Some residents of San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, traveled to the state capital to protest what they called the “privatization” of their city’s streets.

A dozen members of Yo Soy San Miguel de Allende (I am San Miguel de Allende) protested outside the state Congress in the city of Guanajuato after lawmakers approved a parking meter project for the colonial city.

The organization’s spokesman said the municipal administration had signed a contract with a firm that will operate the parking meters, but citizens were not consulted about the project.

There were several processes through which public opinion was gauged, but José Luis Vargas said people were “lied to through a false consultation on transportation issues.”

The proponents of the parking meters also collected signatures and conducted a consultation during a bullfight, “but they did not adhere to citizen participation laws,” he accused.

The parking meters project has been approved under the “pretext” of obtaining resources to improve the urban mobility of disabled citizens, but Vargas questioned why only 20% of the revenue obtained through the meters will go to city coffers. The remaining 80% — of an estimated 360 million pesos (US $17.8 million) per year — will go to the firm operating the devices.

The protest concluded with a warning that injunctions would be filed against the municipal administration.

Source: El Financiero (sp)