Council top dogs axed by over half

Palma.—Newly appointed Partido Popular (PP)President of the Council of Majorca, Maria Salom, said yesterday that she is going to reduce department heads by 56 percent in what could be “the largest reduction in history.” Speaking yesterday at her investiture attended by Balearic President Jose Ramon Bauza and the outgoing Council of Majorca President Francina Armengol, Salom said that “it is quite feasible to run the Council of Majorca with less directors.” She was voted in as new President with the support of 19 PP Councillors despite the “thumbs down” from the Socialists and coalition parties. Salom made it quite clear that there were areas of management on the Council of Majorca she believed that the institution could quite well do without. Out go departments related to tourism, economic development, youth, innovation, language policy, equality, and employment programmes. “There has been too much overlapping policy, Salom insisted. “What we need are less offices and more space to move forward.” She gave assurances however that much of this saving is to ensure that the Council of Majorca would be able to keep its bedrock commitments to social need. Echoing the sentiment of the new Balearic President, Salom said that there would follow a careful audit of individual departments to find out the true state of their financial affairs. She said that a priority would be coordination with the Balearic government to avoid any overlap.