Llúcia Signes has a degree in documentation from the University of Barcelona. She has worked as an archivist, documentalist and for more than 15 years as a librarian in Dénia. It knows well the operation of the Public Administration and the problems that exist. As a cultural worker, she believes that she can contribute her experience of revitalization of cultural spaces such as the library.
The number 3 of Compromís has answered the questionnaire made by Jávea.com to all the political parties that present themselves to the mayor of Xàbia.
- Who makes up Compromís and what are its main proposals?
Compromís is a coalition of political and social sensitivities - valencianism, ecologism, feminism, among others-; thus, we are a sum of people with different political origins and cultures that have in common the idea of defending Valencian interests in the context of a Europe and a greener, fairer and more egalitarian Europe, in short, freer.
At the local level, this means working to position Xàbia as a benchmark in sustainability, equality and quality employment, to make a city thinking of its neighbors rather than tourists: visitors must be the consequence of well-done things and a good quality of life.
For this, the central commitment of Compromís in the local scale, as in the state and European autonomous, is to build and consolidate collective rights such as: right to universal and free childhood education 0-3 years, right to an income minimum to avoid poverty (or Valencian Inclusion Income), that we will have to implement the following legislature; right to quality employment, improving the added value of the products produced in Xàbia (in the agri-food, industrial sector, etc.) that generate higher wages and better working conditions; right to a green and clean city, with a door-to-door refuse collection contract, new urban bus lines and bike lanes. Social rights will guide our action government. The goal is to improve people's lives with small actions that make life easier for them.
- How do you describe the team that accompanies you?
The first definition already comes with the name of the party: we are committed people, with a vocation for service. Although most of us are for the first time in an electoral list, in one way or another we have been doing politics all our life: in our jobs, in associations, doing culture or enjoying the environment. There are many ways to work by common. And the second is that we have experience in management: be it in the private company, with businesses open to the public, in the public administration or in the board of directors of social entities, most of us and we have had management responsibilities. Now we want to transfer this commitment and this experience to Javea Town Hall.
- What priority action does Xàbia need and what areas should be taken before?
The main priority of Xàbia is a Administration Modernization Shock Plan to put order in the City Council, which is paralyzed by lack of personnel, obstacles by the State and poor organization. Without launching the City Council and returning to elaborate Municipal Budgets every year, we can not carry out any significant public policy. In addition, we need the help of other administrations, in particular from the Government of Spain, to eliminate the obstacles - in particular the famous "spending rule" - which prevents Xàbia, a municipality without debt and surplus, from spending money on services and re-hire the workers we need instead of outsourcing to companies.
In Xàbia, we need more qualified personnel in practically all the departments, after a decade of crisis with retirements and without practically new oppositions: we have collapsed Urbanism and the granting of licenses; Hiring and tenders that take long months; Services, with a poor control over municipal contracts, it takes months to repair a faulty street lamp, to give an example ... and the Personnel Department itself, on which this legislature has hardly acted: we do not even have a List of Positions of Work to know what to expect. Our first priority will be to hire, on an interim basis and through work exchanges, as far as the law allows, all the necessary support staff to unblock the functioning of the City Council: Personnel, Services, Urbanism, Hiring and Local Police, among other departments. Also, we think create a specific department of European funds, to capture the new round of EU FEDER funds that is now starting at 2020. We can not afford to lose more opportunities.
Having said that, and before proposing new challenges, we will have to use public resources to do justice to all those who have suffered most from urban disasters and the economic crisis. Build the new school and guarantee a universal and free 100% child education; deploy the Valencian Inclusion Income to tackle the problem of poverty in Xàbia; finish the sewage system for the urbanizations that need it, and finally give a solution and urban dignity to the most abandoned neighborhoods, with the urban core of Arenal as a paradigmatic example of abandonment and neglect, where we must begin to act beyond measures
palliatives
- What is the main objective of Compromís to initiate a change in Xàbia?
Our main objective is to create a fairer and more livable Xàbia, and for that we have to turn tourism into a means, and not an end in itself. Tourism has to serve so that visitors know -and understand- our products, our way of life ... and ultimately some of them decide to live with us and become neighbors of Xàbia all year round, with the economic activity that this entails. We must forget the categories of resident and pure tourist, and assume that people have a much more flexible behavior: travel a lot, spend seasons working or studying in different cities and even countries, work from home ... and the reasons that drive them to Traveling or changing residence are not always unique, but they tend to be diverse and change.
The great European urban destinations -London, Amsterdam, Copenhagen- are no longer conceived as tourist destinations but as poles of attraction for people, and they do not have tourism offices to use, but territorial development agencies. We must move towards this model: whoever is interested in Xàbia may want to visit us for a few days, but also stay to live, study, spend time working on a project, invest or look for work. And in this transformation we can sell something more than sun, beach and hospitality. Xàbia has great scenic, natural and heritage attractions, but also an intense associative life, and very active international communities that support each other, attract visitors and generate solidarity networks. Our main objective is to convert our neighbors -their knowledge, their contacts, their social and cultural life...- into our greatest economic asset. And we call this Internationalization Plan.
-Tell us about your electoral program. What are the main points?
The first is Management Modernization Plan, which we have talked about before. Without launching the City Council, nothing is possible: we need more personnel, more qualified and more efficient public action. After this there will be do justice with the neighbors and neighborhoods that have suffered the most from the crisis and abandonment: first of all we have to put our batteries in doing justice in early childhood education, in inclusion rent against poverty, in sewerage in urbanizations and finally fix urban disasters like those of Arenal.
The second, the Housing Plan to build up to 200 new homes oriented mainly to social rent and to urge the rehabilitation of old ones in urban centers.
The third, the Strategic Culture Plan to bring order to our cultural and festive world, guarantee access for citizens, a creative environment and quality jobs, and turn Xàbia's culture into the asset it deserves to be.
The fourth, work for Xàbia as a Green City, focusing on sustainable mobility, new bus lines and frequencies, bike lanes, etc., renewable energies in public buildings, singularly in the integral water cycle, and with a door-to-door garbage collection service.
Finally, a Internationalization Plan to convert the profiles, knowledge and contacts of the citizens of Xàbia into an engine of growth and economic diversification, betting on more elaborated products and generating quality employment.
The last three points would have as spearhead one of our star proposals: a Meeting, Exhibition or Festival of Sustainability of public initiative aimed at positioning Xàbia as a sustainable city, with culture as its axis and internationalization as its objective. In 2006 and 2007 Xàbia it hosted, with great success, the Aplec Arrels, an associative initiative with the defense of the territory as the main axis, which brought together thousands of people combining cultural offer with political and social content in vindication of the Valencian territory and its collective future. We want to recover that spirit and generate a neighborhood and associative reference not only in our town, but also in the region and the Valencian Country: the urban and external positioning of Xàbia must be based on its status as a Mediterranean city, socially alive and respectful with its surroundings .
- What would you ask the citizens?
That if they want to end the paralysis and the neglect of the absolute majorities, trust in Compromís; If they want Xàbia to return to elaborate budgets every year to meet the needs of citizens, vote for Compromís. If you want understanding between parties, vote for Compromis. We are the best guarantee of a
government of progress with project for Xàbia.
