Tijuana mayor marks 1st year in high style
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/mexico/tijuana/20051201-9...
Hank says city is 'less unsafe' now
By Sandra Dibble
December 1, 2005
TIJUANA ? As thousands of supporters cheered him on, Mayor Jorge Hank Rhon celebrated his first year in office yesterday, saying the city has become
cleaner and safer under his administration.
"I won't say that it's a safe city, because I don't like to tell lies, but I would say that it's less unsafe," Hank said in the first
state-of-the-city address of his three-year term.
Normally a staid affair staged at City Hall, the ritual informe turned into a raucous political rally where members of Hank's Institutional
Revolutionary Party, or PRI, filled the seats of the municipal auditorium.
The occasion also highlighted the polarization at Tijuana City Hall. The mayor's supporters, many of them bused in from different parts of the city,
booed loudly as a City Council member from President Vicente Fox's National Action Party, or PAN, presented a critical assessment of Hank's first
year.
"If someone says that Tijuana is safer than before, they're lying," Councilman Ra?l Soria said after stepping down from the stage. "The street
patching program has failed miserably, and the garbage collection system is in chaos across the city."
Hank's victory last year ended 15 years of PAN dominance in Tijuana, and took on national significance in anticipation of next year's presidential
election.
Though a political neophyte, Hank has long been in powerful circles, and is the son of a legendary PRI politician, the late Carlos Hank Gonz?lez. A
wealthy businessman who operates Tijuana's racetrack, Hank is close to PRI presidential candidate Roberto Madrazo. Hank is said to have his eye on the
governorship of Baja California, though when asked directly yesterday, he sidestepped the question.
Among yesterday's prominent guests were once-powerful PRI politicians; the mayors of Tecate, Rosarito Beach and Mexicali; Tijuana Catholic Bishop
Rafael Romo Mu?oz; and the mayor's mother, sister and older brother, Carlos Hank Rhon, a prominent PRI member.
Sitting in the first row was Baja California Gov. Eugenio Elorduy Walther, a member of the PAN, who much of the time sat impassively as news cameras
followed his every expression.
Red ties, red shirts, red roses and a red carpet for the VIP guests brought echoes of Hank's mayoral campaign, when the candidate and his supporters
wore red and predicted that a "red tide" would sweep the city.
Hank was a populist candidate who toured Tijuana in his "Hankmobile," an air-conditioned bus, offering promises that he would improve city services
and that his "hand will not tremble" in stamping out crime.
Yesterday, Hank announced layoffs of 500 appointed, nonunion jobs, which represent about 30 percent of the city's payroll. He also said he would
reduce the salaries of his top aides as a cost-cutting measure.
Hank offered a look back at the year through a 20-minute audiovisual presentation, and in a glossy and colorful pamphlet featuring photographs of
himself at ribbon cuttings, with students and congratulating police cadets.
The video listed a broad range of achievements under Hank that included raising police salaries and benefits, acquiring more police vehicles, and
creating a horse patrol and canine unit. The city now has 73 video surveillance cameras and a computerized communications center, according to the
presentation.
Under Hank, the city eliminated fees at city-run schools, paved 100 streets in different parts of the city, remodeled the municipal auditorium, and
spent $4.2 million on equipment to clean up the city, the presentation stated.
Hank also highlighted the festivities he has brought to Tijuana residents, parades and gatherings on occasions that include patriotic holidays, the
city's birthday, New Year's and Mother's Day.
"There have been better parties," said Ra?l Soria, the PANista councilman. "But that doesn't improve the city."
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