During the June session of the Nowogrodziec Municipal Council, local government representatives voted, among other matters, on three important draft resolutions. The first concerned a vote of confidence for the serving mayor, Robert Relich. Only 6 people voted in favor. 9 voted against.
Those who voted against accused the mayor of failing to cooperate with councilors; they spoke of “reports” being filed against municipal councilors. Moreover, they reproached the head of the municipality for telling residents that he could not do anything because... the Council included councilors who were hostile toward him.
The same was true of the discharge resolution. (Earlier, the Council’s Audit Committee had requested that discharge not be granted. The Regional Chamber of Audit issued a negative opinion on the Committee’s request).
14 councilors voted to approve the report on budget execution. However, the Municipal Council did not adopt the resolution on discharge. Once again, 6 councilors voted in favor of that resolution. As many as 7 voted against it, and 2 abstained.
At the session, the mayor explained that he had not filed any reports and that the Dobro i Pokój councilors’ caucus had lawfully applied to the Lower Silesian Voivode to have the mandate of Krzysztof Durda terminated.
What does this mean for the Nowogrodziec Municipality?
As we learned from the Regional Chamber of Audit, failure to adopt such a resolution this year carries no consequences (because 9 months have not yet passed since the local elections). Next calendar year, however, the situation will be different.
Moreover, failing to receive a vote of confidence for two consecutive years—under the new local-government regulations—allows councilors to adopt a resolution on a referendum in which residents may recall the mayor.
Will that happen? We will certainly return to the subject.