Election day is near, and on the night of June 6 we will know if the current mayor (presently on leave of absence), Luis Alberto Villarreal has won the reelection, or if somebody else will succeed him after October 10. He granted us an interview—available on our Facebook page, and posted live on May 12—and we asked him what he would he do with 200 million pesos if he could use without the authorization from the city council, or in which neighborhood he could live in. 

 

The Pan candidate, told Atención that if he wins this election one of his projects is the construction of a bike path on the side of the Boulevard de la Libertad (the four-lane-road that will connect San Miguel with Dolores Hidalgo). The bike paths would go from the Train Station to Cruz del Palmar and Atotonilco, as well as to the universities area in upper San Miguel. These works would be mainly for locals, but tourists could make use of them as well. 

 

We asked the candidate if he uses public transportation. He interrupted and we did not complete questioning him on fair fares or quality of the busses. He stated that he had to use private (administrative) vehicles because of several justified (for a mayor) situations and his agenda is full of meetings. “The mayor has to get in time to see the people, that is about respecting their time”. 

 

In this campaign, Villarreal has remarked that his aldermanic candidates are the most diverse and come from all sectors of the city. “Sanmiguelenses will be well represented.” In addition, he said that last year the city operated with a 1200 million peso budget for public works. We asked him where he would invest 200 million pesos if he could get them without authorization of the city council. Villarreal explained that there is a pending project to build the Paleontological Museum in Atotonilco, where the Fernández family donated land to make it happen. The recreation space would shelter the fossil remains that for million of years have rested in the northeast area of the city. “We already have the executive project, and to make it happen costs 120 million pesos.”

 

Finally, he highlighted that the pedestrian corridor being built on the road to Celaya ends at the entrance of Fraccionamiento La Parroquia. We asked him in which popular neighborhood he would live in, and he said San Antonio, Guadalupe, or even San Luis Rey are popular now, but he could live in Nuevo Pantoja, or Ejido de Tirado, regardless of the lack of public services.