San Martín de los Andes Mayor Carlos Saloniti will appear before the City Council on 3 September to answer an impeachment request. The hearing will take place at a special session requested by the mayor himself and approved unanimously. The summons does not mean removal proceedings have already begun: it is a preliminary stage allowing councillors to hear his response before deciding whether the petition has sufficient grounds.
Two residents had formally asked for Saloniti to face impeachment. The Council dismissed one request for lack of arguments and kept the filing by Valeria López under review. Article 139 of the municipal charter allows any citizen of San Martín de los Andes to initiate the mechanism. That provision allows a petition to be filed, but it neither proves the accusations nor requires the process to continue through removal.
López attributed to the local executive acts she described as serious, current and documented. Her filing mentions the collapse of the sewage system and its impact on Lake Lácar, failure to meet financial obligations to Neuquén's Provincial Energy Entity, and obstruction of the municipal comptroller's work. These points make up the allegations Saloniti must answer; until the Council assesses them, they remain claims made by a resident.
The mayor requested the opportunity to respond the day after the petition was submitted. Municipal officials said his intervention was prioritised for institutional reasons and was intended to present publicly the background, actions and measures adopted on each issue. It has not yet been determined whether councillors will question him during the session, although that remains possible under the special format.
The energy-related allegation coincides with a concrete negotiation. Saloniti travelled to the city of Neuquén to meet EPEN authorities and finalise a payment plan for outstanding electricity consumption of about 1.7 billion Argentine pesos. The debt does not resolve the other accusations, but the agreement with the provincial agency becomes one of the key documents the mayor can present when explaining municipal financial management.
The debate is unfolding amid local tension: a group tried to enter city hall the previous day and later moved to the Council, where some members received them. The 3 September session will therefore be the next institutional point for organising the conflict. After the mayor's response, the Council must either dismiss the request or authorise impeachment proceedings; until then, Saloniti remains in office and no finding of responsibility exists.
