From the Publisher's Desk
Who´s in Charge?
In 1945, US President Harry Truman received a gift of a small desk sign which read “The Buck Stops Here.” Truman adopted the motto during his tenure as President, and in his farewell address to the American people in January 1953, he once referred again to the sign saying, “The President—whoever he is—has to decide. He can´t pass the buck to anybody. No one else can do the deciding for him. That´s his job.”
 
The saying “the buck stops here” derives from the slang expression “pass the buck,” meaning passing the responsibility to someone else. In Mazatlán, passing the buck has become an epidemic.
 
Let´s look at a few examples.
Tourism: when the local industry complained that the high tollroad cost was inhibiting tourism, the Co-ordinator of Tourism in Mazatlán suggested the hotels themselves reimburse the travelers: when, due to slack tourism numbers, restaurants were closing and waiters were laid off, the Co-ordinator of Tourism said there were too many restaurants in Mazatlán: and just recently, the Co-ordinator of Tourism blamed low 2004 hotel occupation rates on the US crisis of 9/11/2001. He failed to mention that tourism in Cancún, Puerto Vallarta and Los Cabos is flourishing.
 
Consumer Protection: victims of real estate and timeshare irregularities are directed to PROFECO, which takes the complaint and files it. Exasperated victims have been forced to take their complaints outside the country to seek redress.
 
Medical Complaints: victims of overbilling or malpractice have no champions. In a recent letter to the Pacific Pearl, the Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos de Mazatlán expressly stated they will not take any complaints from victims.
 
Public Confidence: in a February, 2004 uncompleted El Debate survey, confidence in the Sinaloa justice system showed 4.66% of the respondents thought it was very good, 3.9% good, 15.44% regular, 25.46% bad, and 50.55% very bad.
 
These few examples are the tip of a deep and spreading iceberg. With no one in charge in Mazatlán, the community is getting nervous. Why invest time, money and years in a city where leaders will not step up to the plate and take full responsibility for their mandates?
 
As a businessman, father and landowner in Mazatlán for 19 years, I am not alone in these concerns. The Pacific Pearl hears, not only from tourists but also Mexican residents, the same question asked daily — Who is in charge? No one is taking responsibility in this state. Maybe the only place the buck stops is with President Fox.
 
Michael J. Veselik
Publisher