Mayor Bosco using public funds to improve city hall image

Panama’s mayor Bosco Vallarino thinks city hall has an image problem and is using taxpayer money to correct it. 

The former broadcaster has managed to regularly hit the headlines and capture the attention of radio and TV hosts since he took office nearly a year ago.
But the media and public interest were focused not on his leadership or administrative skills but on gaffes: from authorizing a check for a jaunt to Taiwan by his wife to the abortive Christmas “villages” on the Cinta Costera, through no bid contracts, overspending, failed garbage collection,  authorizing noise fests,  selling off parts of the city hall, stinking fish in the fish market, the canceled Christmas parae and slander charges over unbuttoned lip comments about the previous mayor. 
His troubles started before he was elected, when it was revealed that he held a US passport which and had forgotten to mention  it to the electoral commission when announcing his candidacy. The government bailed him our of that one.
After trailing in the polls he jumped into first place after unproved allegations that the front runner had received over $3 million from a Colombian scam artist now serving a 32 year jail sentence and awaiting trail in the US on money laundering charges.
All great stuff for a soap opera, but this is real, and local taxpayers are bearing the cost and many have wondered why they put a cross beside the name of Vallarino.
La Prensa reports that on Friday June 25City Hall  failed to provide a detailed report of the consultants who were hired by the Mayor’s team.

The institution would only say that three consultancies have been completed and the administration is   of ordering, and processing other consultancies for care and services inpublic markets, and several items concerning trash.

 “Details will be ready in due course “said the Public Relations Office of the Mayor on Friday

City Hall reports and documents provided to the media revealed that during Vallarino’s first year management consultants were hired in December,2009 and 11 so far in 2010.

The information details the number of contracts and number of checks that were paid services that include issues of image and corporate communication, four phases of a security plan, maintenance of the Municipality offices, among others.

The City says that the results of these consultancies will be ‘short, medium and long term.

One of the last contracts were signed on Monday June 7 for $95,000, and already paid with check number 54,947.

The objective of this latest contract consulting is an analysis of improvement and reorganization of the management of waste and hospital waste.

But, says La Prensa this issue is already regulated by the National Environmental Authority which establishes "minimum requirements for the management of hazardous hospital waste applicable to all schools public and private hospital country. "

In addition, international bodies like the International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have previouslyprovided in the past studies on the same theme: the management of hospital waste.

Another company that has benefited from the Mayor’s consultancies is Juelpa SA, which received four contracts for $285,000 to submit a safety analysis.{jathumbnail off}