The 27th session of the City Council, held on 24 September, proceeded exceptionally calmly. A statement made by Hubert Prabucki on behalf of the Ziemia Bolesławiecka and Bolesławiec XXI caucuses had a considerable influence on the course of the meeting. “We support respecting the standards in force during sessions. We believe that statements which may undermine citizens’ trust in the work of the City Council are made too often,” the councillor said from the rostrum. He added: “In order to prevent this type of statement, which compromises the entire Bolesławiec City Council, we ask that training be organised for councillors.” As he noted, the coalition caucuses do not want “the use during sessions of rhetoric in which hatred is the most frequently expressed feeling”.
What about the blues?
Councillor Ewa Ołenicz-Bernacka, on behalf of the Blues nad Bobrem Association, appealed to Mayor Piotr Roman to reserve funds in next year’s municipal budget for another edition of the BnB festival. “This event is going through a serious crisis,” stressed the PO councillor. She noted that the Association was considering abandoning the ticketed final concert. “We propose that the Blues nad Bobrem festival remain in the form of music workshops for young people,” the councillor said. She added that it would be worthwhile to organise the event in the centre of Bolesławiec: “The Market Square could become the musical heart of the city.” A detailed proposal for the event programme is to be prepared within the next two months. “We are treating preparations for the BnB 2009 festival very seriously,” Ołenicz-Bernacka stressed. “It matters to us that it should take place in our city. The festival has always enjoyed a good reputation. It would therefore be a shame if it moved to another town on the Bóbr.”
Mayor Piotr Roman said that the money the Association was supposed to receive this year would be transferred to the Bolesławiec Cultural Centre. The institution is to organise a concert featuring bands that did not perform during the August blues-rock concert (TSA and Coma). As the mayor emphasised, the event’s programme was extremely attractive: nine bands for PLN 50. Only several dozen people attended. “Is there demand for such concerts in Bolesławiec?” he asked. The previous day, a free showcase of blues bands had taken place. “Apart from the musicians, there was no one there. To me, this is evidence that the golden age of the blues is over,” the mayor said. “Today there is a different audience; today the audience does not love the blues. Today the audience loves Doda, it loves Feel.”
Nevertheless, the mayor declared his support. He stressed, however, that the city would be able to support the Association only with an amount close to this year’s funding. “The Association must ask itself: are we able to obtain funding from sponsors or European funds?” Roman noted. He added that the municipality did not intend to take on the burden of organising an event held before the Bolesławiec Ceramic Festival. It could only provide financial support.
A New Councillor on the Council
On 24 September, Lesław Śliwko, a new member of the Bolesławiec City Council, took the oath of office in the Councillors’ Hall. “I am very pleased that I have become a councillor,” Śliwko told the IstotneInformacje.pl portal. “I will certainly work for the benefit of the city.” The councillor took the seat of Józef Burniak of the SLD, who lost his mandate following a judgment conditionally discontinuing criminal proceedings concerning the intentional commission of a publicly prosecuted offence.
Lesław Śliwko completed several university programmes. He is married and has two adult children. What kind of councillor will he be? “Time will tell. I know the procedures from the previous term. That should help me in my work,” he said.
(ii report)