The Alfatar Municipal Council adopted a total of 64 decisions between 1 January and 30 June, according to a report by council chairman Elis Talyat on the council’s activities during the first six months of the year. The report was approved at the council’s regular meeting this month.
None of the decisions were challenged or returned by the regional governor or the prosecution service as part of the legality review process.
During the period covered by the report, the council held seven meetings – five regular and two extraordinary.
The agendas and meeting materials, minutes, opinions and adopted decisions are published on the Alfatar Municipality website under the Municipal Council section.
All council meetings were open to the public and streamed live online via the municipality’s YouTube channel and website.
A review by “Za Istinata” found that the audio quality of the broadcasts is not particularly good, but the proceedings can nevertheless be followed and the issues under discussion can be understood.
Very good attendance by councillors
Council chairman Elis Talyat describes councillors’ attendance as very good, both at full council meetings and at meetings of the standing committees.
There are four standing committees, but they hold joint meetings rather than meeting separately.
The usual practice is for the committees to meet on the same day as the council, immediately before the full session.
The Alfatar Municipal Council has 11 members representing four political parties.
During the reporting period, there was a total of one absence from regular council meetings and one from regular standing committee meetings. There were five absences in total from extraordinary council meetings and standing committee meetings.
By comparison, during the six-month period in the second half of 2025, Silistra Municipal Council recorded 179 absences from standing committee meetings alone.
According to Elis Talyat, all absences by Alfatar councillors were for legitimate reasons, mainly work commitments outside the municipality and health reasons.
The chairman also says councillors sometimes notify the council by telephone of the reason for their absence.
However, the Local Self-Government and Local Administration Act requires such notification to be made in writing.
In any case, regardless of the reason, councillors who miss a council or committee meeting do not receive remuneration or receive reduced remuneration, according to the chairman.
“Work commitments” as justification
The same practice of treating work and health reasons as justified absences is also used elsewhere.
In principle, “work commitments” for a municipal councillor should refer to activities connected with the work of the Municipal Council.
Practice, however, shows that the term often refers to the councillor’s regular employment or other professional commitments.
The mayor is never present
One of the notable features of meetings of the Alfatar Municipal Council is that Mayor Yanka Gospodinova of GERB is never present, even though most draft decisions are submitted by the mayor herself.
Since live video broadcasting was introduced, municipal administration experts have also stopped attending council meetings.
Their absence makes it considerably harder for councillors to obtain the information they need before voting on decisions.
The absence of the mayor and administration representatives is viewed negatively by both residents and councillors.
Only some councillors – mainly those in opposition – have raised questions or expressed concern about the issue.
This usually happens when a particular proposal requires the presence of the person who submitted it to explain and defend it.
Even then, however, the pattern does not change.
Questions arising during the meeting are usually communicated to the administration in writing through the council chairman during the break between the committee meetings and the full council session.
A new three-month work plan
At the same meeting at which the report on the council’s activities was approved, Alfatar’s municipal councillors also adopted a work plan for the council for the next three months.
