CORRUPTION: Not Just Governors, Small Town Mayors Can Retire To The Good Life Too

By DD for Borderland Beat

San Antonio Home of Ramos Arizpe Mayor Ramon Rodriquez Oceguara

In November I ran across a story in a Mexican newspaper, Sin Embargo, about the mayor of a small town in Coahuila purchasing a “retreat” home” in San Antonio, Texas that is about 24,000 sq.ft, and has five bedrooms  and the same number of bathrooms, plus a pool with spa included and space for three cars in the garage. The one-story house also features a game room, bar, studio and jacuzzi and other amenities.

 The records show that he paid nearly $11,000,000 pesos ($850,000 USD) for the mansion while earning $24,500 pesos ($2,200 USD) a month as Mayor of Ramos Arizpe, a small city of about 48,000 close to Saltillo. 

The home is located in the subdivision 'The Pinnacle', one of the most exclusive residential areas of San Antonio..

At the time I read the story I thought it was an interesting example of how a even a small time politician in Mexico can become rich and live the good life after he leaves office.  

But when compared to the hundreds of million dollars missing from state treasuries where governors such as Humberto Morira,  Thomas Yarrington, Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid, Andre Granier and others held office,  I thought that the suspected corruption of Mayor Ramón Rodríguez Oceguera was too small time to merit a story on Borderland Beat.   

Accordingly I just filed it away in my research files

None of the Governors who are suspected of corruption and robbing the treasuries of their states have been convicted of those charges.  Some of them are not even the subject of an investigation.  One of the Governors who has been linked to corruption in the press is on a short list for an Ambassadorial appointment.  Mayor Ramon Rodríguez Oceguera has not been charged or convicted of a crime either.

I recently read a statement by a political observer in Mexico who made a plea to elected officials…”when you steal from your city or state, please steal only half of what others have stolen.  You will still get millions to make your life comfortable, and there will be enough left in the treasury to operated your entity after you leave”

Remembering that plea, when I read a story in el Diario de Coahila about what happened in Ramos Arizipe when Mayor Rodrequez left office, I decided to publish this story. 

The start-up for the new municipal administration headed by Ricardo Aguirre Ramos Arizpe, could be one of the roughest of the municipalities of Coahuila, since the last administration staff literally ransacked municipal facilities, taking computer equipment, furniture, telephones and all official stationery.

The previous administration (Mayor Rodriquez) evidently didn’t heed the advice to leave enough for the city to operate when they were looting the city.

MISSING 60% OF VEHICLES

In Proceedings of the handover, a shortfall of at least 50 vehicles, out of a total of 80, which means it has not been able to verify the whereabouts of 60% of the vehicle fleet of the City was documented.

60 % of these type vehicles were missing.  What was left would not run

The city  has serious mechanical failure, up to 90%, leaving the town almost without units to start with the primary services such as lighting, paving, parks and gardens, and other areas core of the village.

ARMORED SUV Missing

In Proceedings of the handover, also failed to justify an armored van type Grand Cherokee 2010 model, which should have been submitted with the vehicle fleet, but the unit whose value in round 200,000 pesos also disappeared.

This truck is not assigned to the mayor of Ramos Arizpe, which was purchased with municipal funds, but later bought by the mayor for his personal use but no paperwork to document the sale was included ,

Radio Equipment Missing

Perhaps one of the greatest irregularities, is the lack of at least 40 radio equipment type Matra, which were purchased for the Municipal Police with resources from the federal government through the Subsemun.

Each radio has a value of approximately 40 thousand pesos which can be added to the missing of all township security cameras, as currently in the municipal 066 emergency system there is only one security camera.  Nearly 30 they were active at some point in the administration.

The Social Communication, also has serious gaps in electronic equipment such as cameras, video recorders, and other devices including laptops, phones, fax machines, among other missing which in turn was acquired for media monitoring communication.

In the offices of the Municipal DIF four computers, of the 15 that were registered, are still there.  They even took the mini-split air conditioners from the offices..

The list of missing items seems endless, but among the strongest irregularities are missing files in all areas of public administration, including files from the Municipal Treasury which did not submit a single document in the process of handover

So even a small town corrupt politician can have a good retirement, he just has to steal more.