During the inauguration ceremony, the mayor took stock of his first year in charge of the city of São Paulo and criticized ideologies: ‘No difference should be greater than people’
The mayor (MDB) and vice Ricardo Augusto de Mello Araújo (PL) were sworn in this Wednesday afternoon (1) for the mandate at the head of São Paulo City Hall. During the ceremony, held in the City Hall, in the Center, and presided over by the oldest member of the São Paulo legislature, councilor Eliseu Gabriel (PSB), aged 77. Nunes thanked the family, remembered Bruno Covas, spoke about the partnership with , governor of São Paulo, and promised to take care of São Paulo. “Four years ago, in that same tribune, São Paulo heard: ‘there is no time for personalism and arrogance, São Paulo is more important than any of us”, said the mayor, recalling the speech made by Covas during his inauguration in 2021. Nunes took over as São Paulo City Hall four months later, due to the death of the city’s then mayor.
“Taking on as Mayor in those circumstances was a moment of pain, but it was there that I understood the responsibility of taking care of the lives of millions of people. I want to thank the people of São Paulo, my family and everyone who helped me to be here today”, declared Nunes, who recalled the first government in which he faced the Covid-19 pandemic, which affected jobs and families in the city. “We went through the worst and São Paulo didn’t give up, it came back with full force. São Paulo is bigger than all of us and we need to be optimistic, because the enormous difficulties we went through showed that we are capable of overcoming challenges”, he said.
Nunes was re-elected with 59.35% of valid votes, totaling 3,393,110 votes in the capital of São Paulo, after defeating Guilherme Boulos (PSOL) and Marta Suplicy (PT) in the second round of the 2024 municipal elections. The victory came after a fierce first round , in which Nunes secured her place in the second round with a difference of just 81,865 votes over third place, Pablo Marçal (PRTB), and 25 thousand votes ahead of Boulos (PSOL), who came in second place.
During his speech, Nunes criticized ideologies and defended dialogue. “Humility should guide our steps, no difference should be greater than people. The ideology cannot be greater and I will listen to everyone, I want to be the number one public servant, to be the first to arrive and last to leave, who tries the most to get things right and meet goals”, he said. “You can count on me for everything that involves dialogue, solution and resolution of impasses, where work reigns, discord does not reign, São Paulo and Brazil can count on me. São Paulo and Brazil need results because the people want progress and not bumps”, continued the mayor. “Solution and resolution of impasses, Brazil needs to be pacified with itself. Where work reigns, disagreement does not reign. Where collaboration reigns, division does not reign. Where purpose reigns, confrontation does not reign”, he stated.
The mayor recalled some of the achievements of his first year in office, such as: investment of more than R$36 billion in the city; Security modernization; Implementation of Smart Sampa, which enabled the arrest of more than 300 fugitives from justice and the location of 28 missing people; Daycare queues zeroed and more than 100 thousand new places in early childhood education; Sunday zero fare; Lower unemployment rate in 2012. The mayor said he arrives more prepared for this second term as mayor of São Paulo and with more knowledge of the city. “I arrive at this second term more prepared, knowing more about every corner of the city than I did four years ago. I know more about the city hall machine, the employees, I understand better the decision-making process, the hundreds of laws, the paths of the state government, the federal government, the congress”, he said.
“I begin my second term more trained and knowing much better what it is like to be mayor of the largest city in Latin America”, he continued and said that he is “not committed to pharaonic works, but to take care of people and the periphery”. “We always want to innovate, presenting public policies that improve people’s lives. We have to evolve. My commitment is not to pharaonic works, we will do the great works in São Paulo that it needs, we will do it. But my commitment is to take care of people.”
