by amapaspv | Apr 3, 2017 | News | Noticias, Street, Uncategorized
Some generous ANA members in Paramount Bay have pledged about $3,000 USD = $60,000 pesos to fund Phase One of ANA’s Highway Sidewalk Project.
As reported earlier, ANA commissioned an architectural plan for improving the partially paved path that runs along the west side of Highway 200.
Our goal is a continuous hard-surface, all-weather sidewalk that will help residents, renters, visitors, and workers get from our homes in the hills of Amapas, down to the beach and into town without taking their lives in their hands, as they sometimes do when they have to step out onto the highway, sometimes having to dodge kamikaze cabs and 18-wheelers speeding around its many blind curves.
Our Project Supervisor, Fernando Hernandez, is working on a materials list and construction schedule that he’ll soon convert into a budget.
Next stop: City Hall, where we’ll present our detailed plans to the Planning Department for approval and support. Then the work will begin, first clearing overgrown vegetation and fallen rock from the path, then pouring the planned 1.5 meter wide sidewalk and constructing protective retaining walls and improving storm drains.
Phase One – pretty much opposite Paramount Bay – begins at the Villa Sausalito driveway, going north to the paved driveway opposite Villa Tizoc.
Once people see what we’ve accomplished, we hope they’ll chip in and help us finish our new sidewalk.
by amapaspv | Apr 3, 2017 | News | Noticias, Street, Uncategorized
Before Christmas, we improved safety, traction and the ride up Calle Hortensias from Highway 200 by installing new, meter-wide concrete tracks. Our thanks to our generous members on Hortensias and Gardenias who contributed north of $200,000 pesos to help ANA make it happen!
Soon after Easter/Semana Santa – when many of our snowbirds will have departed for cooler climes, and roadwork will inconvenience fewer people – ANA will resume our Hortensias Repaving Project.
The Final Phase will widen the 90 degree curve as you come up the hill from Highway 200 and approach Villas Loma Linda. Our goal is to make it easier for two cars going opposite directions to make the turn safely at the same time.
by amapaspv | Apr 3, 2017 | Uncategorized
ANA is the official representative of Colonia Amapas to City Hall, so if you want your voice heard & your concerns addressed, membership in the Amapas Neighborhood Association is your best bet.
All ANA’s Full Member Buildings have renewed for 2017, rejoined by Brisas Lunar, joined by Estrella Del Mar, and bringing our total to 15 Full Buildings, representing 249 memberships = about 425 individuals.
ANA also has 48 Individual Memberships (about 85 people) who have joined or renewed this year. In total, that’s more than 500 of your friends and neighbors.
ANA now welcomes new members from other areas of Vallarta!
Thanks to recent changes in our bylaws, no matter where you live or work, you can now support ANA’s mission and projects, participate in our many social events and activities, receive our email newsletters and updates – and even vote and hold office – by signing up and paying annual dues of 1,500 pesos/family!
Be part of a neighborhood organization that gets things done!
It’s not too late to join or renew!
Stop by our new office at Hotel San Marino – 111 Rodolfo Gomez – and pay with cash or credit card. Viviana will issue your new 2017 ANA Membership card on the spot, and you can score Member Benefits discounts at many local bars, restaurants and businesses – she’ll give you a current list. You can also renew on line. Contact Viviana at admin@amapaspv.com for an appointment or further details.
by amapaspv | Mar 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
Recently, ANA met with Lic Eduardo Valdivia, of Tourism’s Legal Attention to Visitors Office, to discuss its free legal assistance for, not just tourists, but all foreigners in Puerto Vallarta, including us part- and full-timers.
Lic. Valdivia’s office, conveniently located in the little casita at the southeast corner of Cardenas Park, is open 8-4, Monday through Friday. Its three English-speaking lawyers provide a variety of free legal services to tourists, both foreign and domestic, and foreigners in general.
Their services include offering legal guidance and assistance in making both civil and criminal complaints. The lawyers will even accompany you to the Fiscalia (DA’s office), providing transportation and translation services (again, free) if/when you need to appear there in person.
They’ll also help with filing complaints on anything from garbage to speed bumps, disputes about contracts, disagreements with landlords, and problems with bad local service (products purchased, but not delivered, etc.).
In the case of bad local service, the Tourism lawyers will first attempt to mediate a settlement between you and the provider. If that fails, they’ll help you take the matter to PROFECO, or the appropriate department regulating that business.
The lawyers will try to handle everything at the time of your visit. Questions and complaints can be dealt with in as little as 10-15 minutes or as much as an hour or so, depending on the complexity of the situation.
Lic. Valvidia reports a solid track record for his office, which handled 10 complaints last month. Out of 20, he says 15 are usually resolved satisfactorily.
TAXISAFE
The office has recently taken over for TaxiSafe, a non-governmental program created to make reporting police misbehavior and rogue taxi drivers easier for tourists – and the rest of us, for that matter. The office will take and forward any complaints about police abuse or harassment directly to Internal Affairs at UMA for immediate action, but a specific process must be followed.
Within a couple of days (usually 2-5), a police line-up will be held so the victim can identify the police element/s responsible. There’s no skipping this vital step. The following legal process can take a couple of weeks, but a tourist with a plane to catch can sign a Power of Attorney, giving the Tourism lawyer the ability to stand in for him or her, so justice can be done in the victim’s absence.
With bad taxi drivers, the Tourism lawyers can take the matter to the Sindicato, which regulates and disciplines cab drivers, and a fine or suspension can result.
A FEW WORDS OF ADVICE
Lic. Valdivia offered the following information and advice:
- Police officers must have and show their ID.
- The police have the right to ask you for your ID.
- If you’re out late at night, it’s smart to keep your ID separate from your wallet, so if you have to present ID, you don’t have to flash cash.
Legal Attention to Visitors: The Cardenas Park office is open 8 to 4, Monday-Friday. There’s also a desk in the Tourism office in the downtown City Hall, open 8-8, Monday-Friday. The office phone is (322)-222-2224. Initial complaints can even be made by email, preferably with details and photos included. Email the office at atencionaturistas@hotmail.com
by amapaspv | Feb 28, 2017 | Security | Seguridad
VEA is Vallarta’s new neighborhood-based crime prevention program. Sort of a ‘Neighborhood Watch’ on steroids, providing instant reporting via Whatsapp, VEA is an acronym for Vecinos En Alerta – ‘Neighbors on the Lookout’ – and Amapas has been invited to participate.
Our first VEA meeting with the police, February 3, was hosted by ‘Taste’ Restaurant. Vallarta’s new Police Chief and his top officers introduced the program, complete with a PowerPoint presentation.
Our second neighborhood meeting, two weeks later, was hosted by Terrazas Del Mar to make it more convenient for our Los Pinos area members:
10 AM Wednesday, February 16, Terrazas del Mar
Amapas Neighborhood Association Full Member Building Terrazas del Mar hosted a presentation to two dozen interested neighbors by Chief of Police Jorge Valencia and District Attorney Francisco Sandoval, to further explain the new crime prevention partnership with Amapas focused on active participation by our neighborhood residents. The District Attorney explained that this program has been successfully implemented in 15 other Puerto Vallarta neighborhoods, resulting in reduced crime. Recently, for example, 16 people were rounded up in Emiliano Zapata, with the clear message that they were being watched.
Three officers from the Crime Prevention Unit outlined the need for residents and visitors to report crimes and suspicious activity to the police. Authorities believe crime often goes unreported, and while individual petty crime is often difficult to solve, patterns of crime allow authorities to focus resources and patrols to proactively achieve significant crime prevention and reduction. Without official crime reports, none of this can happen.
Participation by neighborhood associations also includes joint identification of crime-prone locations (poorly lit or otherwise convenient places for criminal activity.) These crime prone locations, referred to as “red spots,” can then be attacked with improved lighting, increased patrols, surveillance cameras, or a combination, to improve public safety.
Both DA and Police Chief stated that protecting foreign residents and tourists has become a top priority for the city. They are hopeful that our colonia will accept a closer, more active collaboration with the police as a way to achieve the crime reduction already seen elsewhere in Vallarta.
The Municipal Police will be providing Amapas residents access to a special WhatsApp Messenger group, allowing authorized individuals direct communication with senior police officials to report suspicious activity and crimes in progress.
During a Q&A period, Bill Williams, President of Terazzas Del Mar HOA, observed that the collaboration would provid an important step to improve public safety. Results will depend on the degree to which we all become involved with the program and support the authorities.
Louise Martin, from Paramont Bay, asked what the effect of posted bilingual signs such as ‘Neighborhood Watch Area, We Report Suspicious Activity,’ or ‘This area under video surveillance’ had on crime. The DA responded that petty criminals typically avoid those areas, but signs are no substitute for neighbors’ actions.
Gene Mendoza, ANA Board Member for Security, asked the DA to address reports in social media accusing police of ‘shaking down’ residents or visitors for bribes.
The DA reminded everyone that very often only one side of the story gets reported, and it is often the case that people stopped for petty offenses are the ones who offer, or at least agree to, a bribe. Chief Valencia stated that his policy is uncompromising: reported corruption automatically triggers placing the officer on administrative leave while an official investigation is opened and, if the charge of corruption is sustained, the officer is dismissed from the force immediately.
The results of these investigations will be reported back to us, so we can pass them along to local social media sites like Tricia Lyman’s Puerto Vallarta: Everything You Need Or Want To Know.
The District Attorney also announced that to improve the public’s confidence that they are interacting with authentic police officers, all officers are now required to display their official police ID cards on their uniform shirts. These ID’s are about the size of a credit card and include the officer’s picture. So while someone may be wearing a uniform, you should also expect to see their official ID to prove they are an authentic officer.
Amapas now has six Tourist Police (white Uniforms) regularly assigned to patrol our neighborhood (plus Conchas Chinas and part of Emiliano Zapata) in Police Truck #291, so we should expect to recognize them and get to know them personally. Two of the Amapas team – Gabby and Nicholas – were introduced.
The Municipal Police (blue uniforms) also patrol our neighborhood and coordinate with the Tourist Police to cover patterns of previously reported crime and identified “red spots.”
Juan Alverado asked a series of questions regarding police procedure and processing expectations following a crime. The process is divided into three parts and was outlined as, a) reporting crime, b) interacting with the ‘first responder’ police and c) interacting with subsequent ‘investigative’ police and following up on their procedures. Each of these process areas will be detailed in a later article.
The police will also look into the possibility of stationing a representative in the Tourism office to receive and follow up on crime reports from foreigners.
In summary, our municipal justice and public safety officials state that the protection of foreign visitors has been prioritized ahead of local citizens. However, the focus on improved crime prevention affecting visitors and expats will require the active collaboration and engagement of us all.
Please continue to report crime or suspicious activity by calling 911, or calling 089 if you wish to remain anonymous.
(This is the first of a series of ANA reports on Police/Security issues and VEA meetings and follow-ups.)
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