Two kind friends have been showing me around Tijuana city hall. Just as in San Diego, behind kind and caring faces, there can remain greedy or cororupt management. But suddenly there's an astonishing difference between our two cities, and this time, the citizens of Tijuana lead the way.
Bold and brave young professional men and women, without political ambitions, are publicly demanding reform at city hall. Ascan Lutteroth is a home developer and a big family man. He called friends and colleagues together to catalog and appraise their frequent protests of corruption in Tijuana city government.
Just coming to Ascan's meetings became a mark of raw public courage. From both PRI and PAN, members make their names and addresses public. They call themselves "Transparencia." With youth around the world, the word has become a 21st-century cry for freedom.
Ascan's allies and their attorneys research complaints. If they suspect corruption, they call press conferences to name names. There have been charges of land confiscation, of bribes, of funneling public funds into private projects. Even Tijuana media, with wary eyes on City Hall, begin to cover these press conferences and report charges.
In Tijuana, reporters who make enemies at City Hall may not merely be fired, but fired at. Still, "Transparencia" has quickly grown into a critical mass that will make it difficult to eliminate.
Maybe the best life insurance Ascan's movement could receive was a recent award from Mexican federal cabinet officials in Mexico City. His Tijuana chapter and those in four other Mexican cities were honored by the Institute of Federal Elections. High Mexican officials now seek to encourage people like Ascan to pursue reform at local levels. They see reform as a counterweight to local corruption.
Since Transparencia began, Tijuana has elected a new mayor, Jorge Hank Rhon. Ascan says his group will not miss a meeting. But they are now looking over the shoulder of one of Mexico's wealthiest men.
Ascan translates the new plaque with calm pride, and perhaps a sense of reassurance: FIRST AWARD FOR TRANSPARENCY.....AND INTEGRITY..... IN MEXICO.
