New Mayor Tackles Tijuana’s Troubles

Things are hectic at the new City Hall here these days.

Inside the shimmering glass-and-concrete structure, hundreds of secretaries and other government employees scurry about trying to do their jobs amid the blizzard of paper work that is still associated with Third World government, even in the computer age. Unfortunately, there is only one working telephone line installed so far and its service is far from reliable.

Outside, the ever-present demonstrators with multicolored flags have adapted to the new location, converging on the site to protest shortages of water, electricity, garbage collection and other vital services.

Presiding over it all in a kind of calm-amid-the-storm attitude is Federico Valdes Martinez, the newly elected mayor of Tijuana, whose office is constantly under siege from dozens of supplicants seeking the good graces of the new presidente municipal.

“See that she gets whatever she wants,” Valdes says, directing an aide with a wave of the hand to take care of the specialized needs of one thankful woman who seems awed by his presence.

“I practice the politics of puertas abiertas (open doors),” explains Valdes, a cheerful man of 48 who appears comfortable in the traditional paternal role of the Mexican politician. “If someone has a problem, I want them to come to me. . . . We now have this beautiful new building, this dignified house for the city of Tijuana.”

Constructed at a reported cost of $2 million and inaugurated in November, the new five-story building has replaced the cramped series of municipal offices downtown. In many ways, the gleaming new building on a broad boulevard that once housed a shanty town

mirrors the changing Tijuana--a sprawling, fast-growing metropolis of more than a million people whose leaders are anxious to shed its impoverished, “sin-city” image for the more palatable vision of a center of international commerce and tourism.

“This city is very important,” says Valdes in his distinctive raspy voice. “It’s touristic. It’s commercial. It’s industrial. Tijuana as a migratory center is the most important in the world. It’s the most visited city in the world . . . “

But not far from Valdes’ new offices, the unpaved streets and crude hillside dwellings of the city’s residential neighborhoods attest to a different vision of Tijuana--an anarchic, uncontrolled boom town, where the true fruits of rapid growth are tasted by few and thousands of others barely manage to survive or else opt to leave for the nearby United States. Each week, the city’s bulging population is bolstered by the arrival of still more impoverished migrants from the Mexican interior, severely taxing the city’s ability to provide basic services.

“Tijuana is a sad city,” said Jose Luis Perez Canchola, an unsuccessful opposition mayoral candidate who runs an immigration-study institute in town. “Our growth continues uncontrolled, without plans. Our politicians do nothing. . . . People can’t even find a dignified place to live. There is increased crime and social unrest. Frustration is very high.”

Perez Canchola, like other critics of the system, is not optimistic that things will get better under the new mayor, who began his term on Dec. 1. (Critics also acknowledge that Mexican mayors, who operate in a highly centralized system, have considerably less leeway than their U.S. counterparts.)

“He (Valdes) is a man from the political bureaucracy that has been in power and is largely responsible for the great problems in our society,” said Perez Canchola. “They have no solutions for the problems of our community. . . . In three years, when Valdes leaves office, things will be worse than they are now.”

These are the two different Tijuanas, the ones viewed by Perez Canchola from his cramped office above a downtown upholstery shop and by Mayor Valdes from the new City Hall. One is a troubled city where services are sparse, crime is rampant and frustration is everywhere. The other is a kind of commercial-touristic-industrial mecca where an entrepreneur can thrive, a tourist can have a good time cheaply and where even an impoverished campesino from the countryside can still be guaranteed a decent job to support his family.

“We have problems, but not serious ones,” says Valdes, seated behind portraits of Mexican President Miguel de la Madrid and Baja California Gov. Xicotencatl Leyva Mortera, his political mentor.

He says unemployment is low or non-existent, city services such as electricity, running water and transit are improving, and most people have decent dwellings in which to live. Referring to the demographic explosion that continues to transform Tijuana, the mayor says, “We can’t promise houses and land to all the people who come. But in Mexico, all the states are open, and we receive them (migrants) with our arms open.”

As for another often-discussed topic, Valdes flatly denies the existence of corruption on the 1,400-member municipal police force--noted, like all Mexican police units, for a tradition of bribery and extortion. The mayor does allow that a “few bad elements” may exist in the force.

“It’s the bare minimum,” Valdes says. “Here, we live in tranquility.”

Such optimism, many say, is totally illusory.

“They don’t count as unemployed the people who try to make a living selling oranges or trinkets on the streets, or begging, or who can’t live on their salaries here and decide to cross to the United States,” said Perez Canchola. “They say there’s no unemployment, they say there’s no corruption, there’s no lack of city services--well, then, Tijuana must be a marvel in Mexico today! The reality is very different.”

In many ways, Valdes is a prototypical Mexican political technocrat, with extensive experience in political posts both in Baja California and Mexico City. He is a longtime loyalist to the Institutional Revolutionary Party, known by its Spanish acronym as PRI, which has dominated Mexican politics for more than half a century.

The new mayor is not reticent about mentioning his political debt to Gov. Leyva, a lifelong friend for whom Valdes most recently served as personal secretary. Few observers doubt that Gov. Leyva, himself a former mayor of Tijuana, designated Valdes as the ruling party’s candidate for mayor--a designation that practically guaranteed election. On occasion, Valdes refers to the state’s chief executive as “our dear governor,” and his conversation is sprinkled with comments about state programs that he terms “generous,” “exemplary,” and, in the ultimate compliment, “revolutionary.”

Like other party loyalists, Valdes sees Mexico’s hope in the political system built and maintained by the PRI. He is blunt when assessing the much-publicized criticisms of the conservative National Action Party, which has challenged the ruling party in recent years, particularly in border areas of Mexico.

“They are always criticizing, always attacking the system,” Valdes says of the National Action officials. “They are childish, not representative. The Institutional Revolutionary Party is strong because it represents all sectors of Mexico.”

During his campaign, Valdes’ slogan was “Safety and Cleanliness” for Tijuana. In a spirited campaign, he was elected in a landslide; he has many supporters, particularly in the business and political communities. Significantly, he says he is the first mayor of Tijuana who was actually a native of the border city.

“I think the mayor is a good man who should be able to do a lot for the people of Tijuana,” said Alejandro Moreno Berry, state director for the opposition Socialist Party of the Workers, which also has strong ties to the ruling PRI.

It is unlikely that there will be major changes in Tijuana under the new administration; the new mayor says he plans to continue the policies of his predecessor, who was also a PRI loyalist. Mexican law prohibits immediate re-election.

“What matters to us many times is the institution, not the individual (office-holder),” said Valdes, echoing a common party theme. “We are passengers. We work hard during our pass through public administration.”

The new mayor says he will press for budget increases to hire more police officers and increase street lighting, but he notes that funding cutbacks and fiscal austerity are the rules in Mexico these days. Within three years, he predicts, 96% of Tijuana’s population will have running water, thanks to “generous” programs on the state and federal level. Tourists, he wants Americans to know, are most certainly welcome, particularly at a time when foreign exchange is vital in cash-strapped Mexico.

“We receive with pleasure all American visitors,” said Valdes, adding that the city plans to expand existing tourist attractions.

As for relations between the border communities of San Diego and Tijuana, he says things couldn’t be better--despite the many irritants in broader U.S.-Mexico relations and the drumbeat of criticism of Mexican policies from Washington. He plans to hold regular meetings with his U.S. counterparts.

“These things happen in all parts of the world,” Valdes said, referring to the recent criticism. “Here, we have always recognized that Tijuana and San Diego, as well as the states of Baja California, are dependent on each other.”