After a harsh diagnosis, Passerini moves forward with his new recipe: restructuring with his own pieces
His complaint sought answers in the faces of his interlocutors. The mayor believes that "a lot of investment is made in many areas, but residents don't notice." As if he were in the Müller neighborhood doctor's office, where he goes every Monday to lend a hand in one of the city's hottest areas, he has the patient's symptoms and is searching for the best prescription to counteract a harsh diagnosis.
In this "new" era , there are forbidden words: chainsaw, cutbacks, and second half are some of them. They are replaced by restructuring, management, services, continuity, and team. In fact, Daniel Passerini arrived at the 6th of July Palace with "the governor's team," but he needs the departments to respond unconditionally to his leadership. This was one of the topics the president discussed with his closest associates.
The rumors began last Sunday, and everything materialized on Monday. The invitation notification rang on the leaders' cell phones: "Cabinet meeting at City Hall on Monday at 1 p.m. Everyone must attend." When they signed the "presentation," some were even surprised by the reunion. But they were all unaware of what was coming: more than 100 would not return to their posts.
"This doesn't start on Monday; that day marks the beginning of a restructuring. These are officials who will no longer be there, and secretariats and departments that will be merged," remarked a source close to the mayor. The municipality had 14 secretariats, dozens of sub-secretariats, and countless departments. That organizational chart is a thing of the past.
From the first "working" day after the holidays and the "treatment" recommended by Dr. Passerini, the cuts are underway. The Secretariats of Security and Environment will no longer be in place. The former will be merged with Government and Oversight. The latter, headed by Jorge Folloni, is a real problem: "the city seems abandoned," is one of the phrases featured in the surveys commissioned by the Municipality and which they have been trying to reverse since day one. Also suffering the same fate were the Smart City and Digital Transformation and Communication and Culture Secretariats.
From Passerini on down, everyone is keen to emphasize that this isn't a question of "caste or a mega-state: what people are demanding is for the bus to run and for the garbage to be picked up in their neighborhood," describes a (former?) civil servant who frequently visits the ninth and tenth precincts. Despite the complaints from municipal employees about an overpopulation of politicians, what matters is how the city looks. This contrasts with the final months of Llaryora's administration, when the usual thing was to step on fresh paint on the curbs.
"Those were different times, and we had different funds," explains an official who tirelessly checks the home banking of municipal accounts to see if any unexpected national funds are credited. None of that happens; only new bills to pay appear on the desk.
According to the books of the Secretary of Public Administration, Sergio Lorenzetti, $250 billion pesos were "lost" to the Environment and another $210 billion in transportation subsidies and payment of the foreign debt in dollars left by Ramón Mestre. "Having the municipality active under these conditions is management, not mismanagement as some opponents claim," clarifies one of the few representatives who respond to Passerini.
"He's a Peronist and should use the K's example, no matter how much they hate him," adds a political leader who maintains that another mayor would have plastered the city and the media with paper after paying off the city's dollar debt. He even left behind the slogan: "We are free, not libertarians. Peronists pay the Radicals' debts," he writes on a napkin in a downtown bar.
Environment, the big problemOn Friday and Saturday, the mayor of the capital participated in a meeting of mayors in Tucumán. There, they complained about the constant cuts made by the national government to municipalities in the interior of the country. "You can call it whatever you want, but the most important thing that will happen will be the changes in the Environment, and this includes the COyS and BioCórdoba," said a senior official while dodging some television reporters guarding the door of his office.
Everything related to waste collection and recycling will be reconfigured. In recent months, the price per kilo of cardboard has plummeted. What can be collected is no longer even worth a bargain, say the cartoneros. We must also learn to revalue what we do: "We reduced the number of open-air dumps from 300 to just 92; before, we didn't have any facilities. Today we have them, but residents don't appreciate them," they point out.
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Córdoba will not abandon its aspiration to maintain a zero deficit, "whatever the cost," but above all so that "resources go to services and not to other uses." This new phase that is beginning could be called "Wake Up Córdoba." Plans to be implemented in the coming months include starting a process to pave more than 800 blocks and complete 3,000 sewer connections in Villa El Libertador, among other actions, all with municipal funds. "There are residents who demand more hospital care and many unmet social issues, and we are the first to respond," they point out.
Passerini is uncomfortable. He understands that if things go wrong, it impacts not only his administration but also the provincial government and, consequently, Martín Llaryora's aspirations. Those who were present at the time he accepted the resignations, some of whom arrived with the current governor on 6 de Julio, claim he said, "I'm the mayor." However, he will insist on team play. It's time to create a new recipe for the Capital. This time, the San Lorenzo fan stood out, looking for his own game. We'll have to wait for the changes to bear fruit.
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