The Local Government Club: An Unique Form of Cooperation and Control Over Local Government
Zhivko Tsirkov
Youth Educational Center chairman and project manager
The Local Government Club was established on August 2, 1999, in Yambol. It was established under the Development of Successful Models of Interaction between Local Government, Businesses, NGOs and Media, a project developed by the Youth Educational Center and FLGR. The Club s main goal is to contribute to the development of a strong local government that would be able to effectively solve existing problems with active citizen participation. The project activities were aimed at creating strong and working partnerships that unify different interests within the municipality and aspire to fully utilize the opportunities and to meet the challenges.
The Club adopted a Program Statement that reads: Local governments should open up to the citizens and the citizen organizations and should let the citizens participate in situational analysis, problem identification and prioritization, decision-making and decision implementation. We believe that this is the way to make the citizens feel as active owners responsible for the destiny of their community.
The Club was intended to be an informal organization of municipal councilors, local administration representatives, business people, media representatives and individual citizens. However, it was soon decided to have it registered under the Persons and Family Act. The Club is managed by a Coordination Group, a body that includes representatives of the four groups of founders. The Coordination Group is chaired by Ms. Maria Kouncheva, chair of the Municipal Council s Standing Committee on Law and Order and a person with a vast experience as a municipal councilors. The membership of many representatives of different organizations and institutions in the Club soon legitimized it before the public and led to its involvement in a series of public events. In this respect, the Club membership of the media turned out very useful, as their representatives work to strengthen the Club s image. The involvement of local government representatives who work to reform local government, to make it more accessible and responsive to citizens problems, turned out to be another positive idea.
The Local Government Club provided assistance to the Youth Educational Center and its partners: the Municipality of Yambol, the Yambol Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Journalists Association, to help them successfully implement all project activities. There were two project activities that I believe are innovative to Bulgaria and need to be described in more detail.
An educational program, I Vote For My Municipality, was developed and implemented with regard to the Bulgarian local elections in September October, 1999. The program involved 567 graduates of Yambol s secondary schools who would vote for the first time in their lives. The program was aimed at explaining the essence of local government, the mechanisms of its implementation and the ways in which it could be influenced. The program included an exercise of the technical aspects of the election procedures. Interactive educational methods were used, such as the implementation of scenarios developed by the Open Education Center. A survey of young people s attitudes towards the upcoming elections was also conducted. The survey was conducted in two stages, prior to the elections and after the run-off. We were extremely impressed by the fact that 55.07% of the youth have exercised their voting rights, as only 18.3% stated that they intend to vote prior to the elections. There is no doubt that, besides all other factors, the Center s program had a key role in encouraging so many young people to go to the ballots. The second positive result of our activity was that most of the students interviewed (42.53% vs. 37.05%) point out the need for educational programs on elections. Given the busy curriculum, this is a very good indicator of young people s attitude to the training they were given.
The public debate on the role of the municipal councilor for effective local government was another interesting initiative implemented with the assistance of the Local Government Club. The debate was held during the election campaign. Each of the parliamentary represented political parties and coalitions was represented by three nominees for municipal councilors. The debate was held at the Great Hall of the Municipal Building. All participants were treated equally and the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions. The focus of the debate was on the responsibilities of the councilor and on the functioning of the Municipal Council which, although its is the local parliament, often remains shadowed by the mayor and the municipal administration.
Following the end of the elections and the formation of the Yambol Municipal Council, the Local Government Club was able to review two important issues on the Council s agenda and express its opinion on them. The first issue regarded the establishment of a limited liability company by the municipalities of Yambol, Sliven and Nova Zagora. The company s purpose was to design, build and operate a solid waste recycling plant. Based on the Club s opinion, the initial intention to have Yambol have only a 5% stake in the company was revised and it was decided to increase the stake to 40%.
The second issue concerned the proposal for an overhaul of the Diana Sports Hall, in order to have this facility meet international requirements. That would give Yambol the capacity to host international competitions. The Club s Coordination Group s opinion was that such a major reconstruction should be undertaken only upon getting a competent written opinion by the original designer and upon considering all related technical issues. The Club s statement was sent to the mayor and widely publicized by the local media. We believe that this helped put an end to some hasty decisions that, even though well-intended, could have incurred irreparable damages. This is also a proof that the public is strong enough to influence the decision-making on important municipal issues.
Over the nine months of its existence the Local Government Club was actively involved in the public life. It demonstrated in practice citizen organizations ability to focus the public energy, both in support of local government and to exercise pressure on local authorities when necessary. Only the future could show how long the Club s activities will last. However, we are all convinced that we have chosen the right direction and that we will find a lot of supporters who will help us achieve our aspirations and make Yambol a more beautiful and more prosperous place.