We already wrote in December last year that the Municipal Commune wanted to take over, among other things, county schools, in an article titled Education revolution – around 100 teachers to lose their jobs? Will the Municipal Commune take over the special school? During the December session of the Bolesławiec City Council, Mayor Piotr Roman said: “I put forward a thesis that is not new, but I would like to repeat it: it would be a much better solution if the principle of ‘One city, one manager’ applied here.”
At the February session of the City Council, invited by the head of the body, Jarosław Kowalski, the guest was Adam Myrda, the Lubin County Governor. This was no coincidence. Lubin County had transferred both its schools and roads to the City of Lubin for management.
Lubin County Governor:
In the opinion of many local government officials—and not only them—I am considered one of the liquidators of Lubin County. That label has stuck to me. I maintain that I am not a liquidator, nor is Mayor Raczyński [prezydent Lubina – przyp. „ii”]. I consider myself someone who is trying to establish a hierarchy of what is important for the residents of Lubin County and Lubin.
A. Myrda pointed out that residents do not distinguish which local government a given school or road belongs to. “If there is a pothole in the road, residents say that the mayor does not take care of it—not the county governor, the voivode or the marshal,” he stressed. “Everyone says that I closed secondary schools in Lubin County. That is not true; the schools are still there, in the same buildings. We only transferred them to the City for management. We believe that the mayor should be responsible for what is located within the city. Only one thing has changed: the educational subsidy for these schools goes to the City.”
“Did teachers lose out as a result?” the Lubin local government official continued. “They say they did not. The teachers themselves stated that the model created in Lubin is good and should remain. Is there a concern that the property we transferred to the City for management could be lost by the County? No. The notarial deeds clearly specify the purpose these facilities are to serve.”
Adam Myrda also spoke about the local government officials’ current plan to merge the offices:
There are three offices in Lubin. A resident wants to deal with their matter quickly and return home. But sometimes they have to visit two offices. That is why we want to create a reception hall for county residents, where they could handle their matters in one place.
He also addressed the subject of the County Executive Board: “They say I eliminated positions at the County Office. That is not true. The law says there must be at least three members of the board, and that is the case. Only one of them is employed full-time—that is me. The others are unpaid. Responsibility for decisions still falls on me.”
“Another issue that aroused a great deal of emotion was the sale of the hospital,” the county governor said. “We did not deprive the county’s residents of anything. The hospital is as it was and operates as it did. Perhaps it works even better, because we, as the county office, could not afford to keep granting loans and subsidizing the hospital.”
He added: “We are not abolishing the County; we want to make life easier for its residents as far as possible. And the election results show that people accept what we are doing.”
Are you convinced by the Lubin County Governor’s arguments? We invite you to discuss them and encourage you to take part in our poll.