opinion

The mayor's office and
the quality of urban life
by Miguel Antonio Bernal

One of the most common faults of any mayor, even those with good intentions, is the failure to define exactly what she or he wants to do in his or her elected term of office, and then getting lost in the thousands of daily problems that a mayor's office like that of Panama City has. Thus it's of vital importance to organize projects in a way that their development can be pursued with a minimum investment of time and effort.

As a candidate to be the capital's mayor, accompanied by a campaign team and a number of people who give me their recommendations and cooperation and their suggestions for different sorts of programs, I have no doubt about the urgent necessity for a true reordering of the quality of life in our community.

For the reordering and reconstruction of the capital city on its different levels, it's important --- decisive, really --- to emphasize the urgency of improving the quality of life for the residents of all 21 corregimientos that comprise the Capital District. We have to bring back the joy of living in a safe, healthy, orderly and above all hopeful environment to all who live --- regardless of their age --- in the country's most important city.

The mayor, from my point of view, has to be the daily sentinel and defender of the quality of life of the city's residents, and a defender of local government against the incompetence and inefficiency that characterizes the central government. Thus it's important that the projects that the mayor develops have to have as their primordial objective the quality of life in all of its aspects and boundaries, and moreover, they have to be well accepted by the public. The citizens have to identify with them, not only by recognizing that the mayor is really and effectively “doing something,” but such that they are moved to participate in these efforts.

In our administration, all projects that revolve around improving the quality of life and the social, economic and cultural progress we need would be organized primarily according to time factors, into three categories: immediate (within three months), intermediate (six months to a year), and long term (more than a year). Every project would have a plan that would include a clear delineation of its objectives, established goals for its accomplishment or termination, and dates for its progress.

As the defender of our freedoms, constitutional guarantees and legal and social rights that I have always been, I have good reason to be able to use the Panama City mayor's office --- as an institution --- to do a job that results in a better quality of life for those who are living and growing up in the capital city. We can make Panama City the city that smiles.