| | |  News from Around Banderas Bay | July 2008 
Former Vallarta Mayor Banned from Politics
 PVNN
| | During his 3 year pro-development term in office, former Puerto Vallarta Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villaseñor (L) instituted several multi-million dollar investments that generated approximately 3000 new jobs and provided both locals and visitors with new services. | | |
From the moment he assumed office in 2004, former Puerto Vallarta Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villaseñor worked hard to bring his vision of Puerto Vallarta's future to realization before the end of his 3-year term
But many of the projects initiated during Villaseñor's pro-development term in office unsettled some longtime residents and environmental groups, who accused Villaseñor of charging ahead by recklessly approving legally questionable constructions - despite the lack of proper development plans, building permits and environmental impact reports.
Until recently, it seemed that neither the law nor the authorities were proving to be timely or effective in bringing order to the building violations which are still occurring in Puerto Vallarta, but now it appears as if the public outcries are finally being heard.
According to a recent article in the Guadalajara Reporter:
 | The Jalisco Congress this week barred former Puerto Vallarta Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez Villaseñor from holding any public office for the next five years after deciding that he acted inappropriately in authorizing construction of a high-rise resort complex in 2005.
Is ex-Vallarta Mayor Gustavo Gonzalez's political career over? The local Hotel Association cried foul after the mayor granted building permits for the Grand Venetian resort in a prohibited zone of Puerto Vallarta. They filed a series of injunctions to stop the project, arguing that Gonzalez managed the project behind closed doors, had failed in his duty to consult the business community about the soundness of the development and ignored a requirement to order essential environmental impact studies.
The Responsibilities Commission of the Jalisco State Congress ruled that Gonzalez should be banned from office for five and not ten years – the maximum allowed – because there was no suggestion of corruption in his decision-making.
A district judge recently ruled in favor of the Hotel Association in its three-year-long battle to close the project. However, 90 percent of apartments in the well-advanced complex have been sold, and legal experts say judges are unlikely to allow the resort to be demolished.
The Grand Venetian consists of three towers containing 472 condominiums and six penthouses. An additional 12 oceanfront villas and 56 lakefront villas provide a "Venice-like" ambience, complete with a bell tower and 13,000 square feet of artificial water channels.
Local hoteliers say the Grand Venetian is the kind of self-contained holiday resort that damages conventional tourism and hurts smaller hotels, restaurants and tourist service businesses. |  |
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