the City Council session was held.

Morena councilwoman Guadalupe Sánchez Tostado criticized fellow Morena councilman Armando Navarro for referencing the information during the City Council session and even questioned the accuracy of the information: "That's not even a credible source," she said.

It is worth noting that Councilwoman Guadalupe Sánchez Tostado, during the nearly three years of the current municipal administration (emanating from the PRI), has always expressed positions against the council members who are members of her own Morena faction, but instead has always defended the government and publicly congratulated the authorities for their work. These interventions have been recorded in the minutes of the Council sessions, which are also public.

PRI council member Gabino Guerrero considered that the information published in El Siglo de Torreón (which centrally highlights the 82 percent increase in Sideapa's public debt over the past three years) could be "sensationalist" information in light of the upcoming term of the current municipal administration.

“Sensationalism” is a generally pejorative journalistic term that refers to the tendency to produce sensation, emotion or impression in the handling of information, however, in this particular case the information published by El Siglo de Torreón only reported the figures and the 82% increase in the debt from almost 300 million pesos to more than 540 million in the 2022-2025 administration, and taking into account the debt that it inherited from the 2019-2022 administration, an assertion that results from a simple mathematical equation.

City Hall Secretary José Ángel Mascorro Muñoz stated that the information lacked a source, despite the fact that the source is Sideapa's own financial reports.

"Given the lack of formality or certainty about the source of what was published in the note, I believe that this is the importance that should be given to it," said the secretary of the City Council, José Ángel Mascorro Muñoz, who later insisted: "The information lacks a source that can be consulted to confirm the numbers it refers to." However, he did not consult the official information that is also available to him and that he can request from Sideapa.

Given the expressed doubts of the Morena and PRI councilors in the Gomezpalatino City Council, as well as the total ignorance that the Secretary of the City Council, José Ángel Mascorro Muñoz, has regarding the statements already issued by both the mayor herself, Leticia Herrrera Ale, and the director of Sideapa, El Siglo de Torreón is publishing this information again today, which had already been acknowledged by the authorities last Wednesday, and is accompanied by two documents that are part of an extensive file that El Siglo de Torreón has, documentation to which the members of the City Council as authorities and as members of civil society, can also have access considering that it is public information.

The assertion made by both the council members and the City Secretary questioning the veracity of the information was mentioned on multiple occasions before the full City Council last Thursday, even though on Wednesday, that is, the day before, the mayor, Leticia Herrera Ale, and the director of Sideapa, Francisco Escalera, had already issued clear positions regarding the public debt, positions of the authorities that were also reported by El Siglo de Torreón and that were published on the front page of section E and in its digital version.

It should be noted that Mayor Leticia Herrera Ale was not present at last Thursday's meeting, in which the council members and the City Clerk gave their opinions without any knowledge of the matter, due to a private agenda. Councilwoman Claudia Galán chaired the meeting.

Mayor Leticia Herrera Ale's statements on the matter can be found by both the City Clerk, José Ángel Mascorro Muñoz, and any citizen at the following link:

SEE MORE I owe, I don't deny, I don't have to pay: Leticia Herrera on Sideapa's debt

The Sideapa director's statements can be found at the following link:

SEE MORE Sideapa's financial situation is difficult: Francisco Escalera

The director of Sideapa insists that from the beginning the debt they inherited was already unpayable.