Michał Sudoł, is a councillor of the Municipal Council in Nowogrodziec and a former coach at the Municipal Football Academy, operating at the Municipal Culture and Sports Centre in Nowogrodziec. The coach’s contract for conducting sports activities with children was terminated. He has not conducted classes since April. This did not, however, end the dispute over whether a coach at the municipal academy can simultaneously be a councillor of that municipality and receive remuneration. The coach and the parents of children training at the academy claim that he can. The Mayor of Nowogrodziec claimed that he could not. The case was referred to the Lower Silesian Voivode. What does the voivode say? Below, we publish the content of the response from the voivodeship, which states, among other things, that there are no grounds for terminating the councillor’s mandate.
LOWER SILESIAN VOIVODE – Wrocław, 9 May 2019.
Councillors’ Club “Peace and Good” of the Municipal Council in Nowogrodziec.
In response to the letter of 25 March 2019 concerning Michał Sudoł, a councillor of the Municipal Council in Nowogrodziec, I hereby inform you that the Supervisory Authority found no grounds to terminate the councillor’s mandate.
The documents submitted with the above-mentioned letter, as well as information obtained during the explanatory proceedings, show that on 2 January 2019 the councillor entered into a contract for specific work with the Municipal Culture and Sports Centre in Nowogrodziec, the subject of which was conducting sports activities for children. The contract with the councillor was signed by the director — Eliza Szwed.
Pursuant to Article 24d of the Act of 8 March 1990 on Municipal Self-Government (Journal of Laws of 2019, item 506): “The mayor may not entrust a councillor of the municipality in which the councillor obtained their mandate with performing work on the basis of a civil-law contract.” As follows from the case law concerning Article 24d of the Act on Municipal Self-Government: “It follows from the wording of the provision that the prohibition established therein applies when the following conditions are jointly met: a) an assignment takes place, b) to a councillor of the municipality in which they obtained their mandate, c) to perform work, d) on the basis of a civil-law contract, e) the assignment is made by the mayor.” (judgment of the Provincial Administrative Court in Wrocław of 14 July 2016, III SA/Wr 732/16).
In the case of councillor Michał Sudoł, the condition of entering into a contract with the mayor (here: the Mayor) is absent, and only the joint fulfilment of the requirements set out in Article 24d of the Act on Municipal Self-Government results in a finding that the anti-corruption provisions have been violated.
With regard to the possibility, indicated in the letter, of violating Article 24e(1) of the Act on Municipal Self-Government, it should be explained that the prohibitions established by this provision are intended to prevent situations in which a councillor uses their mandate to achieve particular interests unrelated to the welfare of the self-government community to which the councillor was elected. They are intended to guarantee that the mandate is exercised in accordance with the oath taken by the councillor. The prohibition established by this legal provision applies to all conduct by a councillor, whether action or omission, insofar as it conflicts with the obligations undertaken when the councillor took the oath. The literal wording of Article 23a(1) of the Act on Municipal Self-Government, which sets out the councillor’s oath, therefore leads to the conclusion that Article 24e of this Act is violated whenever the councillor’s conduct lacks dignity or is deemed unreliable, dishonest, or undertaken without regard for the welfare of the entire self-government community of the municipality in which the councillor exercises their mandate. The circumstances of this case do not indicate that councillor Michał Sudoł’s additional work conducting sports activities for children could undermine voters’ trust in the exercise of his mandate.
Accordingly, there are no grounds to terminate the councillor’s mandate.
Yours faithfully,
On behalf of the LOWER SILESIAN VOIVODE
Małgorzata Hasiewic: DIRECTOR OF THE SUPERVISION AND CONTROL DEPARTMENT /signed with a qualified electronic signature/
Michał Sudoł commented on the above letter on his Facebook profile:
“Better to be a pawn on the chessboard of truth
than a king in the field of hypocrisy”Good morning!
More than a month has passed since I posted on my page about the unpleasant situation concerning the termination of my contract to conduct training sessions with children at the Municipal Culture and Sports Centre in Nowogrodziec. And, as I wrote in my previous post, the contract was terminated and at the end of April I was no longer a coach of the children’s groups at the GCKiS. My contract was terminated without giving a reason. The termination also coincided with a notification sent to the Lower Silesian Voivode by the councillors’ club with the caring name “Peace and Good” :) It must be admitted that, together with the Mayor, they removed the coach—in other words, me—in a peaceful and good-natured way, which has already resulted in our teams being absent from tournaments three times. But to the point. The response from the Supervision and Control Department appeared on Monday, 13 May. And surely, to the disappointment of the councillors from the “Peace and Good” club and the Mayor, the supervisory authority found no grounds to terminate my mandate, which they had very much hoped for and had already seen me outside the Council. The lack of grounds for terminating the mandate obviously means that my dismissal had no legal basis whatsoever, but was pure spite. A desire to weaken my position in society and demonstrate the power of the authorities in our municipality. Here I would also like to draw attention to another aspect. If young people with passion and enthusiasm for work are hit with a “left hook” at the very beginning of their activity because they have different views and ideas, it may turn out that at the next elections there will be no candidates willing to run or work for the local community.
I am sharing with you the letter from the supervisory authority explaining my case.
Best regards.
Michał Sudoł.
Mayor of Nowogrodziec Robert Relich did not want to comment on the voivode’s letter. He merely stated:
I will not comment on the matter that was the subject of supervisory proceedings by the Lower Silesian Voivode in Wrocław, as it falls within the competence of the constitutive body.