Dr. Jose Francisco Peña Gomez, president of the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano and that party’s candidate to mayor for Santo Domingo, said that if he is elected mayor he will decentralize the government of the city. He said he would implement a similar program to which he carried out when mayor from 1982-1986. His priorities would be to make efficient the collection of garbage, the construction of cultural centers, pharmacies and planting of trees throughout the city. He said he would integrate civic society and businessmen into the city government, so that it not be ruled only by aldermen and the mayor. He favors the division of Santo Domingo into six governments: Santo Domingo Sur, Santo Domingo Centro, Santo Domingo Norte, Santo Domingo Este, and Santo Domingo Oeste. The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) candidate to mayor, Roberto Salcedo, also favors decentralization. Roberto Salcedo spoke at the American Chamber of Commerce luncheon recently and said he favors the creation of the same six division, each with municipal boards in charge of the problems of each area, including garbage collection.
