English


Jaime Villasana Dávila specializes in local government and content.

He has been involved with Mexican municipalities and local governments since 1997, addressing issues such as:

  • Government plans, programs, and reports.
  • Content on electoral platforms and institutional documents.
  • Measurement and evaluation of institutional capacity.
  • Citizen participation in public affairs.
  • Results-Based Budgeting (RBB).
  • Performance Evaluation Systems (PES).
  • Local political parties and regionalism.

From 2002 to 2021 worked at International City / County Management Association (ICMA) - Mexico/Latin America section (ICMA-ML). Within ICMA-ML, he held various positions and participated in multiple programs/projects with municipal and state governments, public entities, Mexican civil organizations and international development organizations such as USAID, World Bank, Open Society Foundations, Chemonics, Tetra Tech, among others. As part of ICMA-ML, he coordinated from 2002 to 2023 the SINDES Program for the comparative performance of municipal indicators, in which more than 60 Mexican municipalities participated.

He worked in the Saltillo municipal government as Mayor´s Assistant (1997-1999) and with the Mexican federal government (2001). He coordinated a political campaign in his hometown (Saltillo, 1999) and worked briefly in the private sector and in the newspaper El Norte of Grupo Reforma (2000-2001). He began writing in 1999 for the newspaper Palabra (Grupo Reforma).

In 2002 he began writing his local column in the newspaper Diario de Coahuila and from 2007 to 2014 was published in the newspaper 10 Minutes from Saltillo, Coahuila. In 2015 he published his column in the newspaper La Jornada Aguascalientes. From 2016 to 2022 he wrote occasionally in his blog. From May 2023 he writes twice per week his column DESDE AFUERA at the digital newspaper Más Información, based in Saltillo.

From 2004 is a member of the Network of Researchers on Mexican Local Governments (IGLOM), Co-founder in 2002 and member of Citizens for Transparent Municipalities (CIMTRA) and from 2013 to 2015 member of the Mexican Association of Political Science (AMECIP). He taught at the Tec de Monterrey Campus Saltillo and Campus Santa Fe (Mexico City).

From 2013 to 2019 he wrote about technology at Xataka-México (XM) and for Weblogs SL (today Webedia), owner of XM. From 2019 to 2023 was editor and then partner at TodoGravel.com.

Founder and editor of the following websites:

  • Localeando.com, covering Mexican municipalities, regionalism, and politics, and promoting events and publications on these topics. Also covering international affairs.
  • Gravelymas.com and its YouTube channel, an information portal/channel about cycling, primarily gravel.

Author of the books: México, the future of its national and territory unity, Regionalism in Mexico at the Beginning of 21st Century (Volume 1 and 2) and The Municipal Administrator (City Manager) in Mexico.  Co-author of the book Municipal Experiences, a brief story of personal moments related to the Mexican municipalities.

He is also Co-Editorial Coordinator of the editorial project Vivencias Municipalistas, of which Volume I and Volume II have been published, and Volume III is in (eternal) production.

Full list of publications here and full list of papers here.

PhD in Political Science (cum laude) from the University of the Basque Country (Spain), Master of Public Administration and Political Rights by the International Institute of Law and State (Mexico DF). Bachelor in marketing from Tecnologico de Monterrey - Campus Monterrey.

Currently he is an independent consultant in local governments and contents.

Frequent traveler, he has lived in Saltillo (Mex), Monterrey (Mex), Mexicali (Mex), Mexico City, St. Catharines (Canada), Tokyo (Japan), Bilbao (Spain), Vienna (Austria) and Washington DC. Currently resides in Bangkok (Thailand).

He was born in Saltillo, Coahuila, México.


Projects worked on

 

  • Results-Based Budget (RBB): Mexican municipal Governments of Acapulco, Puebla, Torreón, Corregidora, San Nicolás de los Garza, El Marqués, Culiacán, Navolato, San Luis Río Colorado and San Nicolás de los Garza. Also, with Superior Audit of the State of Coahuila, Government of the State of Querétaro, among others.
  • Performance Evaluation System (PES): Mexican municipal governments of Puebla, Torreón, León, Tlaquepaque, Huixquilucan, Guadalajara, Mazatlán, San Nicolás de los Garza, Corregidora, Chihuahua and Delicias. Government of the State of Guerrero, Government of the State of Querétaro and Superior Audit Office of the State of Coahuila.
  • Indicators and comparative measurement: SINDES Program Coordinator from 2002 to 2023, in which 60 Mexican municipalities participated. SINDES was initially funded by USAID. More information at www.icmaml.org/medicion  Co-author of the SEDEMSI Program (Municipal Performance Evaluation System of Sinaloa).
  • Preparation / Review of Government Plans: Mexican municipal Governments of Corregidora (Qro), Elota (Sin), Delicias (Chih), Durango (Dgo), San Quintín (BC) and Chihuahua (Chih). Government of the State of Chihuahua.
  • Transparency and Accountability: Co-founder in 2002 and current member of the CIMTRA Collective (www.cimtra.org.mx). CIMTRA was initially funded by USAID and also received support from Open Society Foundations (OSF). Update of the Transparency and Accountability Regulation of Mazatlán (Sin).
  • Preparation of Policies and Procedures Manuals: Municipal Governments of Puebla (Pue), Mazatlán (Sin), Navolato (Sin), Badiraguato (Sin), Elota (Sin) and Cosalá (Sin).
  • Creation of Municipal Planning Institutes (IMPLAN, acronym in Spanish) and preparation of strategic plans and/or municipal development: Saltillo (Coah), San Quintín (BC), Elota (Sin) and Corregidora (Qro).
  • Evaluation of Violence Prevention Programs of Municipal Governments (2012-2018): Funded with USAID resources and carried out through the application of the GOPI-Prevention tool (co-author) to the Mexican municipal governments of Ciudad Juárez (Chih), Chihuahua (Chih), Tijuana (BC), Zapopan (Jal), Tonalá (Jal), Monterrey (NL), Escobedo (NL), Guadalupe (NL) and Morelia (Mich).
  • Consolidationof Public Ethics (2017-2021): Funded with USAID resources, tools were designed to promote and evaluate the ethical structure of Mexicanl local governments and public entities, highlighting the development of the ICIFIEP (Citizen Index of Institutional Strength for Public Ethics).
  • Structuring of Investment Project Banks: Mexican municipal governments of Chihuahua (Chih), Querétaro (Qro) and San Nicolás de los Garza (NL).
  • Implementation and/or promotion of the figure of the Municipal Administrator (City Manager): Municipal Government of Navolato (Sin) and Local Congresses of Nuevo León and Chihuahua.
  • International projects: participation in projects executed by ICMA (www.icma.org) and ICMA-ML (www.icmaml.org) in Central America (Guatemala and Honduras) and India-Tibet on issues of institutional strengthening of local and national governments.
  • Execution of projects with civil, private, academic, public and/or international entities: United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Chemonics, Tetra-Tech, Open Society Foundations, Environmental Protection Agency of the United States (EPA), World Bank Institute, World Bank, Tecnológico de Monterrey, International Republican Institute (IRI), United Nations Global Compact, National Institute for Federalism and Municipal Development (INAFED).
  • Municipal associationism in Mexico: Links with the Mexican National Association of Mayors (ANAC), National Federation of Municipalities of Mexico (FENAMM), Association of Local Authorities of Mexico (AALMAC) and National Conference of Municipalities of Mexico (CONAMM).
  • Workshops and seminars: multiple topics with municipal governments, academic, civil organizations and public institutions.

Experience developing indices and measurement tools

  • REFIM (Municipal Strengthening Index)
  • ICAPI (Institutional Capacity Inventory)
  • ICIFIEP (Citizen Index of Institutional Strength for Public Ethics)
  • CIMTRA (Municipal Transparency)
  • SINDES (Institutional strengthening of the performance evaluation system)
  • GOPI-Prevention (Government Performance Index in Crime Prevention)


Other projects

Alongside my full-time role at ICMA-ML, from 2013 to 2019, I wrote articles and content covering technology, government, and business for the Spanish blog network Weblogs SL (now part of Webedia).

From May 2020 to December 2023, I was a partner in the gravel cycling website TodoGravel.com. For this site, I contributed as an author and editor. I also produced and hosted its podcast. Since January 2024, I have focused on my own cycling YouTube channel, Gravel y Más, which currently has 2,470 subscribers (as of July 2026).

Since 2002, I have written an opinion column titled “Localeando”—which also exists as a website, Localeando.com—where I publish articles on my areas of expertise. From 2002 to 2015, my column appeared in local newspapers in Saltillo and Aguascalientes. Since May 2023, it has been published twice weekly in Más Información, a digital newspaper based in Saltillo.

I have authored some books, which can be viewed on Amazon Mexico here or in the "Publicaciones" section. I have also written academic articles, which can be found in the "Papers" section.