Multi-taskers: Carles Martí Jufresa

After the Diagonal plebiscite the mayor of Barcelona, Jordi Hereu, asked for the deputy mayor's head. He got it, close-up included. Or did he? I asked a friend last weekend if Martí had returned to civilian life, à la John Profumo. She laughed. No, she said, he's running the party's next campaign.

His party lists the posts Martí holds:

Carles Marti Jufresa

Tinent d'Alcalde Ajuntament de BARCELONA
Diputat/da Provincial
Regidor/a de Benestar Ajuntament de BARCELONA
Regidor/a de Cohesió Territorial Ajuntament de BARCELONA
Regidor/a de President Districte Ajuntament de BARCELONA
Primer/a Secretari/a Federació Barcelona
Conseller/a NacionalOr held, evidently. It seems that Martí is no longer a provincial deputy and he's obviously no longer on city council.  He's on the party's payroll rather than the public's, at least in appearance. Parties are publicly funded, so the money's ultimately coming from the same place: he's been moved sideways.We in the West tend to be smug about accountability, as though it were native and original to our cultures. It isn't. It's as old as politics and may erupt into political life informally. Take the reaction of parents in Sichuan Province, China, as their children--in many cases, only children--had died in the May 2008 earthquake because schools had been built below standards. They used the Internet to find the names of officials who should have seen to it that the buildings were properly inspected. Here's what happened to one of the officials: 

He got the message: Martí didn't. Expect him to run for the Catalan parliament in the fall.