“We are talking, for example, about issues related to waste, mobility, traffic, the maintenance of public equipment, and security. These are basic problems about which, every day, residents complain because they want clean streets, good lighting, and public equipment in order and in good condition,” said Filipe Garcia.
The candidate, an economist and professor who announced his candidacy for the October local elections alongside deputy Miguel Rangel, shared with Lusa his long-standing residency in Matosinhos and noted a “total lack of planning, especially in the last 10 years”.
“There is clearly a lack of vision for Matosinhos. We lack a sense of where we want to go in 20, 30, 40 years. We have a shortage of space, and clearly, there is a lack of organization. Everything that has happened in Matosinhos in the last 20, 25 years has been much more in response to events, or rather, a bit trailing behind events,” he criticized.
With the conviction that “what is most needed” are “measures to improve the quality of life for citizens,” he promised, “What is our objective? Our objective, our ambition, our mission is to make Matosinhos the best place in Europe to live.”
“It’s as simple as that. When I started testing this idea with associations and companies, because I’ve always had it in mind, as I’ve lived here for many years and know there’s potential for it, people began to look at me and say ‘yes, it’s possible,'” he stated.
Another priority for the IL in Matosinhos is to make the municipality “a university town” by creating “a kind of student district that doesn’t have to be in the center” to “attract people, provide them with skills, retain and engage them,” whether they are students or teachers, said the candidate.
Filipe Garcia also highlighted the importance of “taking good care of public money,” as he added, “the Matosinhos Council is not exactly a poor council; its revenues have been increasing.”
“However, the Council, when faced with more money, always chooses to increase the structure. We believe there is great room for optimization. We understand that there is a neglect of public money and a lack of transparency. The Council communicates poorly with residents,” he argued.
Finally, the candidate for Matosinhos — running alongside the local structure leader, Beatriz Vieira, who will be a candidate for the Municipal Assembly — admitted that his motivation to enter the local election race comes from the lack of good alternatives in the current opposition.
“We don’t see particularly great solutions in the opposition. I believe we are needed. Honestly, one of the things that motivated me was looking around and saying, if the liberal initiative is not on the ballot, I don’t have anyone to vote for,” he concluded.
Besides Filipe Garcia (IL), the current mayor Luísa Salgueiro of the PS, social-democrat Bruno Pereira, CDU councilor José Pedro Rodrigues, former socialist and independent councilor António Parada for Chega, and former president of the Left Bloc (BE) parliamentary group Pedro Filipe Soares have also confirmed their candidacies for the Matosinhos City Council.
The current executive comprises seven PS members, one from the PSD, one independent, one from the António Parada Sim! movement, and one from the CDU.
The City Council of Matosinhos has always been led by the PS except for the term from 2013 to 2017, when it was presided over by the independent Guilherme Pinto, who, at the time, left the PS.
The local elections are scheduled for October 12.
