By Fernanda Noriega
On December 29, 2021, with a constitutive act made before a notary public, Luis Fernando Coello Rebolledo and Jesús Mercadillo Escobedo arrived at the fire station. They came with five lawyers to support their claim of taking possession of the place, and with the intention of positioning themselves as a board of trustees and starting a new association of firefighters. “Legally, and with the constitutive act duly registered, we come to recover the Fire Department for San Miguel de Allende,” said Mercadillo. In this way, the dispute between the Mercadillo and Pérez Solises for the patronage came to a head and the news circulated in San Miguel.
Juan Antonio Pérez Solís, the president of the board of trustees, declared that Mercadillo and his lawyers entered by force and that he is ready and willing to start another legal process to “remove” him.
This is not the first such attempt carried out by Mercadillo. In 2008, he initiated a legal process to take over the firefighters. The trial lasted more than 10 years, and it was not until this December 2021 that he won. “Today we can have a record registered with the people who hold the ownership of the board of trustees,” he said. Before this event, on December 15 of last year, a complaint was circulated on social networks by firefighters. Because of fear of reprisals, they anonymously informed the public that although Juan Antonio Pérez had promised in an interview that he would acquire personal protective equipment for firefighters, it did not happen. “I have attached photos of the current precarious conditions of the personal protective equipment that we use as firefighters, and still we risk our lives for others. The board of trustees is made up of President Solis, Vice President Martínez and Treasurer González; all firefighters lack much training, and personal protective equipment […] The firefighters’ hands are tied in that if they say something, they are let go from the institution […] We ask for the support of the public in requesting transparency of our corresponding authorities,” stated the message.
To this, Mercadillo declared that those who called themselves owners of the board of trustees have been receiving public resources from the municipality and society. That left the big question of where those resources went, if they were not used at the fire station? Mercadillo pointed his finger at Juan Antonio Pérez Solís, president of the board of trustees, his brother Roberto Pérez Solís, current Director of Civil Protection, and the attorney of the board Ernesto Martínez García as all guilty. In response to some of these statements, Juan Antonio Pérez told the members of the new council to leave the premises and that if they had any legal standing, they should present it to the courts. “Let them make their legal claim and not this arbitrary exercise of their own right. We won a trial that lasted four years and seven months where a judge decreed the legality of our act.”
Following this, a press conference was organized on the premises to present the new association. Hours later, after the parties met, and with the intervention of an alderman from the City Council, Pérez Solís agreed to work with the new association. The civil association is chaired by José Carlos Godínez Arzola, Mercadillo announced. Godinez will take charge of the San Miguel de Allende Fire Department. “What matters most is that the services continue to be provided to society, and with José Carlos Godínez we are in a cordial dialogue to join forces and give continuity to projects that were started. We support this association and will continue working with them,” he commented.
Although an agreement was reached, it is still not clear which board of trustees will be in charge of the San Miguel de Allende Fire Department. What is known is that no firefighter is being excluded from the institution. Mercadillo also announced a new team to support this new administration. In the meantime, the San José Iturbide firefighters have sent a motorized truck to back up any emergency in which the inventory of units and equipment are insufficient, since have not been enough trucks in the barracks of San Miguel to come to the rescue of the explosive accidents and fires that have arisen in recent months. That the Iturbide Firefighters provide support to the San Miguel Fire Department represents a great relief for the firefighters themselves, who risk their lives for the population on a daily basis. During an interview, Jesús Mercadillo shared as part of his story with the Fire Department that a few decades ago he supported the establishment of the San José Iturbide, Comonfort, San Luis de la Paz, and Dolores Hidalgo barracks. “…organizing, helping with vehicles, and many things that were needed at that time,” he stated.
For the public, the most important thing is that the firefighters can recover from the precarious situation in which they find themselves. In addition to the lack of equipment, there is currently a debt of more than one million pesos for pending payments to SAPASMA, CFE, gasoline, and property taxes. Mercadillo commented that it is expected that this problem can be solved soon, since the firefighters must continue working for San Miguel, and promises that from now on the Fire Department will vindicate itself. “Many people say they love San Miguel. I don’t know what it is to love. To love the buildings or to value its people?” he concluded.
