City's Book Sorocaba SP 2020

INTERVIEW
Your career is consolidated in the
public service. You were a justice officer at the age
of 18, served for almost 30 years as a police officer
and is now the first woman to take over Sorocaba
City Hall. How did the opportunity to occupy an
elective position arise?
In reality, I had never thought of participating in the
political sphere. There was an invitation from former
mayor and federal deputy, Renato Amary, in 2016, to
join his party, but he declined, then another candidate
came, which is former mayor José Crespo. We were
successful in the election, we were elected, and, as deputy
Mayor
Jaqueline Coutinho
Exclusive Interview
mayor, I started a program of great importance, which
is the Panic Button for assisting victims of domestic
violence who had protective measures. We managed
to make this project feasible, which, I dare say, is the
most effective application in the defense of women.
We worked together with the Civil Police, Military
Police, GCM, Special Court, Public Prosecutor’s Office
and the Women’s Reference Center, where we provide
differentiated assistance to these victims, preventing
the occurrence of crimes. We carried out several other
actions until, in 2017, I took office for 43 days when
the then mayor left; he returned, but again I took over,
since August 2, 2019.
“
Sorocaba is considered a model
city in economic and social development,
combining economic growth with quality of life.
What are the actions to maintain this prominent
position as the headquarters of an important
Metropolitan Region?
Appreciation of the citizen is the
great catalyst for the city to develop.
We have a very effective work in order to disclose to
the investors, companies, commerce and universities,
the potential of Sorocaba in all areas. We have great
universities, colleges, schools and technical colleges, and
one of the largest IDEBs for Elementary Education I and
II in Brazil. In this new phase of the Administration, we
managed to attract many investments and significantly
increased the number of jobs. 1,100 new jobs were
created in 2019, 740 of which in October alone. There
is a confidence and a very good perspective regarding the
growth and economic development of Sorocaba. Many
new investments are coming. As of 2020, Toyota starts
to manufacture a new model at the Sorocaba plant,
with investments in the order of R$ 1 billion. There was
a doubt as to where they would make this investment,
Indaiatuba, Mexico and Porto Feliz were also in the
race, but they chose Sorocaba and with that there
will be more than 1,000 new jobs. Which obviously
brings taxes to expand actions that will guarantee the
population what they really want: quality public service
and public policies that guarantee benefits in all areas,
especially economic.
What are the priority areas and
main investments of the municipal administration
in progress?
Among the priority areas is Health, a recurring
problem across the country. We want to give a new
”
look to the Public Health of Sorocaba and make
preventive medicine more and more effective. Among
the main projects for the sector is the construction
of a new Polyclinic. In other areas, we also have the
BRT (Bus Rapid Transit), which is an urban mobility
system in progress and that will contemplate the city
with more dynamism, speed and optimization for
road circulation. It is a mechanism that large cities
already have, such as Curitiba and Rio de Janeiro,
and that offers comfort, safety and efficiency to public
transport. We also have CAF (Corporação Andina
de Fomento), a very large investment that is being
made with resources in the order of US$ 70 million
directed to the road system, mobility and everything
that is structural in these areas. This will attract new
ventures and confirm that Sorocaba is a municipality
that gives full support to companies and also to the
population. In summary, we intend to consolidate
Sorocaba within the ranking of Smarts Cities with
efficient actions to ensure that the municipality can
perform what its profile already confers: economic
development combined with sustainability.
Sorocaba is a national and
international highlight in different segments.
A survey carried out by the Public Services
Evaluation Institute (Indsat) mentions it in the
ranking of the best Public Cleaning among cities
in the State of São Paulo and also as the 2nd best
city in São Paulo to live. The Human Development
Index - HDI is 0.798 and is above the average
in Brazil, placing the city as the 47th best in the
country. What is the secret to success?
The main secret is to value the citizen, who starts
to have more confidence in the administration and to
• Name: Jaqueline Liliam Barcellos Coutinho
• Age: 50 years
• Education: Graduated in Law from Faculdade de Direito de Sorocaba
• Favorite book: Bible
• Quote/Phrase: Love each other as I loved you
• Hobby: Pilates
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CITY´S BOOK 2020