The second deputy mayor and spokesperson for Vox at Valencia City Hall, José Gosálbez, signed a legal assistance contract with the Official College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Valencia (COGITI) despite his exclusive dedication as an advisor with a gross annual salary of 85,277 euros.
However, the municipal plenary assembly of December 2023 approved his compatibility to exercise the function of lawyer. Although he began his mandate with 75% part-time and a salary of around 70,000 euros, a few months later he requested full-time employment and compatibility to continue practicing the profession of lawyer, a supposedly marginal activity. Thus, thanks to the casting vote of the mayor, Gosálbez not being able to participate at that time in the session, he obtained the approval of the plenary session and began to receive 100% of the public salary corresponding to the exclusive dedication (85,277 euros).
Official sources from the Vox municipal group and COGITi have confirmed to elDiario.es that this contractual relationship exists and that it is covered by the compatibility approved in the aforementioned plenary session. However, neither party wanted to give details on the amount of the contract, the date of its signing and whether it was communicated to the municipal secretary, key aspects to determine whether the compatibility granted is respected and with this alleged marginality of private activity.
According to the fourth paragraph of article 16 of the law on incompatibilities, “compatibility for the exercise of private activities may be recognized to personnel who carry out jobs which involve the benefit of specific supplements, or a comparable concept, the amount of which does not exceed 30 percent of their basic remuneration”.
Furthermore, this could lead to incompatibilities if Gosálbez had awarded contracts to industrial engineering companies or contractors linked to COGITI. Section 1A of Article 15 establishes that the person who benefits from compatibility will not be able to carry out “the exercise of private activities, including those of a professional nature, whether on their own account or under the dependence or in the service of legal or natural persons, in matters in which they intervene, have intervened during the last two years or must intervene due to public office. job.”
Gosálbez’s Linkedin profile indicates that he is an “independent lawyer” and that he has “his own practice opened in 2007, dealing with cases both in matters of urban planning and litigation-administrative matters, as well as in matters of civil law in general, in particular in matters of contractual resolution, claims for amounts, leases, horizontal property, inheritance, divorces”. Among its specialties, urban planning issues also stand out, “defending both the interests of the urban planner and those of owners or private interested parties”. However, there is no operational website for the firm and the Gosálbez y Paya Abogados Facebook page has not been updated since 2013. It is also not registered under that name in the commercial register.
On February 25, COGITI announced on its website the agreement signed with “a prestigious law firm in Valencia” and explained: “With more than 30 years of experience, it offers extensive experience in the legal field, providing personalized attention to the specific needs of COGITI Valencia and its members. This agreement will provide personalized legal advice to members via email and a new WhatsApp system, on topics such as the professional powers of industrial technical engineers (ITIs) or questions on town planning.
Requests “will be processed within 24 to 48 hours; members who have identified themselves may request a visit or meeting at the law firm to discuss specific topics, according to the terms agreed with COGITI Valence. By chat, an appointment at the law firm will also be provided as soon as possible.” As a new feature, “the team of lawyers will address issues related to town planning”.
In addition to Gosálbez, the advisors, also from Vox, Cecilia Herrero and Juan Manuel Badenas authorized the compatibility. Carlos Mundina, Rocío Gil and María José Ferrer San Segundo and Catalá of the PP also obtained it; and Borja Sanjuan and Elisa Valía of the PSPV, who did not use it.
The Mediator decides that customers must be identified
The contracting advisor of Valencia City Hall must make public the identity of the companies with which he works as a lawyer. The Mediator of Greuges, the Valencian ombudsman, issued a resolution motivated by a complaint from the PSPV councilor, Elisa Valía, in which she states that the town hall must reveal which companies José Marí Olano, councilor responsible for the Procurement Commission, which distributes public contracts, has a working relationship. The resolution could set a precedent and also force the rest of the advisors, as in the case of Gosálbez, to report on the companies with which he works from his law firm.
The question, which is an obvious obligation in terms of transparency to avoid conflicts of interest, took months to be clarified. The municipal council and the mayor himself have repeatedly denied having informed opposition councilors about their professional ties, asserting that the professional secrecy of the legal profession must be respected. Marí Olano has abstained from many processes to avoid conflicts of interest, as he declared in this instance, in major contracts. In one of these procedures, the councilor “forgot” to abstain and had to present a document a posteriori, recognizing the error.
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