One of the items on the agenda of the February session of the Bolesławiec County Council was a vote on a draft resolution “concerning the assumption of the road manager’s responsibilities for sections of regional roads running through Zgorzelec County”. During the discussion of the draft resolution, Mirosław Haniszewski, head of Warta Bolesławiecka commune, spoke:
I have serious doubts about whether taking over the roads in Zgorzelec County is the right decision, because we are afraid that every road in Bolesławiec County will suffer as a result.
Non-salaried County Executive Board member Kazimierz Gawron replied that he also had doubts. But he immediately added:
Despite our various doubts, we are taking into account the fact that we already have almost eight years of experience maintaining regional roads in our county. We can see that the condition of these roads in the county has improved significantly. And I have serious doubts as to whether this could have been achieved if we had not administered these roads ourselves.
Now we are going beyond the county. We need to answer the question of whether we are strong enough already. I believe that these roads cannot be managed economically from a distance; we need to find a solution that will not come at the expense of administering roads in Bolesławiec County. In the Executive Board’s view, such a possibility exists.
“What will we gain?” Kazimierz Gawron continued. “The amounts allocated by the voivodeship for these roads are not spectacular, but if there is no severe winter, they make it possible to balance the books, and there would even be an opportunity to improve the image of regional roads in Bolesławiec County.
According to K. Gawron, a second argument for taking over some roads in Zgorzelec County is that by helping the voivodeship, the county authorities can expect it to look “more favorably” on the investments that need to be carried out in our county.
And he emphasized:
If it turns out that we cannot resolve this in a way that satisfies both the voivodeship authorities and our voters, then I believe we will have to withdraw from these areas.
The opposition picked up on the issue. Councilor Maciej Małkowski of Ziemia Bolesławiecka said:
After Mr. Kazimierz Gawron’s speech, I feel as if I were at a meeting of the County Executive Board rather than receiving a statement on an agreed position. While what Secretary Radosław Palczewski said on this matter was positive, Mr. Gawron introduced a certain sense of doubt.
“These days, whoever has no doubts is not alive,” Kazimierz Gawron interjected. “I can see that there is no unity here, and that worries me somewhat,” M. Małkowski replied.
Bolesławiec Mayor Piotr Roman asked to speak:
At the last City Council session, there were five interpellations concerning regional roads in Bolesławiec. Since I believe that the number of interpellations will not change, regardless of whether Zgorzelec County is served by Bolesławiec County or not, I would like to say that we will strongly support you in this very bold undertaking.
The chairman of the Bolesławiec County Council, Karol Stasik, joined the discussion and listed the investments currently being carried out on regional roads in our county.
Despite the doubts expressed by the opposition—and by a member of the Executive Board—the Council adopted the resolution, with 11 votes in favor. One councilor voted against it, and six abstained.
A moment later, Kazimierz Gawron spoke again. This time, he filed an interpellation concerning branches by a road in Kraśnik Górny:
I am aware that I should not be standing here filing an interpellation, because as a member of the Executive Board I have many other ways to ensure that certain matters reported by our voters and residents are taken seriously. But I decided to use this opportunity as well. It may be a trivial matter, but it is extremely important to the residents.
He added that he had intervened in the matter for three months, without success. Bolesławiec Deputy County Head Marian Haniszewski assured K. Gawron that the branches would be cut down by the end of March this year.
What do you think about all this? Is there unity on the Executive Board or not? We invite you to join the discussion.