The mayor of Lo Barnechea, Felipe Alessandri, proposed reviewing the regional administration model that eliminated the post of appointed regional head, according to La Tercera. He did so this Tuesday on the outlet's Desde la Redacción program, following the mudslide that hit Las Condes last Thursday.
The proposal follows a public clash between the mayor of Las Condes, Catalina San Martín, and the governor of Santiago, Claudio Orrego. The mayor criticized Orrego's absence from a Cogrid, the disaster risk management committee, held on Sunday afternoon. This Tuesday, she also questioned the assistance the governor said he had provided.
Alessandri distanced himself from that dispute. He maintained that, in an emergency, the presidential delegate has "the executive powers" to intervene. "It's not that I want to defend Orrego or anything, but the person with executive powers here is the delegate; the governor can help you finance projects," he said.
The current model split the responsibilities of the former appointed regional head between two posts. The regional governor is elected by popular vote and handles the region's administration, planning and investment. The presidential delegate is appointed by the President of the Republic and is responsible for internal governance and coordinating the state's emergency response.
"Previously, we had an appointed regional head who combined the responsibilities of regional governance and administration, which allowed for more direct leadership," Alessandri said. According to the mayor, the question is whether the current system "really improved the state's capacity to respond or whether we ended up creating a more complex structure, with greater difficulties in making decisions."
The mayor acknowledged the regional authorities' willingness to cooperate. However, he stressed that "a willingness to cooperate is one thing, and having the right institutional design is something quite different." He added that the state cannot depend solely on good relationships between authorities to function.
The debate concerns who gains and loses power under each model. A return to greater concentration of responsibilities would strengthen the post appointed by La Moneda. Keeping the current system preserves the elected governor's influence. For affected residents, the issue is more concrete: knowing who responds when a mudslide hits.
"Decentralization cannot be limited to electing authorities. It must also translate into clear powers, resources and real management capacity," Alessandri said. So far, the source reports no response from Orrego or the government to the proposal, nor any concrete bill to change the model.
