Four Puerto Vallarta councilors and the municipal síndico formed an independent bloc as Mayor Luis Munguía seeks an advance on 2027 funds.
Four Puerto Vallarta councilors and municipal síndico José Francisco Sánchez Peña have split with Mayor Luis Ernesto Munguía González on Wednesday to form an independent bloc. Víctor Manuel Bernal Vargas will lead the bloc, and their first major decision will likely be whether to support the Mayor’s proposal to draw on funds for next year.
The group filed their notice with the Secretaría General at City Hall in Centro. Urrutia Comunica reported that city secretary José Juan Velázquez Hernández stamped it at 12.06 p.m., just before the officials announced the split. The other three councilors are María Magdalena Urbina Martínez, Christian Omar Bravo Carbajal and Marcia Raquel Bañuelos Macías. Bravo missed the press conference, but the group said he signed the letter.
All five took office on Munguía’s 2024 Partido Verde ticket (that won 10 of the 16 council seats). Sánchez Peña represents the city in legal matters and has a vote on the council.
Sánchez Peña attributed the split to several factors, including missed garbage pickups, neglected parks, unpaid suppliers, and late wages. Bañuelos stated the group would assess the proposals on their merits. Bernal had raised the issue of the city’s ability to pay workers and buy fuel as early as October, estimating supplier obligations at around 400 million pesos. Unpaid contractor bills were last week delaying at least five street projects.
The funding proposal has been around since late August, when Munguía received an advance of about 100 million pesos. The funds would come from Puerto Vallarta’s 2027 share of federal tax revenue (participaciones). On Tuesday, Munguía said that city revenue had been below expectations. He cited the drop in hotel occupancy after the violence on 22 February and the fact that several business licenses and property taxes were still outstanding.
Vallarta Daily asked Bernal how the five intend to vote and whether they have agreed to vote together. They also requested the stamped letter and a vote date from the Secretaría General. Both of those queries were still pending as of Wednesday afternoon.
Munguía says he’ll get the council’s approval before asking Jalisco to release the funds. The intention is to use them to pay the next city payroll and the workers’ year-end bonuses (aguinaldos).
