The Ethics Committee of the Barcelona City Council considers that the appointment as adviser of the partner of a mayor damaged “the public image and prestige” of the consistory. This is reflected in the Committee’s resolution on the hiring in September 2020 of Alicia Ramos, then a partner of the Housing councilor, Lucía Martín, after the Ciutadans group in the City Council denounced it.
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On the one hand, Cs understands that the Committee agrees with them while, on the other, the City Council affirms that the appointment itself is not questioned and defends the process of appointing Ramos as attached to the Department of Feminisms.
“He had the necessary and accredited preparation and knowledge,” they point out from the consistory. As the ACN agency has learned, Ramos stopped working at the town hall in June 2021.
In its analysis, the Committee considers that at first glance there could be a “conflict of interest” in the appointment and notes that the administrative file does not include “any reason or document” for which Ramos was appointed. However, he concludes that he has not assumed a conflict of interest because the election corresponds “only” to the mayor, who does not maintain any personal or family ties with Ramos.
The Committee, however, makes it clear that the appointment in any case entails a negative reputational image and recommends that in the future the mayor avoid the damage associated with “cases of real or potential conflict of interest” in the appointment of temporary positions.
For its part, from the consistory they affirm that the process of appointing Alicia Ramos as temporary staff was done following the same criteria as the rest of the temporary positions of all municipal groups.
Regarding the fact that documentation is not provided in the appointment file, the municipal sources indicate that “the curriculum of all the temporary is in the transparency portal from the moment of appointment, also that of Alícia Ramos, who currently no longer works in City Hall”.
In addition, they defend that due to her role as a possible member of the councilor for Feminisms, Ramos had the necessary and accredited preparation and knowledge as a Law graduate, Doctor of Humanities from the University of California and a master’s degree in historical culture, communication and new professions.
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