De León vows: ‘I will not resign.’ Council president says apology isn’t enough. City council president says he still loves city. León officials vow to continue working through federal inquiry.
After more than a week of deliberations, the León City Council on Tuesday decided to continue to work through the federal government’s inquiry into corruption in city government.
In a closed-door meeting inside the council chambers, council President Carlos Guevara told his colleagues that he didn’t think they’d made a mistake in rejecting an apology offered by City Manager Alejandro Torres to the board of trustees, which would have resulted in a $4.8 million payment to the city, including a promised $3 million fine.
“To my greatest regret and the responsibility that I bear, I will not resign,” Guevara said.
León Municipal Mayor Jose A. Vazquez said that if he were still the mayor, he would have resigned in protest.
“There is no one who will say they did not participate in the decision-making process,” Vazquez said. “The city has to be prepared.”
Council vice president Daniel Solano accused Torres of putting his own interests ahead of the city’s. “It was a mistake to make an agreement with the federal government,” Solano said.
City Manager Alejandro Torres acknowledged that city management made a mistake in agreeing to the terms of the agreement with the federal government.
“I will not say that we did nothing wrong but we made a mistake,” Torres said. “It is a very big mistake.”
The city made the decision to cut its debt by $3 million after getting a letter from the federal prosecutor’s office. The letter was a reminder from the prosecutor of a federal sentence to be served in prison before Torres could get that money.
Council Member Alejandro Guevara, who voted against cutting the debt, accused Torres of breaking his agreement