Por Jesús Aguado
Gerardo Arteaga has gone from the legal profession to working as Director of Ecology in public administration. From that position he stepped up to councilman, and because politics is a roulette, after six years of service to the city, he returned to private life and started his own restaurant: Café Muro. He returned for one more period as city councilman; he is currently president of the Municipal Steering Committee of his party, National Action Party (PAN). We interviewed him for our section, and here are his questions and answers.
Jesús Aguado: What is the best childhood memory that you have in San Miguel de Allende?
Gerardo Arteaga: I have many, but the one that makes me the happiest is Corpus Christi celebrated in June. That day there were countless toy stalls in the lower portal of the Jardin. I remember that day seemed like an early Three Kings Day because with our toys we went running and playing carefree through the streets of Centro and the Jardin without anything bothering us.
JA: Do you remember the name of your first primary school teacher?
GA: I remember Mother Carmen with special affection. If I remember correctly, she was from Yuriria, and she was an extraordinary teacher as well as an incredible human being.
JA: What character from San Miguel has left you the most important reflection on life?
GA: My grandfather, Gabino Arteaga, left the greatest teaching in my life and to this day I continue to apply it: generosity and respect for others.
JA: In literature, what has been the text that has most impacted you?
GA: What a question you ask. I have had the pleasure of having read countless books, but undoubtedly the one that I remember most fondly is the one that my mother read with me every night of my childhood, “Corazón” by Edmundo de Amicis—it is a writing in which the chapters are based on the different adventures of a little Italian boy. Every time I read it, I remember my mother.
JA: In national news, what has made your day the most?
GA: In the sea of notes of the national tragicomedy, and at the risk of sounding vain, the note that has made me happy is knowing that the band Coldplay will give concerts in Mexico next April. Hopefully, I can go.
JA: If you could go back in time, what would you change in the city? What would you preserve?
GA: I think I would try to avoid the collapse of the municipal market that was located in Plaza Cívica, because I think it is a space that, in addition to being incredibly useful to the city, was architecturally very beautiful.
JA: You are involved in politics, but also in private enterprise. If you could have just one, what would it be?
GA: Both have in common service to the community and to the general society; I don’t see why one has to discard the other.
JA: Within the private sector, what is the best that you have given to the people of San Miguel?
GA: Coming from my position as a small businessman, I believe that what I have given to my community was in generating employment, in addition to doing it with constancy and honesty.
JA: In politics, what has been the best project that you have supported and approved for locals and visitors?
GA: I think that what fills me most with pride is having been able, as Director of Environment and Ecology of the 2003-2006 administration of Luis Alberto Villarreal, to participate in placing for the first time the issue of the environment as a central point of public endeavor. And to have had the full support of Mayor Villarreal to intervene and improve Parque Juárez, all the squares, gardens, and green spaces of the city, as well as update the environmental legislation and participate in essential works such as the treatment plant of wastewater and the sanitary landfill of our San Miguel de Allende. I also promoted the declaration of an ecological conservation zone for Charco del Ingenio, the first in the state.
JA: As a member of the restaurant industry, what advice would you give to people who are just starting a business?
GA: Meditate on your decision before starting it, and once it is opened, love it with the passion of loving a child, and have the patience to take care of it and watch it grow, even in the face of bad times.
JA: From your point of view, and without mentioning your restaurant of course, which is the best you have visited, in terms of setting, flavors, service?
GA: For me, in addition to my family’s restaurant that was on Calle Hidalgo 42 for many years, the best restaurant for quality of service, setting, food, drinks, and decoration, in the city has been the unforgettable Señor Plato that was located on Calle de Jesús, owned by Jorge Cuesta.
