Photo: Dimitar Petsov
Most councilors from the Silistra Municipal Council chose not to attend the meetings of the council’s standing committees, held on May 27.
Out of 7 meetings of the standing committees held, four turned out to be without a quorum due to absent councilors. Therefore, in most committees, the reports were discussed informatively, without taking a position through voting. One of the committees – the one on “Healthcare and Social Policy” – was even led by the chairman of the Municipal Council Dimitar Trendafilov due to the absence of the titular chairman. The absences also caused tension among the councilors who came to the committees.
“I am the only one present”
The meeting of the Standing Committee on “Regional and International Cooperation”, which was supposed to be held on May 27, was canceled due to the absence of all 8 members of the committee. “I am the only one present,” the chairman announced to those who had come to the hall to cover the work of the councilor journalists, and closed the meeting.
What happened on May 27 is not a precedent. A regular practice and a problem for the work of the Silistra Municipal Council is the absence of municipal councilors from the meetings of the committees. Often, only their chairmen attend them. The committees are the place for discussions and statements on decisions that must later be made at the meeting of the Municipal Council.
According to the Regulations for the Organization of the Activities of the Municipal Council – Silistra, the municipal councilor is obliged to attend the meetings of the Municipal Council and the committees to which he is elected and to participate in the resolution of the issues under consideration, voting according to his inner conviction in one of the ways chosen by him – “for”, “against” or “abstain”.
The councilor who is absent is obliged to notify the Chairman of the Municipal Council in writing of his non-participation in the meeting of the Municipal Council and/or in the meeting of a permanent or temporary committee for valid reasons within 7 days of their holding. The notification must be accompanied by documents certifying the reasons for the absence.
A valid reason is considered to be official engagement, absence from the country, illness, for which relevant documents must be submitted.
According to the regulations of the Silistra council, the sanction for non-participation in a meeting of a permanent committee is 20% of the monthly salary.
A check by “For the Truth” showed that several applications have been filed with the Chairman of the Municipal Council (from the Chairman’s words it was understood that it was about 3-4 applications – editor’s note) for absences for May 27 – that is, these councilors will not be sanctioned, even though they were not present. In the coming days, the number of applications is, of course, possible to increase. There are 33 municipal councilors in Silistra in total.
The municipality costs about 13 thousand leva to support one councilor per year
Currently, the remuneration of Silistra councilors after deductions is 900 leva. In total, the municipality costs about 13 thousand leva to support one councilor per year, including taxes. The councilors receive their salaries for participating in 1 meeting of the Municipal Council per month and in the meetings of 2 committees in one day.
Obviously, the problem is not in the sanctions and money, but also in the conscientious fulfillment of their duties. Recently, the Silistra municipal councilors adopted their own code of ethics. It states that they must “contribute to strengthening the authority and public trust in the municipal council as a body of local self-government, by fulfilling their duties conscientiously and with inner conviction” and also, “to fulfill their functions with diligence, openness and will”. These texts remain a wish for now, because it is not evident from the behavior of the advisors that they fulfill their duties with diligence and will.
