Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico – As part of this year’s Children’s Day celebrations, the Puerto Vallarta City Council, through the Municipal System for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents (SIPINNA), invited all kids 6 to 12 years of age to participate in the ‘Mayor for a Day’ contest.
The contest’s objective was to encourage the participation of minors in political activity and asked them what would they do for Puerto Vallarta if they could be Mayor for a day.
And the winner was Sofía Guillermina Ortiz Rodríguez, a fourth-grade student at the Héroes de la Patria elementary school. The ten year old, along with 15 other boys and girls that were named members of the Cabildo Infantil (the Puerto Vallarta Children’s Council), took office for a day on Thursday, May 19.
Led by Sofía Guillermina Ortiz Rodríguez, the Trustee Iker Alejandro Ramírez Fuentes, and councilors Ivvana Livier Martínez Sánchez, Santiago Macias Quintero, Ángel Zepeda González, Andrés Alejandro Arreola Gutiérrez, Valeria Montserrat Hernández Chavarín, Daniel Galvan Cervantes, Maya María Martínez Klaissner, Olimpya Ennid Juárez Bustos, Kendra Yael Martínez Rivera, Javier Emiliano Castillo Médanos, Mariana Gómez Montes, Aldrin Agustín Bañuelos Palacios, Alison Camila Rubio Yerena and Abel Bolaños Anguiano, were sworn in before the plenary session of the Vallarta City Council headed by Mayor Luis Alberto Michel Rodríguez.
To begin the session of the Children’s Council, the Children’s Secretary Juan Alberto Mesa, read the agenda, in which the proposals of the members of this Council were presented.
Among the children’s proposals safety, decent children’s spaces, cleaning of public areas, more parks and gardens, as well as animal care, including the creation of an animal hospital, stood out.
Aware of their environment, the children councilors also proposed more and better well-paid jobs, the care and protection of women, scholarships and food support for them, as well as unity among Vallartans.
The Mayor of Vallarta, along the trustee and city aldermen, recognized the young councilors proposals, and assured them that they will be taken into account as part of the child participation mechanism.
During the session, Sofía Guillermina said she was happy to be part of the Cabildo Infantil, since it is part of her dream to one day become the municipal president of this tourist destination.
“Today I have the honor of being the children’s municipal president of Puerto Vallarta, but I have the desire to one day become the mayor of this city. I know it will not be easy but, by working together, more accomplishments can be achieved,” she said.
