Back to politicians bashing each other! The IU has denounced the Mayor for ‘removing’ parking fines against his councillors. Local IU leader, Fermín Tejero, claims that one of the councillors that had a traffic fine ‘annulled’ was the Councillor for Traffic, María Dolores Sánchez. And we’re not talking about one or two fines, according to Sr. Tejero, but hundreds, including ones that had been slapped on people close to his party.
Sr. Tejero said that although the Mayor had always used ‘legal pretexts,’ it is extremely discriminatory against other citizens that were fined under exactly the same circumstances.
Referring to María Dolores Sánchez, he said, “This councillor, who is in charge of the Local Police, committed dozens of traffic violations, yet she has benefited from annulments issued by the Mayor’s office, saving her 1,200 euros.”
Sr. Tejero recognises that while anybody can commit a traffic offence, “it is not very encouraging to discover that the Councillor in charge of the Local Police is a repetitive offender.”
He considers it morally unacceptable that she has all her fines annulled, whereas a normal citizen is fined, appeals against it and fails to obtain an annulment.
Another ‘fine-immune’ Benavides’s man is Sr. Pavesio, who is the ex-Councillor for Urban Development, but who presently enjoys a salary of 61,000 euros as an ‘advisor.’ His fines, according to Sr. Tejero were annulled because the ‘offender’ could not be found to be notified within the legal time limit, which, Sr. Tejero, considers, ‘sounds as if somebody is taking the micky.’
Finally, the IU leader pointed out that in the 2009 budget, the Town Hall foresees an income of 622.389 euros in fines, which is double the 2008 figure!