THE LOOKOUT | Paulo Queimado’s chief of staff takes over as general supervisor of the works

Although he was appointed to advise the president, the chief of staff in Chamusca is in reality a works “inspector”, although there is a consensus that he is one of the people who works the most in the municipality.

Júlio Santos, head of the support cabinet for Paulo Queimado’s presidency, has been in charge of the Chamusca City Council for several years and is mainly responsible for Parque das Máquinas. Paulo Queimado appointed him to be his right-hand man and take care of matters and office hours in his absence, but O MIRANTE found that for several years Júlio Santos has done nothing other than control the employees who walk on the street and the works that are underway across the municipality. “He is probably the person who works the hardest in this city council, but the issue is that he is not fulfilling the functions for which he was appointed. Many of the employees don’t go toe-to-toe with him because he’s a very closed-off person, but he’s a hard worker”, a source close to the municipality tells our newspaper, who adds that the Machinery Park is self-managed. Júlio Santos has been “general in charge” of the Chamusca Chamber since Paulo Queimado and Cláudia Moreira, vice-president of the municipality, “kicked” the sole general in charge of the municipality, Fernando Brás, to an office in the games field facilities. More than six years ago, the socialist executive decided to leave Fernando Brás without work, despite receiving his salary on time. After the departure of Rui Hipólito as Paulo Queimado’s chief of staff, in 2020, Júlio Santos, who was deputy, began to assume the position although he maintained the functions of general manager that he had already performed since Fernando Brás was exiled to an office. “A chief of staff must advise the mayor on his political and administrative activities and ensure his representation if necessary, in addition to organizing the agenda, among other responsible tasks. The truth is that the president’s chief of staff at the Chamber of Chamusca does everything except the work for which he was appointed”, says the same source.

Persecution and abuse of power
In the last edition of O MIRANTE, which went on newsstands on April 25th, Freedom Day, we once again gave visibility to the story of Fernando Brás, published for the first time in 2020, although he declined to make a statement. We spoke to a jurist about the situation in which the general manager of the municipality was placed, who was peremptory in stating that we may be in the presence of a possible “abuse of power and persecution that the Public Prosecutor’s Office must investigate. Anyone who uses their power to harm someone must answer for it. This situation is harming the municipal council’s services, there is poor management of the municipality’s human resources that harms the municipality, as is evident in the story that O MIRANTE told four years ago, and which had no effect on the attitude and management of politicians who govern the chamber. Taking into account that the fact is known, and has been repeated for at least six years, is public knowledge and is commented on throughout the town, the authorities will certainly not fail to act, because the rule of law and the offense to a person’s dignity”, says in conclusion the jurist who agreed to talk to our newspaper.