In Mexico, many times municipal policy is usually marked by improvisation, electoral logic and reaction to crises. In the case of Tlalnepantla de Baz – the second most important municipality in the State of Mexico for its contribution of 12% to the state GDP and about 2% to the national one – a deep change is being promoted: travel to a public management model based on strategic planning, evidence and citizen participation.
At the head of this transformation is Francisco “Paco” Mercado, a young officer under 30, a graduate in Public Administration and Government, with a master’s degree in public policies for ITAM and currently studying a second mastery. Today it serves as the Office of the Directorate of Information, Planning, Programming and Evaluation in the Municipal Government. His vision is clear: “Tlalnepantla deserves officials who plan and not improvise. Planning should not be a technical option, but a political decision that defines the future of our cities.”
The municipality, divided into two areas separated by Mexico City, faces contrasts between industrial, commercial and communities areas with social lag. Under the administration of the Municipal President Raciel Pérez Cruz, the new articulate diagnostic model, budget and programs with a territorial approach. This allows to meet specific needs of each area and ensure that resources are translated into public value, not only electoral.
An example is the work plan. In the past, the constant modifications – more than 30 in a single year – reflected improvised decisions. Today, in contrast, only an adjustment has been made, evidence of a planning that provides continuity and certainty to citizens.
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For a deep change in municipalities: from improvisation to strategic planning
Innovation is also based on technology and geospatial data to focus interventions, as well as the link between planning and budget, aligned with the budget based on results (PBR) and the performance evaluation system. With this, the expense is oriented to citizen priorities and accountability is facilitated.
Citizenship is also the protagonist in this process. “Our municipal president, Raciel Pérez Cruz, is all the time on the street listening to people, not only on the desk. This proximity allows to build programs with legitimacy and meet real needs,” says the official.
Market acknowledges that three years of municipal government are little time to consolidate results, but underlines the importance of sowing normative bases that transcend administrations. “We need local laws that force and not improvise, regardless of color or triennium in turn. Planning must be institutionalized as part of government culture,” he says.
As a young politician, Market also sends a message to his generation: “That they try and do not discourage. Yes, there are obstacles and resistances, but the preparation opens doors. The key is to innovate, take advantage of new technologies and demonstrate that young people can provide different solutions.”
Tlalnepantla begins to show that it is possible to govern differently. Leaving the immediate reaction behind and building on planning, evidence and results is the way to face the challenges of a key municipality in the Metropolitan Zone of the Valley of Mexico. The experience of this young and prepared government opens the door for other municipalities in the country to consider planning not as an option, but as an obligation.
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