The Government of , (Republicans), has privileged its electoral stronghold, the region of São José do Rio Preto, in the interior of São Paulo, in the agreements signed between the department and the city halls. Helena is a pre-candidate for state deputy.
A Sheet consulted all the Official Gazettes of São Paulo from the beginning of the government, on January 1, 2023, until February 28.
Among the 16 administrative regions of the state, Rio Preto was the one that signed the most agreements with the secretariat during this period. Almost R$28 million was signed in this type of agreement between the ministry and the region’s city halls. The amount represents around 21% of the total value of the agreements, R$133 million.
In a note, the ministry stated that “all transfers are carried out based on legal, technical and transparent criteria, without any electoral link”. The secretariat also said that the region is the largest in the state and, therefore, “requires a greater volume of coordination and investments”, and that the development is conducted “in a decentralized and technical way”.
“It is also important to consider factors such as the voluntary adherence of municipalities to the public policies offered, their respective technical and operational capabilities to host sports programs, projects and actions, in addition to the regional and local vocation for certain sports.”
Agreements are agreements that enable the execution of a project, program or work. In the cases analyzed by the report, the government covered most of the value, and the city hall provided a smaller counterpart.
The agreements signed with the Rio Preto region even surpassed those signed with the city halls of the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, which has around 15 times more inhabitants, according to data from Desenvolvimento SP, a São Paulo government development agency.
The City of São José do Rio Preto alone signed R$11 million in agreements with the Sports department — more than what was signed between the secretariat and 12 administrative regions. The city of Coronel Helena received more resources than all the municipalities in the region of , for example, which has three times as many inhabitants.
Among the agreements signed with Rio Preto is one for R$5 million, signed in July 2024, for the holding of the “Horácio Baby Barioni” Interior Open Games, an event that the city hosted for two consecutive years. A note published on the São Paulo Government website in September last year stated that, up until that moment, seven sports facilities had already been opened in the municipality since 2023, four of which were .
The secretary was a candidate for state deputy in the 2022 elections, but obtained just over 53 thousand votes and was not elected, remaining as first substitute.
Electoral lawyers consulted by the report state that some elements need to be present for the case to constitute abuse of political power.
Fernando Neisser, professor of electoral law at FGV São Paulo, says that, to achieve this, it would be necessary for Colonel Helena to highlight during the campaign the actions carried out by the secretariat in the region.
“If, during the campaign, she explores the works, the acts, the programs, the projects that she did in a way that is as if it were her and not the government, that is, if she personalizes it, if she transforms this into the basis of her campaign, it can constitute, yes, abuse of political power”, he states.
According to him, however, this analysis can only be done if the candidacy is ongoing and there is effective electoral exploitation of the actions, which has not occurred so far.
Lawyer Ana Fuliaro, PhD from USP and specialist in electoral law, also says that it is necessary to prove that there is a link between these acts and the candidacy, which can be made difficult, according to her, by the temporal distance between the signing of the agreements and the campaign period.
“From when she took office until she is a candidate, it is a very long period to be able to demonstrate abuse of power in evidence.”
On the other hand, Fuliaro states that the targeted management of the department’s resources could open space for the characterization of administrative improbity or for the rejection of the accounts by the TCE (State Audit Court). For there to be any more concrete punishment, however, it would be necessary to prove that the conduct resulted in the diversion of resources or enrichment.
In this regard, Fernando Neisser also sees obstacles to characterizing a crime. “It is a political option to give more [verbas] to one region than to another.”
POLITICAL IMPACT
Helena must change parties for this year’s electoral dispute, switching from the Republicans to the PSD, led by Gilberto Kassab.
The secretary was the state deputy with the most votes in her region in 2022, and there was an expectation in the Republicans that she would run for Mayor of São José do Rio Preto in 2024. The secretary, however, decided not to run after a conversation with Tarcísio, in which the governor did not guarantee her return to the position in case of defeat, according to a member of the party.
This is because Tarcísio has always had a preference for keeping the state deputy, who is also from Rio Preto, in the São Paulo Legislative Assembly. He had around a thousand votes less than Helena in the last dispute and was second substitute.
If the colonel were to lose her position and return to the Legislature, the governor’s ally would end up running out of space. Therefore, according to an interlocutor, Tarcísio chose not to encourage the secretary’s candidacy.
Also for this reason, according to members of the Palace, the governor did not move to remove Helena from the secretariat, even though he had already expressed it on a few occasions.
Helena did not run in 2024, and the Republicans were left without a competitive candidacy in Rio Preto. Since then, the relationship between her and the party has deteriorated.
The secretary’s trip to , which will be made official at an event this Friday (6), occurred amid the bad atmosphere with the former party.
The state secretary of Health, Eleuses Paiva, who is also from the region, intends to launch one of his sons as a federal deputy and, therefore, articulated a candidacy with Helena for the post of state deputy — doubles are common in disputes for the Legislature.
In this case, according to someone close to the governor, it was he who was uncomfortable with the new move, because the secretary will compete for votes precisely against Campetti, who will be Tarcísio’s candidate in the region.
Campetti is a federal police officer and has the governor’s trust. , the deputy hired Tarcísio’s brother-in-law as a special advisor in his office.
He was in the (south zone of the capital) which interrupted the governor’s 2022 campaign schedule and resulted in the death of a man. At the time, Campetti drew his gun and badge, although, according to him, he did not fire.
