It is expected that in the middle of May the National Association of Mayors of Town Halls in the Republic of Bulgaria will organize a round table where representatives of all political parties, Municipalities, Municipal Councils, the Prosecutor’s Office, the Court, the Presidency and all the rulers in Bulgaria will be invited. The aim is for everyone to say what their vision for the development of Bulgaria is. The idea for the event came after a meeting between the union and representatives of the political forces, which was held yesterday in the building of the National Assembly.
During the discussion, the National Association of Mayors of Town Halls made proposals for changes and additions to a number of laws, commented its Chairman and Mayor of Kalofer Rumen Stoyanov. He clarified that they are demanding amendments to the Law on Local Self-Government and Local Administration, Then he explained:
„We want the respective Mayor of the Municipality to suffer sanctions in case of non-fulfillment of municipal ordinances, decisions, including state decisions. The reason – the mayors of many settlements trample on decisions of the Municipal Council, on the laws, often to demonstrate supremacy and in this way make the work of mayors of town halls meaningless. In Bulgaria, no more than 10% of the Municipalities work well and in sync. These municipalities differ in their work. As soon as you enter the Municipality, where the mayor is, it is obvious. And vice versa – where no work is done, it is also evident. It is for this reason that we want there to be sanctions in case of non-fulfilment.“
The National Association of Mayors of Town Halls proposes that each locality should have its own financial framework and that the Mayor should be required to implement it. According to Stoyanov, changes should also be made in the Public Procurement Act, namely: „We want the mayor of the locality in which there is a project, no matter how big or small – without him the object is not accepted even if he participates in the determination of the procurement of the contractor. Without his signature nothing happens. There is no way the big mayor can impose his own opinion and ego at the expense of the entire population. Every mayor of a locality knows the problems, focuses his forces there and at the same time, to make a fool of himself that you are not of his party or have some misunderstanding, the city manager does the opposite – discourages his action, or if there is any money that has already gone into a public procurement comprehensive for example for capital expenditures, etc. Company X, which is already a court of the Municipality, goes, does some cosmetic repairs and does not give any clarity on how much money it costs us, the taxpayers. Not to mention us as mayors – to be able to tell our fellow citizens how much money it costs. We are obliged to know, because this money is ours, we collect it, we give it to the Municipality, but from then on, it seems that we should not care how it is spent.“
The Association stressed that in case of force majeure circumstances such as disasters, accidents, the state should immediately take the helm with all its resources, teams and experts from the inter-ministerial committees, as well as to make projects. Stoyanov gave the example of the floods in Karlovo: „For 8 months, we cannot choose a contractor and start anything. And those 8 months ruined people’s health and minds. They don’t know what is happening anymore because of the lack of action, the dust and destroyed infrastructure.“
During yesterday’s meeting, the focus was also on the Veterinary Medicine Act.
„As mayors, we are not experts to manage all these events like burying dead animals and so on. We don’t run away from responsibility, on the contrary – we take responsibility, even if we provide people when we have to, but the expertise should be the experts. They have to come on the spot, say what caused the death of the animal, at what depth it should be buried and so on,“, Stoyanov explained.
The chairman of the National Association of Mayors of Town Halls concluded that he was generally satisfied with the performance of the political forces yesterday and hoped they would have a little longer life in Parliament, as well as looking forward to their support in the future. He added that the organization of the round table is already starting.
