He mayor of Olmedo (Valladolid), Alfonso Centenois considering whether or not to resign – he has already left the PP ranks after the opening of an oral trial – after hearing this Friday the decision of the Valladolid court on the “Meseta Ski” case. A judgment that imposes on Centeno, then president of Sodeva, a sentence of nine years and one month and one month of special prohibition of employment or public office for a continuous crime of administrative prevarication in the processing and construction in Villavieja del Cerro of a leisure and adventure complex which had two dry ski slopes as its flagship infrastructure.
Centeno, who shows his “respect” for the judgment although he “does not” agree, says he has postponed this decision and will communicate “in the coming days” that the judgment is not final. His future at the head of the City Council will be decided “once all the assessments have been taken into account” and on the basis, he adds, that the Court’s decision is subject to appeal, which he has already indicated he would do.
The hearing resolution considers that it is proven that Centeno committed the continuing crime of administrative prevaricationto which the mitigation of unjustified delays applies. It also condemns the former vice-president of Sodeva, Pedro Pariente, for administrative wait-and-see, with identical mitigating circumstancesto seven years and three months of prohibition, while acquits his two other colleagues on the bench: the architect Valentin Gonzalez and the head of urban planning of the Provincial Council of Valladolid, Luis Torroglosaaccording to information from the Press Office of the High Court of Justice of Castilla y León collected by Europa Press.
The conviction, on its legal basis, considers as proven that the the initial project was modified without apparent technical or economic justificationa “relevant modification, quantitatively and qualitatively, with reference to the fact that the amount of the works has increased by almost three million euros, while the initial price of the contract was just over four”, so that we are talking about an increase in the budget of around 75%.
“Glaring” omission
But in addition, the modification, according to the court, affected an extremely important element of a dry ski slope, such as the skiable surface, changing the material and its dimensions, “blatantly omitting the most fundamental legal standards”since it was agreed to modify a contract signed four months earlier without a new contractual process.
“Furthermore, the existence of this complementary project was not even communicated to the other company, which had participated in the call for tenders.”
Centeno, whom the accusations consider the “alma mater” of the project, defended this Friday that during his “more than 30 years dedicated to public life, he has always” acted “to the best of my knowledge and belief”following the instructions of the technicians who, at any time, had to ratify each of my administrative decisions. And “always”, he added, “seek the improvement of the common good and the well-being of people”.
In addition, the advisor thanked in a statement the “Support received” from the inhabitants of Olmedo“who are those who, with their majority support, encouraged me to carry out my task in favor of my municipality, my province and my autonomous community.” “I regret, and therefore I apologize, if this judicial decision causes you any harm,” adds Centeno.
