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Lubartów, August 2019

Civic budget? "Debt generator for the city in a situation where we have a budget of scarcity." Long, and that's shortcuts anyway.

From the series: stories about participation

Burmistrz Miasta Lubartów

Today, probably only the oldest inhabitants of the city remember that we are jointly responsible for introducing the civic budget in Lubartów. After its introduction, we had a number of comments and we have generally refrained from commenting since then. But taking into account the recent incidents and the words that were said during the session, it is worth mentioning this and that.
In accordance with the applicable regulations, the Mayor of the City, Krzysztof Paśnik, applied for the Lubartów City Council to determine the amount of funds for the implementation of the Civic Budget in 2020. In accordance with the regulations in force, they will amount to at least 1% of the Lubartów City's own budget. It is the amount of PLN 843,123.32.


What do our representatives say? 
Note - This is not a transcript, we refer you to the session report.  "Wypisy z councilors" are rather phrases that fell into our ears more or less faithfully. It's hard, because it's hard, but a few statements made us react more vividly. Not to say - emotion. 


Councilor Beata Pasikowska - (...) said that she was against the proposal, because the projects are not being implemented somehow and we need to allow time in 2020 for changes to the regulations. Take time for what has already been voted.


Councilor Wojciech Osiecki - (...) agreed with Councilor Pasikowska that there are, unfortunately, large arrears from previous years. People trusted, the word of society was not kept. Only after arranging the topics from previous years, we should start new ones.


Councilor Tomasz Krówczyński - (...) recalled that he had submitted applications for the appointment of a special committee on the budget regulations and a program of cooperation with non-governmental organizations. As for the Civic Budget - Debt generator for the city in a situation where we have a shortage budget? (He said he would abstain, but didn? T abstain.)


Councilor Jacek Tchórz - (...) A question to the mayor - what projects are being implemented and at what stage. 


Councilor Grzegorz Jaworski - (...) recalled that the common Lubartów submitted many amendments, but they did not pass. It would be good to look at the archive. Not all projects can be implemented in one year.


Mayor Krzysztof Paśnik - (...) let's talk about the facts. The committee went to the elections with proposals for changes to the regulations. I do not agree to be the first mayor to withhold the civic budget. We can start the consultation procedure now. (He answered the question about the implementation of projects).  We are prepared in advance to announce the call for applications, tenders and appointment of a team for regulations may also be announced. Let's not hold back because some have stopped and never came back. 


Vice-chairman of the City Council Andrzej Zieliński - (...) we are not deciding anything today, but we recommend that the mayor should include this amount in the budget, and the council will decide in December whether the degree of implementation is satisfactory and whether this amount will remain in the BO budget.  He calls for a vote.


Councilor Marek Polichańczuk - (...) He agrees with the councilor Zieliński and calls for the formation of a team and "let's get to work". 


Jacek Tomasiak, chairman of the City Council - (...) Our committee made recommendations regarding the budget regulations. Pts. 7 election program. I argued that, like the councilor Krówczyński - the regulations should be prepared and it was promised that at the beginning of August we would deal with the regulations and then secure the funds. I am not going to cheat those who voted for me and will not support this proposal.


Councilor Grzegorz Gregorowicz - (...) from the beginning of the concept of the civic budget, I am against him, I refused to work on it, but I believe that some things must be finished. I'm in favor, because you have to give yourself time to change the regulations, although I will not take part in it. The councilors who counted for us that we started our term of office with a dietary resolution should set a good example for us and bring us the regulations tomorrow or in a week. In my opinion, Councilor Tomasiak lost his mandate to evaluate or review our actions. He can do it, but his words, in my opinion, are not credible. Finally, admit that one percent and work on changing the rules. 


Councilor Tomasz Krówczyński - (...) again. In the case of Tomasiak, not the application. 


Councilor Wojciech Osiecki - (...) again. I urge you not to grant this amount. Because it will give the residents hope. And if we do not grant it in the budget afterwards, the society will be disappointed. Today we promise people that we will implement all the projects, but how much will it all cost? And next year we will continue to borrow the budget. Please provide a cost estimate for all outstanding projects. 


Deputy Mayor Jakub Wróblewski - (...) to date, no draft resolution on social consultations on changes to the regulations has been submitted. This year, we want to change the way we work on implementing the resolution. We treat these projects from previous years as a guideline and try to implement them. It says almost nothing that we are obligated. (He told about the procedure for adopting new regulations). The task of the civic budget is not really to spend funds, but to engage residents in the city's affairs so that they feel like co-hosts of this city, so that they know that it was their activity - writing projects, seeking their support that what they mean. Let people keep getting involved. Please meet us for a consultation and let's prepare a draft resolution that could enter into force in 2021. Everyone sees the problem of low participation. Credibility and trust is very important for local government and we should continue to work together. 


Councilor Marek Polichańczuk - (...) establishing these changes together (in the regulations) and adopting without unnecessary discussions during the session, such as today's one will save us a lot of time and will be more clear and reliable for everyone and we will certainly avoid the mistakes we made, because I will remind you that we are actually learning all the time for these few years. And every year there are some elements that seem to be changed. We try to teach our inhabitants how to be active, but at the same time we also learn, because we have to introduce some changes. 


Councilor Grzegorz Jaworski - again. (…) We agree that BO should be changed. Is it a good idea to slow down? (Proposal by W. Osiecki), and on the other hand, the second option - if we vote, we have a strict continuation. 


Councilor Beata Pasikowska - (...) we have a closed circle. One year off, when we implement overdue projects, because let's face it, there is also frustration on the part of people who had these projects voted and they have not been implemented. It seems to me that the residents will probably forgive us that this is a one-year break so as to finish the voted off and we will enter a new financial perspective in 2021, where we will try to clarify the budget rules so that, for example, every project that the residents vote for will have chance for implementation. It seems to me that the year of hiatus is not such an insurmountable problem.  

 

Vice-chairman of the Council Andrzej Zieliński - (...) I agree with the Mayor that we should not postpone the implementation. It is the Council that is responsible for the team formation, do we have to postpone it. Today, let us set up an ad hoc commission for the development of a draft of new regulations on the BO. If all councilors will be willing, we will do it quickly.

 

Jacek Tomasiak, Chairman of the Council - the schedule for reaching the new regulations is next year. We do not know what amounts we are talking about.  What are the obstacles to voting on changes in the budget in April? It was supposed to be acceleration. The same as with the Mayor of Bodziacki, the same with the Mayor of Pasnik, these investments will not be possible to implement, because there will be no time. We should prepare these regulations. I had a promise that the city office would prepare this document. This resolution has not been prepared. Let's not copy bad solutions. 


Mayor Krzysztof Paśnik - the term of office has not ended yet, so we can still achieve what we promised. There is still a chance to implement the investment - this year's undertakings. I will do everything in my power to implement these investments from this year's civic budget. Nobody said that we had to complete all the investments outstanding since 2016 in 2020.  

VOTE:
ZA: Ewa Grabek, Jacek Tchórz, Renata Mazur, Grzegorz Jaworski, Grzegorz Gregorowicz, Jacek Bednarski, Robert Błaszczak, Marek Polichańczuk, Tomasz Krówczyński, Jan Ściseł, Andrzej Zieliński 
AGAINST: Wojciech Osiecki, Grzegorz Siwek, Krzysztof Żyśko, Maria Kozak, Elżbieta Mizio, Beata Pasikowska, Jacek Tomasiak 


Conclusions? 
You have to pull it out yourself. 
By the way - since the beginning of the term of office, a draft resolution to amend the BO regulations has not been submitted. How much could these projects have influenced?
One from the Mayor, one from the Council Committee, one from the club of councilors, seven from a group of 3 councilors. We do not count the inhabitants here, they submit applications to the BO, they do not have to do everything. Have you counted?
We could expect the same number of junk-related projects?

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