In light of the insinuations made public in the press by the PSOE spokesperson for the municipality of A Pobra do Brollón, this mayor's office would like to point out the following:
1) It is not true that there are nearly 200 unanswered questions. Oral questions asked in plenary sessions are usually answered in the same plenary session, and those presented in writing, barring a mistake or a specific oversight, which is possible, have all been answered. It is possible that the spokesperson does not like an answer because it does not put him in a good place, and for this reason he does not make it public.
In any case, I urge the aforementioned spokesperson to indicate to me which specific questions are unanswered so that I can resend him a copy of the response already sent, or if we forgot to answer it, to do so now. Otherwise, I demand that he publicly withdraw this insidiousness.
The aforementioned spokesperson says that according to article 77 of Law 7/1985 RBRL, the city council has the obligation to answer questions within a period of 5 calendar days, which shows the ignorance, misinterpretation or ill will of those who state this.
What the aforementioned article says is that “the request… (to obtain whatever records, data or information are in the possession of the corporation’s services) must be resolved with reasons within five calendar days following the day on which it was submitted”. It is clear that this refers to the right of access to files, and not to the answer to questions, since the answer does not “work” in the corporation’s services, but rather that by its very nature must be prepared after the question has been asked.
But it should also be noted that the aforementioned period is not for having access to the files that you want to consult, but for the mayor's office to resolve whether or not to grant access (in this case, with reasons) to said files. This is stated in article 14.2 of the ROFRXEL approved by Royal Decree 2,568/1986 that develops the aforementioned Law.
There is no record in the city council, barring an error or omission, that any specific documentation was requested and denied. It is also not easy to know what he is referring to since, as he usually does, he mixes questions with documentation.
2) Regarding the plenary sessions, which according to him, prevent councillors from attending the sessions, I have to remind the PSOE spokesperson that both the Workers' Statute and the Public Employees' Statute include the right of councillors to be absent from their workplace for the time necessary to attend the sessions.
3) Regarding the receipt of the minutes, it is not true that the government decided to change the Gestiona program without prior notice, unless the spokesperson was “mentally absent” from the plenary session of March 27, 2018. Furthermore, it seems that he is unaware of the entry into force of Laws 39 and 40 of 2015, and Decree 24/2018 of the Xunta de Galicia.
All councillors of A Pobra do Brollón have direct access to the Gestiona program in which they can see the draft minutes, the final minutes and even all the decrees of the mayor's office, as well as the complete files that go to plenary. Minutes to which any resident who wishes also has direct access, on the website and on the transparency portal.
The spokesperson also knows that for more than a year, any resident has had a computer in the municipal offices from which to access all this information, even with the help of officials.
I understand that the aforementioned spokesperson contacted the secretary expressing difficulties in accessing the program and that the secretary, despite being on vacation, offered to come to the city council to tell him how to access it, or to arrange an appointment with the IT company that assists the city council for this purpose. However, he has not made use of this option so far.
Moreover, although the municipal groups have an allocation for, among other things, equipment; at the request of the PP spokesperson, the council purchased a Lenovo Intel Core laptop for each group, equipment that has just been delivered to the council, and is already available to the spokespersons.
But it must be true that he is unaware of the aforementioned legislation, since on the 7th he presented a set of 30 questions on paper, instead of doing it electronically, as the aforementioned legislation establishes for legal entities (municipal groups) or councilors. Questions that will be answered shortly.
