The first post-holiday session of the City Council, held on Wednesday, 27 August, was turbulent. Mayor Piotr Roman was present only at the beginning of the meeting. As he explained, he had to leave on official business. During a later discussion about Gliniada and the final concert of the Blues nad Bobrem festival, Bogusław Nowak, a councillor from PO, remarked that the mayor had “run away like a coward”.
In June, we reported that Józef Burniak would lose his mandate because of a judgment conditionally discontinuing criminal proceedings concerning the commission of an intentional offence prosecuted by public indictment. Before the Council decided on the expiry of the former mayor’s mandate, however, SLD councillor Irena Dul moved to remove the item from the agenda. She explained that the chairwoman of the City Council had not presented the court judgment to the councillors. Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk noted that the details of the case were included in the resolution’s justification. At the same time, she stressed that the Lower Silesian Voivode had obliged her to take the appropriate action. The Council rejected Irena Dul’s motion; only three councillors voted in favour of it.
After Deputy Mayor Maciej Małkowski’s report, a heated discussion began. Bogusław Nowak referred to the final concert of the Blues nad Bobrem festival. “The scandal was enormous in the city and in Poland. The blogs were bursting with comments,” said the PO councillor. He asked why Mayor Piotr Roman had not appeared on stage at the time, since the city was a co-organiser of the event: “Only because it wasn’t a success, but a huge scandal?” Mirosław Sakowski of PO asked what considerations had determined the selection of Dariusz Gruszecki’s Rogers Agency as the organiser of the blues concert, while Cezariusz Rudyk (PO) asked what would happen to Blues in the future.
Bogusław Nowak also raised the issue of Piotr Roman’s participation in the Glinoludów wedding ceremony. He stressed that he had told the municipal office’s press spokeswoman that the organisers of Gliniada did not want the mayor to personally officiate at the young couple’s wedding. “People pour an enormous amount of blood, money and energy into this,” Nowak said indignantly. “And the mayor has never been interested in such things, he has never wanted to help. Why did he do that? Was it about appearing in front of television cameras?”
Maciej Małkowski rejects the accusations
The deputy mayor said that on 15 August Dariusz Gruszeczki had informed officials that the concerts scheduled for 16 August would not take place. Piotr Roman then issued a statement withdrawing from the agreement. Asked why the city municipality had decided to entrust the organisation of the final concert to Rogers Agency, Maciej Małkowski replied: “This year, nobody wanted to organise Blues nad Bobrem. Mr Gruszecki was the only person who came to the mayor and recommended his company.” He added that Dariusz Gruszecki had appeared credible to officials as an organiser of a number of blues events and as a member of the BnB Association.
As Piotr Roman’s deputy explained, the municipal office had received no indications from members of the BnB Association suggesting that Dariusz Gruszecki would be unable to handle the task. “Do you really think that the mayor wanted this concert not to take place?” Małkowski asked rhetorically. “What hurts me most today is that there are people in the city who are happy that BnB did not take place. What is more, these people inspired certain actions that caused the concert to turn out to be a total flop,” he added. Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk, meanwhile, proposed that the Education, Culture and Sport Committee consider the festival’s future.
The deputy mayor addressed Piotr Roman’s participation in the Glinoludów couple’s wedding ceremony as follows: “The mayor wanted to raise the event’s status. It seems to me that this was an extraordinary distinction for the newlyweds.”
The row over Józef Burniak
Before the vote on the draft resolution concerning the expiry of the SLD councillor’s mandate, Irena Dul spoke again. “There are politicians who accuse their political opponents of vile acts simply because they think differently. I believe it is good when someone looks critically at an apparently obvious matter. Members of parliament, regardless of their political affiliation, may have court judgments by the dozen and do not lose their mandates or eligibility to stand for election,” she said. “Mayor Piotr Roman used the justice system to destroy his most dangerous political opponent,” she added.
After these words, Janina Piestrak-Babijczuk announced that she was taking the floor away from councillor Dul. She switched off her microphone. The SLD councillor continued speaking, however. The chairwoman then announced a five-minute break. “Honourable Council, in a democratic state governed by the rule of law, court judgments are not commented on and must be accepted,” Piestrak-Babijczuk noted. At one point, she asked Dul: “Does the councillor wish the municipal police to escort you out of the proceedings?”
During the break, the SLD activist continued explaining why she opposed the draft resolution. Only the following listened to her: Stanisław Andrusieczko of SLD, the PO councillors and two councillors from Ziemia Bolesławiecka, Paweł Dul and Janusz Kozioł. Despite the objections, the Council adopted the resolution on the expiry of Józef Burniak’s mandate. Only the SLD councillors voted against it, while the PO councillors abstained. Councillor Hubert Prabucki did not take part in the vote.
(ii information)